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The Senate wrapped up its summer session at 4:57 a.m. ET.

Senators knocked two major items off their checklist. They confirmed Todd Blanche as the nation’s 88th Attorney General. 

They also approved a bipartisan interim spending bill that likely goes a long way toward preventing a government shutdown in October.

But nearly as important as what senators accomplished is what didn’t get done.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: SUMMER ENDS, BUT THE SENATE’S FALL CRUNCH BEGINS

The Senate did not stay in session and attempt to pass the SAVE America Act. 

In fact, there was not even procedural stunting by the pro-SAVE America Act Republicans, who advocated blowing up the August recess.

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Moreover, the Senate did not take a vote on a budget framework which could enable them to eventually tack on some election integrity measures – and pass them at a later date in a bill not subject to a filibuster.

Expect some conservatives to rail against the Senate for not working this out. 

The SAVE America Act continues to lack votes. However, advocates of the bill can use the decision by the Senate to leave town without passing it as an opportunity to apply pressure on its opponents.

That said, the Senate did take a test vote on a more narrow voter ID bill backed by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio. The Senate blocked that bill. 

But the test vote got Democrats on the record for opposing it. And giving Husted a vote on his measure was a tactical move to boost his chances in a competitive race this fall against former Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

The Senate did not take a test vote on the bipartisan bill to regulate money for intercollegiate athletics – despite the endorsement by the Big 10 and SEC. 

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In fact, President Trump even implored the Senate to stay in session in August to pass the bill authored by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the panel. 

The legislation was beset by an internecine fight among Republicans about whether the legislation kept men from competing in women’s sports. 

The President published a full-throated endorsement of the legislation Friday night, declaring that the measure did go far enough. “Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying,” wrote the President on Truth Social.

 In an overnight statement, Cruz said that the bill was still in play.

“The good news is that when the Senate returns in September, the Protect College Sports Act will be one of our first orders of business, having locked in a vote,” said Cruz.

However, no vote is officially secured on the Senate docket.

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But what about a test vote on a bill to regulate cryptocurrency?

It was thought that the Senate might pursue that bill in the closing days of the summer session. But the differences were just too wide to close. 

However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., teed up a procedural vote on cryptocurrency for September 15.

Contempt of Congress.

It sounds bad. And it usually is.

But what does it mean?

Holding someone in contempt of Congress usually stems from them refusing to testify before a House or Senate committee or declining to provide documents and information requested by lawmakers. Especially if someone rejects an inquest by subpoena. 

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You refuse to cough up the goods, and Congress may try to hold you in contempt.

And if you’re held in contempt, lawmakers may send a referral to the Justice Department. That’s kind of a parliamentary suggestion box, informing the feds that House Members or senators believe you’ve earned prosecution. 

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted recently to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions at a hearing. The panel issued a subpoena to compel Fauci’s compliance. Republican senators say that’s all the more reason why Fauci should testify. They point to his pardon by then-President Joe Biden. That’s why they believe Fauci was obligated to answer their inquiries. Instead, he invoked the Fifth Amendment.

“On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution,” said Fauci.

Twenty-one words. Uttered an astounding 111 times. That’s a grand total of 2,331 words. Fauci never deviated from the script.

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Democrats say it was a Republican ruse.

“The goal was to wait for Dr. Fauci to make any kind of misstatement and then have a weaponized Department of Justice file criminal charges for that new statement that would not have been covered by the pardon,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.

So the panel took action. It voted 8-5 to hold Fauci in contempt. A party line vote.

“I’ve never voted to hold somebody in contempt. But if there’s one person that should be held in contempt, it is Anthony Fauci,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

He warned that the GOP gambit is dangerous.

“Criminal contempt is punitive. It does not compel a witness to answer questions or produce the documents we’d all like to see. What we’ll do is create a damaging precedent that future witnesses will use to resist legitimate Congressional oversight and weaken this committee’s ability to compel testimony.”

Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., was unbowed.

“We will hand carry this over to the Attorney General. We will hand carry this to the district court here in (the District of) Columbia,” said Paul.

Even though at the time, the DOJ only had an acting Attorney General.

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However, Paul was freelancing. He ignored the custom of the entire Senate voting to refer someone to the Justice Department for prosecution.

The Kentucky Republican himself previously sent other, unilateral referrals to the DoJ asking for Fauci’s prosecution. But those efforts never even went through committee. Fox can’t locate any precedent for such an independent maneuver. Especially circumventing the Senate floor.

Republicans control the Senate. It’s unclear whether there would be 51 votes to hold Fauci in contempt. But there is almost no scenario where the Senate could find 60 votes to break a filibuster on a contempt of Congress resolution of this nature. 

This is why Democrats argued that Paul is out of line.

“No individual center senator and no committee speaks for the entire Senate as a whole,” fumed Peters. “The chairman has also suggested he may attempt to refer this matter to the Department of Justice without approval of the full Senate. That would be even more dangerous and widely unprecedented.”

The DOJ says it “seriously reviews all Congressional referrals.” But Democrats believe the GOP’s disregard for Fauci invoking the Fifth could undermine any prosecution.

“It is almost certainly never going to be approved by a court because it violates basic constitutional rights,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

In a statement, Fauci’s attorney, David Schertler, accused Paul of trying to “weaponize the Justice Department” against his client. Democrats asserted that before Fauci’s hearing, Republicans cut them out of their inquiry.

“We have been excluded from witness interviews,” said Peters.

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But Republicans say Democrats showed no interest in their findings and revelations.

“They have all been uploaded on a website that you were invited to join,” said Paul. “You never even asked for the password.”

However, the Republican inquiry is just starting. Another Senate panel has now obtained a copy of the Health and Human Services phone Fauci used during the pandemic.

“It’s frustrating we haven’t gotten these devices until now. But now we have them,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., on Fox.

Johnson says decrypting that phone could answer questions which Fauci refused to address during the hearing.

Two interesting developments emerged since Fauci testified in late July. First, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeannine Pirro dropped her prosecution of former Olympian David Hearn for allegedly vandalizing the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. President Donald Trump then upbraided Pirro.

Does this mean that Pirro is doing things by the book? Would that diminish chances for prosecution of Fauci? Or, since Pirro enraged the president, could she redeem herself by prosecuting Fauci? After all, Trump said he wanted Fauci prosecuted.

However, the ultimate decision to prosecute is up to the new Attorney General, Todd Blanche. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, vowed to oppose Fauci. With former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., out, the GOP couldn’t lose any more votes without tanking the nomination. It boiled down to Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. – who was undecided. Cassidy announced Friday morning he would vote yea on Blanche.

“I am particularly concerned about episodes of apparent lawfare. DoJ bringing suits against political enemies. Presidents of both parties have been guilty of this. It must stop. It should stop now. A never-ending cycle of prosecuting political enemies undermines the rule of law,” said Cassidy. “I’m not entirely satisfied where where this is.”

But Cassidy said he was comfortable enough to confirm Blanche.

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Democrats will say any prosecution of Fauci is emblematic of the very weaponization which Cassidy fretted about. And this could be a special test case for the new Attorney General.

President Donald Trump could win the legal fight over his planned White House ballroom, say two legal experts who believe the U.S. the Supreme Court could end the case without weighing in on the underlying constitutional issue.

In a lengthy social media post Friday, Trump vowed to take the fight over his White House ballroom to the Supreme Court after the D.C. Circuit upheld a lower court order blocking above-ground construction. In a 2-1 decision, the appeals court ruled that the project cannot move forward without Congressional approval.

Trump pointed to the dissent written by Judge Neomi Rao, appointed by Trump in his first term, as grounds for appealing the decision to Supreme Court. Rao argued that the plantiffs, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, lack legal standing in the case.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation built its case for legal standing around Alison Hoagland, a member who lives near the White House and regularly visits President’s Park. Hoagland said she visits the area about once a month and argued that the proposed ballroom’s size and design would diminish her enjoyment of the area by overshadowing the White House and weakening its aesthetic.

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But according to Rao, the National Trust did not establish the kind of injury necessary to invoke the courts’ authority to block the project.

“The district court elevated the aesthetic displeasure of a single passerby over the government’s security interests in the ballroom and the security risks of leaving an open construction site at the President’s home and office,” Rao wrote.

Former Justice Department attorney Abhishek Kambli agreed, telling Fox News Digital the National Trust could face a particularly difficult hurdle on standing at the Supreme Court. He noted that, while Congress created the National Trust, the group still must show that its lawsuit is germaine to its interests.

“While they do have ownership of some properties, the President’s Park, where the White House East Ballroom is, is not one of them,” Kambli said. “And I think that’s going to be a very tough argument to sustain, especially with the Supreme Court, that’s more likely to agree with Rao than they are the [circuit court] majority, given the makeup of the Supreme Court, and the fact that the Supreme Court is very strict on standing.”

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Kambli also suggested that the National Trust faces a strong hurdle in proving it has standing based on aesthetic injury because it would have to prove it actually uses the space where the ballroom is being built

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“Normally, aesthetic standing requires that you intend to use it,” Kambli said. “So, for instance, if you’re planning to be visiting the East Ballroom — and even this is kind of a stretch — that’s one thing, but if you’re someone on the outside that just passes it by, that’s a little tougher.”

A similar standing issue surfaced earlier in July when U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama-appointed judge, rejected a lawsuit seeking to block the America 250 UFC event at the White House. He ruled that the plaintiffs had not met the standard of aesthetic harm to establish standing.

Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, said he expects Trump to prevail on appeal as well, based on the standing issue.

“Under Supreme Court precedent, you cannot bring a claim, you cannot bring a lawsuit, until and unless you can demonstrate a concrete, actual injury,” Spakovsky told Fox News Digital. “The idea that a passerby, who claims she will be aesthetically injured because of what she sees at the White House, has an actual injury is absurd, and obviously, and clearly defies that precedent.”

If the Supreme Court takes the case, it could resolve it without deciding whether the administration had the legal authority to build the ballroom in the first place.

TRUMP WARNS JUDGE AGAINST SACRIFICING NATIONAL SECURITY BY BLOCKING WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM, DRONE BASE

“The Supreme Court won’t rule on the substantive issue if it can dismiss the case based on a lack of standing by the plaintiffs,” von Spakovsky said. “I also don’t know of anyone else who could establish standing to bring a lawsuit. Perhaps Congress could collectively, but the chances of that happening are very slim given the partisan divides in both the House and Senate.”

The National Trust argued in its lawsuit that federal law requires Congress to approve new construction on federal property in Washington, D.C., while the administration says existing law already gives the president authority to make alterations and improvements to federal property, including the White House.

Abhishek agreed with Rao’s reasoning that the terms “alteration” and “improvement” should be understood in their ordinary real-property sense.

“For instance, if I have an extension to my house, it doesn’t become a new house,” Abhishek said. “It’s the same house, but that’s an improvement done on the house. Or if I tear down some walls and then just create an open living space in my like between my living room and my kitchen, that’s also not a new house at that point.

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“It’s the same house, but there was an alteration or an improvement done, so if you’re using real property terms, then it’s pretty clear how how the statutory authority would make sense,” Abhishek continued.

Nine Republican candidates vying to permanently fill late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat spoke directly to voters Saturday at an event in Florence County, South Carolina, where they addressed the war with Iran, the rising tide of socialism in the Democratic Party and potential privacy concerns around Flock cameras.

The event was hosted by Alan Wilson, South Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, who pitched the gathering a kind of “speed dating,” since each candidate was given six minutes to address the crowd.

The special Republican Senate primary is coming up on Aug. 11, which made Saturday’s event one of the last chances for the candidates to make their closing arguments to voters.

Here’s what they chose to focus on in their elevator pitches.

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Darline Graham

Sen. Darline Graham — who was chosen to finish out her brother’s term after his death in July — was the last to speak but was quick to tell attendees that she intended to earn their votes.

“I’m not a politician. I never wanted to be a politician. But like Lindsey, I have a servant’s heart. I am a hard worker. And yes, I have President Trump’s endorsement, but I know I have to earn your votes,” she said at the beginning of her speech.

She emphasized that she was not a “DEI” candidate, hyping her experience running the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, a state agency with a $90 million budget and dozens of employees.

“We help blind people and people with disabilities get jobs so that they don’t have to rely on the government. How is that DEI?” she said.

TRUMP MAY HAVE ENDORSED DARLINE GRAHAM, BUT GOP SENATE HOPEFULS AREN’T BACKING DOWN

She also made sure to highlight issues she and President Donald Trump agree on, including keeping transgender girls out of female sports, standing with Israel, supporting implementing voter ID through the SAVE Act and ending blanket birthright citizenship.

Graham briefly touched on socialism within the Democratic Party, calling it a problem that has to be stopped. She also described Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as crazy.

Her speech concluded by answering a question about Flock cameras, which can automatically read license plates and are being installed all over the country.

“I need to look into that one, because there’s two sides to that story. I know that some people are concerned about privacy and protecting their privacy, and I’m all for protecting the privacy of U.S. citizens. The other side of it is, if there’s an emergency situation that an ambulance can be called quicker, and it can save lives,” Graham said. “I’m going to be honest. That’s a hard one for me. So I want to look into it a little bit more.”

Ralph Norman

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., focused on his frustration with the Senate, calling it the place where “good bills go to die.”

He proposed overhauling the Senate’s rules to get measures like the SAVE Act passed.

“I will use my, whatever expertise I have to go to the Senate and force the vote, whether it’s blowing up the filibuster or having a walking filibuster or getting with the parliamentarian and changing some of these stupid, arcane rules that the Senate has,” Norman said.

The Senate filibuster allows a minority of senators to delay or block most legislation, effectively requiring 60 votes to advance a bill and making it harder for a narrow majority to enact its agenda.

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Following his remarks, Norman was asked a question about the extent to which AI data centers should be regulated.

He said the federal government should not have a role but appeared to disagree with Trump’s recent full-throated support of bringing data centers to communities around the country.

“Do I think it’s bad for the community? Yes. Do I think it hurts the environment? Yes. And I will do whatever I can,” Norman said.

Mark McBride

The key takeaway from former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride’s speech is that he broke away from Trump’s position on the war with Iran.

“Y’all, there is something we have to address if we’re going to win in November,” McBride said. “We need to end the war. We need to end the war now.”

“We just have to admit we’ve lost the war. We’ve lost this battle,” he continued. “Come home and regroup for another day.”

He then addressed the crowd, saying: “There’s not one of y’all in here who voted for President Trump a year and a half ago because this is where you thought we would be.”

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Sam Shepherd

Sam Shepherd, an engineer, inventor and entrepreneur, took the opposite approach to McBride, claiming he is “more conservative than Trump.”

Shepherd cast himself as someone who has the skills to fix complex issues within the bureaucracy and the military.

He also took a moment to one-up Elon Musk, the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency, arguing he had more patents than the Tesla billionaire.

“I’ve actually authored more patents than Elon Musk. I have 44. I’m asking for you to bring common sense back to the government,” Shepherd said.

Russell Fry

Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., spent much of his speech tying the affordability issues Americans are facing to “onerous regulations.”

“We see this on farms. We see this in every manner of our government — regulations strangle us,” he said. “You’ve got to get government out of the way if we’re going to solve this affordability crisis.”

In response to a question about how he would secure the border if elected, Fry started off by attacking former President Joe Biden’s work ethic and praising Trump’s.

“You actually have to have a president who’s awake for more than four hours a day, right? We went from a president who slept for 20 and was awake for four, to a president who is awake for 20 and sleeps for four,” Fry said.

Fry said he would work to close “loopholes Biden used” to grant thousands of Haitians and Nicaraguans asylum in the U.S.

Mark Sanford

Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford zeroed in on the ballooning national debt, which is about to reach a staggering $40 trillion.

Sanford, who also twice served as South Carolina congressman, said the debt is incomprehensible and unsustainable.

“We’ve got a federal government that goes out and spends money it doesn’t have, and then it turns around, and it prints money that’s not there,” Sanford said.

He argued that the growing national debt is inextricably linked to Americans reaching financial and life milestones later in life.

“The average age to buy a house, not that long ago, was 39 years of age, just 15 years ago. Today, that number is 59. In 15 years, it slid back 20 years, which is to say the American dream is becoming that much more difficult — whether it’s my four boys or y’all’s kids or grandkids out there,” Sanford said.

Mark Lynch

Mark Lynch, a businessman, was another candidate who favored getting rid of the filibuster.

He also said he wouldn’t “take a penny from AIPAC,” making him one of the few candidates, along with McBride, to stake out a position at odds with the field’s staunch support for Israel.

Lynch’s “number one” issue was his strong opposition to abortion. He talked at length about how he has spent time convincing women not to go through with terminating their pregnancies and how he has lobbied state legislators to toughen abortion restrictions.

Danny Ford II

Danny Ford II, the son of the championship-winning former head football coach at Clemson University, was the first to address Flock cameras and the potential privacy issues they raise.

He also talked about rapid data center development getting “out of control.”

“It’s getting pushed straight down our citizens’ throats without any say so,” he said.

On the issue of data centers, Ford said they need to be sustainable, produce their own power and not “leave a stain on South Carolina.”

Glenda Gail Parker

Glenda Gail Parker, a retired budget analyst with the U.S. Air Force, described herself as a conservative independent who leans Republican, but broke with Trump on energy policy, saying the country needs to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.

In response to a question about how she would ensure South Carolina farmers get the assistance they need after natural disasters, Parker said she would work to mitigate “the climate extremes that we are experiencing now.”

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“And I do that by reducing our consumption of fossil fuels, and lower[ing] the demand for fossil fuels. In fact, today I want to challenge the oil and gas companies,” Parker said. “Those companies that are interested in longevity must realize that they are in the energy business, not the oil and gas business. And so I would like to challenge the oil and gas businesses to clean up their image.”

She concluded by saying the U.S. needs to pursue solar, wind, geothermal energy and hydropower.

Hawaii voters will decide Saturday who advances to the November general election, with key contests including the race for governor and the battle to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District.

Gov. Josh Green, who was first elected in 2022, is heavily favored to win the Democratic primary, where he faces three little-known competitors. His challengers include George “Teva” Lucas-Tadeo, a Democratic socialist who has promised on social media to open a government-run grocery store and legalize recreational marijuana.

David “Duke” Bourgoin is mounting his second primary challenge against Green after losing to him in 2022, when he captured only 590 votes against Green’s 158,161. He also lost two bids for Honolulu mayor, in 2022 and 2024.

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Lauren Kapoliahiʻiaka Shim is also seeking the Democratic nomination. She is the CEO and founder of Aloha AI Incorporated, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Neither Lucas-Tadeo nor Shim had campaign websites, and none of Green’s three challengers had raised any money in the race as of June 30, according to Honolulu Civil Beat. Meanwhile, Green has raised approximately $3.5 million, far outpacing Republican Gary Cordery, the race’s second-highest fundraiser, who has raised about $313,000, according to Honolulu Civil Beat.

Cordery, owner of the contracting company Kingdom Builders, and Ken Fujiyama, an entrepreneur and investor, are competing for the Republican nomination and a chance to end nearly two decades of Democratic control of the governor’s mansion. The last Republican to serve as Hawaii governor was Linda Lingle, who held the office from 2002 to 2010.

Cordery has campaigned on lowering Hawaii’s high cost of living, expanding housing and cracking down on government waste and corruption. He has proposed adding 15,000 homes for working families, using state-owned land for housing and eliminating the state’s general excise tax on food and medicine. Fujiyama has also proposed a plan to tackle the housing affordability crisis by developing 100,000 residential lots and partnering with large landowners to spur growth.

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Whoever emerges from the Republican primary will face an uphill battle to unseat Green if he secures the Democratic nomination. Green holds a 56% approval rating, while the Cook Political Report rates the race “Likely Democrat” and gives Democrats a 13-point advantage.

Meanwhile, eyes outside of Hawaii will be locked on the Democratic primary in the 1st Congressional District, where state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole is challenging Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii.

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Case, who is seeking a seventh term, has represented the district since 2019 and argues that his seniority and position on the Appropriations Committee give Hawaii greater influence in Washington. Meanwhile, Keohokalole, who is endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders‘ group Our Revolution, is running on a progressive platform that includes Medicare for All and opposition to ICE and President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Keohokalole is seeking to portray Case as out of touch with Democratic voters, pointing to the congressman’s vote with House Republicans to pass Trump’s SAVE America Act, which would require voters to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

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Given the district’s strong Democratic lean, whoever wins the party’s primary will likely be favored to win the seat in November.

Polls close at 7pm local time.

Shannon Taylor, now the Democratic nominee in the race for Virginia’s First Congressional district, once endorsed progressive prosecutorial blueprints, advocating for less incarceration and more diversity as a Henrico County commonwealth attorney — some of the same “Democratic values” that ended in tragedy in other parts of Virginia.

Shortly after coming into the role in 2012, Taylor fired seven prosecutors under her.

“I stated publicly that the office needs to have more diversity and I’m going to keep to that public statement,” Taylor said in an interview ahead of the firings.

Her track record is sparking criticism that she used her role to prioritize ideological and political views at the expense of public safety. It’s also clashing with portrayals from her campaign, highlighting her work as a tough-on-crime figure as she looks to win over a Republican-leaning district.

FORMER PROSECUTOR WHO ACCUSED TRUMP OF WEAPONIZING DOJ WINS DEM PRIMARY

Taylor highlighted her work as she topped a crowded field of Democratic candidates vying to challenge Republican incumbent Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va.

“As Henrico’s top prosecutor for the last 14 years, Shannon has tried thousands of cases and put violent criminals, drug traffickers and abusers behind bars,” Taylor states on her campaign website. “She has a record of shutting down fraudsters trying to take advantage of working families and locking up violent criminals who threaten our safety.”

But that hasn’t always been the appearance she’s given.

After her seven firings, Taylor faced blowback for trying to hire a woman named Misty Whitehead as a police oversight prosecutor. However, before the role could be made official, social media posts from Whitehead surfaced that seemingly showed a pattern of attacking police.

Taylor faced backlash from the town’s county manager over her selected candidate.

“A county manager can’t tell a commonwealth’s attorney who to hire, but he can recommend whether or not local funds are included to supplement that salary. And in this case, I absolutely will not do it under any circumstances,” County Manager John Vithoulkas said at the time.

Whitehead had a history of voicing concerns about police behavior and social justice that raised concerns for at least one county official, according to local reports.

Taylor defended her pick, telling local outlets that she believed the posts were “thoughtful analysis of the current events we are all living through.”

Taylor also has ties to similarly-minded prosecutors in other counties — some of which entered the public eye recently due to tragic circumstances.

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In Fairfax County, Virginia, news broke that Abdul Jalloh, a 32-year-old illegal alien from Sierra Leone, stabbed a Virginia resident to death at a bus stop despite over 30 prior arrests and a known tendency for violent behavior.

Jalloh’s criminal record included charges of rape, malicious wounding, assault, drug possession, identity theft, trespassing, larceny and firing a weapon.

Even so, prosecutor Steve Descano had dropped many of them, prompting concern and outrage from lawmakers.

“You dismissed the case, and it’s shameful,” Rep. Brad Knott, R-N.C. said at a hearing where Descano was summoned to Congress to explain a series of similar cases.

Knott had been highlighting one such instance involving a child predator.

“When you dismiss a case, what happens to that defendant? He walks free. A disgusting, perverted individual preying on children, that you dismissed,” Knott said.

Long before Descano’s time in the spotlight, Taylor had endorsed Descano, supporting his bid to become county prosecutor in 2019, citing shared outlooks.

“I am excited to endorse Steve Descano for Fairfax County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney because I know he will prioritize the same Democratic values we all share, making Fairfax a safe and just place for everyone and I am looking forward to working with him,” Taylor wrote.

Taylor and Descano would go on to champion their shared values in a 2021 letter to the Biden Administration.

In it, the two joined 100 other district and county attorneys in championing a set of “21 principles for the 21st-Century prosecutor.” The authors claimed that “tough on crime policies” had been “anathema to justice,” championed an end to mandatory minimums and three-strike laws, advocated for taking immigration status into consideration when negotiating sentences and plea deals, and opposed calling rapists “rapists,” drug dealers “drug dealers,” and convicted criminals “felons” or “inmates.”

“A number of elected reform-minded prosecutors are boldly redefining what it means to be a prosecutor,” the letter states.

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At least one Republican onlooker blasted Taylor’s record.

“She spent her time reshaping the prosecutor’s office around identity politics, pushing a far-left agenda that put woke activism ahead of public safety, and fighting to turn Virginia into a far-left hellscape,” Emma Hall, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee (RNC), said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Instead of prosecuting criminals and making Virginia safer, DEI queen Shannon Taylor chose to be a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant.”

Having secured the Democratic nomination, Taylor now heads to the general election on Nov. 3. Wittman, the district’s incumbent, last won re-election in 2024 in a 56.3% to 43.5% victory over Democratic challenger Leslie Mehta, an attorney.

Former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown once praised data center expansion, records show, even as he now runs on a platform opposing their development in a bid to return to the Senate.

In 2015, Brown put out a press release celebrating the construction of a third data center in Central Ohio.

“This new data center is great news for New Albany and central Ohio. Amazon’s growth in central Ohio signals that this region is not only a great place to do business, but a place where people want to live and raise a family,” Brown said.

Now, just over 10 years later, Brown is painting Ohio’s 226 data centers as a drain on the state’s resources — a reversal that demonstrates how many Democrats have aligned themselves on the issue to press the case for affordability.

WATCH: GOP SENATOR UNLOADS ON ‘CREATURE OF WASHINGTON’ CHALLENGER IN CRITICAL SENATE SHOWDOWN

“Ohio’s electric grid — big corporations treat it like a game,” Brown said in a recent campaign video.

“[They’re] gobbling up energy to feed their data centers no matter how much it raises our prices. It’s the latest way they’ve rigged the system.”

Brown, who was originally elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006, lost re-election in 2024 to Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio. Now he is waging a comeback bid for Ohio’s other Senate seat against incumbent Sen. Jon Husted.

Husted, who has not yet won a full term in the Senate, was appointed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to fill the seat of now-former Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, when Trump tapped him to become vice president.

In the 2026 midterms, Democrats have hammered President Donald Trump and what they see as unfulfilled promises to bring down the cost of everyday items like food, fuel and housing.

While slightly removed from those specific items, an increasing number of Democrats, like Brown, have tied data centers to the issue, arguing that they do little to pay for their own costs in terms of water and electrical use. In their view, data centers are being subsidized by the communities where they’re being built.

FOX NEWS POLL: DEMOCRATIC UNITY, REPUBLICAN CROSSOVERS SHAPE OHIO SENATE RACE

Debates remain about whether their consumption has meaningfully changed utility rates in local communities and, if so, whether the companies should pay for the costs of their consumption.

Brown said he would support legislation along those lines.

“I’ll require the data centers to pay the full cost of their own electricity — not you,” Brown said.

Ohio, in particular, has become an increasingly important state in the data center conversation as companies like Amazon and Google have sought out state incentives for their construction.

In 2013, the state legislature passed tax exemptions for the “sale, storage, use or other consumption of computer data center equipment.” The law gives the Ohio Tax Credit Authority (TCA) the power to approve tax exemptions for companies that invest more than $100 million over three consecutive years. Not all centers are automatically qualified to participate in the benefit and can receive a partial exemption.

The move has attracted sizeable investment but also cost the state $1.6 billion in forgone revenue in 2025, according to the Ohio 2026-2027 Tax Expenditure Report.

It’s unclear if Brown would support more than just a requirement that data centers pay for their electricity and whether he would consider other legislation to slow their development. In his 2015 press release, Brown noted that the centers had created new job opportunities with their openings.

TOP ENERGY GROUP WARNS WEALTHY FOREIGNERS ARE POTENTIALLY BANKROLLING ANTI-DATA CENTER CAMPAIGNS ACROSS US

“I look forward to working to ensure that our region’s burgeoning logistics hub continues to grow – creating good jobs for Ohioans and helping businesses prosper,” Brown wrote.

His office did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital about the scope of his objections to data center developments in Ohio.

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Having secured his party’s nomination for the seat, Brown will face Husted in the state’s Nov. 3 general election.

Pro-Israel college students who have watched socialism and anti-Israel activism gain ground on campus say the same political currents are now colliding with the Democratic Party — and the backlash is pushing some young Jewish voters to the right.

“Even before the craziness of the post-October 7 campus climate, it was already an underlying sense of, ‘America is bad and we’re gonna learn about that,'” University of Michigan rising senior Addison Stone told Fox News Digital.

Speaking at the Israel on Campus Coalition’s national summit in Washington this week, students said political currents they have watched spread on college campuses are increasingly surfacing in Democratic politics, particularly as the party’s progressive wing gains ground and clashes deepen over Israel.

Dylan Goldman, a rising senior at UC Berkeley, identified himself as “left leaning” and told Fox News Digital that Democratic lawmakers welcoming the popular socialist candidates – who overwhelmingly hold hostile postures toward Israel – are making a “really poor move.”

DEMOCRATS LURE ‘POLITICALLY HOMELESS’ GEN Z TOWARD SOCIALISM — A COUNTERATTACK IS TAKING SHAPE

“Jewish Democrats who are not single-issue voters… now feel so alienated by our own party that it’s pushing us conservative. It’s pushing to go further right,” said Goldman.

Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive whose campaign drew support from the democratic socialist movement, won Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary Tuesday, adding to a string of victories for left-wing candidates challenging the Democratic establishment as the party battles for control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.

The conference brought hundreds of pro-Israel students to Washington for advocacy training, networking and discussions on supporting Israel, combating antisemitism and strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship on college campuses.

“The academics don’t help, but they’re sort of helping indoctrinate the next generation and the next generation with the combination of learning about that in classes and going on social media and seeing it and the DSA trying to make everything cool with communism,” Stone said. “You’re really seeing the outcome of that on college campuses where they’re burning both American and Israeli flags.”

JEWISH MICHIGAN DEMOCRATS ADMIT THEY WILL VOTE REPUBLICAN IF ABDUL EL-SAYED BECOMES NOMINEE

As those political divisions play out nationally, organizers at the summit said Jewish students are still confronting the campus hostility that helped bring many of them to Washington.

“What’s happening to Jewish students on American campuses should alarm every American,” Israel on Campus Coalition CEO Jacob Baime told Fox News Digital. “The hostility is out in the open now: mobs on the quad, intimidation in the classroom, and harassment online. But here’s what the mob didn’t count on: this generation isn’t backing down.”

“These students are the proudest, toughest, most organized pro-Israel cohort we have ever seen. This week we brought more than 1000 campus leaders to Washington to train and equip them with the skills they need to go back to campus ready to fight for what they believe in,” he added.

FETTERMAN WINS PRAISE FOR ‘GUTS’ AFTER GOING TOE-TO-TOE WITH JON STEWART OVER ISRAEL SUPPORT

Fetterman, who spoke at the Israel on Campus Coalition’s flagship event, said the Democratic Party’s shifting posture toward Israel and the Jewish community is becoming increasingly consequential.

His support for Israel has repeatedly put him at odds with members of his own party, including over the broader conflict in the Middle East and his backing of President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

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“I think I was the only Democrat to support the Trump administration to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities,” Fetterman told Fox News Digital. “If you don’t want them to acquire a nuclear bomb, it’s pretty reasonable to bomb their nuclear facilities.”

Fetterman argued the threat extends beyond Israel, casting the confrontation with Iran as a larger battle over American values and the West’s role in the region.

“The problem is Iran. That’s the problem,” he said, later adding, “I’m proud to stand for America, civilization, democracy, and Israel is our special ally that represents all of that in that region.”

Senate Republicans may have left Washington on a high note early Saturday morning, but they left one major item on the table: passing the SAVE America Act.

It’s the bill that has dominated President Donald Trump’s attention span and garnered heavy criticism against Republicans in the upper chamber for not being able to pass it.

And despite guarantees from some in the party that they would object to leaving until Sept. in order to pass the voter integrity bill, lawmakers’ suitcases were packed and ready for the airport. It’s one of several agenda items that didn’t get finished prior to the lawmakers’ vacation, and one that will have to wait until next month. But its biggest proponents appear okay with that outcome.

SCHUMER CAVES, HANDS REPUBLICANS SHUTDOWN WIN AFTER MONTHS OF UNCERTAINTY

“We’re not dropping SAVE,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said. “It’s a matter of time.”

Time between now and the end of this session of Congress will be an increasingly short commodity to come by.

The Senate returns the third week of September and will be tasked with moving two massive bills dealing with cryptocurrency regulations and money in college sports, both of which didn’t make the cut during the upper chamber’s last week in town.

Then they’ll leave once again for nearly the entire month of October in preparation for midterm elections in early November.

SCHUMER SAID ‘DEMOCRATS SUPPORT VOTER ID’ — THEN EVERY SENATE DEMOCRAT VOTED AGAINST GOP BILL

Another priority heavily pushed by Trump and the administration, taking another crack at the party line budget reconciliation process, was detoured, too.

That process is how Republicans hope to pass the SAVE America Act without Democrats getting the chance to block it with the filibuster. Republicans were ready to vote on the $150 billion budget blueprint drafted by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., until Trump intervened over concerns that it would fail.

The push was paused after Johnson, who just took over the Senate Budget Committee, Lee and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., huddled in the office of Senate Majority Leader John Thune after speaking with Trump.

Johnson said Trump agreed that the best path forward was to “just work diligently through August into September to do an actually better budget reconciliation bill.”

Republicans want to crank up the defense spending in their budget framework — Johnson said that War Secretary Pete Hegseth made a “very convincing case” to beef up the funding by $350 billion as the war in Iran continues and munitions dwindle.

Still, whether the gamble to incentivize states to take up portions of the SAVE America Act will work remains unknown, given that the Senate’s rules chief will ultimately decide if the provisions pass muster with reconciliation’s guardrails.

BLANCHE SURVIVES REPUBLICAN DEFECTORS AS TRUMP GETS HIS NEW ATTORNEY GENERAL

Taking another shot at reconciliation that doesn’t include cost-of-living elements or affordability-minded provisions hasn’t been a popular subject among Senate Republicans, especially heading into midterms.

Thune acknowledged that there was an appetite among Republicans to use the legislative tool to muscle through defense funding and try to include elements of the SAVE America Act.

The top Senate Republican, unlike others in his conference, hasn’t been gung-ho about turning to reconciliation for a third time. That appeared to subtly change early Saturday morning.

“I think at some point, we’re going to need to do another reconciliation bill,” Thune said.

Meanwhile, Republicans were able to accomplish several items on their to-do list Saturday morning.

They passed a short-term funding extension until early December to take away Democrats’ ability to politicize another government shutdown, advanced a bone-crushing Russia sanctions package and confirmed acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to lead the Department of Justice with the command of a Senate-confirmed cabinet member.

But Democrats blocked a voter ID bill from Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, and hurdles remained for the massive, cryptocurrency bill known as the Clarity Act, and Sen. Ted Cruz’s, R-Texas, legislation going after Name Image and Likeness (NIL) funding in college sports.

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Perhaps the most glaring omission, however, was a vote on whether to cancel the August recess.

Lee had pushed for a full vote on the Senate floor as part of the Senate’s push to reach a broader agreement on several legislative items. Instead, he accepted a voice vote, uttering a quiet “no,” on the floor against the forthcoming recess.

“Would it have been better if we had passed SAVE America already? Absolutely,” Lee said. “Would it be better if we had the votes right now? Yes. We, for a variety of reasons, don’t have the wherewithal to pass it right now.”

“No, no, no, [its] Democrats,” Johnson interjected. “The reason is Democrats. Democrats refuse to vote for any kind of voter integrity measure, that’s just the reality of the situation.”

Senate Democrats blocked a key component of the SAVE America Act that, in the past, they have supported.

During the wee hours of Saturday morning, Senate Republicans tried and failed to get Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his colleagues to back a stripped back voter ID bill amid a spree of last-minute legislative business.

But Senate Democrats, including Schumer, have for years espoused support of identification to vote. Several states with Democratic senators have voter ID laws, too.

SCHUMER, DEMOCRATS SAY THEY SUPPORT VOTER ID, THEN BLOCK GOP AMENDMENT TO REQUIRE IT

“Democrats support voter ID,” Schumer said in March. “In fact, we included it, and it is included, in our Freedom to Vote legislation several years ago.”

Schumer and his entire caucus voted against the bill from Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, nonetheless. Requiring identification is already the practice in 36 states. Of those, 23 require photo ID, while 13 accept another form of identification, such as a bank statement. Nine of those states have Democratic senators.

It was the last stand of the night for the Senate, which is gearing up to leave Washington, D.C., for several weeks of valuable campaign time in vulnerable incumbents’ home states.

SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH ELECTION DAY DEADLINE FOR CALIFORNIA’S MARATHON BALLOT COUNTS

And it comes as Republicans have so far tried and failed to find a path forward for the SAVE America Act, which Democrats, along with a handful from the GOP, have blocked numerous times in a variety of configurations.

Husted’s bill would have prohibited state and local election officials from providing a ballot to vote in federal elections unless a person provided a valid form of identification.

Husted’s bill teed up a plethora of options, including an unexpired driver’s license with a photo, an unexpired state-issued ID card with a photo, a valid passport, a valid military or veteran ID with a photo or an unexpired tribal ID with a photo.

It’s also not the first time Democrats have blocked it. In March, Republicans tested their support of voter ID for the first time in a vote to attach Husted’s bill to the SAVE America Act. It failed on party lines then, too.

TRUMP KEEPS CALLING THUNE DESPITE PUBLIC FIGHT OVER SAVE AMERICA ACT

After it became clear that President Donald Trump’s top legislative priority was not going to be passed nor even considered before lawmakers exit Washington, D.C., Republicans opted to take one last crack at Democrats’ resolve.

“We’ve got many Democrats, who have said, ‘I’m just fine with voter ID,’” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said. “Voter ID is a major component of SAVE America, and they’ve said that over and over again when we had it on the floor in late February and early March.”

“It was the argument that I heard from many of these people, as it was on the floor for hours and hours at a time, saying, ‘I’m okay with voter ID, don’t like this,’” he continued. “So we’re gonna find out where they are.”

Lee has been the loudest supporter of the SAVE America Act in the Senate, pushing and prodding his colleagues on X to get on board with passing the package.

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Republicans had a chance earlier in the night to begin the work of crafting a version of the SAVE America Act with a budget blueprint that, if successful, would have teed up the partyline budget reconciliation process, but were called to stand down by Trump.

Now, they don’t return until early September, just weeks out from a midterm election that could reshape the balance of power in the Senate.

Once thought doomed, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department has survived the Senate and now will take the helm as the nation’s top law enforcement official.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was confirmed early Saturday morning as part of a mad blitz by lawmakers to wrap up their work and jet from Washington, D.C. Now, he’ll officially replace Pam Bondi as attorney general.

Blanche, who is Trump’s former personal lawyer, nearly saw his confirmation hopes go up in smoke as Republicans struggled to swallow his role in rolling out the nearly $2 billion anti-weaponization and sweeping IRS audit immunity for the president and his family.

TRUMP’S AG PICK SURVIVES — FOR NOW — AS REPUBLICANS QUESTION IF WHITE HOUSE DEAL WILL HOLD

However, a last-minute ally emerged: Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who announced on Friday that he would back Blanche’s confirmation after spending days keeping tight-lipped on his decision.

Though he was concerned about weaponization at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and just how binding an agreement to nix the anti-weaponization fund and limit Trump’s audit immunity would be, he argued that having a Senate-confirmed attorney general was a better option than a placeholder.

“Mr. Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this,” Cassidy said on the Senate floor. “But the choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general, who may not run the department effectively under President Trump.”

TRUMP’S PICK FOR TOP LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL GETS CRUCIAL LAST-MINUTE LIFELINE FOR CONFIRMATION

Still, Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, joined all Senate Democrats to oppose Blanche’s confirmation.

Murkowski announced her opposition hours before Cassidy’s lifeline. She contended that despite Blanche’s trek to Alaska and numerous meetings with him, she could not support him to be the next attorney general.

She was worried about his connection to the anti-weaponization fund, a weaponized Justice Department, Blanche’s role in the Epstein Files release, and the uncertain future of the fund, which several Republicans have raised concerns about over whether taxpayer dollars would flow to rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

TRUMP ADMIN PUSHES BACK ON ‘SLUSH FUND’ ATTACKS AGAINST ANTI-WEAPONIZATION FUND AND LAYS OUT WHO QUALIFIES

“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” Murkowski said. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”

Collins raised similar concerns earlier in the week, and was the first Republican out of the gate to cast doubt on Blanche’s chances of confirmation.

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“While I believe Mr. Blanche is a capable lawyer, the Department of Justice has become increasingly political,” Collins said. “Mr. Blanche has taken several actions that have further eroded the Department’s independence, and that is the basis for my vote to oppose his confirmation.”

The Senate advanced its solution to avert a government shutdown on Saturday, capping off several months of hand-wringing that, if given the chance, Senate Democrats would use a shutdown to score political points in November.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus relented, and stayed true to the bargain they struck with Republicans to keep the government funded well past Election Night and into early December.

The about-face, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital, appeared to be a political calculation on Schumer and Democrats’ part.

SCHUMER CLAIMS VICTORY AS SENATE MOVES TO AVERT SHUTDOWN; GOP SAYS HE GOT PLAYED

“I think they didn’t want to spend the next, well … three months defending attacks from Republicans about wanting to shut the government down,” Thune said.

“I mean, I think there was a narrative starting to build out there based on what’s happened the last 12 months, which I think, they probably — you know, these guys are political animals,” Thune continued. “I’m assuming those guys are polling all the time.”

DEMOCRATS BLINK AS SCHUMER HELPS GOP CLEAR KEY SHUTDOWN HURDLE

And Schumer claimed victory over the process, arguing that Democrats “for months” wanted to keep the government open, and had scored key concessions from the Trump administration on an ensuing rule change to federal grants in the bipartisan continuing resolution (CR).

“We want to reach across the aisle and hammer out a budget that delivers for the American people,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “Today, [this] CR gives us the breathing room necessary to work out a budget that helps make life more affordable to working families and reigns in Trump’s rampant chaos, his rampant corruption.”

However, Republicans have been messaging for months that congressional Democrats wouldn’t bat an eye at shutting the government down again. In the Senate, efforts have been made to inflict pain on lawmakers should another shutdown happen, like agreeing to forego their paychecks in the event of a closure.

SENATE TAKES MAJOR FIRST STEP TO PREVENT FUTURE SHUTDOWNS WITH PAINFUL ACCOUNTABILITY PLAY

That follows two government shutdowns that etched their way into the record books at 43 and 76 days, respectively, but the political winds didn’t appear to be in Democrats’ favor this go-round, the top Senate Republican said.

“And I think they see an issue set that works for them going into the fall election, and I think they view a government shutdown or the prospect of not funding the government as creating uncertainty that perhaps didn’t help their chances,” Thune said.

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While the shutdown fight is over in the Senate, for now, it will continue on in the House.

And if passed, it will give lawmakers breathing room to continue stalled negotiations to fund the government through the appropriations process. However, by then, Congress will be in the post-midterm election lame duck period. And dependent on the swing of the political pendulum, there may not be much appetite to reach a broader funding deal.

“Us having a budget done on December 11? It takes on whiffs of frozen hell, donkeys flying,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said. “I mean, it’s probably not gonna happen.”

As Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation appeared headed for sure defeat, one on-the-fence Senate Republican gave him, and President Donald Trump, a vital lifeline. 

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., has remained quiet throughout this and last week on how he would vote on Blanche, who barely survived his confirmation vote from the Senate Judiciary Committee. Now, after conversations with Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Justice (DOJ), the pieces are in place to confirm Blanche. 

“I will vote for Mr. Blanche,” an emotional Cassidy said on the Senate floor. “I’ll be criticized for this vote. What’s new? But the people of Louisiana can be assured that I worked hard to understand the issue and to make the right decision.” 

COLLINS DROPS THE HAMMER ON TRUMP’S PICK TO LEAD DOJ, JEOPARDIZING PATH TO CONFIRMATION

With Cassidy’s green light, Blanche has a chance, even with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., missing in action. But to be confirmed, Senate Republicans will need an assist from Vice President JD Vance. Still, it’s unclear whether the Senate will actually vote on Blanche on Friday, which could be the upper chamber’s grand finale of the summer before it exits Washington, D.C., for the remainder of August.

Cassidy explained that after a series of conversations with Blanche and former DOJ officials, including former Attorney General Bill Barr, he reached the conclusion to support Trump’s pick, even after having sparred with the president since being ousted from office by him earlier this year. 

He contended that Blanche has been “criticized for things over which he has no control,” like Trump’s pardons of Jan. 6, 2021, rioters who stormed Capitol Hill, but was still leery of his role in the nearly $2 billion anti-weaponization fund, which the president has signaled he wants to revive. 

But he argued it would be better to have an attorney general confirmed by the Senate that could, if needed, stare down Trump on issues. 

“I am realistic that President Trump can be unrelenting on this, but this will be true no matter who the attorney general is,” Cassidy said. “And this is the rationale for having a Senate-confirmed attorney general with more leverage to push back.”

TRUMP’S AG PICK SURVIVES — FOR NOW — AS REPUBLICANS QUESTION IF WHITE HOUSE DEAL WILL HOLD

It comes after Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, announced that she would not support Blanche’s nomination to be the nation’s top prosecutor and law enforcement official, dealing another blow to his rocky confirmation process.

Her defection, despite a heavy lobbying effort by Blanche that saw him make the trek to Alaska, means that Senate Republican leadership can’t afford to lose any more votes to get him across the finish line, given that Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., though now back home, has still not returned to the Senate.

Murkowski acknowledged Blanche’s visit to Alaska and heavy lobbying effort throughout the last few weeks, but it’s his connection to President Donald Trump’s nearly $2 billion anti-weaponization fund, and broader concerns of a weaponized Justice Department, that proved the nail in the coffin for her.

“The politicization — even weaponization — of the Department did not start with this administration but has accelerated during it,” Murkowski said in a statement. “I take issue with the handling of the release of the Epstein files; the sweeping immunity protections granted to the President, his family, and their businesses; the statements that have been made to anti-abortion groups; and the repeated targeting of individuals ranging from former administration staff to sitting U.S. Senators.“

“I am also keenly aware that the Department’s nearly $2-billion dollar slush fund—which likely would have rewarded January 6 protesters—is only off the table because this nomination is pending and the Senate has leverage,” she continued. “Once we vote, that will end, and there is no telling what the future holds.”

TRUMP THREATENS TO YANK HIS OWN AG NOMINEE AS GOP REVOLT GROWS

To Murkowski’s latter issue, several lawmakers on both sides of the aisle acknowledge that though Blanche and the DOJ agreed to permanently rescind the fund in writing to Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, there’s nothing stopping Trump from reviving it.

And on several occasions, he’s made clear he wants to see it come back.

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“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” Murkowski said. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”

Before making her decision, Trump already took a swipe at her during an interview with Punch Bowl News published Friday morning.

“I’m against Murkowski,” Trump said. “I do more for Alaska than any president in history. No president’s done for Alaska what I’ve done. She’s not good.”

The Pentagon is drafting a new nuclear strategy aimed at giving President Donald Trump more options for using shorter-range nuclear weapons in a potential regional conflict with China or Russia, according to a report.

The classified effort, led by Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby, would put greater emphasis on tactical nuclear weapons — systems intended for use against military targets in a regional conflict — rather than relying primarily on long-range strategic forces, NBC News reported, citing five people familiar with the plans.

The strategy is designed for scenarios in which China or Russia attacks a U.S. ally and Washington must determine how to respond without immediately escalating to a large-scale strategic nuclear exchange, according to the report.

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

“Our view is that we need credible nuclear options,” a senior War Department official told NBC. The official said the strategy would “expand the President’s option space by providing him with realistic and credible options and therefore strengthen deterrence.”

The reported shift comes as the United States confronts two nuclear-armed adversaries with increasingly capable arsenals.

Russia retains a large stockpile of theater nuclear weapons and has repeatedly invoked its nuclear capabilities during the war in Ukraine. China, meanwhile, is rapidly expanding and modernizing its nuclear forces, creating what U.S. military officials increasingly describe as a two-peer nuclear challenge.

Tactical, or non-strategic, nuclear weapons are generally designed for theater or regional use rather than long-range strategic missions. They often have shorter-range delivery systems and may be intended for military targets.

But the label does not mean they are limited in consequence: a nuclear detonation could kill large numbers of people, spread radioactive fallout and trigger nuclear retaliation.

US FALLS BEHIND IN HYPERSONIC RACE AS CHINA, RUSSIA GAIN EDGE

The War Department has not publicly announced a change in nuclear employment policy or a new tactical nuclear weapons program. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

The review also comes six months after New START, the last treaty limiting U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals, expired without a replacement, leaving Washington and Moscow without binding limits or inspections for the first time in decades.

The treaty did not cover tactical nuclear weapons, an area in which Russia holds a substantial numerical advantage. U.S. Strategic Command estimated this year that Moscow possesses up to 2,000 theater nuclear warheads.

Russia has long relied on its non-strategic nuclear arsenal in part to offset NATO’s conventional military strength. China’s growing arsenal is adding a separate challenge for Pentagon planners preparing for the possibility of confronting two nuclear-armed competitors.

Supporters of the Pentagon’s reported shift argue that giving Trump more credible limited-response options could strengthen deterrence by convincing an adversary that Washington has ways to respond short of an all-out strategic exchange.

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Critics argue that putting greater emphasis on weapons intended for regional use could lower the threshold for nuclear employment and increase the risk that a limited conflict spirals into a broader nuclear war.

President Donald Trump on Friday urged U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to take a second look at the recently dropped charges over vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

“Now that people are able to see it up close, they are reporting pure VANDALISM at The Reflecting Pool,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, sharing photos from a freelance photographer that allegedly showed vandalism.

The president claimed that “People were on their knees with their hands in the water at the exact location of the ‘slashes.’ Additionally, there were witnesses to the VANDALISM, and the flexible areas of the material were cut with a knife.

TRUMP SAYS HE ‘DISAGREES 100%’ WITH U.S. ATTORNEY JEANINE PIRRO OVER REFLECTING POOL CASE

“U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro should re-visit her hastily made decision, especially since it turned out that the ‘gentleman’ involved is a big player in ActBlue, a disgraceful fundraising SCAM, and is represented by a TRUMP DERANGED SLEAZEBAG, Political Hack Lawyer, Norm Eisen, and CREW, a group that uses ‘charity’ for political purposes which is, to the best of my knowledge, ILLEGAL!”

Trump has been highly critical of Pirro’s decision to drop the felony vandalism case against former Olympian David Hearn last Friday.

Earlier this week, Trump claimed Pirro “choked” under pressure from a judge regarding the case and “folded like an ​ umbrella.”

A day after the case was dropped, Trump wrote on Truth Social “I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool. I don’t know what she was thinking?”

FORMER US OLYMPIAN DAVID HEARN INDICTED IN ALLEGED REFLECTING POOL VANDALISM

Hearn was indicted on July 2 on one count of felony destruction of property. U.S. Park Police alleged Hearn grabbed and tugged at a loose section of the pool’s coating on June 19, continuing after a National Park Service employee told him to stop. Officials initially claimed he caused more than $1,000 in damage.

However, Pirro’s office said the Department of the Interior initially provided prosecutors with “barebones” reports and failed to disclose records documenting extensive problems with the coating’s installation.

“Had DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment,” prosecutors wrote.

“It was not until after the return of the indictment, that the DOI provided additional documents to the USAO-DC indicating that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings (‘AIC’), and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026.”

OLYMPIAN CHARGED IN REFLECTING POOL VANDALISM DONATED THROUGH DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT

The DOJ said the new evidence made it difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hearn caused the damage. Prosecutors asked the court to dismiss the indictment without prejudice, which would leave open the possibility of bringing the charge again.

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“The Trump administration’s case against Davey Hearn should never have been brought,” Hearn’s attorneys Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin in a statement last Friday, according to the New York Post. “Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong. The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology.”

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson and Reuters contributed to this report.

A North Korea expert told Fox News Digital the United States “can never take their eye off” Kim Jong Un and the Korean Peninsula after Pyongyang test-fired a missile this week amid the ongoing conflict with Iran.

The launch of the short-range ballistic missile, which Japan said landed in the waters off North Korea’s east coast, unfolded Thursday ahead of joint military exercises to be conducted by the U.S. and South Korea later this month.

“There’s this unsettled conflict on the Korean Peninsula. And Kim Jong Un, a very unpredictable leader that seeks attention, that is something the United States can never take their eye off,” retired Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, a senior fellow at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital Friday.

US SAYS NORTH KOREA MISSILE LAUNCH POSES NO IMMEDIATE THREAT, ‘CONSULTING CLOSELY’ WITH ALLIES

“So, we have all these challenges in the Middle East, these challenges with Russia and Ukraine, these challenges with China pressuring and trying to coerce Taiwan. You can never forget that the North Korean challenge to South Korea is sitting right there, and there are no constraints on Kim Jong Un,” Montgomery added. 

“There’s no version of an empowered elite or a population or a military that could unseat him. So, we should always keep our eye on him, pay attention to him and make sure we’re constantly deterring any provocative behavior.”

“We are aware of the missile launch and are consulting closely with our allies and partners,” U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said after North Korea’s launch Thursday.

“Based on current assessments, this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory or to our allies,” it added. “The United States remains committed to the defense of the U.S. homeland and our allies in the region.”

Montgomery said Friday that “whenever North Korea does a ballistic missile launch, you have to think there’s any of three countries that could be the intended recipient of the message. It could be the United States. It could be South Korea. It can be Japan, or it could be a mix.”

MORE THAN HALF OF SOME US WEAPONS STOCKPILES USED IN IRAN WAR, RAISING CONCERNS ABOUT CHINA THREAT

He described how Japan recently test-fired a Tomahawk cruise missile in late July with the help of the U.S. Navy.

“Maybe this could be a signal back to them,” Montgomery said. “South Korea and the United States are about to start the Ulchi Freedom series of exercises … the most robust series of exercise we have there every August when conducted.

“Recently, there have been a lot of reports the United States has expended a large percentage of its theater ballistic missile defense weapons … Patriot 3 and THAAD, in the conflict in Iran.

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“Those are the kind of defensive systems that might be used against this weapon. Also, there’s U.S. Navy standard missiles, which also have been depleted in the Middle East. In all those cases, North Korea could be signaling to any of the three countries or a mix of the three countries that we’re still relevant, we matter and you need to pay attention to us.”

Fox News’ Liz Friden contributed to this report.

It’s taken well over a year of stops, starts, promises and derailments, but the Senate has at last advanced a bone-crushing package of sanctions against Russia, capping off one of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s biggest fights.

The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act sailed through the Senate on another colossal bipartisan vote and is now headed to the House. It has the backing of President Donald Trump, too.

It comes after personal lobbying from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week, who, hours after Graham’s memorial service in Washington, D.C., pleaded with lawmakers to put a check on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

GRAHAM’S FINAL MISSION ADVANCES AS SENATE MOVES TO CRUSH PUTIN’S WAR MACHINE WITH RUSSIA, IRAN SANCTIONS

“Today, President Zelenskyy is watching from Ukraine, and Putin is watching from Moscow,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said on the Senate floor. “I would like to think that Lindsey Graham is watching, too.”

The bill focuses on kneecapping Putin’s war machine by targeting Moscow’s top financial driver: oil and gas sales.

It also extends sanction authority against Iran that hampers funding to the country’s weapons and energy sectors as the administration and negotiators abroad seek to find a long-lasting peace agreement for the war in the Middle East.

There are also targeted sanctions against Putin, Russian officials and Russian military leaders, up to 500% tariffs on Russian imports and tariffs of up to 100% on the top five countries buying Russian energy, like China and India. And it gives Trump flexibility for when to turn off some aspects of the sanctions.

‘A BIG EFFING DEAL’: GRAHAM’S FINAL MISSION MOVES FORWARD AFTER HIS DEATH

The tariff authority, however, threatened one last derailment of the package.

Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., initially held up the package over the issue and offered an amendment to solve the problem.

Paul, who has staunchly opposed Trump’s tariff strategy since he retook office, argued that slapping tariffs on superpowers working with Russia, like China, would only cause them to cozy up.

“These tariffs threaten to undermine America’s strategic position in the world,” Paul said. “Some naively think that the tariffs will get China to distance themselves from Russia, but it might be the opposite.

TRUMP ALLIES PUSH TO ARM PRESIDENT WITH NEW TARIFF WEAPON TO PUNISH COUNTRIES ‘RIPPING OFF’ AMERICA

“Recent history suggests that they will instead push Russia and China together,” he continued. “China is not going to get this 100% tariff and say, ‘Oh, we’re sorry, we’re no longer going to cooperate with Russia.’”

Then came Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who proved to be the last hurdle.

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But after meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer Thursday, Warnock backed down after receiving a commitment that Trump’s tariff authority was indeed limited to just the top five countries purchasing oil and gas exports from Russia.

“We should not have to choose between putting a check on Putin’s aggression and putting a check on this president’s tariff regime,” Warnock said. “That is a false choice, and it is one that I am not willing to accept.”

The latest tranche of materials on unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) released by the U.S. government includes video of what appears to be an object traversing the skies last year over the Middle East.

“The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 1 minute and 39 seconds of video footage from an electro-optical and infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2025,” the War Department noted.

A description of the video says, “The sensor pans to track an area of contrast from left to right across the background, keeping it generally centered within the frame. The sensor adjusts collection mode and level of magnification several times.”

NASA CHIEF CONFIRMS AGENCY HAS UNEXPLAINED UFO IMAGERY: ‘WE DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS’

Assistant to the secretary of war for public affairs and chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in part of a Friday statement, “Today, the Department of War is publishing the fifth release of declassified and historical Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) files as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE).”

President Donald Trump declared in a Truth Social post earlier this year that he would call for the release of such materials.

NEW TRUMP UFO FILE DUMP INCLUDES MILITARY FOOTAGE OF MYSTERIOUS STAR-SHAPED OBJECT

“Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” the president wrote in the February Truth Social post.

The website where the public may peruse the released materials states the archives are “unresolved” matters.

LONG-HIDDEN UFO INFORMATION AT CENTER OF TRUMP PUSH TO FREE FORMER OFFICIALS

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“The materials archived here are unresolved cases, meaning the government is unable to make a definitive determination on the nature of the observed phenomena,” the site notes.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is splitting from the majority of Republicans on the GOP’s pushback against the Smithsonian Institution’s teaching of American history.

The moderate Republican senator sent a letter to the Trump administration alongside Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., asking for more information on President Donald Trump’s directive to install “temporary signage” outside the National Museum of American History, after he accused the museum of teaching historical accounts with an inaccurate and hyper-partisan lens.

“As Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, we write to express our concern and to request more information regarding the role the Department of the Interior (DOI) will have in implementing Executive Order (EO) 14416, ‘Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution,’” the letter said.

TRUMP ORDERS SIGNS OUTSIDE SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM AMID ROW OVER ITS DEPICTION OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Republicans have heaped scrutiny on the Smithsonian Institution, which gets roughly $1 billion in taxpayer dollars from Congress annually, for exhibits that the GOP has argued are inherently political.

But Murkowski appeared to refute that in her bipartisan letter, writing to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, “For the past 180 years, the Smithsonian Institution has been committed to sharing objective historical evidence through research and education, not political narratives.”

“The Smithsonian Institution has worked tirelessly to present a comprehensive narrative of our nation’s amazing history, from its many triumphs to its trials. There is nothing more American than telling our story truthfully,” the senators said.

Trump signed an executive order late last month directing Burgum to utilize existing avenues “to restore trust in the Smithsonian Institution,” including installing “temporary exhibits or signage on [federally owned] sidewalks, walkways, and land used by the public that corrects inaccurate information presented in the Museum.”

Murkowski and Merkley are asking the administration for information on whether there’s any precedent for federal land or funds being used to communicate “conflicting information” to a nearby entity’s operations, who is compiling the information and what the timeline and cost of the signage will be.

Examples Republicans have seized on include an exhibit that described Disney’s “Steamboat Willie” as representing “vestiges of long-standing traditions of blackface minstrelsy,” while accusing the broader curation of the museum of being “anti-white” and “woke.”

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It’s led several conservatives on the House Appropriations Committee to tell Fox News Digital they would like to see new guardrails on the Smithsonian’s federal funds to force the museum to change controversial exhibits or risk losing its government dollars.

The U.S. Army is opening up military test ranges to private defense companies and promising “concierge” access aimed at dramatically cutting the time it takes companies to test new weapons and technologies.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told reporters in a call on Friday that companies will be able to secure testing opportunities within 30 days of submitting a request, compared with a typical wait of roughly 18 months.

“We just had to get out of our own way,” Driscoll said. “And so the 30-day clock starts today. So if somebody goes to testrange.army.mil, submits it in the next hour, we will have you on a range within 30 days.”

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The move is part of a broader Army effort to speed up the development and delivery of technologies including drones, counter-drone systems, long-range fires and low-cost interceptors.

“If you look at what is occurring all over the world today, if you look what Ukraine has done so incredibly well, it’s this innovation through necessity and it’s innovation at the speed that is near or close to matching the commercial sector,” Driscoll said. “And so what we, the Army, are trying to do is break down every single barrier that we have put up over the last 20 and 30 years.”

The Army is opening four stateside locations to industry: Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, West Cibola Range at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center in Mississippi and Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center in Michigan.

PENTAGON PLOTS NEW NUCLEAR OPTIONS FOR TRUMP AS AMERICA’S BIGGEST ADVERSARIES RAISE STAKES: REPORT

The Army is also working with U.S. Africa Command and partners to provide industry access to the Multidomain Training Area in Morocco, according to an Army press release. Companies will be able to request test range time through a new online portal and will be assigned a dedicated “concierge” to help navigate the scheduling process. Companies do not need an existing federal contract or prior relationship with the U.S. government to apply.

“A company with a good idea shouldn’t need a team of lawyers and a program of record just to prove their equipment works,” Driscoll said.

ANTARES REACHES REACTOR CRITICALITY UNDER TRUMP PILOT PROGRAM, MARKING MAJOR NUCLEAR MILESTONE

The ranges are intended to give companies access to realistic environments where they can rapidly test and refine emerging technologies, including under conditions resembling those encountered on modern battlefields.

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The Army cautioned that submitting a request does not guarantee a company its preferred location or testing date because of capacity constraints, but said its concierge team will work with applicants to identify available testing windows and locations.