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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.”

‘A NEW KIND OF WAR’: INSIDE UKRAINE’S HIDDEN FACTORIES MASS-PRODUCING COMBAT DRONES

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.

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed is facing pushback online over a resurfaced clip where he says he “hates” arguably the most treasured location in the state.

In the documentary clip from 2020, resurfaced by The Midwesterner on Friday, El-Sayed can be seen walking through Michigan’s Mackinac Island during his failed run for governor.

“I hate Mackinac so much,” El-Sayed says about the state’s most recognizable vacation spots which sits on an island in Lake Huron between Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsula’s.

“It’s funny cause, like, if we win, this is gonna be, like, the summer home,” El-Sayed added, referencing the governor’s summer residence on the island.

DEM SENATE HOPEFUL ABDUL EL-SAYED RECOUNTS SMASHING VODKA BOTTLE AFTER BEARD CRITICISM

“I’m just gonna be like every time I’ve ever come here, I’ve hated it. Why am I here.”

The clip went viral on social media on Thursday with conservatives blasting El-Sayed for looking down on the quaint village town.

MICHIGAN SENATE RACE: EL-SAYED’S TIES TO EXTREMIST FUEL ANTISEMITISM CONCERNS AMONG JEWISH VOTERS

“The rising stars of the Democrat Party loathe America and seek to destroy it,” Federalist Editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway posted on X. “And unlike their spiritual forebears, they see less of a reason to hide it for political gain. “

“I got engaged on this island,” Outkick founder Clay Travis posted on X. It’s an awesome place. Honestly, I don’t understand how anyone could hate northern Michigan in summer, absolutely beautiful, most underrated spot in the country.”

“Wow hating Mackinac!” former Trump adviser Steve Cortes posted on X. “A place that is so iconic to Michigan, to America. Abdul has a dark heart.”

“Abdul el-Sayed is a repellent terror-loving anti-Semite–and that’s not even the worst thing about him,” Commentary Magazine editor John Podhoretz posted on X. “He hates Mackinac Island, one of the most wonderful places on earth. A person who hates Mackinac Island has had his soul ripped from his body.”

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“He would rather summer at his property in Dubai ,” National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesperson Sarah Gallagher posted on X.

“Bro has no soul,” On Brand Strategies communications associate Carly Moran posted on X. “It’s literally Heaven on Earth. “

“Abdul speaks fondly of his Egyptian summers yet he shows utter disdain for one of Michigan’s most beautiful summer destinations,” former Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon told Fox News Digital. “He wants his history to be respected but belittles Michigander’s favorite memories. He doesn’t respect us and therefore he cannot represent us.”

“Abdul El-Sayed hot mic: ‘I hate Mackinac so much,'” conservative influencer account End Wokeness posted on X. “This is the most American place in MI.”

Some, including journalist Brad LaPlante, defended El-Sayed’s comments as being taken “out of context.”

“El-Sayed was talking about the Mackinac Policy Conference, an annual gathering of policy pros and insiders that he argues brings together well-connected and powerful people and shuts most voters out of politics,” LaPlante wrote.

Others weren’t so sure, including Michigan Young Republicans Board Member James Asher who responded in a post on X, “Brad, are you dizzy from the way you’re spinning this?”

Mackinac Island is beloved in large part because it has retained a character increasingly rare in American tourist destinations. Motor vehicles have been largely prohibited since the 1890s, leaving visitors to travel by foot, bicycle or the island’s famous horse-drawn carriages.

The island is littered with Victorian homes, historic hotels, waterfront streets, natural scenery and celebrated fudge shops which draw more than a million visitors from around the world each summer, while landmarks such as the Grand Hotel and Fort Mackinac have helped make the island an enduring symbol of Michigan history and culture.

Fox News Digital reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign for comment but did not receive a response.

El-Sayed responded to the post from End Wokeness on Friday afternoon saying, “Not sure about ‘End Wokeness,’ but I don’t think the most ‘American place in MI’ can be a place that…bans cars.”

The Justice Department is accusing Duke University School of Law of favoring Black and Hispanic applicants over White and Asian applicants with the same academic records in its admissions process, which the Trump administration argues the law school used to meet its “diversity goals.”

“Duke Law School doesn’t get a free pass to discriminate against white and Asian students simply because it thinks it has good intentions,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said.

In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA) that it was unconstitutional for colleges and higher education institutions to consider a student’s race in their admissions processes. The decision prompted the Trump administration to open investigations into alleged race-based discrimination at dozens of colleges and universities.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ZEROES IN ON UCLA FOR ALLEGED ILLEGAL DEI ADMISSIONS AS ELITE SCHOOL CRACKDOWN EXPANDS

The Civil Rights Division, which began investigating Duke Law in April 2025, found that Black applicants who applied in 2025 had roughly 3.5 times the chance of admission as Asian applicants with the same academic credentials, according to a Justice Department letter sent to Duke Law. Investigators found that the median LSAT score for accepted Black applicants was lower than the median score for rejected Asian and White applicants.

“This consistent difference in the test scores between students of different racial groups is substantial and cannot be explained by a coincidence,” the letter stated. “The magnitude and durability of these preferences across multiple cycles (including post-SFFA) confirm intentional discrimination.”

The Trump administration’s review of internal communications found that the law school began preparing for the Supreme Court’s SFFA ruling so its admissions process could continue “to meet the Law School’s goals for a broadly diverse student body.”

For instance, Duke Law’s post-SFFA guidance for admissions allowed officials to “consider applicants’ discussion of how race affected their life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.” Applicants provided these discussions in short-answer essays, where admissions officials could then “tag” the responses to provide context for weaker academic records when evaluating applicants.

COAST GUARD ENDING RACE-BASED ADMISSIONS FOR OFFICER COMMISSIONING PROGRAM UNDER TRUMP DEI CRACKDOWN

Duke Law states that it values “students with a wide range of experiences, backgrounds, and interests that may not be directly related to their legal ambitions,” encouraging applicants to “highlight different elements” of who they are.

“Using ‘diversity’ essay questions to identify preferred races for admission is still illegal discrimination based on race, and this Department is committed to eliminating it everywhere we find it, including in our nation’s law schools,” Dhillon said in a statement.

After SFFA, Duke Law admissions continued to release reports highlighting the school’s diversity and its efforts to achieve “race-neutral” admissions standards. In a May 2024 annual review, the associate dean of admissions highlighted the diversity of the incoming fall 2023 class, including the number of Latino, Black and Asian or Asian American students.

In the school’s 2025 Annual Review Memorandum, the admissions dean suggested that the law school can gauge the diversity of its student body by observing students on campus rather than compiling formal statistics.

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A Duke University spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the university is aware of the Justice Department’s allegations.

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“The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division issued a letter of findings related to Duke Law’s admissions practices. We are reviewing the letter and its conclusions carefully. Duke is committed to complying with the law and will continue to do so in a manner that is consistent with our academic mission,” a Duke University spokesperson said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Justice Department for additional comment. 

After a panel of federal judges ordered construction on the White House ballroom to stop, President Donald Trump said he will immediately appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a Truth Social post on Friday, Trump decried the 2-1 decision from the the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit as “horrendous, politically motivated, and unlawful.”

“The Circuit Court’s decision, which is totally wrong on the vital subject of STANDING, of which the plaintiff has none, severely jeopardizes the lives and welfare of the people who work, and will be working, at the White House — including all future Presidents of the United States, and their families, as well as the lives of all those visiting, such as Heads of State and other Dignitaries, and all Americans who wish to visit the historic, beautiful Executive Mansion,” Trump wrote in the post.

He also accused the court of refusing to acknowledge that the ballroom, which he said is being built ahead of schedule and under budget, “is a Gift from President Trump and Great Patriots of the United States of America.”

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

“There will be no expense to the American Taxpayer. This unjust decision must be overturned by the Supreme Court in its entirety,” Trump wrote.

The appeals court on Friday upheld a lower-court decision that paused above-ground construction of the proposed 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom project, which replaced the demolished East Wing.

The earlier ruling allowed work to continue on underground national-security facilities and certain safety and security measures, a decision the higher court also upheld.

The appeals court said in its 136-page ruling that the decision to build a “massive ballroom” lies with Congress, not with the executive branch.

REPUBLICANS EYE PICKING UP $400M TAB FOR TRUMP’S BALLROOM AS SOME DEMS OPEN TO ‘DISCUSS’ IDEA

Judges Patricia Millett and Brad Garcia wrote the majority opinion, remarking that there is no precedent for what Trump has done.

“We are aware of no instance in American history in which a President unilaterally and using privately collected funds demolished substantial portions of the White House that Congress authorized to be built and American taxpayers paid for. Until now,” they wrote.

The judges said their ruling does not prevent the president from building the ballroom if it is authorized by Congress in the future.

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As Trump pointed out in his social media post, the ruling was stayed for 14 days to allow the defendants to seek a Supreme Court review.

It is not immediately clear if the Supreme Court will take up this case.

U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., the only Republican in Maryland’s congressional delegation, is accusing Gov. Wes Moore of backing an amendment to the state constitution that could eliminate his district through redistricting, arguing that the push is driven by the governor’s alleged presidential ambitions.

The amendment, if approved by voters in November, would give the Democratic-controlled General Assembly far greater latitude to redraw the state’s congressional districts ahead of the 2028 election.

“The governor certainly led the charge in trying to eliminate the only Republican in the Maryland delegation in furtherance of his presidential aspirations,” Harris told Fox News Digital in an interview. “It’s obvious that this is not being done for Maryland, it is being done for a national agenda.”

Moore has repeatedly said he is not running for president in 2028. but speculation around his potential White House bid remains.

TRUMP-BACKED INCUMBENT OUSTED IN HOUSE PRIMARY AS GOP REDISTRICTING PUSH SET TO RESHAPE TENNESSEE

Harris also called out Moore for engaging in a “photo-op” on Wednesday by publicly signing the bill that will put the amendment on the ballot this fall.

The bill passed Tuesday with three-fifths majorities in both chambers, which is the only requirement for an amendment to become a ballot question, according to Article XIV of the Maryland Constitution.

“Gov. Moore, never missing a photo op for his presidential aspirations, convened a signing ceremony, which is a little unusual considering there’s really nothing to sign for the governor,” Harris said. “But again, this is all for show. This is to make sure that he can look Gavin Newsom in the eye and say, ‘Yeah I did something too for mid-cycle redistricting.'”

Fox News Digital reached out to Moore’s office for comment.

Harris, who worked as an anesthesiologist before getting into politics, has represented Maryland’s first congressional district since 2011. The district contains the entire Eastern Shore, a relatively rural part of the state, as well as parts of Baltimore County.

VIRGINIA VOTERS CEMENT SWING DISTRICT REMATCH AFTER DEMS’ REDISTRICTING FAIL

The proposed amendment Harris is fighting against could allow state lawmakers to carve up his district and make it untenable for a Republican to win.

As it stands, the Maryland Constitution requires General Assembly districts and U.S. House districts to respect natural boundaries and existing county and municipal lines.

The amendment would remove those requirements for congressional districts while leaving them in place for state legislative districts.

“It absolutely sets up a double standard for redistricting in the state of Maryland. And again, the blatant attempt is to eliminate the Republican representation,” Harris said.

MARYLAND BALLOT BLUNDER SPARKS HOUSE GOP PROBE AHEAD OF PRIMARY

The amendment is already facing a court challenge from the Oversight Project, a conservative watchdog group that filed a complaint Thursday night in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court seeking to keep it off the November ballot.

The Oversight Project, along with Harris, accused state legislators of bypassing the established July 1 deadline to introduce statewide ballot questions.

The ballot question for the amendment was introduced by Maryland House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk and Senate President Bill Ferguson on Aug. 3, more than a month after the deadline.

Fox News Digital reached out to Peña-Melnyk and Ferguson for comment.

The move by Peña-Melnyk and Ferguson at the tail end of the legislative session is a response to a 2022 court ruling that struck down Democratic lawmakers’ proposed congressional map at the time.

Judge Lynne Battaglia found that the map — which added more Democratic voters to Harris’ district — failed to give sufficient regard to the natural boundaries and political subdivisions throughout the state.

TWIN COURT RULINGS RESHAPE HOUSE BATTLEFIELD AS DEMOCRATS FIGHT UPHILL REDISTRICTING BATTLE

Amending the state constitution could be a way to get around this, but Harris said that even if voters approve the amendment, it would not guarantee that the courts would approve subsequently drawn maps that have “hyper-partisan gerrymandering.”

If the state legislature tried to eliminate or substantially dilute Republican voting power his district, Harris said he would sue based on the precedent set by Battaglia’s 2022 ruling.

Meanwhile, Moore has framed his support of the amendment as a necessary response to GOP redistricting around the country, which he called “political redlining.”

“For over a year, I have warned that Donald Trump and Republicans across the country are working to rig the system, weaken voting rights, and make this pain permanent. I am proud that today we united and took action,” Moore said. “I continue to believe that our country needs national redistricting reform. But until that happens, inaction is not an option.”

DEMOCRATS TARGETING 12 ADDITIONAL RED DISTRICTS IN MIDTERMS PUSH TO RETAKE HOUSE

Harris pushed back on Moore’s assertion that Republicans are responsible for the current redistricting battle playing out in dozens of states.

He pointed out that the redistricting organization founded by Eric Holder, who served as attorney general under President Obama from 2009 to 2015, aggressively pursued litigation to change legislative and congressional maps in North Carolina and Alabama.

However, a mid-decade congressional redraw was successfully enacted by Texas Republicans in 2003. The Supreme Court largely upheld the redraw in 2006 but said one district violated the Voting Rights Act because it diluted Latino voting strength.

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Although courts have upheld the legality of redrawing congressional maps between the decennial censuses, Harris said he would like to move away from the practice in the future.

“I don’t think it is good for anyone,” Harris said. “It’s not good for democracy. You get to know your constituents, your constituents get to know their representative. That’s important in a representative government like we have.”

Former Cabinet secretary and U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar says the Biden administration “woke up too late” to address the border crisis, arguing its failure to prioritize Mexico and effectively communicate its strategy helped hand President Donald Trump one of his strongest political issues.

Salazar, whose family has lived in the southwest since it was part of Mexico, laid out in his new book “Borderlands” how America’s foreign policy is too often on an “east-west paradigm” looking to Asia and Europe and neglecting Mexico and the Americas. He also argued that same mindset plagued the Biden administration, leaving it overly focused on Europe and Asia while neglecting Mexico and the Western Hemisphere.

“From day one, there should have been a great sense of urgency in addressing the crisis of a broken border and the migration crisis that we are seeing,” Salazar said, arguing the Biden White House lacked both a comprehensive strategy and a coherent communications operation, creating what he described as a communications vacuum that Republicans filled.

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“I think that’s what trapped the administration into this sense that they woke up too late by the time they did the right things to get control of the border,” he said.

In the book, he recounts nearly resigning from his ambassadorship during a visit to Mexico with Biden and several inner-circle officials after being left out of an important meeting where he wanted to make the case for appointing a border-and-migration czar.

After one meeting at the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City, Salazar wrote that he decided to present his plan the next day but found out that he and former Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., weren’t going to be in the key meeting the next day.

Ultimately, he was able to meet privately with Biden at the last minute, where he expressed his concerns:

“We need someone in the White House to oversee the border, migration, Mexico, and the Americas. No one is in charge now. We need a border and migration czar,” he said, reminding Biden that adviser Jeffrey Zients served as a “czar” for the COVID-19 response.

“[We need] someone focused exclusively on this crisis, with the authority to coordinate and direct action across agencies in Washington and communicate the message with one voice on these issues. With all due respect, Mr. President, if we are to succeed, it is urgent that we have someone like this in charge.”

Salazar wrote that even after Biden’s June 2024 executive order sharply reduced crossings, the administration failed to communicate the policy’s success before Biden exited the race..

He said that gave President Donald Trump an opportunity to campaign on the “low-hanging fruit” of the border crisis.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Biden for comment.

Both Biden and Trump, however, displayed what Salazar called “foreign policy malpractice” in terms of the Americas — something administrations have struggled with for 100 years, according to Salazar.

“That’s where everybody gets trapped,” he said.

“Republicans, like Donald Trump, use it as a political advantage because that’s how they win elections. And they realized that way back 20-some years ago.”

“Democrats, on the other hand, have a sense that it is very important. And they do focus, but only on the border and on domestic migration issues [like] immigration reform. They don’t focus at all or enough on Mexico [or] the border between Mexico and Guatemala — And that’s what I believe we have to do. And that is what ‘Borderlands’ proposes that we do,” he said, referring to his book.

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Instead of demonizing migrants or focusing only on social aspects of the crisis, Salazar said his “Borderlands Platform” is a new vision that is grounded in realizing economic and national security prosperity for all three North American countries.

Salazar’s proposed “Borderlands Platform” calls for a “New American Alliance” among the United States, Mexico and Canada, including deeper security cooperation, expanded labor mobility and renewed investment in North American trade. He argued immigration policy should be treated as both a national security and economic issue rather than solely a domestic political fight — and wrote supportively about renewing Trump’s USMCA, which had supplanted Bill Clinton’s NAFTA.

Salazar said Trump is correct that the border is “broken,” but said he disagreed with Trump’s approach, calling it divisive and pointing to ICE-involved shootings.

“It’s not the American way where people have rights, where you have a sense of security, understand the importance of our security within our own country and the importance for supporting law enforcement.”

Salazar pointed to his tenure as Colorado attorney general, where he led “thousands of cops,” as evidence of his longstanding support for law enforcement.

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“What is being neglected here is the bigger picture. And that’s this foreign policy paradigm that is so required for the United States and Mexico and the Americas. And I don’t see this administration moving in that direction to create the kind of legal frameworks that are essential that will give us our national security and ensure that we have a border that works and ensure we have an immigration system that is reformed and does the right thing,” he said.

Salazar confirmed he has met with several Democrats viewed as potential 2028 presidential contenders, strongly advising them to make border and migration policy a top issue.

“Not that I have a lot of sway, but at least I will do everything I can to make sure that this is at the heart of every Democrat running for president,” he said, noting that Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., was one lawmaker who met with him and endorsed his “Borderlands” book.

Asked if he would entertain Republican invitations, Salazar said if Trump reached out he would meet with him, but underlined that he would not become “political fodder for anybody.”

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“I do think that the Trump administration has an opportunity here because they, at the end of the day, recognize that the big questions of our time are affordability for the American people. The cost of strawberries, blueberries, and avocados, food, fuel, all those things are very much impacted by what’s happening with tariffs and the uncertainty with Mexico right now,” he said.

“I spent a lot of time on our ranch, I pumped the diesel into our [machinery], and I can tell you that across rural America, people are hurting because of what’s happening with trade and we are losing a lot of our advantage here. Agriculture is in for a very hard time in the years ahead.”

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He said he hopes Trump would consider a “Borderlands”-type plan for a “new era” in Intracontinental relations.

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“I don’t think that’s going to happen, but I certainly would give him that advice.”

President Donald Trump’s clout with Republican voters was put to the test in Tennessee Thursday, as voters headed to the polls for the state’s first primaries under a newly redrawn congressional map designed to bolster Republicans’ chances of expanding their thin majority in the U.S. House this fall.

The night delivered a split verdict for Trump in two of the state’s closely watched Republican House primaries. Trump-backed state Sen. Brent Taylor captured the GOP nomination in the newly redrawn 9th Congressional District, while former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher toppled Trump-endorsed incumbent Rep. Andy Ogles in the 5th District. 

Taylor’s victory sets up a November showdown against AOC-backed progressive state Rep. Justin Pearson, one of the so-called “Tennessee Three” lawmakers who gained national attention after he was expelled following a gun control protest in 2023.

Elsewhere, Sen. Marsha Blackburn captured the Republican gubernatorial nomination, putting her on course to potentially become Tennessee’s first female governor and eventually create an opening for another U.S. Senate appointment.

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“From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Tennessee! One year ago, we set out on this journey with one goal: to make Tennessee America’s conservative leader and show the nation what strong, bold, conservative leadership looks like,” Blackburn said following her win Thursday night. “I am humbled and honored that you’ve chosen me as your Republican nominee for Governor. Together, we’ve taken a major step toward that goal. I won’t let you down. On to November.”

Ogles’ defeat was a glaring setback for Trump on the night. The president threw his support behind the conservative House Freedom Caucus member and stepped in as the race tightened, praising Ogles as a strong businessman and America First lawmaker during a virtual tele-rally last month. Hatcher, endorsed by term-limited Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, handed the two-term incumbent an upset defeat despite Trump’s intervention.

Ogles, backed by Speaker Mike Johnson in addition to Trump, faced a high-dollar outside effort to knock him out of the race. The Invest in Tomorrow Coalition, a clean-energy super PAC largely bankrolled by California crypto billionaire and major Democratic donor Chris Larsen, spent roughly $1 million opposing Ogles and supporting Hatcher before purchasing another $700,000 in advertising ahead of the primary, according to a Fox News Digital review of federal filings. 

Ogles accused the group of trying to punish him for opposing Biden-era clean-energy subsidies and suggested his close ties to Trump had also put a target on his back.

The Trump-backed incumbent was also running on unfamiliar terrain after Tennessee Republicans dramatically redrew his 5th District. While the change made the district significantly more Republican for November, it left Ogles to face a significantly new GOP electorate than what had elected him in the past.

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Ogles’ district was not the only one transformed. Tennessee Republicans redrew the state’s congressional lines this spring, breaking apart the Democratic-controlled 9th District and giving Republicans a chance to turn Tennessee’s current 8-1 GOP delegation into a 9-0 sweep.

The effort prompted longtime Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen to abandon his reelection bid in that Memphis-area district, which was transformed from a district that previously favored Democrats into one that now tilts Republican.

Thursday’s primaries now set up a particularly nationalized fight for that seat.

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Taylor, who won the GOP 9th district primary Thursday, carries Trump’s endorsement, while Pearson, the winner of the 9th district’s Democratic primary, has been embraced by members of the far-left “Squad” on Capitol Hill, including, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Taylor will try to deliver Republicans the final seat needed for a clean sweep of Tennessee’s congressional delegation, while Pearson will attempt to preserve a Democratic foothold in the Memphis-area district despite a less favorable map.

Blackburn, meanwhile, defeated Rep. John Rose in the Republican gubernatorial primary to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Lee, clearing a major hurdle between her and the governor’s mansion in the heavily Republican state. If elected in November, Blackburn would become Tennessee’s first female governor.

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Her victory could also produce consequences in Washington. Blackburn was reelected to a six-year Senate term in 2024, meaning she did not have to surrender her seat to run for governor, as Rose had to. But, she would have to give up her seat if elected governor, which would create a Senate vacancy and another round of political jockeying over who could succeed her.

FIRST ON FOX: A pair of Senate Republicans are bursting through a crack in the door left by the Supreme Court to force blue states like California to vastly cut down on how long it takes to count ballots.

Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, are introducing legislation that would create a federal deadline for states to accept ballots received by the time polls close on Election Day across the country.

Lankford pitched the bill, called the Ballots by Election Day Act, as a bid to build more trust in the country’s elections.

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“I have made fun of other states for years because there’s quite a few states around the country that can’t seem to figure out how to be able to count,” Lankford told Fox News Digital in an interview. “In Oklahoma, our election ends at 7 p.m. on a Tuesday night.”

“Usually by 9 p.m., all of our thousands of precincts are all in and counted,” he continued. “We start the verification process. We do an audit after that. We have great trust in our elections because we know. We all vote. But we get them all in on that.”

Lankford and Lee’s bill would create a nationwide deadline for counting absentee and mail-in ballots, meaning that if those ballots aren’t in by the time polls close across the expanse of time zones in the nation, they won’t be counted.

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It targets states, like California and Washington state, where ballot counting can take days, sometimes weeks, beyond when polls close.

“States counting late ballots are inviting fraud and sowing doubt in their own election results,” Lee told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Our bill will clarify protocol and restore trust by counting only ballots received before the polls close on Election Day.”

Lankford contended that those states, “like California and others, New York,” breed distrust in the system.

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“When you vote you may not know for weeks to months what the final election count is,” he said. “That shouldn’t be in the United States of America.”

Their push comes after the Supreme Court’s decision to allow mail-in ballots post-marked before Election Day to still be counted if they came in later.

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While the court contended that mail-in balloting could continue, it didn’t explicitly address that there could be no deadline for when the ballots could be counted.

“Once the court made their ruling, as that came out, they left a clear door open to say this could be defined by the United States Congress,” Lankford said. “So I said, let’s step in and actually do that. Let us provide some real clarity for that. This shouldn’t be controversial. This should just be something to build trust in our elections.”

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche just lost the last little bit of cushion he had left to survive confirmation.

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 anymore 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.

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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.”

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To Murkowski’s latter issue, several lawmakers in both sides of the aisle acknowledge that though Blanche and the Department of Justice (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 he’s on several occasions made clear he wants to see it come back.

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

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

“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.”

Meanwhile, 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.

And there’s still one more Republican that hasn’t weighed in on how they’ll vote: Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.

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If he defects, and McConnell is still gone, it will be a 50-50 vote. That means Vice President JD Vance would need to break the tie. But for now, only Murkowski and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, are publicly opposing Blanche’s confirmation.

“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.”

House Republicans are threatening the Smithsonian’s federal funding amid GOP outrage over the museum system’s presentation of American history.

“The Smithsonian is accountable to the taxpayers. So defunding them in certain ways, or tying their funds to requirements, I think is probably the best way to ensure that we bring the Smithsonian back to its required mandate,” Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., told Fox News Digital. “And that is to tell the truth about the American story, and to tell about the exceptionalism of this country and its people.”

Congress allocates roughly $1 billion in taxpayer dollars to the Smithsonian Institution every year, which oversees 21 museums and the National Zoo. It also receives private funding.

But Republicans have heaped scrutiny in recent weeks on the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, accusing its curators of long painting an overly critical and “woke” picture of the country’s past while ignoring its triumphs.

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Clyde, who is on the House Appropriations Committee — which is one of two panels on Capitol Hill tasked with mapping out how Congress spends part of the yearly budget — suggested that using the legislative branch’s power of the purse could compel museum curators to change that.

“We can tie funding to specific requirements, and I think that might be the most effective way to go — saying that… ‘You have to highlight the exceptionalism. You have highlighted the good things that [the Founding Fathers have] done. You know, there’s no perfect country because there’s not a perfect person. But we are the best there is on the planet Earth,” Clyde said.

Another House Appropriations Committee member, Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., told Fox News Digital, “The Smithsonian’s role is to teach historic facts, not to put our country under a political kaleidoscope of woke ideology.”

WATCH: SMITHSONIAN DIRECTOR ADMITS SHE SEES HISTORY AS ‘TOOL’ OF ‘SOCIAL JUSTICE’ AFTER EXPLOSIVE HEARING

“As Congressional Appropriators, it is our duty to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being used responsibly. If the Smithsonian is unable and unwilling to have an objective view of our Nation’s history, House Republicans will have to act,” Cline said.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order late last month directing Interior Secretary Doug 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.”

The issue came before Congress in July when Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, led a hearing where Republicans accused the National Museum of American History of promoting a politicized agenda on issues of race, class, gender and sexuality, at the expense of accurate teachings.

The Committee on House Administration, led by Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., led a similar hearing scrutinizing the Smithsonian’s teachings.

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Democrats, on the other hand, have accused Republicans of trying to “whitewash” controversial moments in history while erasing the struggles and contributions of the country’s minority populations.

“They want to rewrite the history of this country and take away the resources and leadership of people who have fought, marched and served this country for generations,” Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., said during Gill’s hearing. “We refuse to let historians, artists, scholars, and people who love these institutions with their entire hearts to be punished by an administration that is trying to exercise…political control, and rewrite American history.”

The House and Senate are both working through proposals to fund the government for fiscal year (FY) 2027, which begins on Oct. 1. The House proposal would allocate roughly $961 million to the Smithsonian Institution, an 11% reduction from the current level.

But there’s still a long way to go before both chambers strike a deal, with time for House conservatives to push for new guardrails or even less funding.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the House Appropriations Committee for comment.

There’s a rare show of bipartisan unity in the House of Representatives this week, as lawmakers from opposite sides of the aisle come together to crack down on destructive protests targeting houses of worship.

Reps. Brad Knott, R-N.C., and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., are introducing a bill to make it a crime to knowingly disrupt or impede people from attending a religious service.

That includes demonstrations taking place within 100 feet “from any pedestrian or vehicular entryway of any house of worship, during the period beginning 1 hour before the start of and ending 1 hour after the conclusion of a scheduled religious service,” according to legislative text obtained by Fox News Digital.

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A violation of those guidelines would carry a $2,500 civil fine on the first offense, a $5,000 penalty on the second offense, and $10,000 for a third.

The bill does carve out limitations, however, such as demonstrations that are taking place with a federal, state, or local government-issued permit.

The text’s language also specifically classifies disruptions based on things like volume, duration, and impact, rather than the content of speech — meaning the First Amendment is still protected.

“Today, many Americans are unable to worship without fear of harassment, assault, or other forms of intimidation. The right to worship freely is foundational to our nation and was one of the motivations for its founding. No American should ever feel that their choice is between worshiping in fear and not worshiping at all,” Knott said.

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Suozzi said he supports people’s right to peacefully protest but “attendees of religious services should not be harassed, threatened, intimidated, or targeted for practicing their faith.”

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At least four states adopted laws banning the disruption of religious services earlier this year, the Associated Press reported.

It followed an incident in which Minnesota demonstrators upended service at a church where a federal immigration official was reportedly a pastor.

FIRST ON FOX: American autism care providers are backing the Trump administration’s crackdown on Medicaid fraud, arguing that the alleged theft of millions of federal funds has hurt both taxpayers and children with autism who rely on those services.

A coalition of autism clinicians, behavioral therapists and families of children with autism are speaking out in favor of the administration’s efforts to hold people accountable for the suspected exploitation of the Medicaid system.

The group — the Autism Families Alliance — describes itself as a national advocacy organization dedicated to supporting Applied Behavior Analysis providers and the families who rely on their services. It aims to ensure that every child and family has access to high-quality care without unnecessary barriers, reduced access or funding cuts.

“We do this work because we believe every child deserves the chance to communicate, gain independence, and live the fullest life possible,” Taylor Sanders, a family advocate at the Autism Families Alliance, told Fox News Digital. “I’ve worked with children who found their voice after being nonverbal. I’ve watched families go from fear and uncertainty to hope because their child was finally making progress. Those are the moments that keep us going. That’s why we’re here.”

WATCH: DR. OZ SAYS NEWSOM, OTHER BLUE STATES HAVE TURNED MEDICAID FRAUD INTO A ‘FEATURE’

“President Trump and the administration are right: fraud is unacceptable and those responsible should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Sanders added.

The group argues that every dollar allegedly stolen by fraudsters should have been used to help a child with autism learn to communicate, gain independence and receive the care they need.

The members strongly support eliminating fraud and prosecuting suspected criminals, but they also fear that broad federal and state efforts to root out fraud could unintentionally make it more difficult for legitimate providers to care for children with autism.

Some states, including Georgia, North Carolina and Indiana, have taken steps to enhance oversight of autism services.

But the coalition is calling on policymakers to ensure fraudsters are removed from the system without creating what they describe as unnecessary barriers for families of vulnerable children seeking care.

“There’s real concern among the families I work with that their children’s care could be interrupted because of the government’s response to these criminals,” Sanders said. “Access to these programs aren’t a political talking point to these families, it’s their lifeline. Losing this lifeline is a real fear that parents worry about every day. As some states move to crack down on fraud, we have to make sure we’re targeting fraudsters, not putting new barriers in front of families trying to get their children the care they need.”

The coalition’s stance on the administration’s fraud crackdown echoes comments made recently by Dr. Mehmet Oz, who serves as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

READ: DR. OZ PUTS ALL 50 GOVERNORS ON NOTICE OVER BILLIONS LOST TO MEDICAID FRAUD

“The good news is, our biggest allies are the folks who are doing it right,” Oz said at a press briefing earlier this year as part of an announcement of a sweeping national anti-fraud initiative targeting multi-billion dollar Medicaid and Medicare leakage across various states.

“They are the people who are doing hospice right, home healthcare right, who are doing all the things that we need for autism in this country. Those people come to us actually frustrated, angry that we’re allowing, tolerating fraudsters who not only hurt people they care about but are stealing their business inappropriately,” he said at the time.

Rocio Berni, the mother of an autistic child, Manny, in Charlotte, North Carolina, spoke about how her child has benefited from ABA providers.

“Working alongside ABA therapy providers has been immensely beneficial for my son,” she told Fox News Digital. “Manny struggled with tantrums, and while he loved being around other children, he was frustrated by his inability to communicate with them.”

“Today, through the work of dedicated therapists, we have learned to better regulate his behavior,” she continued. “My son is now able to approach other children, and we hope he will be able to carry on basic, fulfilling conversations. I simply can’t imagine what his life would be like without this care. I pray that policymakers will ensure that Manny and children like him maintain access to this essential care.”

Kelsey Bennett, also a family advocate at the Autism Families Alliance, said fraud has “no place” in healthcare, emphasizing that ABA is “no exception.”

“As a practicing clinician, it is disheartening to see the actions of a small number of bad actors cast a shadow over the thousands of ethical clinicians who have dedicated their careers to improving the lives of children with autism and their families,” she told Fox News Digital.

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Bennett said she backs moves to hold fraudsters accountable, but warned that those targets must be carefully pursued.

“We fully support efforts to identify and hold accountable those who engage in fraudulent billing, improper claims, or substandard care,” Bennett said. “Fraud harms taxpayers, undermines trust in the healthcare system, damages the reputation of legitimate providers, and, most importantly, puts vulnerable children at risk.”

“At the same time, efforts to combat fraud must be carefully targeted,” she continued. “Policies designed to stop abuse should focus on those responsible without creating unnecessary barriers for families seeking medically necessary services. For children with autism, consistency and continuity of care are critical to long-term progress, and significantly limiting telehealth for supervision and assessments can further restrict access for families in rural and underserved areas. Families should not have to worry that broad policy changes or administrative burdens will interrupt the treatment their children rely on.”

“The overwhelming majority of ABA providers are committed to providing high-quality, evidence-based care with integrity,” she added. “Effective policy should protect public resources by eliminating fraud while preserving timely access to medically necessary treatment for the children and families these programs were created to serve. Children with autism should never bear the consequences of the unethical actions of a small minority of providers.”

The White House on Wednesday released declassified FBI memos showing the bureau investigated whether President Donald Trump’s firing of James Comey was tied to Russia under the oddly spelled code name “Oxferd Comma,” fueling speculation that the misspelling was intentional.

Former acting Assistant Attorney General Jeff Clark alleged the code name was deliberately altered to make records of the investigation harder to find.

“The FBI under James Comey and Christopher Wray was hopelessly corrupt. To penalize President Trump’s firing of Comey, they created a ridiculous investigation into Trump on the theory he was a witting or unwitting Russian agent,” Clark, who serves as vice president of litigation at the Oversight Project, told Fox News Digital.

“They called it OXFERD C0MMA (note the zero for the second ‘o’ and the misspelling of the University). The FBI managers thought this was clever. They imagined themselves as Blofeld in a James Bond movie deviously defeating the Freedom of Information Act,” Clark added, referring to the James Bond supervillain.

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Clark explained on social media that he “consulted with a document expert” who concluded the first “o” in “Comma” was actually a zero – further obscuring the probe’s name.

Investigators on the “Oxferd Comma” case sought to determine whether Trump was “directed by, controlled by, and/or coordinated activities with, the Russian Federation in a manner constituting a threat to the national security of the United States and/or a violation of federal criminal statutes,” according to a May 16, 2017, FBI memo.

Trump fired Comey in May 2017, with the White House initially citing Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. The FBI opened the “Oxferd Comma” probe days later to examine whether the firing was connected to Russia.

“Additionally, let me speculate that James Comey was well-known by his associates as liking Oxford commas, so they named the operation (clearly motivated by revenge in response to Trump firing Comey) as a hommage (Fr.) to their beloved Comey,” Clark added. “But that doesn’t explain why it was deliberately misspelled as ‘Oxferd.'”

Clark, who served in Trump’s first administration, argued that the misspelling could have made it more difficult for anyone searching for records related to the operation. He suggested that a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request using the correct spelling might not have returned the relevant documents, potentially allowing the FBI to say that no responsive records had been found.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Wray, Comey and the White House for comment.

“It should be investigated as an obstruction of justice. You know, some real obstruction of an official proceeding,” Clark posted to X.

The unusual spelling also drew attention on social media, where users resurfaced a 2017 Comey post about Oxford commas.

“Check the actual cover. I’m all about Oxford commas,” Comey wrote in a 2017 X post about his then-forthcoming memoir, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership.”

OBAMA-ERA ATTORNEY FLIPS SCRIPT ON COMEY INDICTMENT NAYSAYERS WITH WARNING NOT TO BURY DOJ YET

The FBI did not directly address the code name when asked by Fox News Digital on Thursday. 

“The weaponization that occurred against President Trump under prior regimes was inexcusable and wholly un-American. Director Patel himself was the lead investigator who originally exposed the disgraceful Crossfire Hurricane scandal – and as Director, he has released over 40,000 pages of documents to the public exposing similar malfeasance from former FBI leadership – a three fold increase from both his predecessors combined,” Ben Williamson, assistant director of the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs, said. 

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“As we’ve said repeatedly: any individual who is found to have acted unethically or engaged in weaponization has been or will be fired from the Bureau and held accountable under the law,” Williamson added.

A debate over whether a burrito should cost $20 has ignited a Republican civil war over affordability and the party’s appeal to younger voters ahead of the midterm elections.

The clash began Wednesday when Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet shared a college student’s complaint that basic purchases have become prohibitively expensive.

“​​One of our TPUSA college students gave me his take on affordability: ‘A burrito shouldn’t cost $20,’” he posted to X on Wednesday. “Yeah, a lot of this is a hangover from Covid and Biden-era inflation, but the lived experience is the same: It just feels like basic things cost too much.”

Fiscal conservatives took the position that food is generally affordable if one cooks for themselves and that purchasing a $20 burrito should be considered an occasional luxury. Those aligned with the populist wing of the GOP, meanwhile, argued that traditional conservatives are out of touch with the youth and that the Republican Party faces electoral peril unless it can meaningfully address affordability concerns.

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“Just hearing about this dumb $20 burrito debate so just thought I’d make the losers on social media angry before going to bed,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw wrote on Wednesday night. “Stop whining, get a job, eat Ramen like the rest of us did in college, on a budget with 4 roommates. The market doesn’t care what you think something ‘should’ cost.”

RealClearInvestigations senior writer Mark Hemingway, however, said that such an approach to affordability concerns could prove toxic to the GOP.

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“Andrew [Kolvet] is absolutely right about this, and pundits deflecting because you can cook at home cheaper are not helping,” he said. “Eating a burrito once in a while should not be an aspirational lifestyle, for crying out loud.”

“The comments saying stick to the dining hall or buy microwaveable burritos are missing the ENTIRE point,” Defense of Freedom Institute spokeswoman Angela Morabito said. “If the Right’s ‘solution’ to the affordability crisis is telling people to eat worse food, we will lose, and we will deserve it.”

Chipotle burritos generally run between about $9 and $12 depending on location, with cheaper restaurants, such as Taco Bell, offering more affordable options. Some fiscal conservatives also pointed out that young people can save money by preparing meals at home.

“A burrito only costs $20 when you buy it on Door Dash because you’re too lazy to walk over to Chipotle or Taco Bell (where you can get one for $3.99),” Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen wrote in response to a populist arguing that the GOP could surrender ground to socialists by not addressing affordability. “When I graduated I lived on ramen noodles, had two roommates, and worked two jobs. I didn’t whine about affordability, I worked hard so I could one day afford a better life.”

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Vice President JD Vance then added to the debate, responding to Thiessen.

“I’m surprised to hear Mark say this. If you’ve ever met him in person, it’s quite obvious the man has never missed a burrito,” the vice president wrote.

Bradley Devlin, politics editor at the Daily Signal, claimed that some involved in the burrito discourse were ignorant of financial sacrifices he says are quite common among young people.

“The Burrito Discourse has exposed that so people with thoughts on the youths have not spoken to one in years,” he wrote. “They do not expect to live off delivered food from bespoke restaurants and live on their own. I don’t know a single 20 something who lives on their own right now. Having a college degree and two jobs is around the highest it’s ever been. ‘The college premium’ has dried up.”

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Others responded to the debate in jest.

“I don’t care for burritos,” Daily Wire host Michael Knowles posted.

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., cruised to victory in a GOP primary on Thursday evening in a race to replace outgoing Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.

With the nomination in tow, Blackburn is likely to become the next governor in the Volunteer State — a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to its top executive role since 2006. 

Lee, who has served in the role since 2019, is term-limited and cannot seek re-election. He last won reelection in a 64.9% to 32.9% victory over Democratic challenger Jason Martin, a businessman and doctor.

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Notably, Lee did not endorse anyone in the three-way Republican race for the 2026 nomination but noted that he had a close relationship with Blackburn when she announced her candidacy.

“I’ve been friends with Marsha for a long time, and she served as my congressman and representative in the General Assembly. I’m proud we have really good people running for governor in this state,” Lee told local outlets.

Blackburn, for her own part, promised to continue focusing on issues that Republicans have made centerpieces to the GOP platform in Washington, D.C.

She highlighted immigration as one such issue.

“As governor, I’ll deport illegals, stop the flow of drugs and drug money. We will crack down on Cartels, restrict cash transfers to drug havens and hit criminals and illegals where it hurts — in their wallets,” Blackburn said in a campaign video.

Blackburn also promised to prevent China from buying up Tennessee land, punctuating her commitment with a viral ad where she crushed a fortune cookie.

“It doesn’t take a fortune cookie to figure it out. Here in Tennessee we’re going to stop communist China and protect Tennessee land,” she remarked.

President Donald Trump also did not issue an endorsement in the race, saying that he had ties to one of Blackburn’s challengers: Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn.

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Rose, an 8th-generation farmer and the millionaire founder of Transcender Corp., an IT certification company, has served in the Tennessee legislature since 2019. In his gubernatorial campaign, he pitched himself as a homegrown candidate focused on local solutions to local problems.

“I know that anything is achievable in Tennessee because I have lived it. Now, I’m asking for you to give me the chance to bring opportunity to all Tennesseans,” Rose said in a campaign video.

On his website, Rose highlighted five key areas of focus, including education, infrastructure, healthcare, energy and economic and community development.

A third candidate, State Rep. Monty Fritts, had run on a more aggressive, small-government platform.

“My number one priority is leaving more money in your pockets, in your purses and in your country bankrolls rather than sending it to Nashville,” Fritts said in a campaign video.

On his website, Fritts touted positions like shrinking the size of Tennessee’s budget, protecting citizen rights against encroaching government power and increasing parent input in education.

Fritts attracted controversy earlier this year when, as part of his campaign, he called for a ban on mosques and other “pagan religions.”

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“Islam is a little different story than perhaps other religions are, in that it’s not necessarily a religion; it’s a political movement,” Fritts said. “It’s that movement that, if you don’t submit, perhaps you are executed. I feel that Islam is incongruent with both our U.S. and Tennessee Constitution,” Fritts told local outlets.

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Having cleared the primary, Blackburn will run in the state’s general election on Nov. 3 against her Democratic opponent, Memphis City Councilwoman and Chief Public Defender Jerri Green.