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Analilia Mejia, a one-time labor organizer backed by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, is headed to Congress.

Mejia, running on a platform that emphasized Medicare for All, a $25 minimum wage with the first $40,000 tax-free, a wealth tax, abolishing ICE and holding President Donald Trump and his administration accountable, convincingly defeated Republican candidate Joe Hathaway in Thursday’s special election in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.

With her nearly 20-point victory, Mejia will fill the final eight months of the term of Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the more moderate Democratic representative who stepped down from Congress in November after winning New Jersey’s gubernatorial election.

Mejia, who is likely to align herself with the so-called “Squad” of younger, diverse and progressive House Democrats, called herself the “sassy new member of Congress” in her victory speech.

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The special election came as the GOP clings to a fragile House majority. Republicans would have relished the opportunity to pick up the seat, but they faced a steep uphill climb to flip the suburban district Sherrill won by 15 points in her 2024 re-election and carried by roughly the same margin in last year’s gubernatorial election.

Hathaway, a former Randolph Township mayor and current council member who was unopposed for the GOP congressional nomination, aimed to paint Mejia as too far to the left for the district. He told Fox News Digital the choice for voters was “between a common sense, practical independent leader who’s gotten things done at the local level in New Jersey and knows the issues, contrasted with someone who’s running on pure ideology, far left-wing ideology, Squad-backed ideology.”

“I think we have the right math, the right bipartisan coalition to come together to win this thing on April 16,” an optimistic Hathaway predicted.

But Hathaway came up far short, given the rough political climate facing Republicans and the traditional headwinds for the party in power.

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Mejia, on Thursday night, pushed back against the claims she’s a radical.

“My opponent has spent his whole campaign calling me names and saying my ideas are too radical. But we know, that is a mind trick, on brand for a spin doctor, but easily countered if you just open your eyes,” Mejia said. “It is not radical to say that one of the wealthiest nations in the world should do more to protect the health of its people.”

Here’s a closer look at Mejia and where she stands on the issues.

Who is Analilia Mejia

Mejia was born in New Jersey and is the daughter of Colombian and Dominican immigrants.

After working as a union organizer, Mejia served as national political director on the 2020 Sanders presidential campaign. She later worked in the Department of Labor in former President Joe Biden’s administration.

Mejia pulled off an upset in the February Democratic primary, narrowly edging out a more moderate rival, former Rep. Tom Malinowski, in a field of 11 candidates. While Mejia was the clear choice of the party’s left flank, the rest of the field divided the moderate and center-left vote.

Besides the backing of Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, Mejia was also endorsed by other top progressive leaders, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Reps. Ro Khanna of California, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Pramila Jayapal of Washington state, the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

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Mejia’s nomination victory was another big boost for the left against the establishment since now-New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, sent shock waves across the nation with his Democratic primary victory in June 2025.

Immigration

Mejia repeatedly took aim at Trump’s unprecedented crackdown on illegal immigration and 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.

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

After her primary victory, Mejia gave credit to her stance on immigration in the wake of backlash against the Trump administration following the January 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 Supreme 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 charged on her campaign website.

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

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

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

Student Loan Debt

On her campaign website, Mejia stated, “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 argued, “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 highlighted that she helped lead the fight in New Jersey to “win the $15 minimum wage.”

“With the cost of living rising every day, it’s time to raise the minimum wage at the national level to $25/hour,” Mejia emphasized on the campaign trail.

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 Democratic nomination 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 AIPAC strategy backfired, because Mejia is much tougher on Israel than Malinowski.

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

Jewish voters make up a key part of the district’s electorate, and Hathaway, in the only debate in the general election, claimed Mejia was antisemitic, noting she has said Israel committed genocide in Gaza.

“She blamed Israel for the attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7,” Hathaway said. “I think Jewish individuals across this district, Republican or Democrat, are very afraid of this kind of rhetoric.”

Mejia pledged to “protect the rights of Jewish constituents” and said her criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza should not be conflated with antisemitism.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Mejia said, “Joe Hathaway’s inability to distinguish between criticism of a government or government official and bigotry is troubling and disgusting in equal measure.”

Mejia last week wrote that she was “honored” after being endorsed by the liberal pro-Israel political group J Street PAC. But her acceptance of the endorsement triggered pushback on the left, with the North Jersey Democratic Socialists of America calling her move a “heel turn.”

Hathaway told Fox News Digital, “I’ve spoken to more members of the Jewish community who have told me they’ve never voted for a Republican in their life, who are going to vote for me in this race. I mean, that shows you where the Jewish community is on the importance of this race and how they are not aligned with Mejia … and her platform.”

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It appears Hathaway was right: Some towns with heavy Jewish populations swung significantly to the right in Thursday’s election.

But it wasn’t nearly enough to help Hathaway blunt Mejia’s overall support.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris this week blasted President Donald Trump for the surge in gas prices triggered by the U.S. war with Iran.

But four years ago, the then-vice president said that soaring gas prices sparked in part by the Russian invasion of Ukraine were the “price to pay for democracy.”

“Here in North Carolina and around the country, gas prices are too high,” Harris wrote this week in a social media post. “This is a direct result of Donald Trump’s war of choice in Iran, and the American people are paying the price.”

The Wednesday post featured a video of Harris delivering remarks while standing outside in front of a sign displaying fuel prices at a gas station in North Carolina.

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“We’ve got a president who is paying more attention to what he thinks is in his best political interests and personal interests, as opposed to what is in the best interest of working people in America,” Harris declared at the end of the brief video.

The average price of regular gasoline surged to over $4 per gallon following the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, which were launched on Feb. 28. Iran’s military has been decimated, and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian officials were killed during the month-and-a-half-long war.

In response, Iran targeted energy facilities with missile and drone attacks in a number of Persian Gulf nations. It has also made the Strait of Hormuz nearly impassable to commercial shipping, bringing roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply to a halt and sending global fuel prices sharply higher.

Trump’s attacks on Iran have provided Democrats with political ammunition amid their focus on affordability and persistent inflation. The issue has also boosted them to overperformance at the ballot box in two special congressional elections this month.

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The attacks have also upset some in Trump’s MAGA base, who feel the president has broken his 2024 campaign promise to avoid foreign military entanglements.

The current gas prices in the U.S. are the highest in four years.

Speaking during a press conference in Bucharest, Romania during that gas price surge in 2022 during the early months of the Russia-Ukraine war, Harris said the U.S. was “committed in everything we are doing” in support of Ukraine.

“And yes, the president did say in the State of the Union, there is a price to pay for democracy — got to stand with your friends — and as everybody knows, even in your personal life, being loyal to those friendships based on common principles and values, sometimes, it’s difficult — often, it ain’t easy.” 

“But that is what the friendship is about — shared values,” Harris said. “So that’s what we’re doing.”

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Republicans at the time blamed then-President Joe Biden‘s administration for the high gas prices, just as Democrats are now blaming Trump.

But a major difference in the two situations is that while Trump ordered the U.S. strikes on Iran, the Biden administration came to Ukraine’s aid after Russian launched a widescale military invasion.

The White House at the time repeatedly blamed Russian leader Vladimir Putin for record-high gas prices in the U.S., even coining the surge the “#PutinPriceHike” and vowing that Biden would do everything he could to shield Americans from “pain at the pump.”

But Trump and Republicans capitalized on inflation, using it as a key issue in the sweeping 2024 election victories, when they won back the White House and Senate and held their House majority.

Democrats are hoping to turn the tables in this year’s midterm elections by spotlighting affordability as they aim to flip the House and Senate.

And Harris, who lost to Trump in the 2024 election after replacing Biden as the Democratic Party’s nominee, has left the door wide open to a 2028 White Houser run.

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The White House pushed back against this week’s jab from Harris.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers argued, “No one cares or believes what Kamala Harris says because Americans remember the economic pain caused by the Biden-Harris administration’s very unpopular and costly Green New Scam. Kamala’s anti-energy dominance agenda sent electricity prices soaring more than 30 percent in just four years, and the average gas price across the country skyrocketed to $5 in just one year.”

President Donald Trump said the first releases from a Pentagon study on UFOs will come out “very, very soon.”

Speaking at a rally at Dream City Church in north Phoenix on Friday night hosted by Turning Point USA and Turning Action, Trump told the audience it seemed like the right crowd to hear about the study because Arizonans are “really into that.”

The comments come as interest in unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs, continues to grow in Washington, with lawmakers pushing for greater transparency and the Department of Defense expanding efforts to investigate unexplained incidents.

“I figured this was a good crowd because I know you people. You’re really into that. I don’t know if I am,” the president told them.

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He said he recently spoke with War Secretary Pete Hegseth about releasing the study’s findings to the public before giving the crowd a brief tease of what he saw.

“We found many very interesting documents, I must say,” Trump said. “And the first releases will begin very, very soon. So, you can go out and see if that phenomenon is correct.

“You’ll figure it out. Let me know,” he added. “But we’ve had a lot of questions. It’s something that — it really captivates the mind, there’s no question about it.”

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Trump said in February he would direct the release of government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life and unidentified aerial phenomena.

The president said at the time there was “tremendous interest” in the topic following remarks from former President Barack Obama, whom Trump said shared classified information suggesting aliens are real.

“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

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Interest in UAPs has grown significantly in recent years, attracting increased scrutiny from federal lawmakers and defense officials. 

In 2023, Congress enacted the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act, while the Department of Defense created the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office to investigate these incidents more thoroughly.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

Gold Star father Darin Hoover says a new Pentagon review of the deadly Abbey Gate bombing finally feels different after years of what he described as “crickets” from the Biden administration — but he is still asking whether critical information was deliberately kept from military families and the public.

Hoover, whose son, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin “Taylor” Hoover, was among the 13 U.S. service members killed in the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing during the Afghanistan withdrawal, told Fox News Digital that for years families got little more than a “canned” response.

“For the first three-and-a-half years… we weren’t getting anything from the prior administration. It was crickets,” Hoover said. “The only thing we all got was a canned letter saying how sorry they were. There was not anything individual mentioned about any of the kids.”

Former President Joe Biden checked his watch during the dignified transfer of U.S. service members lost at Abbey Gate, which included 11 Marines, one Army soldier and one Navy sailor.

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His frustration comes as the Pentagon’s Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel says it has completed the substantive phase of interviews with senior military and civilian leaders, and is now preparing findings and recommendations for a final report expected “in the coming months.”

The panel reviewed more than nine million documents, according to chairman Sean Parnell. By contrast, a prior Pentagon review examined roughly 3,000 documents.

Parnell said the earlier review was “significantly narrower in scope” and “over-classified at the highest levels, which effectively kept the most critical and relevant information from public scrutiny.”

That contrast is exactly what has Hoover demanding answers.

“The 3,000 pages… doesn’t even make a ripple,” Hoover said. “Now we’ve got over a million pages being reviewed. Why was everything so top-secret that none of us could see it? They owe us the answers.”

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Asked directly whether he believes key information was withheld, Hoover did not hesitate.

“Yes, absolutely, information was kept from us,” he said.

“That smells exactly like a cover-up,” he added. “What is it that they saw, or what did they feel needed to be hidden so nobody could know what it was?”

A Pentagon spokesperson referred Fox News Digital to a statement from Parnell when asked for comment.

In that statement, Parnell said the panel was established by War Secretary Pete Hegseth at the direction of President Donald Trump “to conduct the most comprehensive military after action review in modern history.”

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He said the panel has interviewed key figures involved in the planning and execution of the withdrawal, including retired Gen. Mark Milley and retired Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., among other senior officials.

“This will be the most thorough, transparent, and honest accounting the American people have received of what happened in August 2021,” Parnell said. “Our purpose is to identify failures in decision-making, so that we may prevent the United States from ever repeating this tragedy.”

Hoover said accountability should mean real consequences for those in command if the new review finds failures.

“If they did something wrong or failed to act, they should no longer be allowed to lead where life and death is at stake,” he said.

“I would love to see pensions taken away… and if possible, I’d love to see people go to jail,” he added.

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He also argued the bombing exposed a broader system failure between civilian and military agencies.

“The right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing,” Hoover said. “And it all got stalled somewhere in the middle.”

“And our kids did the best they could with the tools they were given,” he added. “They did a phenomenal job.”

Other official reviews have previously documented breakdowns surrounding the withdrawal. A State Department review found failures in crisis planning and preparation for worst-case scenarios, while Milley later described the evacuation timeline as “too slow and too late.”

Hoover said what makes this moment different is President Trump’s engagement with the families and Hegseth’s promise of a broader accounting.

“He spent 45 minutes with us… gave us his full undivided attention,” Hoover said.

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He added that after years of silence, simply being included now matters. Hoover noted that the trial of the ISIS-K-linked figure accused of giving the final approval for the bomber to detonate is set to begin Monday in Alexandria, and some of the Abbey Gate families plan to attend.

“We’re coming up on Memorial Day,” Hoover said. “Please, please, please remember them. Honor them. Don’t forget how we got here, why we got here and live a life worthy of the sacrifices that have been made.”

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump will read from 2 Chronicles 7 during a nationwide Bible-reading event this week, a passage organizers say was deliberately reserved for the president because of its decades-long role as a call to prayer in America.

Trump is set to read 2 Chronicles 7:11–22 from the Oval Office as part of “America Reads the Bible,” a weeklong event marking 250 years of the Bible in America and featuring nearly 500 participants reading Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.

Organizers said Trump’s section was not assigned at random.

The event’s online schedule shows the 2 Chronicles 7:11–22 reading was reserved as a “special guest” slot during a prime evening hour on Tuesday, alongside figures like former HUD Secretary Ben Carson and members of Congress.

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“We needed somebody special to read Second Chronicles chapter seven,” Bunni Pounds, founder and president of Christians Engaged, told Fox News Digital.

“As my director and I were praying over different sections of scripture, it came to us that this is such a critical passage for the body of Christ,” she said.

Pounds said the passage, particularly verse 14, has been central to American prayer life for decades, often invoked during times of national reflection.

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“It comes at a time where the Israelites were experiencing hardship and God spoke and said, ‘If my people that are called by my name would humble themselves and pray,’” Pounds said. “We’ve prayed this scripture for at least the last 50 years of American history on National Day of Prayer and other moments in this country.”

Verse 14 reads, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

“And so we instantly said — who needs to read that? The President of the United States,” she added. “We set it aside for him and have been praying for that for the last year.”

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Pounds said Trump’s participation sends a broader message about faith in American life.

“I think he’s sending a message that faith matters in this country, and that it’s important not only personally, but for our nation overall,” she said.

She added that the selected Scripture speaks to the country’s current moment.

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“We’re making a statement during this week as America reads the Bible, that there is so much in the Bible that we can gain wisdom and discernment from, there is so much that can heal our families, that can rescue us from depression and anxiety and can heal our inner cities and heal our land… I believe the president’s saying that by reading this scripture specifically,” Pounds said.

The White House echoed that theme in a presidential message commemorating the event, calling the Bible “indelibly woven into our national identity” and urging Americans to “rediscover” its role in shaping the nation.

The event, held in partnership with the Museum of the Bible, will run from April 19 through April 25, and include nearly 500 Americans participating in a public reading of the entire Bible.

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According to Pounds, all participants will read from the King James Version Easy Read edition, which was licensed for the event’s livestream and a later audiobook version from the week’s readings.

The event will feature a wide range of participants, including actress Patricia Heaton, Candace Cameron Bure, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and House Speaker Mike Johnson, each reading portions of Genesis during the opening hours.

Readers range from elected officials and pastors to single parents and small business owners, reflecting what Pounds described as a nationwide cross-section of Americans.

Worship music will accompany each hour of the readings, with different ministries and organizations partnering throughout the event.

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Pounds said viewers watching Trump’s reading from the Oval Office will notice the weight of the moment.

“They’re going to see how passionate he is about it, how deliberate he was,” she said. “It really struck me to see the leader of the free world reading scripture from the Oval Office.”

“There’s a humility on him… and I don’t believe that he would have read it if he didn’t believe it,” she added.

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

“America Reads the Bible” begins 9 a.m. ET Sunday.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended comments about President Donald Trump‘s mental health following a tense exchange during a congressional hearing.

During Friday’s hearing, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) addressed Trump’s recent social media posts, pointing to an AI-generated image that critics said depicted him as Jesus Christ and his criticism of Pope Leo as evidence he is mentally unwell.

“Millions of Americans are questioning this president’s mental fitness, his emotional stability, and whether he can carry out the duties of his office. Do you share their concerns about his mental health?” Takano asked Kennedy.

Kennedy began to answer, saying, “I call your attention to…” before the representative cut him off and demanded a more direct response.

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“Mr. Secretary, my question was: Do you share their concerns about his mental health?” Takano reiterated. “We need a leader that we know has full command of his mental faculties and is emotionally stable as he sends uniformed American men and women into harm’s way.”

“Millions of Americans are now wondering if this president is delusional and thinks he is Jesus Christ,” he continued. “Mr. Secretary, given everything that I’ve shown you today, will you insist that President Trump undergo an assessment of his mental fitness and his emotional stability?”

“Absolutely not,” Kennedy quickly interjected.

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Takano followed up by asking whether Kennedy would support invoking the 25th Amendment, which allows for a transfer of power if the president dies, resigns, or is incapacitated.

“There hasn’t been a president who is more sane or stable …” Kennedy began to answer before the congressman interrupted him again.

“Mr. Secretary, my question is would you vote to invoke the 25th Amendment,” Takano said.

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The heated exchange came one day after Kennedy engaged in a shouting match with Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., over previous comments he made about Black children.

“Mr. Secretary, you’ve already admitted that you are not a board-certified physician, and you’ve already admitted you did not go to medical school. Have you ever reparented or parented, I should say, a Black child?” Sewell said, referencing his appearance on a 2024 podcast.

As the two argued back and forth, Kennedy claimed he never made those remarks and refused to answer her question.

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The exchanges mark a pattern of escalating confrontations as Kennedy faces continued scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers.

Fox News Digital’s Elaine Mallon contributed to this report.

Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University medical graduate student from Turkey whose charges were dropped after DHS detained her for allegedly “[engaging] in activities in support of Hamas,” has self-deported to Turkey, according to sources familiar with the matter. 

Ozturk self-deported from the U.S. late Thursday night on a flight to Istanbul, Turkey, according to sources familiar.

Ozturk was detained by ICE in Somerville, Massachusetts, in March 2025, sparking a battle between the Trump administration and a federal judge over her detainment.

The Tufts graduate student was living in the U.S. under an F-1 student visa, which the Trump administration revoked around March 21, 2025. At the time her visa was revoked, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administration were cracking down on student visas for students who were involved in protests and demonstrations regarding Israel and Palestine.

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“After 13 years of dedicated study, I am very proud to have completed my Ph.D. and to return home on my own timeline,” Ozturk said in a statement. “The time stolen from me by the U.S. government belongs not just to me, but to the children and youth I have dedicated my life to advocating for. With them in mind, I am choosing to return home as planned to continue my career as a woman scholar without losing more time to the state-imposed violence and hostility I have experienced in the United States – all for nothing more than co-signing an op-ed advocating for Palestinian rights.”

Ozturk co-authored an opinion piece on March 26, 2024, that was published in Tufts Daily, a student newspaper on campus.

“Credible accusations against Israel include accounts of deliberate starvation and indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinian civilians and plausible genocide,” the op-ed read. 

The authors, including Ozturk, were critical of the university’s response to anti-Israel protests, saying that the university should publicly acknowledge Palestinian suffering. 

Rubio specifically referenced opinion pieces in a statement surrounding the revoking of student visas, notably after the arrest of Ozturk on March 25, 2025.

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“If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us that the reason why you’re coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus — we’re not going to give you a visa,” Rubio said.

Trump’s Department of Justice also weighed in on Ozturk’s self-deportation.

“Attending elite colleges and universities in the United States is a privilege afforded to foreign students who respect our values and follow our laws,” a DOJ official told Fox News. “Rümeysa Öztürk chose not to abide by those simple conditions, and as a result left the United States – something the Administration sought to accomplish from the beginning. We will continue to seek the deportation of any foreign student who abuses their opportunity to study in America by engaging in vile antisemitism, harassment, or other illegal behavior.”

Following Ozturk’s arrest, she was transferred to Methuen, Mass., then Lebanon, New Hampshire, and Vermont before she was sent to the South Louisiana ICE processing facility, according to reports.  

Protests erupted at Tufts and across the country over her arrest, and two months later she was released on bail.

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The legal battle continued between the Trump administration and Ozturk, who was legally represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), until Feb. 9 when Biden-appointed Boston immigration Judge Roopal Patel terminated deportation proceedings. 

Patel ruled that the Department of Homeland Security lacked the legal grounds to deport her. 

“I grieve for the many human beings who do not get to see the mistreatment they have faced brought into the light,” Ozturk said in a statement released by her attorneys after the ruling. “When we openly talk about the many injustices around us, including the treatment of immigrants and others who have been targeted and thrown in for-profit ICE prisons, as well as what is happening in Gaza, true justice will prevail.”

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The Trump Department of Justice fired Patel, among other immigration judges, last week.

Since Patel ruled as an immigration judge and not a federal Article III judge, the Trump administration and the executive branch has authority over her tenure.

The White House issued a press release on April 9, titled: “Era of Amnesty Is Over: President Trump Restores Rule of Law to Immigration Courts,” in which the administration touted “the most aggressive and successful immigration enforcement overhaul in modern history.”

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“President Trump promised to end the open borders nightmare — and he is delivering on that promise with unrelenting force. The era of catch-and-release, mass releases, and activist judicial amnesty is over,” the White House statement reads.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is not expected to step down this term and has already hired all four law clerks for the upcoming annual term despite speculation the high court justice was weighing retirement, multiple sources said.

Alito “is not stepping down this term and is in the process of hiring the rest of his clerks for the next term,” a source told Fox News Digital. Two other sources told Fox News that Alito is not retiring this term, which lasts until the Supreme Court’s new year kicks off in October.

Justices tend to hire their clerks two to three years in advance, although that process is not necessarily indicative of a justice’s retirement plans.

The revelation that Alito is reportedly not planning to step down comes after President Donald Trump told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo he is “prepared” to appoint up to three Supreme Court justices if vacancies arise. Trump added he has a shortlist of nominees in mind, though he did not mention any names.

TRUMP REVEALS HE HAS MULTI-PICK SCOTUS PLAN READY AS RETIREMENT SPECULATION HEATS UP

“In theory, it’s two or three, they tell me — if you just read statistics — it could be two, could be three, could be one,” Trump told Bartiromo. “I don’t know. I’m prepared to do it. But when you mention Alito, he is a great justice.”

Trump said he thinks Alito, who has sided with him on most high-profile cases, is “in very good physical health” and called him “one of the great justices of our time.”

“Justice Alito is an unbelievable justice,” Trump said.

JONATHAN TURLEY: KAMALA HARRIS BACKS RADICAL PLAN TO BLOCK TRUMP SCOTUS PICKS

Rumors about Alito, 76, potentially retiring have grown because of his age, his two-decade tenure on the bench and speculation that he may want to make sure a conservative successor is confirmed by the current Republican-led Senate before the upcoming midterm elections. Former President George W. Bush nominated him for the nation’s highest court in 2005. 

The rumors were further fueled when it was revealed Alito was treated last month for dehydration after becoming ill at a Federalist Society dinner. A Supreme Court spokesperson clarified at the time that the justice was “thoroughly checked” and quickly returned to the bench.

TRUMP DISMISSES CALLS FOR ALITO, THOMAS TO STEP DOWN FROM SUPREME COURT, CALLING THEM ‘FANTASTIC’

Justice Clarence Thomas, an appointee of President George H. W. Bush, has drawn less retirement speculation despite being one year older than Alito at 77 and in his own lengthy tenure. Thomas has been a conservative fixture on the court for more than three decades and holds a record as the second-longest serving justice in history.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters earlier this week he would recommend Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, or Mike Lee, R-Utah, as top candidates if Alito were to retire. Grassley said he hoped Alito would not step down but said his committee is “fully prepared” to process a nominee before the midterm elections. 

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Tuesday the GOP majority would be able to fill a Supreme Court vacancy quickly.

“That’s a contingency I think around here you always have to be prepared for. And if that were to happen, yes, we would be prepared to confirm,” Thune said.

Fox News’ Bill Mears contributed to this report. 

A congressional hearing featuring the victims of crimes tied to illegal immigration erupted into a tense confrontation Thursday.

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., drew fierce backlash from grieving mothers and Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, for appearing to dismiss their tragedies while pivoting to attacks on “MAGA Republicans.”

The fiery exchange happened during a hearing focused on “The Human Toll of Sanctuary Policies,” during which Johnson claimed the victims’ families’ comments were a “Steve Miller-approved” stunt with the sole purpose of “stir[ring] up passion and prejudice against immigrants who are people of color.”

SLAIN COLLEGE STUDENT’S MOTHER VOWS ‘FIGHT FOR JUSTICE’ AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED IN CHICAGO KILLING

After offering brief condolences to the families of victims allegedly killed and critically injured by illegal immigrants, Johnson immediately pivoted to a partisan attack, arguing the committee should instead be holding hearings on the “human toll” of the “Trump MAGA tax cuts,” Trump’s foreign policy with Iran or the “cover up of the Epstein files.”

He went on to list a string of violent crimes committed by White men and noted the death of Renee Good, who was killed by federal authorities in January while protesting immigration enforcement.

“I’m not minimizing the tragedy that is before us today with you three women, but the other tragedies at the hands of non-immigrants are just as important,” Johnson said.

He also accused the Republican majority of strategically “sandwich[ing]” a Democrat witness between the victims’ families for “dramatic effect.”

Gill fired back, calling Johnson’s tirade “one of the most disgusting testimonies I have ever heard” and blaming Democrat lawmakers for the tragedies during four years of open borders under the Biden administration.

DHS SLAMS CALIFORNIA ‘SANCTUARY’ COUNTY AFTER MOM ALLEGEDLY MURDERED BY 2 HONDURAN NATIONALS

However, the most stinging reply to Johnson’s comments came from Jen Heiling, the mother of victim Brady Heiling, 18, who was killed along with his girlfriend, Hallie Helgeson, 18, in 2025, when an illegal immigrant from Honduras was allegedly driving the wrong way on I-90 while intoxicated, crashing into the teens’ car.

“You can put me in whatever order, in whatever seat. My tragedy is never going to be OK,” Heiling told Johnson. “Today’s our day. Hear us. Leave your butts in your seat. I don’t want to hear your butts.”

She described how her 11-year-old and 16-year-old children are still waiting for the teens to come home, noting that her garage stall remains empty because her son’s car is still being held as police evidence.

“We can’t pick a headstone because that makes it too real. But you can sit here and tell us about what kind of hearing this should be,” Heiling said. “Renee Good is not the same as angel families. She made a choice. … Brady and Hallie didn’t get a choice. … They were living [by] American laws … and they were stolen by somebody who doesn’t care.”

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Patricia Fox, mother of Carissa Aspnes, who was seriously injured in a hit-and-run allegedly caused by an illegal immigrant, followed Heiling’s remarks by shooting back at Johnson’s comments about race, noting, “I don’t know if anybody has noticed, but I am not White. I wake up Brown every day.”

“I’m not sure what race has to do with any of this,” Fox said. “There’s four kids that we talked about today, and y’all can’t seem to stay on topic for what — an hour of your time. 

“Today, we’re talking about sanctuary policies and how they have wrecked our families. Y’all come and y’all feed Carissa. You get her up from her bed using a crane, and then you tell me and lecture me what this hearing should be about.”

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political action committee spent more than $1.5 million buying thousands of copies of his new memoir — accounting for about two-thirds of all copies sold nationwide — according to campaign finance filings. 

The PAC spending helped propel Newsom’s memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry,” onto the New York Times bestseller list and is raising new scrutiny as his national profile builds ahead of a possible 2028 presidential run.

In November, the Campaign for Democracy Committee launched a book campaign asking donors to contribute any amount to the PAC to receive the memoir when it was released on Feb. 24. Newsom spokesperson Nathan Click told the New York Times that the PAC bought about 67,000 copies—representing a substantial portion of the 97,400 total sold.

“We were thrilled with the response,” Click told the New York Times. “Our goal was to deepen the relationship between him and the millions of folks who have already expressed support for Governor Newsom’s work.”

TRUMP QUESTIONS NEWSOM’S FITNESS FOR WHITE HOUSE, CITING HIS DYSLEXIA

The PAC made two payments totaling over $1.5 million to Porchlight Book Company, according to a FEC filing posted on Wednesday and reviewed by Fox News Digital. The governor will not receive royalties from the books sold through the campaign, the New York Times reported. 

THE MOST UNUSUAL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: NEWSOM IS DYSLEXIC, STRUGGLES WITH SPEECHES, REJECTS ‘LIBERAL’ LABEL 

When asked about the book’s ranking on the best seller list, a New York Times spokesperson explained the outlet places a dagger symbol on the list to indicate when a book’s ranking has been influenced by a bulk purchase.

“When The Times has reason to believe that sales of a book include a mix of organic and bulk sales, the book’s best-seller ranking is accompanied by a dagger. That’s what we did with the Newsom book,” Nicole Taylor, spokesperson for The Times, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Newsom but did not immediately reply. 

Book promotion is common among politicians, but Newsom’s PAC spending outpaces similar political committee purchases. The Republican National Committee, for example, spent about $100,000 in 2019 purchasing Donald Trump Jr.’s book, the New York Times noted in its report.  

GOV GAVIN NEWSOM: FROM PRIVILEGE TO HEARTBREAK, MY LIFE BEHIND THE HEADLINES

Newsom’s memoir is focused on the challenges he faced in his upbringing, addressing his battle with dyslexia and having divorced parents, as well as his political career. 

Newsom’s book tour, which included visiting cities across the nation, drew criticism from conservatives for the Democrat governor allegedly putting himself over leading California. 

Chairwoman of the California Republican Party Corrin Rankin told Fox Digital, in response to the book campaign, she believes Newsom is trying to “rebrand his national image” while abandoning issues at home, as recent data underscores ongoing challenges in the state.

Social media commenters have not shied away from mocking Newsom over the book sales, including Republican California gubernatorial candidate and former Fox News host Steve Hilton. 

“Gavin Newsom’s ‘bestseller’ memoir just got the ultimate California treatment: his PAC dropped $1.56 million of donor cash to buy 67,000 free copies and mail them to anyone who donated any amount,” Hilton posted to X on Thursday. “That’s two-thirds of all print sales. Nothing says ‘Young Man in a Hurry’ like rigging your own book numbers with political slush funds while California burns.”

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Newsom is considered a top potential 2028 presidential candidate for the Democrat Party, though he has not confirmed whether he will officially throw his hat in the ring. 

One month after President Donald Trump ordered a government-wide halt on artificial intelligence firm Anthropic’s technology following a clash with the Pentagon, the company’s CEO is back at the White House for high-level talks — as officials reconsider whether a system they sidelined over national security and political concerns may be too important to ignore.

A source familiar with the meeting told Fox News White House chief of staff Susie Wiles met with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei Friday. 

Anthropic’s new artificial intelligence model, Mythos Preview, is considered so advanced that the company has restricted its release, limiting access to a small group of partners over concerns about potential misuse.

The meeting signals a rapid reversal inside the Trump administration, as officials weigh whether a system previously flagged as a national security risk could also be critical to defending U.S. infrastructure — exposing a growing internal tension over how to handle powerful AI tools with both defensive and offensive potential.

MADURO RAID QUESTIONS TRIGGER PENTAGON REVIEW OF TOP AI FIRM AS POTENTIAL ‘SUPPLY CHAIN RISK’

The talks come despite a recent clash inside the Trump administration, as officials reconsider a company the Pentagon flagged as a supply chain risk. Its ties to former Biden officials and past criticism of Trump by its CEO have added a political dimension to the debate over whether its technology should return to government use.

That potential and the risks that come with it already have triggered tensions inside the U.S. government.

Pentagon clash, legal fight and reversal put Anthropic back in play

The meeting comes after a sharp break between Anthropic and the Pentagon earlier in 2026.  

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated the company a national security “supply chain risk,” effectively cutting it out of military systems and barring contractors from using its technology.

Anthropic is now challenging the designation in court, after filing multiple lawsuits against the Pentagon and other federal agencies arguing the “supply chain risk” label is unlawful and retaliatory. 

The designation, which effectively bars contractors from using Anthropic’s technology and has been compared to measures typically reserved for foreign adversaries, already has faced conflicting rulings in federal court, with one judge temporarily blocking parts of the policy while an appeals court declined to halt its enforcement. The legal fight is ongoing, leaving contractors and agencies navigating uncertainty over whether and how Anthropic’s systems can be used.

The move followed a dispute over how the Pentagon could use Anthropic’s AI. 

The company declined to grant open-ended authorization for “all lawful purposes,” instead insisting its systems not be used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. While Pentagon officials said they do not rely on AI for either purpose, they rejected being constrained by a private company’s restrictions.

Trump then directed federal agencies to stop using Anthropic’s models altogether, escalating the standoff beyond the Defense Department into a government-wide halt.

Now, just weeks later, the company is back in high-level talks with the White House as officials weigh whether its new Mythos system — despite the earlier ban — could shift the balance of cyber defense and attack.

Political ties and past criticism may complicate White House talks

The dispute also has taken on a political dimension.

Amodei previously has drawn attention for his criticism of Trump, at one point likening him to a “feudal warlord” in a pre-2024-election Facebook post, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

In an internal message posted on Anthropic’s Slack platform and later leaked to The Information, Amodei suggested the Trump administration’s dispute with the company was driven in part by its refusal to offer what he described as “dictator-style praise.” 

The message, written during a rapid escalation of tensions in early March, later was cited by the Wall Street Journal and other outlets. Amodei subsequently apologized for the tone, saying the post did not reflect his considered views.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT REJECTS ANTHROPIC BID TO BLOCK PENTAGON BLACKLIST IN AI DISPUTE

When asked about Anthropic’s governance, hiring and broader political ties, a White House official said the administration “continues to proactively engage across government and industry to protect the United States and Americans,” including “working with frontier AI labs to ensure their models help secure critical software vulnerabilities.”

The official added that “any new technology that would potentially be used or deployed by the federal government requires a technical period of evaluation for fidelity and security,” and said “the collective effort of all involved will ultimately benefit industry, and our country, as a whole.”

Beyond the immediate dispute, the company’s broader ties to Washington also have drawn attention.

Anthropic’s governance structure has also drawn attention as the administration weighs closer engagement. The company is overseen in part by an independent “Long-Term Benefit Trust,” an unusual mechanism designed to give nonfinancial stakeholders influence over corporate decisions. 

The trust holds special voting shares that allow it to appoint and eventually control a majority of the company’s board, with members drawn from national security, public policy and global development backgrounds.

Current trustees include Clinton Health Access Initiative CEO Neil Buddy Shah, Carnegie Endowment president Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, a Democrat who was appointed to the California Supreme Court by former Gov. Jerry Brown in 2014, and Center for a New American Security CEO Richard Fontaine — who advised John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. The group is a mix of policy and national security leaders that underscores the company’s deep ties to Washington and global policy circles.

Anthropic’s backers also have placed it at the center of overlapping tech, policy and political networks. 

Early funding for the company included investments from figures such as Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, both longtime Democratic donors, and a major early investment from Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX.

At the same time, the company has since attracted a broad range of major institutional investors — including Amazon, Google and Microsoft — reflecting its growing role in the global AI race and complicating efforts to characterize it along purely political lines.

The company also has brought on several officials from the Biden administration into key policy roles, further embedding Anthropic in Washington’s AI policy ecosystem. Among them is Tarun Chhabra, a former National Security Council official who now leads the company’s national security policy work, as well as other advisers and staff with experience shaping federal AI and technology strategy.

Anthropic also has sought to build ties across party lines as it expands its presence in Washington. 

The company employs policy staff with Republican backgrounds, including legislative analyst Benjamin Merkel and lobbyist Mary Croghan, and in February added Chris Liddell — a former deputy White House chief of staff under Trump — to its board. It has contributed $20 million to Public First Action, a bipartisan group that backs candidates from both parties who support AI regulation.

The company has also faced criticism from within the Trump administration. 

White House AI adviser David Sacks has accused Anthropic of pursuing a “regulatory capture” strategy, arguing the firm is using concerns about AI safety to push rules that could benefit its own position while slowing competitors. 

Anthropic has pushed back on those claims, saying its approach reflects genuine concerns about the risks posed by advanced AI systems.

Anthropic declined to comment on the White House meeting and questions about its political ties.

JUDGE FREEZES TRUMP ADMIN MOVE AGAINST AI FIRM, FUELING BATTLE OVER SECURITY AUTHORITY

New AI system could reshape cyber warfare, raising alarms inside US government

The new technology could help developers identify and fix long-standing security flaws, but it could also give hackers a powerful new tool to target U.S. businesses and government systems.

“Given the rate of AI progress, it will not be long before such capabilities proliferate, potentially beyond actors who are committed to deploying them safely,” Anthropic said in its announcement. “The fallout — for economies, public safety, and national security — could be severe.”

Anthropic has not released Mythos publicly, instead limiting access through a program called Project Glasswing, where a select group of companies use the model to scan critical systems for vulnerabilities.

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The company says the system has already uncovered thousands of previously unknown flaws — some decades old — underscoring both its defensive value and the risk it could be used to accelerate cyberattacks if the technology spreads.

Fox Business’ Edward Lawrence contributed to this report.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday that the Trump administration is working with federal agencies and the FBI to review a growing number of cases involving American scientists who have gone missing or died and to determine whether any of the cases may be connected.

“In light of the recent and legitimate questions about these troubling cases, and President Trump’s commitment to the truth, the White House is actively working with all relevant agencies and the FBI to holistically review all of the cases together and identify any potential commonalities that may exist,” Leavitt said in a post on X.

“No stone will be unturned in this effort, and the White House will provide updates when we have them.”

Leavitt’s statement came after a Wednesday exchange with Fox News’ Peter Doocy, who asked whether federal authorities were investigating reports that scientists with access to sensitive U.S. research had gone missing or died.

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“There are now 10 American scientists who have either gone missing or died since mid-2024,” Doocy said. “They all reportedly had access to classified nuclear or aerospace material. Is anybody investigating this to see if these things are connected?”

Leavitt said at the time that she had seen the reports but had not yet spoken with the relevant agencies.

“I’ve seen the report, Peter. I haven’t spoken to our relevant agencies about it,” she said Wednesday. “I will certainly do that and we’ll get you an answer. If true, of course, that’s definitely something I think this government and administration would deem worth looking into.”

The number of cases has since grown, with an 11th scientist now included among the deaths and disappearances involving people tied to U.S. military, nuclear and aerospace research.

Amy Eskridge, a Huntsville, Alabama-based researcher who died in 2022 at age 34, is now being included in the list, Fox News Digital has reported.

Her death has drawn renewed attention as at least 10 other recent cases involving people tied to advanced research fields have raised questions about whether there may be a pattern.

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President Donald Trump said Thursday he had “just left a meeting” on the issue and vowed answers within days, calling the situation “pretty serious.”

“I hope it’s random, but we’re going to know in the next week and a half,” Trump said.

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration said it is aware of the reports and is looking into the matter.

“NNSA is aware of reports related to employees of our labs, plants, and sites and is looking into the matter,” the agency said in a statement.

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Officials have not confirmed any connection between the cases. But the timing of the deaths and disappearances, along with the individuals’ ties to advanced research fields, has drawn public attention and speculation.

There is no publicly available evidence linking Eskridge’s death to the other cases, and authorities have not indicated any tie between her work and the circumstances of her death.

Former President Barack Obama is urging Virginians to vote in favor of a congressional redistricting ballot measure that if passed, could give Democrats a big boost in this year’s midterm elections.

“By voting yes, you have the chance to do something important — not just for the Commonwealth, but for our entire country,” Obama said in the video. “By voting yes, you can push back against the Republicans trying to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterms.”

The video by the former president, who remains one of the most popular former presidents and whose favorable ratings among Democrats remain very high a decade after leaving the White House, was released Friday on the eve of the final day of early voting ahead of Tuesday’s statewide referendum.

If the ballot measure is successful, it would give the Democrat-controlled legislature — rather than the current nonpartisan commission — temporary redistricting power through the 2030 election. It could result in a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in Virginia’s congressional delegation, up from their current 6-5 edge.

OBAMA ENDORSES VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT THAT COULD HELP DEMS GAIN 4 SEATS

That would give Democrats four additional left-leaning U.S. House seats ahead of the midterms, as the party tries to win back control of the chamber from the GOP, which currently holds a razor-thin majority.

“By voting yes, you can take a temporary step to level the playing field. And we’re counting on you,” Obama said in the video.

Republicans call the Democrats’ redistricting effort an “unconstitutional power grab.” Democrats counter that it’s a necessary step to balance out partisan gerrymandering already implemented by Republicans in other states under the urging of President Donald Trump.

The video by Obama is the former president’s latest effort tied to the referendum. He has previously appeared in ads released by Virginians for Fair Elections, the Democrat-aligned group working to pass the ballot initiative.

Virginians For Fair Maps, the leading Republican-aligned group opposing redistricting, is using past comments by Obama against political gerrymandering in their ads opposing the referendum.

“Because of things like political gerrymandering, our parties have moved further and further apart, and it’s harder and harder to find common ground,” the former president says in a clip showcased in the spot.

A separate group that is also urging Virginians to vote no has sent mailers across the state featuring Obama’s image alongside a six-year-old quote from the former president saying, “For too long, gerrymandering has contributed to stalled progress and warped our representative government.”

Supporters of redistricting have dramatically outraised and outspent groups opposed to the referendum. But polling suggests support for the ballot initiative is only slightly ahead of opposition, amid a surge in early voting.

Virginia is the latest battleground in the high-stakes fight between Trump and the GOP versus Democrats over congressional redistricting.

BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE RUNS THROUGH VIRGINIA AS COURT OKS HIGH-STAKES REDISTRICTING VOTE

Aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterms, Trump last spring first floated the idea of rare, but not unheard of, mid-decade congressional redistricting.

The mission was simple: redraw congressional district maps in red states to pad the GOP’s fragile House majority to keep control of the chamber in the midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

When asked by reporters last summer about his plan to add Republican-leaning House seats across the country, the president said, “Texas will be the biggest one. And that’ll be five.”

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas called a special session of the GOP-dominated state legislature to pass the new map.

But Democratic state lawmakers, who broke quorum for two weeks as they fled Texas in a bid to delay the passage of the redistricting bill, energized Democrats across the country.

Among those leading the fight against Trump’s redistricting was Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.

REPUBLICANS TARGET VIRGINIA GOVERNOR IN BID TO DEFEAT DEMOCRAT-BACKED REDISTRICTING

California voters in November overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that temporarily sidetracked the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and returned the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democratic-dominated legislature.

That is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts in California, which aimed to counter the move by Texas to redraw their maps.

The fight quickly spread beyond Texas and California.

Republican-controlled Missouri and Ohio, and swing state North Carolina, where the GOP dominates the legislature, have drawn new maps as part of the president’s push.

In blows to Republicans, a Utah district judge late last year rejected a congressional district map drawn up by the state’s GOP-dominated legislature and instead approved an alternate that will create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the midterms.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Indiana’s Senate in December defied Trump, shooting down a redistricting bill that had passed the state House. The showdown in the Indiana statehouse grabbed plenty of national attention.

Florida is next up.

Two-term Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and state lawmakers in the GOP-dominated legislature are hoping to pick up an additional three to five right-leaning seats through a redistricting push during a special legislative session that kicks off on April 28.

Hovering over the redistricting wars is the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule in Louisiana v. Callais, a crucial case that may lead to the overturning of a key provision in the Voting Rights Act.

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If the ruling goes the way of the conservatives on the high court, it could lead to the redrawing of a slew of majority-minority districts across the county, which would greatly favor Republicans.

But it is very much up in the air — when the court will rule, and what it will actually do.

Virginia voters are set to decide a redistricting referendum Tuesday, even as a high-stakes legal challenge before the state’s Supreme Court argues the amendment should be invalidated because it was pushed through an unlawfully extended legislative session.

The case centers on whether lawmakers violated the Virginia Constitution by keeping the special session open for nearly two years to pass the redistricting measure, a move critics say was an abuse of legislative authority. The measure, if it passes Tuesday and survives state Supreme Court scrutiny, would reshape the state’s congressional map so that Democrats have a 10-1 advantage in the upcoming midterms.

“The voters are the first hope that we have, and the best one,” Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project, told Fox News Digital, warning that if the referendum passes, the Supreme Court decision could be “the last chance” before the next census to challenge the map.

VIRGINIA DEM ADMITS REDISTRICTING PUSH AIMS TO ‘STOP TRUMP’, NOT ABOUT ‘FAIRNESS’

Snead’s group this week submitted a brief to Virginia’s highest court making the case that the legislative special session was improperly extended.

“If you look at what the Constitution of Virginia requires and what the law requires, it’s very clear that what happened here was an illegally extended special session that essentially turned a part-time legislature into a full-time one,” Snead said. “They kept it open for nearly two years and then used that to push through a constitutional amendment — and we think that’s a blatant violation of the limits the Constitution puts on legislative power.”

Virginia Democrats, led by Gov. Abigail Spanberger and House Speaker Don Scott, passed an amendment this year that they argued allowed them to bypass the typical redistricting process in the state to shift the current 6-5 map to 10-1. Scott told reporters in February the move was a direct response to national redistricting fights playing out across the country.

NEW POLL REVEALS SPANBERGER’S POPULARITY IS PLUMMETING AMID BACKLASH OVER GERRYMANDERING

“This is about leveling the playing field across the country. Republicans are gerrymandering maps to override the will of the voters,” Scott said. “We just saw it in Texas, North Carolina and Missouri. At Donald Trump’s direction they’re manipulating election maps because they know they can’t win on their agenda in 2026. … A 10-1 map levels the playing field.”

Democrats have argued to the Supreme Court that the General Assembly has broad constitutional authority to manage its own legislative sessions and procedures, including extending a special session, and that nothing in the Virginia Constitution explicitly prohibits how this particular session was handled. 

The Honest Elections Project’s brief argues otherwise.

“If you look at what the law requires, it’s very clear that Governor Spanberger and her allies are steamrolling the process to try to launch a power grab,” Snead said

SPANBERGER ONCE BLASTED GERRYMANDERING AND NOW BACKS AMENDMENT CRITICS SAY COULD ERASE VIRGINIA GOP

The Supreme Court decided in March to allow the referendum vote to move forward while it considers Republicans’ arguments challenging how the map amendment was passed by way of a special session.

“It is the process, not the outcome, of this effort that we may ultimately have to address,” the state’s highest court found. “Issuing an injunction to keep Virginians from the polls is not the proper way to make this decision.”

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The state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case April 27 and a decision could come anytime after that.

Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger’s and Scott’s offices for comment.

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts on Thursday gave preliminary approval to President Donald Trump’s plan for a massive new triumphal arch monument in the nation’s capital, according to the New York Times.

The outlet reported that the body holds an advisory role regarding the project’s design, but does not wield enforcement authority.

The Associated Press reported that the commission approved the concept for several projects, including the arch. The federal agency next will review updated designs for all three projects at a future meeting before taking any final votes.

GOLDEN EAGLES, LIONS AND A WINGED LADY LIBERTY TOP TRUMP’S PROPOSED 250-FOOT DC TRIUMPHAL ARCH DESIGNS

The proposed monument features a giant arch topped with a winged Lady Liberty statue flanked by eagle statues.

Near the base of the arch there would be lion statues.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Friday.

The AP reported that White House spokesperson Davis Ingle indicated that the commission’s action is “another step in accomplishing President Trump’s promise to the American people from the campaign trail — to Make America Safe and Beautiful Again.”

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Reports indicate that commission vice chair James C. McCrery, II raised number of design notes, including the possibility of not including the statues atop the monument.

“And I wonder… if it’s not even a better, more Washingtonian design without the three finials,” he said.

LEAVITT SHOWS OFF US TRIUMPHAL ARCH, WITH PLANS TO BE RELEASED THURSDAY

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“I’d say work on the lions and find replacements for them,” he said, noting that as he had indicated previously, “they’re not of this continent.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Amy Eskridge, a Huntsville, Alabama–based researcher who died in 2022, is now being cited as the 11th case in a growing list of scientists who have died or disappeared under unusual circumstances.

Her death has drawn renewed attention as at least 10 other recent cases involving individuals tied to U.S. military, nuclear and aerospace research have prompted questions about whether any pattern exists.

President Donald Trump said Thursday he had “just left a meeting” on the issue and vowed answers within days, calling the situation “pretty serious.”

“I hope it’s random, but we’re going to know in the next week and a half,” Trump told reporters.

WHO WAS NUNO LOUREIRO? MIT PROFESSOR GUNNED DOWN IN APARTMENT NEAR UNIVERSITY

While officials have not confirmed any connection between the cases, the overlap in timing and the individuals’ ties to advanced research fields has fueled growing public attention and speculation.

Eskridge died June 11, 2022, in Huntsville, Alabama, at the age of 34, according to obituary records. Her death has been reported as a self-inflicted gunshot wound, though limited official details have been publicly released.

Eskridge co-founded the Institute for Exotic Science and described her work as focused on experimental propulsion concepts, including what she referred to as “antigravity” research.

“We discovered anti-gravity and our lives went to (expletive) and people started sabotaging us,” she said in a 2020 interview with Youtuber Jeremy Rys. “It’s harassment, threats. It’s awful.” 

“If you stick your neck out in public, at least someone notices if your head gets chopped off,” Eskridge said. “If you stick your neck out in private, they will bury you. They will burn down your house while you’re sleeping in your bed and it won’t even make the news.” 

In the same interview, she described what she characterized as escalating pressure surrounding her work.

“I have to publish because it’s only going to get worse until I publish,” she said, adding that the situation was “getting more and more aggressive.”

In presentations and interviews, Eskridge also suggested that researchers working on unconventional technologies could face pressure to move their work out of the public domain, describing what she saw as a pattern in which scientists who reported breakthroughs would “disappear” from public work or stop publishing.

Eskridge’s death is being cited alongside cases involving retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William “Neil” McCasland, NASA scientist Monica Jacinto Reza, contractor Steven Garcia, astrophysicist Carl Grillmair, Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist Nuno Loureiro, NASA engineer Frank Maiwald, Los Alamos–linked employees Melissa Casias and Anthony Chavez, NASA researcher Michael David Hicks and pharmaceutical scientist Jason Thomas.

The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) told Fox News Digital it is investigating the deaths and disappearances. 

“NNSA is aware of reports related to employees of our labs, plants, and sites and is looking into the matter,” a statement from the department said. 

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At the same time, there is no publicly available evidence linking Eskridge’s death to those cases, and authorities have not indicated any connection between her work and the circumstances of her death.

Her case has also become the subject of speculation in online and alternative technology communities, where some commentators have raised questions about the circumstances surrounding her death. Those claims, however, remain unverified and are not supported by official findings.

FIRST ON FOX: A conservative legal group called on the Trump administration on Friday to investigate an Alaska school district over a policy that withholds gender identity information from parents.

America First Legal asked the Education and Justice departments to open inquiries into the school district, the latest to come under scrutiny for its transgender policies in the wake of a major Supreme Court ruling last month that sided with religious parents on the matter. The high court’s decision applied to California but has continued to affect school districts across the country.

AFL’s complaint centers on a policy in Hoonah City School District, a small K-12 district in Alaska, that instructs school administrators to use a student’s legal name and pronouns when communicating with parents, even if the student is going by a different name and pronouns at school.

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AFL argued that in practice, the policy “requires school staff to present one identity to parents while facilitating another at school, effectively directing them to deceive parents about their own children.”

“Hoonah City School District’s nonsensical ‘gender identity’ policies strip parents of their rights, applaud deception, and brazenly violate federal law,” AFL senior counsel Ian Prior said in a statement.

The DOJ Civil Rights Division has already signaled it is open to investigating such policies after recently opening a similar probe into Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest school district comprising more than half a million students.

CALIFORNIA HIT WITH FRESH SETBACK IN FAILED GENDER SECRECY CASE COSTING TAXPAYERS MILLIONS

AFL’s complaint mirrors a similar legal threat the conservative Thomas More Society made last month against the Westwood Regional School District in New Jersey.

The legal group, which helped bring the California Supreme Court case, said it would initiate litigation if the school district did not rescind a policy that lets schools withhold students’ gender identity information from parents.

The complaints and investigations come after the Supreme Court temporarily blocked California from enforcing a policy that prevents school staff from notifying parents if their child expresses a desire to engage in gender transitioning, unless the child consents to the parents finding out. The case, Mirabelli v. Bonta, was brought by parents who argued the policy encroached on their religious freedom. The California policy also required school staff to use students’ preferred names and pronouns regardless of the parents’ wishes.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit sided with the state in the case, but the high court temporarily vacated the 9th Circuit’s order 6-3, saying the state policy was likely unconstitutional. The three liberal justices dissented.

SUPREME COURT RULING ON SECRETIVE CALIFORNIA GENDER POLICY COULD RESHAPE PARENT RIGHTS FIGHTS NATIONWIDE

“The State argues that its policies advance a compelling interest in student safety and privacy,” the high court’s majority had written in the unsigned opinion. “But those policies cut out the primary protectors of children’s best interests: their parents.”

California attorneys had argued that the state policy was designed to protect transgender children from allegedly abusive parents.

Peter Breen, an executive vice president with the Thomas More Society, recently told Fox News Digital he had hoped the Supreme Court’s decision “would end the practice of secret gender transitions, but what’s becoming clear to us is this is just the beginning.”

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“We are already fielding requests from other parents across the country, and we anticipate sending a lot more demand letters, unfortunately,” Breen said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Hoonah City School District and the DOJ and Ed. Dept. for comment.

Pope Leo XIV, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, decried people who twist religion for military, economic or political benefit.

“Jesus told us, blessed are the peacemakers. But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,” he declared.

He also called out “The masters of war,” during the remarks in Cameroon on Thursday.

“The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often, a lifetime is often not enough to rebuild. They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing, on devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education, and restoration are nowhere to be found,” the pope said.

POPE LEO SAYS HE’S UNAFRAID OF THE TRUMP ADMIN AFTER PRESIDENT CALLS HIM ‘TERRIBLE’ ON FOREIGN POLICY

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Thursday regarding the pontiff’s comments in Cameroon.

But the president himself spoke about the pope on Thursday after he was asked about the religious figure’s comments.

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President Donald Trump said on Thursday that it is “very important that the Pope understands” that “Iran killed 42,000 people that were totally unarmed, they were protesters.”

“Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” the president asserted, saying that if the foreign nation were to possess such a weapon, every nation in the world, including Italy, “would be in trouble.”

“But the pope has to understand, Iran, very simple, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. The world would be in great danger,” he declared.

Asked whether he would meet with the pope to iron out their differences, Trump responded, “I don’t think it’s necessary.”

TRUMP ACCUSES POPE LEO OF BEING ‘TERRIBLE’ ON FOREIGN POLICY OVER PONTIFF’S ANTI-WAR COMMENTS

Trump blasted the Catholic figure in a Truth Social post on Sunday night, declaring that the man “is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” and that he should “stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician.”

“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country,” Trump declared in part of the lengthy post.

“And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History,” he added.

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In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, the president wrote, “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable. Thank you for your attention to this matter. AMERICA IS BACK!!!”

Leaders of the Air National Guard argued that the Air Force’s readiness was woefully inadequate in a recent letter to Congress requesting more funding.

“The United States Air Force is the oldest, the smallest, and the least ready in its 78-year history,” the letter, which was obtained by Air and Space Forces Magazine, read.

To rectify the historic deficiency, military leaders are requesting between 72 and 100 new fighter jets across the Air Force’s active duty, reserve and guard corps.

Specifically, the adjutants generals —  the leader of the National Guard in their respective state —  are requesting at least 48 new F-35s and 24 new F-15EXs.

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The letter also states a desired goal of procuring 72 new F-35s and 36 new F-15EXs every year.

It was signed by all 22 adjutant generals that lead Air National Guards in the states that have them, something Idaho’s assistant adjutant general, Brig. Gen. Shannon Smith, called “a pretty big deal.”

“What we’re trying to do with this is send a strong message from the two-star generals that command the National Guards in these states,” he told Air and Space Forces.

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Smith pointed to Operation Epic Fury, the U.S.’s sprawling military campaign in Iran, as showcasing the need for more jets and resources.

“We are burning these jets and the Airmen over time to support the joint force to accomplish the president’s goals with Epic Fury in this conflict with Iran,” he told the magazine.

The procurement requests are a significant jump from recent Air Force asks. The Air Force asked Congress to procure 48 F-35s in 2024 and 42 in 2025. For F-15EXs, they asked for 24 in 2024 and 18 in 2025.

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“If we keep dabbling under 72, that isn’t winning, that is raising the water line,” Smith told the outlet. “If we don’t procure at a higher rate, all of these fighter squadrons will remain with ’70s-era fighters. Most of the money will go to keep them flying. In a few years, they’ll be struggling to be flyable, let alone be relevant.”

The lofty ask comes amidst an equally audacious budget request for the Pentagon from President Trump. His proposed fiscal year 2027 budget asks for $1.5 trillion for the Pentagon, a near $700 billion jump from 2026.

Fox News Digital contacted the Pentagon and the Air Force for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Republican strategists and lawmakers are hoping that when voters head to the polls in November to elect the next U.S. Senator of Minnesota, they’ll be forced to choose between either a Republican candidate — or Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.

In a Democratic primary that has yet to play out, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., believes Flanagan would give Republicans better odds than her opponent, Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn.

“You’ve got the radical Left that is really upending the party. It’s that crazy Marxist anarchist group that is in Minneapolis, especially with a primary,” Emmer said in an interview with local media.

“Think about this. You’ve got Angie Craig, who will have all the money. But she knows that her numbers are in the tank against this radical, wild, wild-eyed Peggy Flanagan, the current lieutenant governor. So, guess who shows up [to the primary]? All the crazies from Minneapolis.”

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“Peggy Flanagan is likely going to be their candidate, and that is good for us,” Emmer said.

The assessment isn’t unique to Emmer.

The Democratic race began in February of last year when Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., sparked a four-way Democratic primary with news that she would not pursue reelection in 2026.

In addition to Craig and Flanagan, Billy Nord, an anti-establishment activist, and Melisa López Franzen, a former minority leader of the Minnesota Senate, announced bids for the seat. But it didn’t take long for Craig and Flanagan to emerge as the clear-cut frontrunners.

Craig, a former journalist, businesswoman and a current four-term U.S. congresswoman, has $4.8 million in cash on hand, according to FEC records.

Flanagan, Minnesota’s lieutenant governor for the past seven years, has $1.1 million cash on hand.

Nord has not reported contributions with the FEC and López dropped out of the race in May of last year.

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While Republican onlookers believe both frontrunners can be described as “far-left,” many have pointed out Flanagan shares platform similarities with more polarizing, high-profile Democrats — such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and has shared the same platform as Gov. Tim Walz, who she has called an “incredible partner.” Walz was hammered during his failed 2024 vice presidential bid for all of his far-left proposals.

In the view of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, that makes for a Republican advantage.

“She, too, supports Medicare for All, wants to ‘re-imagine’ policing and attended anti-ICE protests where she called on people to “put their bodies on the line” to defend illegal immigrants from ICE,” the NRSC said in a press release.

More notably, Republicans believe Flanagan’s greatest liability is a tenure that overlaps with recent revelations of up to $9 billion in fraud through government benefit programs.

Through scores of schemes, fraudsters in Minnesota allegedly siphoned funding from government programs like daycare centers and health clinics while returning no benefits, greatly exaggerating their services and pocketing government funding.

The fraud revelations made national news last year, raising questions about how state leadership could have missed the sheer size of the losses.

DFL party Chair Mike Erlandson told the Minnesota Star Tribune he believes fraud will remain front-and-center in the minds of voters.

“I don’t think there’s any way that this issue isn’t still being talked about in November. And anybody that was a party to it, whether you’re a legislator or Lt. Gov. Flanagan, if she’s the nominee, is going to have to answer questions around it,” Erlandson said.

NRSC Chairman Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., echoed that sentiment.

“From allowing billions of dollars in fraud to vilifying law enforcement, the Walz-Flanagan administration has failed Minnesotans,” Scott wrote in a post to X.

For her own part, Flanagan’s campaign told Fox News Digital she likes her chances to win in a general election, pointing to Minnesota’s solidly-blue track record of sending Democrats to the U.S. Senate.

“Minnesota hasn’t voted for a Republican statewide in over 20 years – with Trump in the White House and the chaos ICE inflicted on Minnesotans, this is not going to be Craig’s or the GOP’s year,” Alexandra Fetissoff, a Flanagan campaign spokeswoman, said.

“Peggy Flanagan is the only candidate in this race who has won statewide, the only candidate not taking corporate money and the only candidate that hasn’t enabled Trump’s ICE. Minnesotans know Peggy and trust her leadership and that’s why she’ll be the next Senator from Minnesota.”

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When asked if he stood by his comments on the Minnesota primary, Emmer said he believes Republicans will run a competitive race, regardless of the Democratic nominee.

“Minnesotans will reject both of these far-left, fraud-enabling radicals who would only dig our state into an even deeper hole than it’s already in. Good luck to Flanagan and Craig as they continue fighting tooth and nail to win over the cop hating, open-border extremist base while alienating commonsense Minnesotans,” Emmer said.

Craig and Flanagan will face off in the primary on Aug. 11. Fox News Digital reached out to Craig for comment.