NationalWatch

A progressive candidate backed by champions of the left, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is close to pulling off an upset victory with votes still being counted in a Democratic congressional primary for a blue-leaning seat in New Jersey.

Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer, has a slight lead — nearly 900 votes out of more than 63,000 votes counted — ahead of former Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski in the battle for their party’s nomination in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.

Mejia and Malinowski are the leaders among a field of 11 Democratic candidates in the race to fill the seat left vacant after now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped down after winning the November 2025 gubernatorial election in the Garden State.

The results in the primary showdown are being closely watched by the political world as an early testing ground in the debate between progressives versus the more mainstream elements of the Democratic Party.

BALLOT BOX SHOCKER IN HIGH-PROFILE DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARY

And a victory by Mejia, who worked as national political director on Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, would be the latest boost for the left against the establishment since now-New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, sent shockwaves across the nation with his Democratic primary victory in June 2025.

“She stands for a progressive populist economic agenda,” progressive leader Rep. Ro Khanna of California emphasized Friday in a social media post. “She is the future!” 

And Mejia, speaking to supporters on primary night, highlighted that “we have to rebuild our party, we have to rebuild what is happening in our nation. We have to reclaim our democracy. We know that our economy is rigged to suit the billionaires.”

‘FULL-BLOWN BATTLE’ BREWING IN DEM PARTY AS MAMDANI-STYLE CANDIDATES RISE IN KEY RACES

Here’s a closer look at where Mejia stands on some key issues.

Immigration enforcement

During her primary campaign, Mejia took aim at President Donald Trump‘s unprecedented crackdown on illegal immigration, and has called for scrapping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency most visible in the aggressive tactics used in the administration’s massive deportation effort.

“I say abolish ICE now,” Mejia said on the campaign trail in January. “You can’t reform it. It’s not fixable. Get it out.” 

Speaking with reporters Friday about her overperformance in the primary, Mejia gave credit to her stance on immigration in the wake of backlash against the Trump administration following the fatal shootings in Minnesota by federal agents of two U.S. citizens protesting immigration operations.

“I think the fact that I was bold and unafraid to speak the truth was incredibly important,” she told reporters. “I think voters feel that they want to have a representative that actually represents them, and they cannot watch what’s happening in Minnesota, what happened in Chicago, what happened in California, what happened in Morristown across this district.” 

Supreme Court

Mejia, like many on the left, has railed against rulings by the conservative-dominated court.

“The Supreme Court has been captured by right-wing radicals who care more about doing Trump’s bidding than the rule of law,” Mejia charges on her campaign website.

HOUSE GOP MAJORITY SHRINKS TO JUST ONE VOTE AS JOHNSON SWEARS IN NEW HOUSE DEMOCRAT

She supports “articles of impeachment against Justices Thomas and Alito” for what she says is “their corruption and conflicts of interest.”

Mejia also backs “term limits for newly appointed Supreme Court justices, a binding code of ethics with real enforcement for all federal judges.”

And Mejia says she would support “expanding the courts if necessary to restore balance.”

Student loan debt

On her campaign website, Mejia states “we’re going to cancel all student loan debt.”

And she pledges that she’ll “fight to make college tuition free at community colleges and trade schools for everyone.”

Taxes and minimum wage

As part of her “economy for everyone agenda,” Mejia argues, “If you work 40 hours a week, you should make at least $40,000 a year, and you shouldn’t pay a dime in federal taxes on that first $40,000.”

And she highlights that she helped lead the fight in New Jersey to “win the $15 minimum wage.”

If she makes it to Congress, Mejia says “with the cost of living rising every day, it’s time to raise the minimum wage at the national level to $25/hour.”

Israel

Malinowski, an assistant secretary of state in former President Barack Obama’s administration who later represented a neighboring congressional district in northern New Jersey from 2018 to 2022 before losing re-election, was considered the front-runner in the race heading into primary day.

But Malinowski was the target of a slew of attack ads put out by a group affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which opposed Malinowski because he said he supports conditions on aid to Israel.

The AIPAC-aligned super PAC United Democracy Project dished out more than $2.3 million to take aim at Malinowski, even though AIPAC had previously supported Malinowski in his past congressional elections.

But the strategy may backfire, because Mejia is much tougher on Israel than Malinowski.

Mejia was the only candidate in the race who raised her hand at a forum last month when asked if they agreed with human rights groups who charge Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in its war with Hamas in Gaza.

Mejia was boosted by the support on the left. Sanders headlined a virtual rally for her on the eve of the primary.

And besides Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, she was also endorsed by a large list of other progressive leaders, including Khanna, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Rep. Pramilla Jayapal of Washington State, the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

TOP 5 GAME-CHANGERS FROM THE 2025 CAMPAIGN TRAIL

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) a leading group on the left, said in a statement that “Analilia Mejia’s momentous showing proves that voters, when given a choice, want Democrats with an inspiring vision who will boldly challenge powerful interests on behalf of working families.”

PCCC co-founder Adam Green, a New Jersey native who knocked doors for Mejia and spoke at a rally with Mejia and Sanders on primary eve, added that primary voters “made clear they want Democrats who will shake up a broken political and economic system – not just be anti-Trump.”

While Mejia was the clear choice of the left flank of the party’s base, the rest of the field appeared to divide the more moderate and center-left vote.

The primary winner will face off with Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, the only Republican to file for the special election, which will be held on April 16.

Hathaway will be considered the underdog in the race, in the suburban district in northern New Jersey.

Sherrill won re-election in the district in 2024 by 15 points, the same margin by which she carried the district in November’s gubernatorial showdown.

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But then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by just eight points in the 2024 presidential election, giving the GOP some hopes of possibly flipping the seat.

The special election comes as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218–214 majority in the House of Representatives.

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee piled onto calls from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on Monday for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to step down in light of alleged business ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Files released by the DOJ suggest that Lutnick and Epstein bought stakes together in a technology company called Adfin in 2012.

Lutnick, who is listed among nine other investors, appears as a “signatory” alongside Epstein, who is named as a “preferred holder.”

Notably, the purchase is dated four years after Epstein was convicted in 2008 for sexual abuse involving a 14-year-old girl.

DOJ PUBLISHES TROVE OF EPSTEIN FILES, SAYS MORE TO COME AFTER FRIDAY DEADLINE

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said the documents clearly contradicted previous statements from Lutnick about his relationship with Epstein.

“It’s now clear that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been lying about his relationship with Epstein. He said he had no interactions with Epstein after 2005, and we now know they were in business together,” Garcia said in a post to X.

“Lutnick must resign or be fired. And he must answer our questions,” Garcia added.

Garcia’s calls follow similar comments made by Massie on Sunday. When asked about Lutnick’s appearance in the files on CNN, Massie also said that Lutnick should step down.

MASSIE, KHANNA TO VISIT DOJ TO REVIEW UNREDACTED EPSTEIN FILES

“He should just resign. Prince [Andrew] lost his title for less than what we’ve seen Howard Lutnick lie about,” Massie said, referring to the member of the royal family who was stripped of his titles last year for his association with Epstein.

“He was in business with Jeffrey Epstein — and this was many years after Epstein was convicted for sexual crimes. So, he’s got a lot to answer for.”

LAWMAKERS ESCALATE EPSTEIN PROBE WITH POSSIBLE BILL GATES SUBPOENA

Other documents in the Epstein files reveal communications between Lutnick and Epstein’s staff that suggest Lutnick may have met with Epstein in the Virgin Islands.

“Jeffrey Epstein understands you will be down in St. Thomas some over the holidays. Jeffrey requested I please pass along some phone numbers to you so the two of you can possibly get together,” an assistant to Epstein wrote in an email dated November 2012.

In response to an inquiry from Fox News Digital on the criticism from Garcia and Massie, a spokesperson for the Department of Commerce framed their demands as a distraction.

“Mr. Lutnick met Jeffrey Epstein in 2005 and had very limited interactions with him over the next 14 years,” the spokesperson said.

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“This is nothing more than a failing attempt by the legacy media to distract from the administration’s accomplishments, including securing trillions of dollars in investment, delivering historic trade deals and fighting for the American worker.”

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., did not respond to a request for comment on whether the committee would consider questioning Lutnick as a part of the committee’s ongoing probe of Epstein and his crimes.

Senate Republicans confirmed half a dozen of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees last week, continuing a quick pace to green-light as many of his picks as possible.

While the Senate GOP is moving fast to confirm Trump’s judicial nominees, the president and some of his allies want to eviscerate an over-century-old tradition in the Senate that provides bipartisan guardrails to the judicial nomination process.

They contend that the blue slip tradition is slowing down Republicans from being able to confirm picks, and that Democrats are holding the process hostage. 

TRUMP DELETES ‘RACIST’ POST AFTER WAVE OF REPUBLICAN BACKLASH, WHITE HOUSE SAYS HE DIDN’T KNOW

“Nuking the blue slip would be a huge mistake,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital.

Tillis, like several other Republicans, has argued that the blue slips are a valuable tool of the minority, and that inevitably, the GOP would need to use the tradition to their advantage when Democrats regain control of the upper chamber.

The Senate has confirmed 33 judges since the start of Trump’s second term, a figure that dwarfs the number of total judicial nominees, including U.S. attorneys, district and circuit court judges, moved through the upper chamber during his first go-round in the White House.

TRUMP TAKES AIM AT SENATE ‘BLUE SLIP’ TRADITION AS GOP RESISTS CHANGE

During the first year of his first term, the Senate confirmed 19 Article III nominees, including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. 

Though Republicans are far ahead of Trump’s first time clip, Democrats under former President Joe Biden still outpaced them in this metric. Biden clocked 42 total judicial nominees confirmed during the first year of his term.

Whether the Senate can outpace Trump’s final total of 234 judicial nominees from his first term remains to be seen, but for now the blue slip appears to be safe. 

Still, Trump sounded off on the practice late last year in the Oval Office, arguing that the GOP should “get rid of blue slips, because, as a Republican President, I am unable to put anybody in office having to do with U.S. attorneys or having to do with judges.”

REPUBLICANS BLAST DEMOCRATS’ TRUMP ELECTION MEDDLING CLAIMS AS HYPOCRITICAL ‘CONSPIRACY THEORY’

Much of his frustration with the tradition, which has been around for over 100 years in the upper chamber, likely stemmed from the nominations of Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan getting derailed by blue slips last year.

He’s taken his frustrations out on Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a vocal proponent of the practice, and other Republicans that want to maintain the tradition. 

Notably, Grassley modified the tradition in 2017 to allow for circuit court judges to skirt the process, further boosting the number of judges Republicans were able to confirm under Trump despite Democratic objections. 

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When asked if the Senate’s pace in confirming judicial nominees further affirmed that the blue slip was here to stay, Grassley told Fox News Digital, “It doesn’t need to be a present question.”

“Because it’s a question of 110 years, and everybody in the Senate wants to maintain the blue slip,” Grassley said.

A federal judge in Georgia has ordered the unsealing of documents tied to an FBI raid that seized 2020 election ballots from a Fulton County facility, potentially shedding new light on the bureau’s investigation.

Judge J.P. Boulee, who was nominated by President Donald Trump in 2019, gave the government until Tuesday to file the documents, including the search warrant affidavit with redactions.

“Although Petitioners originally filed this case under seal, both parties have now indicated to the Court that they do not oppose unsealing the docket or the motions filed by Petitioners,” Boulee wrote in the order. 

“Moreover, Respondent has stated that it does not oppose the unsealing of the search warrant affidavit and any other papers associated with the warrant subject to the redaction of the names of nongovernmental witnesses,” the order continued.

GEORGIA’S FULTON COUNTY FILES MOTION SEEKING RETURN OF 2020 ELECTION MATERIALS SEIZED BY FBI

The FBI raid took place Jan. 28 at Fulton County’s main election facility in Union City, near Atlanta, and focused on records connected to the 2020 general election. A warrant cover sheet provided to the county listed items agents sought, including ballots, tabulator tapes, electronic ballot images and voter rolls.

Last week, Fulton County officials filed a motion seeking the return of around 656 boxes of original 2020 election materials that the FBI had seized.

TRUMP DOJ DEMANDS MINNESOTA VOTING RECORDS OVER SAME-DAY REGISTRATION ‘VOUCHING’ CONCERNS

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The heavily Democratic Fulton County has come under scrutiny following President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss to former President Joe Biden. Biden carried Georgia, but Trump has insisted that widespread voter fraud contributed to him losing the state. 

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

The War Department announced on Monday morning that the U.S. military boarded a vessel overnight “without incident.”

The department’s post on X noted that the U.S. had “hunted” the ship “from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean.”

“When the @DeptofWar says quarantine, we mean it. Nothing will stop DoW from defending our Homeland — even in oceans halfway around the world. Overnight, U.S. military forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding on the Aquila II without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility,” the post explained.

“The Aquila II was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean. It ran, and we followed. The Department of War tracked and hunted this vessel from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean. No other nation on planet Earth has the capability to enforce its will through any domain. By land, air, or sea, our Armed Forces will find you and deliver justice. You will run out of fuel long before you will outrun us,” the post continued.

“The Department of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies the ability to defy American power in the global maritime domain.”

This is a breaking story. Check back here for updates.

Lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee are expected to be face-to-face with Ghislaine Maxwell Monday, the notorious accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring with the late billionaire pedophile.

Maxwell is due to appear virtually before the congressional panel at 10 a.m. ET while currently serving out her sentence at a Texas prison. Her deposition will be behind closed doors, meaning it will not be viewed publicly unless the committee chooses to release video footage after the fact.

It’s likely to be a brief engagement, with Maxwell expected to plead the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering questions.

DEMOCRATS SAY CLINTONS’ AGREEMENT TO TESTIFY UNDERCUTS SUBPOENA PUSH, WON’T BRING NEW EPSTEIN ANSWERS

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., announced lawmakers would hear from Maxwell during a meeting on holding former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress for refusing to appear for his Epstein probe.

“We’ve been trying to get her in for a deposition. Our lawyers have been saying that she’s going to plead the Fifth, but we have nailed down a date, Feb. 9, where Ghislaine Maxwell will be deposed by this committee,” Comer said last month.

Contempt proceedings against the Clintons stalled, however, after they agreed via their attorneys to appear in person on Capitol Hill just days before the full House of Representatives was expected to vote on referring the pair to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal charges.

Comer’s team had been in a back-and-forth with Maxwell’s attorney for months trying to nail down a date for her to speak to committee lawyers.

He agreed to delay her previous planned deposition in August after her lawyer asked him to wait until after the Supreme Court decided whether it would hear her appeal. The Supreme Court turned down Maxwell’s case in October.

NEW GHISLAINE MAXWELL MUGSHOT INCLUDED IN DOJ’S LATEST EPSTEIN FILES RELEASE

The former British socialite was found guilty in December 2021 of being an accomplice in Epstein’s scheme to sexually traffic and exploit female minors.

The DOJ said at the time of her sentencing that Maxwell “enticed and groomed minor girls to be abused in multiple ways.”

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Epstein had been awaiting trial when he killed himself in a New York City jail in 2019.

Her deposition is part of the House Oversight Committee’s months-long probe into how the government handled Epstein’s case. 

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California have each said that they will visit the Department of Justice on Monday to view unredacted documents from the Epstein files.

The bipartisan duo spearheaded the push to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act last year. 

“The survivors standing in front of the Capitol twice is why @RepThomasMassie & I were able to pass the Epstein Transparency Act. Tomorrow, Massie and I will go together to DOJ to see the unredacted files. We will not rest until the Epstein class is brought to justice,” Khanna declared in a Sunday post on X.

REP THOMAS MASSIE RESPONDS AFTER TRUMP CALLS HIM A ‘MORON’ IN NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST SPEECH

Massie crowdsourced suggestions for which documents he should read.

“Tomorrow I will go to DOJ to view the unredacted Epstein files. Which docs should I view?” the congressman asked in a Sunday post on X.

South Carolina gubernatorial hopeful GOP Rep. Nancy Mace indicated that she was perusing the responses to Massie’s post rather than watching the Super Bowl on Sunday.

KEIR STARMER’S CHIEF OF STAFF RESIGNS AFTER RECOMMENDING EPSTEIN-CONNECTED AMBASSADOR

“Headed to the DOJ this week as well. Thank you @RepThomasMassie for the post below; very helpful suggestions from all those who chimed in. I am sifting through the comments now in preparation for my visit, rather than watch the Super Bowl,” Mace noted in a post.

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who departed from office early last month, responded to Massie’s post.

“Any docs talking about ‘jerky’ and ‘pizza,’” she wrote. “And FBI docs with Presidents, Sec of State, any and all government officials, and people profiting from government contracts. Foreign countries Epstein was working for. Names unredacted. No exceptions.”

BILL CLINTON COMES OUT SWINGING AGAINST COMER FOR REJECTING PUBLIC EPSTEIN HEARING: ‘STOP THE GAMES’

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Massie, Greene, Mace, and GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado were the only four House Republicans who signed onto a discharge petition last year in a bid to push the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

President Donald Trump, who is backing a GOP primary challenger running against Massie in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, called Massie a “moron” while speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast last week.

President Donald Trump is defending federal law enforcement efforts in Minneapolis, saying crime has fallen sharply after what he described as the removal of “thousands of criminals” from the city.

In an interview with NBC News’ Tom Llamas that aired Sunday, Trump said crime in Minneapolis is down as much as 30%, attributing the decline to tougher enforcement.

“The crime numbers in Minnesota, in Minneapolis in particular, are down 25, 30% because we’ve removed thousands of criminals from the area,” Trump said. “These are hardened criminals… Most of them came in through an open border, and we’ve done a great job.”

Operation Metro Surge has sent thousands of immigration agents to Minneapolis and St. Paul, leading to thousands of arrests while also sparking resident resistance and public outrage.

BIDEN SPEAKS OUT AGAINST IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN IN MINNESOTA, SAYS IT GOES AGAINST AMERICAN VALUES

Trump pointed to other major cities where he said his administration has delivered dramatic results when it comes to crime.

“Look at Washington, D.C.,” Trump said. “It’s like a safe city. You can walk to the White House. You don’t have to take an armored vehicle.”

The president also cited New Orleans, and Memphis, Tennessee, as examples.

“Look at what happened in Louisiana,” Trump said. “I got a call from the governor, ‘Please do something with New Orleans.’ We went there four weeks ago, crime is down 71%.”

MINNESOTA DHS WHISTLEBLOWER DETAILS ‘SMEAR CAMPAIGN’ AFTER REPORTING FRAUD CONCERNS TO STATE

“[In] Memphis, Tennessee, crime is down 80% after five weeks.”

Trump said the trend reflects the success of his administration’s tough-on-crime approach.

“Crime, historically in this country, it’s down [to] the lowest level it’s ever been,” Trump said. “… We’ve had less murders than we have had in decades. And you know why? Because we’re tough on crime.”

Earlier this week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said murders in major U.S. cities plunged to their lowest level since at least 1900 as federal arrests, gang takedowns and deportations surged under Trump’s promise to “restore law and order.”

PIRRO CREDITS ‘ENHANCED FEDERAL PARTNERSHIP’ FOR DC’S FIRST HOMICIDE-FREE STRETCH IN DECADES

Trump also told NBC News that he made the decision to pull hundreds of federal law enforcement agents from Minneapolis following the fatal shootings of two city residents last month, saying the Department of Homeland Security could “use a little bit of a softer touch.”

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On Wednesday, White House border czar Tom Homan announced that roughly 700 federal agents would be leaving the Twin Cities, with the goal of a “complete drawdown.”

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

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch, Ashley Oliver and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE — Detroit native and cultural icon Kid Rock is taking sides in the race for Michigan governor.

The famed musician and entertainer with a working-class persona who is known for his conservative political views is endorsing Republican Rep. John James in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

The Michigan governor’s office and a Democrat-controlled open U.S. Senate seat are top targets for the GOP to flip in November’s midterm elections.

“As our next Governor of Michigan, I know you will bring many victories to our GREAT STATE!” Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, said in a statement shared first with Fox News Digital on Sunday.

BATTLE FOR THE SENATE: WHERE DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS AIM TO FLIP SEATS

James, who’s in his second term representing a swing congressional district in suburban Detroit, said in a statement, “Kid Rock is a good friend. We share our love for Detroit, the state of Michigan and the United States of America!”

“I’m honored to have the endorsement of this unapologetic freedom-loving patriot and I look forward to working with him and every other Michigander to make Michigan great again!” added James, a West Point graduate and veteran of the Iraq War, and a businessman who was the 2018 and 2020 Republican Senate nominee in the Great Lakes battleground state.

Kid Rock’s backing of James comes a couple of hours before the singer and songwriter headlines Turning Point USA’s “All-American Halftime Show” during the Super Bowl.

HOW TO WATCH THE TURNING POINT USA ALTERNATE HALFTIME SHOW

Turning Point USA, which was co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, is hosting its own alternative to the Super Bowl halftime show this Sunday. The event comes as conservatives criticize the NFL’s choice to feature Latin music star Bad Bunny as the halftime performer.

Kid Rock is an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, backing him in all three of his presidential campaigns. He performed his song “American Bad Ass” at the 2024 Republican National Convention with altered lyrics to showcase his support for Trump.

Trump, whose sway over the GOP remains immense and whose endorsements in Republican primaries are highly coveted and extremely influential, to date has not weighed in on Michigan’s gubernatorial race.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING AND ANALYSIS FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

A release from James’s campaign highlighted that “John James has stood with President Trump consistently since 2018, and every subsequent election, maintaining a clear and steady alignment when others backed his opponents, ran against him, or stayed silent.”

The James campaign also emphasized that “Kid Rock and John James share deep Detroit roots and a common view of Michigan as a state defined by hard work, manufacturing, culture, and natural beauty — from the Great Lakes to the communities that power the Midwest economy.”

James is the clear polling front-runner in a very crowded field of Republicans vying for the GOP nomination in the August primary. Among the other Republicans in the race are former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, Michigan Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, former state House of Representatives Speaker Mike Leonard, and businessman Perry Johnson, a longshot candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination who is making his second bid for governor.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is the clear front-runner among three candidates for the Democratic nomination.

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Former three-term Democratic Mayor Mike Duggan of Detroit is campaigning for governor as an independent.

The race in Michigan is rated a toss-up by three top nonpartisan political handicappers: the Cook Report, Inside Elections, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball.

For the first time in decades, the world’s two largest nuclear superpowers are no longer bound by any treaty limiting their arsenals.

The last remaining nuclear arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia, known as New START, expired Thursday.

WORLD ENTERS UNCHARTED ERA AS US-RUSSIA NUCLEAR TREATY EXPIRES, OPENING DOOR TO FASTEST ARMS RACE IN DECADES

The lapse removed limits on how many nuclear weapons Washington and Moscow could deploy on missiles, bombers and submarines, and ended the requirement that both sides notify one another whenever nuclear weapons were moved.

The scale of what’s now unconstrained is vast. 

Globally, there are more than 12,200 nuclear weapons spread across nine nuclear-armed nations, according to a recent analysis. The United States and Russia alone account for roughly 10,636 of those weapons.

NO LIMITS, NO INSPECTIONS: US AND RUSSIA FACE POST–NEW START ERA AS TRUMP PUSHES NEW NUCLEAR DEAL

While the exact size of each country’s arsenal is closely guarded, below is a breakdown of estimated nuclear stockpiles, based on data from the Federation of American Scientists. 

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Ahead of the New START agreement’s expiration, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (a badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from everything else, is being grossly violated), we should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future.”

He has previously argued that China should be included in any new agreement with Russia, pointing to Beijing’s growing nuclear arsenal, the world’s third largest after the U.S. and Russia.

President Donald Trump’s beef import plan aims to cut prices, but cattle ranchers say it misses what’s crushing them most — the power of meat packers.

“Meat packers have created a system where they win no matter what — at the cost of everyone else,” said Will Harris, a fourth-generation cattleman and owner of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia.

Harris, who plans to hand off the operation to his children, said his farm handles every step of production, from raising cattle to processing and selling beef, giving him a clear view of how prices are set.

AMERICA’S SMALLEST CATTLE HERD IN 70 YEARS MEANS REBUILDING WILL TAKE YEARS AND BEEF PRICES COULD STAY HIGH

At the center of that pricing power sit the “Big Four” — Tyson, JBS, Cargill and National Beef — anchoring the U.S. beef supply chain from pasture to plate.

Together, the packing titans process about 85% of the grain-fattened cattle that become steaks, roasts and other supermarket cuts.

“The U.S. beef market is so highly concentrated that a small number of dominant packers control processing, distribution and pricing. This allows them to pay ranchers less for cattle while charging consumers more at the store. When cheap imported beef enters the system, it allows packers to increase their margins,” Harris told Fox News Digital.

It’s a concern echoed deep into cattle country.

Texas cattle rancher Cole Bolton said he sees the same problem in the Lone Star State.

IN TEXAS CATTLE COUNTRY, ONE RANCHER WELCOMES TRUMP’S FOCUS ON DECADES OF THIN MARGINS

“What the real issue is, is the price differential between the big four packers and what they’re paying us for the product,” said Bolton, the owner of K&C Cattle Company.

Those margins, Bolton said, have been squeezed for decades. “Ranchers have dealt with such thin margins of profitability for the last 20 years.”

While ranchers like Bolton and Harris say Trump’s temporary expansion of U.S. beef imports from Argentina may help ease prices in the short term, both warn it is no substitute for rebuilding domestic production.

“Imports should be a bridge, not a long-term replacement,” Harris said. “We must rebuild the American cattle herd, protect American farmers and ensure transparency, so consumers understand where their beef comes from. Long-term affordability depends on a healthy, resilient domestic cattle industry — not permanent dependence on foreign beef.”

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Years of drought, high feed costs and an aging ranching population have thinned herds, leaving the U.S. cattle supply at its lowest level in more than 70 years.

“I think it’s going to take a while to fix this crisis that we’re in with the cattle shortage. My message to consumers is simple: Folks, be patient. We’ve got to build back our herds,” Bolton told Fox News Digital.

He noted that the cattle industry, over the last five years, has weathered one setback after another, from market turmoil to extreme weather conditions.

One of the most anticipated parts of Super Bowl Sunday is not necessarily the game, it’s the commercials throughout the big game.

Hundreds-of-millions in advertising revenue will hit the airwaves Sunday night, but not everyone is trying to get you to buy something. Viewers can expect to see anti-hate ads, ads that focus on Christianity, and ads supporting political candidates that want viewers to buy in to their political views.

A 30-second spot during this year’s game costs around $8 to $10 million.

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY MENUS ARE CHANGING; PARTY HOSTS SERVE UP SURPRISES THIS YEAR

1. Pro-Trump group commercial touting Trump Accounts

A pro-Trump nonprofit, Invest America, bought time during the pre-game broadcast to promote the president’s new tax-free “Trump Accounts,” which were established in the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act as tax-free savings accounts for American children, many of which will be seeded with $1,000 from the federal government. Children will be able to use the funds from these accounts for things like education expenses, or down payments on a new home.

The ad will feature children talking about the importance of investing.

“It’s gonna get a lot of attention. All your viewers, watch the Super Bowl right after the national anthem, we’re gonna have a big rollout,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last month on a local Midwest radio station. 

2. Another anti-hate ad from Robert Kraft

New England Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft’s nonprofit the Blue Square Alliance, which was formerly called the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, will have another advertisement this year against antisemitism. His group has been buying ad spots at the Super Bowl since at least 2022 to promote anti-Jewish hate messages. Last year, the group’s ad featured appearances from celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady. 

This year’s advertisement will focus on antisemitism among younger people, particularly those in schools. The ad encourages supporters to post an image of a blank blue square, resembling a sticky note, to illustrate their support against Jewish hate.

3. Michigan gubernatorial candidate’s “anti-halftime” ad 

A Republican candidate running to be Michigan’s next governor, Perry Johnson, has been sponsoring ads running from several days before the game up until Sunday evening, according to the candidate’s campaign. The advertisement, which will only be seen in select Michigan TV markets, urges folks to turn the channel during the Bad Bunny halftime show and tune into the halftime show being produced by the late-Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA). Bad Bunny’s selection by the NFL has created a political stir, with critics calling him anti-American.  

ANTI-TRUMP PERFORMERS LITTER SUPER BOWL LX IN CALIFORNIA

“Join me in changing the channel during halftime to Turning Point’s ‘All American Halftime Show’ for some great American entertainment during America’s game,” Johnson’s ad encourages viewers.

4.  Senate candidates’ campaign ads

Viewers in Maine and Texas will see advertising from the political campaigns of incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Democrat challenger to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, James Talarico, who is a state senator in Texas. 

Collins’ campaign ad was purchased on her behalf by One Nation, a nonprofit tied to the Senate Leadership Fund, the top super PAC for Senate Republicans. They are coughing up about $5.5 million for a several-months-long ad buy planned to focus on the Maine viewing market.

According to the local Portland Press, her 30-second ad features stock clips of firefighters while discussing Collins’ efforts to pass legislation banning “forever chemicals” linked to cancer. “Call Senator Collins and thank her for protecting Maine’s first responders,” a narrator concludes the advertisement, according to a version reportedly shared on YouTube.

Talarico, who reportedly spent more than $100,000 from his campaign to air his ad, according to local reports, shared his advertisement on social media. Talarico focuses on slamming billionaires and ethics, particularly related to campaign finance and congressional stock trading.

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“Millionaires don’t just influence politicians, they own them. That’s why I don’t take corporate PAC money. That’s why I fought to cap campaign contributions,” Talarico says in his ad. “In the Senate I’ll ban billionaires from making unlimited, secret donations. I’ll stop members of Congress from trading stocks. And I’ll raise taxes on those at the top to fund tax cuts for the rest of us.”   

5. He Gets Us ad  

The pro-Christian ad campaign that launched in 2022 with help from the family behind Hobby Lobby has been criticized over the years as its commercials have become a talking point following past Super Bowls. The campaign’s ads have typically focused on social conflicts and it plans to unveil yet another ad during this year’s game.

This year’s message touches on wealth, image, insecurity, digital addiction, fame and other pressures in life, rather than social conflicts, similar to ads they have done during past Super Bowls, according to pre-releases of the ad ahead of the game.

A relatively brief, but lucrative ICE surge into West Virginia netted roughly 650 illegal immigrant arrests earlier this month — a two-week, statewide operation officials say unfolded with little disruption and now stands as a counterpoint to the turmoil surrounding similar enforcement efforts in Minnesota.

From Jan. 5 through Jan. 19, federal agents fanned out across the Mountain State — at times working with local law enforcement — targeting illegal immigrants with criminal histories or prior deportation orders, DHS officials told Fox News Digital.

Officials involved contrast the West Virginia operation with recent tensions in Minnesota, where ICE-related enforcement actions have sparked sustained protests, surveillance of federal agents and confrontations with law enforcement.

“I think the most important thing to notice here is that West Virginia and similarly situated states … have made it very, very easy for criminal illegal aliens to be picked up and processed by ICE,” West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.

MANY OF AMERICA’S SAFEST CITIES ARE IN JURISDICTIONS THAT COOPERATE WITH ICE

Some of the operations even reached the state’s bluer-tinged Eastern Panhandle, the fast-growing exurb of Washington, D.C., where officials say cooperation, not confrontation, defined the response.

There, Jefferson County Sheriff Thomas Hansen confirmed a two-week operation with ICE in his jurisdiction, which includes Charles Town, Harpers Ferry and Summit Point.

“The (JCSO) was impressed with the professionalism and work ethic of the agents and how well they interacted with the citizens and local law enforcement officers,” Hansen said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

McCuskey said the lack of disruption in West Virginia reflected a cooperative approach that he argued prevented the kind of disorder seen elsewhere.

“When you contrast that with places like Minnesota, where you have Keith Ellison — who’s obviously embroiled in a massive fraud scandal involving Somali immigrants, et cetera, what you see is riots and violence,” he said.

McCuskey suggested the West Virginia mission shows Minnesota’s leadership can no longer blame federal law for its approach, noting that all states still operate under the same immigration statutes that have remained intact since the Obama administration.

TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION VICTORY IN A MINNESOTA COURT IS A WIN FOR ALL LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS

“All God-fearing Americans believe in immigration. We believe that the promise of this country should be available to those who want to come to America the right way, follow our laws, and become great parts of this incredible quilt that is the American experience,” McCuskey said.

“And if your first act as a hopeful new American is to break our laws, that trust has been broken.”

McCuskey also accused Minnesota’s leadership of failing on parallel issues, calling Ellison “dalliant” in confronting social services fraud.

“My office [oversees] the same things,” he said, noting West Virginia also has a high proportion of residents on entitlements but lacks the level of fraud he says plagues Minnesota.

Just across the Potomac River from ICE’s Martinsburg sting, Maryland Democrats lambasted ICE’s presence in Washington County.

ICE REVEALS ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ ARRESTS IN JUST ONE DAY AFTER ROUNDING UP ‘THUGS’ CONVICTED OF VILE CRIMES

McCuskey called that a “representation of the generalized idiocy of most of the Democrats in Congress, who have sat on their hands for the last 25 years and done nothing about the very immigration laws that they’re very angry about being enforced.”

Ellison, by contrast, showered protesters with praise at a recent public appearance, calling ICE’s operations a “federal invasion” and telling those assembled in the Twin Cities that he “wanted you to know that I was here with you, fighting with you, standing with you. Keep fighting, stand up strong, don’t back down.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Ellison and Gov. Tim Walz for comment, but neither office responded. DHS officials, however, said they expect states that cooperate with ICE to see similar success to West Virginia.

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said “work[ing] together can make America safe again.”

DHS told Fox News Digital of similarly low-profile ICE operations in Alabama, including activity near Birmingham that netted a violent illegal immigrant accused of stabbing a federal agent, along with enforcement actions in other cities reported by local media.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and Sen. Tommy Tuberville told Fox News Digital they will continue to welcome federal agents in the Yellowhammer State, with Tuberville, a candidate for governor, quipping that one mayor who has pledged to protect illegal immigrants “won’t like me very much” if he succeeds Ivey.

Those arrested in the West Virginia sweep included Mexican national Enrique Vergara — convicted of assault with a weapon — Guatemalan national Isaias Santos — convicted of several violent charges — Julian Garza, charged with auto theft; Brayan Canelis-Giron, charged with domestic violence and gun offenses; and Dennis Paz-Vallecillo, convicted of child neglect.

Not every Mountaineer leader was on board, however, as WVDP Chair Mike Pushkin — a state delegate from Kanawha County — told Fox News Digital people “have to be honest about what’s really going on here.”

FROM PROTEST TO FELONY: THE LINES MINNESOTA ANTI-ICE AGITATORS MAY BE CROSSING

“The difference between what you’re seeing in Minnesota and what’s happening in West Virginia isn’t complicated — it’s courage,” Pushkin said, crediting Minnesota leaders with standing up to President Donald Trump “trampl[ing] due process and ignor[ing] the Constitution.”

“Republican leaders here won’t even clear their throats — and trying to compare the size and scope of the Minnesota operation to what happened here is just silly. That’s like comparing a house fire to a burnt piece of toast and pretending they’re the same emergency,” he said.

Pushkin cited a Clinton-appointed judge’s order that some of the detainees be released, including two men picked up on the West Virginia Turnpike.

“In the court’s words, there wasn’t ‘a shred of evidence to justify the government’s position’ — that should be the headline. That should alarm anyone who cares about freedom or the rule of law,” Pushkin said.

“Minnesota leaders pushed back. West Virginia’s Republican leadership just clicked their heels, saluted, and fell in line.”

HOMAN ANNOUNCES DRAWDOWN OF FEDERAL PRESENCE IN MINNESOTA, HAILS ‘UNPRECEDENTED COOPERATION’ FROM LOCAL POLICE

Fox News Digital also asked several blue-state leaders about the cooperation contrast but heard back from only one.

A spokeswoman for California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that if the feds truly cared about getting “hardened criminals off our streets, they would pick up every person released from our state prisons that have immigration detainers placed on them.”

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Diana Crofts-Pelayo said there’s only a one-in-eight rate in that regard, which she said shows the Trump administration just wants to “cause panic and fear to ultimately ensure compliance to a dangerous immigration agenda that threatens Americans’ safety, affordability and freedom.”

A California source familiar with the immigration enforcement dynamic there said that immigrants who commit crimes are subject to certain exceptions that do allow local law enforcement cooperation with ICE, particularly those charged with a violent felony.

DHS said that cooperation with federal law enforcement is the safest and most effective option for state officials.

“Sanctuary politicians who refuse to cooperate with DHS law enforcement are wasting law enforcement time, energy, and resources, while putting their own constituents in danger,” McLaughlin told Fox News Digital, crediting West Virginia officials with allowing such a quick and effective operation and expressing hope that other states would follow suit.

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the Trump administration’s mass detention policy, allowing illegal immigrants to be detained without bond.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can lawfully deny bond hearings to immigrants arrested nationwide under the Constitution and federal immigration law.

Attorney General Pam Bondi reacted to the ruling, saying the Department of Justice (DOJ) “secured yet another crucial legal victory” in support of President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.

“The Fifth Circuit just held illegal aliens can rightfully be detained without bond — a significant blow against activist judges who have been undermining our efforts to make America safe again at every turn,” she wrote on X. “Thank you to Ben Hayes who argued this case, Brett Shumate and the @DOJCivil Division. We will continue vindicating President Trump’s law and order agenda in courtrooms across the country.”

BOASBERG ORDERS TRUMP TO BRING BACK CECOT MIGRANT CLASS DEPORTED IN MARCH

Circuit judge Edith H. Jones wrote in the majority opinion that “unadmitted aliens apprehended anywhere in the United States are ineligible for release on bond, regardless of how long they have resided inside the United States.”

Many illegal immigrants who were not detained at the border previously had the opportunity to request a bond hearing as their cases progressed, and those without a criminal history who were not deemed flight risks were often granted bond.

“That prior Administrations decided to use less than their full enforcement authority under” the law “does not mean they lacked the authority to do more,” Jones wrote.

SUPREME COURT ALLOWS TRUMP ICE RAIDS TO RESUME IN CALIFORNIA

Writing in dissent, Circuit Judge Dana M. Douglas said that the members of Congress who passed the Immigration and Nationality Act roughly 30 years ago “would be surprised to learn it had also required the detention without bond of two million people.”

Douglas noted that some of the people detained are “the spouses, mothers, fathers, and grandparents of American citizens.”

The ruling stems from two separate cases filed last year against the Trump administration, both involving Mexican nationals who had lived in the U.S. for more than a decade and were not considered flight risks, according to their attorneys.

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Although they did not have criminal records, both were jailed for months last year before a lower court in Texas granted them bond last October.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Nicki Minaj’s recent embrace of President Donald Trump, including her support for voter ID laws and public praise for the president, is now sparking a fresh wave of political reaction online with some fans saying they are leaving the Democrat Party and aligning with Republicans.

The fan posts, first reported by Newsweek on Saturday, surfaced after a week of heightened attention around Minaj’s political comments. 

Several self-identified fans, often known as the “Barbz,” said on X that Minaj’s stance had influenced their own political thinking.

One fan wrote on X, “Today is the day I switch to republican,” in a post that had been viewed more than 300,000 times. The user later wrote in replies that they had never voted before but planned to do so.

NICKI MINAJ PRAISES TRUMP, JD VANCE AT TPUSA EVENT, SAYS SHE HAS ‘UTMOST RESPECT’ FOR THEM

Another fan account posted, “Officially a Republican!!!!!!! I’ll never vote for a democrat ever again,” alongside a photo of Minaj and Trump. The post also surpassed 300,000 views.

A third account wrote, “MAGA BARBZ IT IS I will never vote dem again!!” in a post that drew more than 70,000 views.

The online reaction follows a series of political statements and public appearances by Minaj over the past week that drew widespread attention. Earlier this month, the rapper voiced support for voter ID laws in a post on X, questioning why the issue remains a subject of debate in the U.S. The comments drew praise from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla.

NICKI MINAJ PRAISED FOR SPOTLIGHTING CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION IN NIGERIA: ‘BODY COUNT IS JUST TOO HIGH TO IGNORE’

Days later, Trump publicly praised Minaj while walking the red carpet at the premiere of Melania, calling her “a terrific person” and “a winner.” Minaj has also appeared alongside Trump at public events, including the Trump Accounts Summit, where she described herself as “probably the president’s number one fan.”

As the conversation continued online, conservative activists and organizations pointed to the fan reaction as a potential opportunity for voter outreach. Scott Presler wrote on X that he would personally help Minaj’s fans register to vote or change their party affiliation.

Tyler Bowyer of Turning Point Action also weighed in, writing on X, “Nicki Minaj should go on tour and we can all help register tens of thousands of new voters through her concerts.”

UN AMBASSADOR EXPLAINS HOW ‘UNLIKELY’ TEAM-UP WITH NICKI MINAJ CAME TOGETHER FOR GLOBAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM PUSH

Minaj’s political shift has also drawn backlash from critics and some fans. Viral clips have circulated showing her music being booed in clubs, while online petitions calling for her deportation have gained traction. She has also faced public criticism from Trevor Noah at the Grammys last week.

Some critics have argued that Minaj’s alignment with Trump is motivated by a desire to secure pardons for her brother and husband. Minaj has pushed back on that narrative, saying that criticism of her political views “motivates me to support him more.”

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Despite the flurry of online discussion, it remains unclear whether the social media posts will translate into voter registration or turnout.

Fox News Digital reached out to Minaj’s representatives for comment but did not receive a response by publication time. 

Fox News Digital’s Lori Bashian, Ashley Carnahan, and Larry Fink contributed to this reporting.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard denied any wrongdoing on Saturday as Democrats question why a whistleblower complaint filed against her last May took nearly a year before it was referred to Congress.

“[Virginia Democrat] Senator Mark Warner and his friends in the Propaganda Media have repeatedly lied to the American people that I or the ODNI ‘hid’ a whistleblower complaint in a safe for eight months,” Gabbard wrote in a lengthy X post on Saturday. “This is a blatant lie.”

She continued, “I am not now, nor have I ever been, in possession or control of the Whistleblower’s complaint, so I obviously could not have ‘hidden’ it in a safe. Biden-era IC Inspector General Tamara Johnson was in possession of and responsible for securing the complaint for months.”

The highly classified complaint by a U.S. intelligence official alleging wrongdoing on the part of Gabbard was filed eight months ago with the intelligence community’s watchdog office and was first reported on by the Wall Street Journal.

EXCLUSIVE: GABBARD OUTLINES ELECTION SECURITY ASSESSMENT, PRESENCE AT FULTON COUNTY SEARCH

The complaint has been locked in a safe since its filing, according to the Journal, with one U.S. official telling the newspaper that the disclosure of its contents could cause “grave damage to national security.”

The whistleblower’s lawyer has accused Gabbard’s office of slow-walking the complaint, which her office has denied, calling it “baseless and politically motivated.” 

Meanwhile, Democrats are also questioning why it took her office so long to hand the complaint over to Congress.

TRUMP CONFIRMS WHAT TULSI GABBARD WAS DOING AT GEORGIA ELECTION CENTER

“The law is clear,” Warner, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Thursday, according to NPR, adding that the complaint was required to be sent to Congress within 21 days of its filing. “I think it was an effort to try to bury this whistleblower complaint.”

Neither the contents of the complaint nor the allegations against Gabbard have been revealed.

Gabbard wrote on Saturday that the first time she saw the complaint was “when I had to review it to provide guidance on how it should be securely shared with Congress.”

TRUMP CLAIMS DNI TULSI GABBARD WAS AT GEORGIA ELECTION HUB SEARCH BECAUSE AG PAM BONDI WANTED HER THERE

“As Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Warner knows very well that whistleblower complaints that contain highly classified and compartmented intelligence—even if they contain baseless allegations like this one—must be secured in a safe, which the Biden-era Inspector General Tamara Johnson did and her successor, Inspector General Chris Fox, continued to do,” she continued. “After IC Inspector General Fox hand-delivered the complaint to the Gang of 8, the complaint was returned to a safe where it remains, consistent with any information of such sensitivity.”

She claimed that either “Warner knows these facts and is intentionally lying to the American people, or he doesn’t have a clue how these things work and is therefore not qualified to be in the U.S. Senate.”

Gabbard further wrote that “When a complaint is not found to be credible, there is no timeline under the law for the provision of security guidance. The ‘21 day’ requirement that Senator Warner alleges I did not comply with, only applies when a complaint is determined by the Inspector General to be both urgent AND apparently credible. That was NOT the case here.”

An inspector general representative said that it had determined some of the allegations in the complaint against Gabbard weren’t credible, while it hasn’t made a determination on others, according to the Journal.

Gabbard said she was made aware that she needed to provide security guidance on the complaint by IC Inspector General Chris Fox on Dec. 4, “which he detailed in his letter to Congress.”

Afterward, she said she “took immediate action to provide the security guidance to the Intelligence Community Inspector General, who then shared the complaint and referenced intelligence with relevant members of Congress last week.”

In closing her post, Gabbard once again accused Warner of spreading “lies and baseless accusations over the months for political gain,” which she said “undermines our national security and is a disservice to the American people and the Intelligence Community.”

Warner’s office told Fox News Digital Gabbard’s post was an “inaccurate attack that’s entirely on brand for someone who has already and repeatedly proven she’s unqualified to serve as DNI.” 

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Republicans on the House and Senate intelligence committees have backed up Gabbard, with Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., writing on X on Thursday: “I have reviewed this ‘whistleblower’ complaint and the inspector general handling of it. I agree with both inspectors general who have evaluated the matter: the complaint is not credible and the inspectors general and the DNI took the necessary steps to ensure the material has handled and transmitted appropriately in accordance with law.”

He addded, “To be frank, it seems like just another effort by the president’s critics in and out of government to undermine policies that they don’t like; it’s definitely not credible allegations of waste, fraud, or abuse.”

Gabbard’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem has been a lightning rod for criticism amid anti-ICE riots that have rocked the country, sparked a government shutdown and left many wondering whether the nation’s 8th DHS secretary would keep her job.

Despite the mounting pressure, Noem appeared calm, collected, and confident during a trip this week that included a stop in Mississippi to assess winter storm damage recovery efforts, visits to the southern border in Texas and Arizona as well as the northern border in North Dakota, and a BBQ dinner hosted and served by Noem herself to Border Patrol agents in Arizona.

During the first half of the four-day stint, Congress was still dealing with a partial government shutdown largely over how to fund DHS. The House ultimately reached an agreement, funding the agency through Feb. 13, but Noem’s focus remained the same before and after the bill passed, and her schedule was left unchanged.

During an exclusive interview along the border wall in Nogales, Ariz., Noem told Fox News Digital that the national security functions of the agency are too vital to be sidelined by a spending fight.

BORDER CROSSINGS HIT 55-YEAR LOW — AFTER DEMOCRATS SAID REFORM WAS THE ONLY FIX

“Every day [DHS is] finding terrorists and removing them from our country, protecting our cybersecurity systems, our critical infrastructure,” Noem told Fox. “Only 11% of the DHS budget is ICE. The rest of it is FEMA, TSA, that runs our security checkpoints at our airports.” 

“It is also the Coast Guard, which is absolutely critical to our maritime protection and also partnering with the Department of War,” Noem added. “We have weapons of mass destruction, science and technology, our national labs.”

“We have a lot of responsibilities that we absolutely need to fund in order to do them properly. So I’m hopeful that Congress will recognize that and pass this bill quickly,” Noem said.

KRISTI NOEM TO TESTIFY BEFORE HOUSE COMMITTEE NEXT MONTH

But the debate around government spending wasn’t about the Coast Guard, FEMA or TSA. It was almost entirely based on one of the 23 agencies which Noem oversees – Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Specifically, it centered around ICE’s actions in Minneapolis, a so-called sanctuary city in which the local authorities provide only minimal support to federal officers enforcing immigration laws.

Since the beginning of the year, DHS estimates that Operation Metro Surge has resulted in the apprehension of 4,000 criminal illegal migrants in Minneapolis. The operation was launched mainly due to a fraud scheme that involved members of the Somali community in Minnesota.

The mission then evolved into a heated clash between agitators and federal officers that ultimately left two U.S. citizens dead, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both killed by federal immigration agents.

NOEM VOWS CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AFTER CATCHING ALLEGED DHS ‘PROLIFIC LEAKER’

Noem quickly labeled both Good and Pretti as “domestic terrorists” and said their deaths were due to impeding “law enforcement operations,” sparking outrage from Democrats and some Republicans who began to call for her resignation. 

Rumors swirled whether Noem would actually resign or if President Donald Trump would fire fire her, but the president told reporters shortly after the death of Pretti that he had no intention of relieving her from her position as head of DHS.

When Fox News Digital asked Noem what she believed the American people want when it comes to ICE enforcing the law using the same tactics that led to riots, deaths and assaults on both agitators and agents, Noem said “I think people would want less conflict.”

LEAVITT SAYS TRUMP WILL NOT ‘WAVER’ ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN DESPITE DEMOCRATIC BACKLASH

“[The American people] want to know that we’re enforcing our laws and that we are going after dangerous criminals, and they don’t want them to be released on the streets to perpetuate more crimes,” Noem explained. 

At some stops along Noem’s trip, agitators appeared. At a dinner she hosted inside a hotel in Tucson, Arizona, for CBP officers, protesters with drums, megaphones and seemingly pre-made signs gathered at the entrance of the hotel. Every other car driving by the demonstration honked, though it’s unclear whether they were honking in support or in disagreement with the protesters. 

A Quinnipiac University survey taken from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2 showed 58% of those questioned saying that Noem shouldn’t have the job.

DHS SECRETARY NOEM STANDS BY BODY CAMERA REQUIREMENT FOR FEDERAL AGENTS FOLLOWING TRUMP COMMENTS

Fox News Digital spoke with a GOP insider who pointed to Noem’s inexperience on the national stage, saying her time as governor of South Dakota didn’t prepare her for one of the most challenging roles in the presidential cabinet.

Despite the critics, Noem’s record on securing the border has proven successful, according to figures provided by the department and the Trump administration. Trump’s goal to deter illegal migrants from crossing the border, which was Noem’s mandate, has been a priority for the White House. 

More illegal migrants crossed the southern border in one average month under former President Biden’s watch than have crossed under Noem’s entire watch, according to DHS.

NOEM DEPLOYS TO BOTH BORDERS, SAYS ICE WON’T BE DETERRED BY SANCTUARY OFFICIALS WHO ‘WANT TO CREATE CONFLICT’

“We have over three million people that have deported, and that includes probably about 700,000 that we have detained and removed,” Noem told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “Beyond that, over 2.3 million have self-deported.”

“You know, you send the message around the world that America is now going to be enforcing its laws and making sure that if you’re in this country illegally, that you should go home, and we’ve been incentivizing that through a $2,600 payment and a flight,” Noem added. “Millions of people have taken us up on that.”

Trump defended Noem for a second time during remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday when discussing if he would relinquish her command at DHS.

HOUSE DEMOCRATS HOLD ‘SHADOW HEARINGS’ AS THEY BUILD CASE TO IMPEACH KRISTI NOEM

“Why would I do that? We have the strongest border in the history of our country,” Trump said. “We have the best crime numbers we’ve ever had going back to the year 1900. That’s 125 years. We have the lowest crime numbers.”

Trump also appointed Tom Homan, the former ICE director during Trump’s first term and the executive associate director of Enforcement and Removal Operations under President Barack Obama, to serve as border czar, a role previously held by Kamala Harris. 

Some reports painted a picture of an unspoken rivalry between Homan and Noem following Trump’s decision to put Homan in command of the situation in Minneapolis.

NOEM SLAMS DEMS, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FOR LACKING ‘COMPASSION’ AMID ANTI-ICE TENSIONS

But Noem told Fox News Digital she credited Homan for working to get local leaders in Minneapolis to come to the table and negotiate order in what has been a chaotic scene in the Twin Cities.

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“What people need to remember is that Democrat policies were destroying our country,” Noem said. “And President Trump came in and said, I’m going to protect the American people. It’s not going to happen anymore. “

“Since [the Biden administration], thousands of people’s lives have been saved just here, just right here on the border, because those migrants are not victimized anymore,” Noem added.

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is asking attendees at a Saturday campaign event to show government-issued photo ID — even while opposing similar standards for voters in federal elections.

Email confirmation information for an Ossoff rally in Atlanta detailed that “a matching government-issued ID will be verified against the RSVP list by name to enter.”

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who is running against Ossoff for a Senate seat in 2026, blasted what he called a double-standard.

VULNERABLE DEM’S SUPPORT FOR ALEX PRETTI COLLIDES WITH LAKEN RILEY ACT ANNIVERSARY

“Typical Jon Ossoff to say one thing and do another. It’s ridiculous that Jon Ossoff would require a government ID to listen to him speak about why you shouldn’t need a government ID to vote,” Collins said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Ossoff’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

In the wake of election security concerns highlighted by President Donald Trump in previous years, Republicans across Congress have made demands for tighter voter registration standards.

Most recently, lawmakers led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have called for the passage of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES THREATEN EXTENDED SHUTDOWN OVER ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURE

In its current form, the SAVE Act would embed proof of citizenship requirements into existing voter-registration pathways and require states to conduct stricter audits of their voter rolls. The bill also defines documentary proof of U.S. citizenship and links it to some form of photo ID.

It is currently illegal for noncitizens to participate in federal elections, although Republicans maintain that the standard is applied inconsistently, leading to easily-exploitable election vulnerabilities. 

Democrats like Ossoff have blasted the legislation, arguing that it would only make it harder for people with limited access to photo ID to participate in elections.

SCHUMER FACES BACKLASH AFTER CALLING SAVE ACT ‘JIM CROW’ DESPITE PREVIOUS ALLEGATION FALLING FLAT

“This is a nakedly partisan, totally unworkable, bad-faith bill cynically intended to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters,” Ossoff said in a statement on the SAVE Act as the bill made its way through the House of Representatives last year.

An earlier version of the SAVE already passed the House in April 2025, attracting bipartisan support in a 216-208 vote. Four Democrats joined Republicans to pass the bill.

Despite Ossoff’s previous opposition to the SAVE Act, his campaign event framed the requirement for photo ID as a security measure.

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“Due to security requirements … be ready to show ID that matches our RSVP list and these arrival instructions (printed or on your phone),” the campaign event’s confirmation email read.

The House Rules Committee, the final gatekeeper before most legislation reaches the chamber floor, is expected to consider an updated version of the SAVE Act in the House of Representatives on Monday.

Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas delivered a profanity-laden retort to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, amid a tense redistricting fight, arguing that Democrats had “f—ing finished” what she views as gerrymandering started by Republicans.

On Friday, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, signed a bill that would allow voters to weigh in on multiple amendments, including one that would allow for a mid-decade redrawing of the state’s congressional districts. Virginia lawmakers are aiming to put the amendments before the people on April 21, 2026, months before the midterm federal elections.

“Virginia voters deserve the opportunity to respond to the nationwide attacks on our rights, freedoms, and elections. Everyone deserves the freedom to marry who they love — and Virginia’s Constitution should affirm that all families are welcome in our Commonwealth. Women in Virginia deserve the freedom to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions without politicians dictating their choices. When Virginians have paid their debt to society, they deserve to regain their right to vote. And when other states take extreme measures, I trust Virginia voters to respond,” Spanberger said in a statement on her website.

VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS MOVE TO SEIZE REDISTRICTING POWER, OPENING DOOR TO 4 NEW LEFT-LEANING SEATS

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, slammed the legislation saying in a post on X that it was “a brazen abuse of power [and] an insult to democracy.”

Lucas, the 82-year-old Democrat who spearheaded the plan, hit back at the senator, saying, “You all started it and we f—ing finished it,” referring to a controversial redistricting effort in Texas that sparked fights over districts in several states.

Several social media users slammed the Virginia lawmaker, including Braeden Sorbo, son of actor Kevin Sorbo, who asked, “So now gerrymandering is okay?” Many other responses spoke about the origins of gerrymandering as a practice, while some mocked Lucas for her use of profanity and her complaining about Texas’ redrawn maps.

Democrats currently hold six of Virginia’s 11 congressional seats, and the new 10-1 map would likely give them four more. This has caused some Republicans to say that the map disenfranchises large numbers of voters in the commonwealth.

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Lucas had previously expressed a similar sentiment about the legislation during a news conference on Thursday.

“If Donald Trump had not started this power grab… we wouldn’t be in this place right now,” Lucas said, according to The Washington Post. “He started this mess, and Virginia is going to finish it.”

Democrats across the country were left fuming after the U.S. Supreme Court moved to allow Texas to use redrawn congressional maps. Many were upset because the proposal appeared to stem from the White House, as President Donald Trump proposed the idea of the mid-decade redrawing of maps in June 2025. The president is looking to fortify Republican control of the House, something he was unable to do in his first term when Democrats retook the House majority in 2018.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a vocal Trump critic, quickly jumped into the fight, with his state passing Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that will temporarily sidetrack the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and return the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democratic-dominated legislature. The move is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning districts in California, with the goal of offsetting the move made by Texas.

Several other states have also drawn new maps, including Missouri, North Carolina and Vice President JD Vance’s home state of Ohio.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser, Lindsay Kornick and Greg Wehner and Fox News’ Shannon Bream and Bill Mears contributed to this report.

One of the nine current leaders of Haiti’s transitional government admitted to Fox News Digital that his country is currently “helpless” to handle the return of its citizens, noting that Haiti relies on billions of dollars generated by U.S., Canadian and French-based migrants to keep its economy going.

Leslie Voltaire, a member of the nine-member transitional council leading Haiti ahead of scheduled elections later this year, described a state of total dependency on a “temporary” protected status that has now spanned more than 15 years, and which President Donald Trump is trying to end. Voltaire warned that a sudden termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) would trigger an immediate crisis as the nation lacks the economic infrastructure to reabsorb as many as 400,000 repatriated citizens from the United States.

“We think that we are helpless if another country is sending back our compatriots,” Voltaire told Fox News Digital. “We cannot do anything about it – just accommodate them, give them money to go back to their provinces and to their cities, help them with food, but it’s very painful due to the small budget that we have in the government.”

Trump tried to end Haiti’s long-standing TPS status during his first administration, but similar to today, federal judges stepped in to block the move. In November, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice indicating that Haiti’s temporary status would not be renewed this month, but in a subsequent 11th-hour ruling earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from ending Haiti’s TPS status. Reyes argued the move was likely motivated by “hostility to non-white immigrants” as opposed to an objective view of the ongoing situation in Haiti. 

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Shortly before Fox News Digital spoke with Voltaire Thursday evening, three U.S. warships arrived off the coast of Haiti ahead of the country’s Feb. 7 deadline for the council to transition power to a soon-to-be elected leader, or leaders. In addition to the U.S. ramping up its presence, the United Nations recently approved, with U.S. support, the deployment of a new Gang Suppression Task Force to Haiti to help with the ongoing violence there.  

When asked for specific metrics on when Haiti might be stable enough to no longer require its TPS status, Voltaire did not point to anything concrete, like a certain number of police officers, territory controlled, or national GDP. Rather, Voltaire said that Haiti needs more time, more investment, and greater security before the country can be considered stable enough to take back hundreds-of-thousands of its people.

“The problem of security in Haiti is mainly to have jobs,” Voltaire told Fox News Digital. “There are no jobs because there is no investment right now. There is no investment because there is insecurity. And also we have to provide services to the population, so, there is a huge need of cash, of resources – financial resources … if they come with 400,000 people that would be a huge problem.”

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Voltaire conceded the U.S. economy and migrant labor – pointing out Haitians living in the U.S., Canada and France bring $3 to $4 billion per year into Haiti through remittances – could be described as a “crutch,” indicating that around 85% of the country’s “professional” class resides abroad. 

Voltaire noted that Haitian leadership was currently “pleading” with U.S. leadership to give them a break on tariffs, something Voltaire thinks could improve his country’s economic situation. 

“We don’t have an economy that has the capacity to produce the kind of dollars that [migrant workers] are generating,” lamented Voltaire.

While admitting his nation is propped up by migrant labor from the U.S., as well as France and Canada, Voltaire simultaneously pointed the finger at the United States for the very poverty that necessitates the aid Haiti needs. 

Voltaire argued that a 19-year U.S. military “occupation” in the early 20th century “depleted” Haiti’s middle class by turning the country into a pool of cheap labor for neighboring sugarcane producers.

“I think one of the historic problems is that when the U.S. occupied Haiti between 1915 and 1934, they chose to use the Dominican Republic and Cuba as the sugarcane producers,” Voltaire said when asked about why the neighboring Dominican Republic has not dealt with some of the same instability as Haiti. “And Haiti, because it was densely populated, was treated as the labor for those countries. This is why we have like half-a-million Haitians in the Domincan Republic, and the same in Cuba … and we have been depleted.”

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Voltaire also cited the U.S. favoring the “dictatorship” of former president of Haiti between 1957 and 1971, Francois Duvalier, for the dire circumstances in Haiti and why the Domincan Republic has fared differently.

“The U.S. was favoring the dictatorship of Duvalier, which was bad with the Tonton Macoute, and which did not have the investment that we hoped we would have when Kennedy launched the Alliance for the Progress. We were not part of it. And we have been under a dictatorship, and then when the dictatorship disappeared, there was a dismantlement of the Haitian state that we have to re-consolidate,” Voltaire pointed out. 

Voltaire, who cited this history as a reason why 85% of its professional class, like university professors, artists and skilled technicians live outside of Haiti, mused that “maybe it’s a good thing” to begin repatriating Haitians back to their home country, but reiterated that economic and political development must continue for that to happen.