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Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford voted to support clemency for several convicted murderers, including men responsible for the kidnapping and execution-style killing of a teenager, the “thrill killing” of a Pizza Hut worker and the beating death of another victim with a cinder block.

Ford is currently facing backlash over his clemency bid for a convicted killer who took the life of a pregnant woman while out on bail for a series of armed robbery attacks on Vegas tourists. Now, a Fox News Digital review of state pardon hearings that took place during Ford’s nearly eight years as attorney general show him supporting clemency for dozens of other violent offenders, with some convicted killers receiving reduced sentences, pardons or earlier parole eligibility while others had their requests denied.

Ford is running to be Nevada’s next governor, seeking to oust incumbent Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo. His race is shaping up to be one of the most competitive gubernatorial elections of the cycle.

Unlike governors in most states, Nevada’s governor cannot unilaterally grant pardons or commute prison sentences, with those decisions instead resting with the state’s Board of Pardons Commissioners, made up of the governor, attorney general and Nevada Supreme Court justices.

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Since becoming the state’s attorney general, Ford has voted to pardon or significantly reduce the sentences of 30 people convicted of murder, Fox News Digital found. 

Ford, for example, supported a convicted kidnapper and murderer eligible for parole when Lombardo voted against him.

Michael Cu, the convict in question, kidnapped a 16-year-old in 1996, forced him to drive out to the desert, then killed him execution-style — all to steal the rims off his car. The victim was shot seven times with a rifle, with the fatal shot being fired at nearly point-blank range into his head.

“Mr. Judge I would like to tell you these people, I don’t want them to be free,” the deceased’s mother pleaded with the judge at Cu’s sentencing in March 2000. “There’s a lot of people outside, a lot of mothers outside … I’m afraid because I have more children.”

Cu could eventually make it back onto the streets after the board commuted his sentence, making him eligible for parole in 2035 — though his release would still require approval from the state’s parole board.

Ford has made his experience as Nevada’s top law enforcement official a focal point of his gubernatorial campaign.

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“As Attorney General, Ford has worked with federal and local law enforcement to prosecute criminals and protect our communities,” his campaign website reads. “He’s gone after corporate landlords who are illegally jacking up prices, taken on big drug companies, prioritized putting child predators in jail, battled fentanyl being trafficked across our borders, and fought to keep dangerous untraceable ghost guns off of our streets. He ended a decades-long rape kit back log and has prosecuted human traffickers who threaten the safety of our communities.”

Republicans may seize on some of Ford’s pardon votes to challenge the image he’s cultivated of a crusader for public safety.

While Ford offered no substantive remarks in most of the pardon hearings, he occasionally had something to add.

“I gleefully vote yes for this motion,” he said, explaining his June 2022 support to make a man who killed someone in an armed robbery when he was 15 eligible for parole. Ford talked to the man, Shaquille Hazelwood, on the importance of the moment and advised him to live up to the faith the state was placing in him.

He called his decision to grant parole eligibility to an individual who stabbed a 17-year-old to death a “no-brainer” in September 2025. Ford sponsored the hearing where witnesses spoke to the character of the murderer, Bobby Thomas.

Ford also supported a commutation for Anthony Amati, whom police and prosecutors described as a “thrill killer,” in a June 2025 decision that allowed the convicted murderer to become immediately eligible for parole.

Amati was convicted of ambushing a 22-year-old Pizza Hut worker as he walked a co-worker home. The co-worker, who was at the trial, testified that Amati and his friends “cackled … laughed like it was a big joke” and jumped around while firing multiple bullets into the victim.

Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli argued at the time that Amati should never be eligible to walk free because his crime was a “thrill killing … for the mere pleasure of it.”

Amati became immediately eligible for parole following the board’s decision, although his release was not guaranteed.

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Ford also supported clemency for Arlander Givens, who beat his victim to death with a cinder block and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms, but the board ultimately denied his application, Fox News Digital found. 

Other convicted killers Ford voted to grant clemency included a murderer involved in a carjacking, a man who stabbed a 17-year-old to death over a basketball game and another who lured his victim into his home with the promise of a drug deal before shooting him dead, Fox News Digital found.

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Lombardo’s predecessor and Ford did vote together for leniency in some cases. For instance, the duo both voted to pardon a man found guilty of masterminding a contract killing after he was exonerated by DNA evidence.

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Ford’s office and his gubernatorial campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

Texas Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico reappeared on the campaign trail Friday after a nearly two-week absence, ending days of speculation and criticism from political opponents regarding his whereabouts.

“Hate to disappoint the conspiracy theorists, but James is still alive and meeting with voters at ACL today,” Talarico’s primary spokesperson, JT Ennis, wrote on X.

The post included a video of the candidate walking through crowds and greeting supporters at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

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Talarico, who is challenging Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a closely watched U.S. Senate contest, had not been seen publicly in person at a campaign event since late September. His last in-person event was a Sept. 26 news conference in Carrollton addressing rising gas prices.

Talarico’s campaign attributed the absence to a severe case of the flu. However, the prolonged pause drew sharp criticism from Republicans, including President Donald Trump.

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In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the Democrat was “MISSING IN ACTION.”

“TalaFREAKo has been missing for 12 days! Now, after looking for him throughout all of Texas, and beyond, probably even weirder places than anyone would think possible, he put out a statement that he has the ‘flu,'” Trump wrote.

“12 days is a long time to rid yourself of the so-called flu bug. What’s going on?” he added. “We need a Senator that’s a proven Champion like one that has been, without question, the Greatest Attorney General in the History of Texas, and one of the Greatest in the U.S.A.”

Talarico’s campaign pushed back on the characterization that he had been absent from the campaign trail for nearly two weeks, saying he attended a Zoom on Sept. 30 with the U.S. Hispanic Business Council after canceling an in-person event. The campaign argued that because he attended that Zoom, his absence was closer to nine days.

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Talarico’s last public event was a Sept. 26 campaign event in Texas, where he held a news conference in Carrollton. On Sept. 28, he attended a fundraiser in New York City.

The next day, he said he’d been diagnosed with the flu.

Talarico’s absence also prompted Paxton to target his opponent’s absence while on the campaign trail.

“Where is James Talarico?” Paxton asked during a campaign rally in San Antonio.

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Talarico’s campaign confirmed he expects to return to a full in-person schedule through the weekend ahead of an Oct. 14 CNN town hall.

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The campaign previously noted that, prior to his illness, Talarico had already completed more than 100 public campaign events across the state.

A California ballot measure on voter identification provides voters with guidance replete with far-left jargon, including a dig at “MAGA billionaires,” that has turned heads online.

Proposition 39 is a citizen-led effort, organized by a group called Californians for Voter ID, that submitted 1.3 million signatures in favor of the ballot initiative in March — far outpacing the required nearly 875,000 signatures in order for it to be adopted as a ballot measure.

Californians are slated to vote on the voter ID initiative in November. If approved, it would require a government-issued identification card or number to vote in person or by mail. It would also require election officials to verify U.S. citizenship.

But the language explaining the proposition from those who oppose the measure in the California voters guide has been flagged online for its highly political nature.

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Groups that support the initiative are allowed to argue in favor of it on the ballot, while groups opposed are allowed to do the same on the ballot.

“No on Prop. 39,” begins the arguments section on the ballot initiative. “This would advance Trump’s voter suppression agenda by adding costly, unnecessary barriers that could block eligible California voters, expose personal information to identity theft, and waste hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars.”

“Don’t let MAGA billionaires decide which voters count. Vote No,” it concludes.

Opponents of the measure are listed as the ACLU California Action, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters of California.

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The summary section of the ballot measure in the guide states the expected financial impact should the measure take effect.

“Costs of between tens of millions of dollars and low hundreds of millions of dollars each year to implement new voting requirements,” it says.

A third section titled “What Your Vote Means” also features language describing the ramifications of voting “yes” or “no” on the initiative.

“A YES vote on this measure means: Voters would be required to present additional identifying information to elections officials each time they vote,” it says. The voter guide explains that a “no” vote means “[a] voter’s identity would continue to be established with the voter’s signature.”

Groups advocating in favor of the measure include the Transparency Foundation, Latino American Political Assn, and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

“Yes on Prop. 39 gives California a BIPARTISAN solution for VOTER ID,” their argument section says. “Supported by a solid majority of Democratic, Independent and Republican voters. Increases trust and confidence in our elections.”

WATCH: BLACK BISHOP CALLS VOTER ID ARGUMENT ‘DEEPLY INSULTING’ AFTER EXPLOSIVE NONCITIZEN REGISTRATION REPORT

A Pew Research study released in 2025 shows that 83% of Americans back voter ID.

“It is so dark that this is the level of discourse in the OFFICIAL California voters guide,” said X user Daniel Keller, who first posted a screenshot of the ballot language.

Others agreed with that sentiment, like a user named David Masten, who said: “Democracy is a farce in California.”

“Good God,” user Brad Pierce put it simply.

Early voting is already underway in California, as Election Day on Nov. 3 rapidly approaches.

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If Proposition 39 is approved, the measure would require voters to present a government-issued ID when voting in person, while mail-in voters would be required to provide the last four digits of a government-issued ID number that matches the one they designated during voter registration.

It would also require election officials to use government data to verify U.S. citizenship and publish annual reports showing the percentage of registrations verified for citizenship in each county of the state. The California State Auditor would also be required to conduct regular audits of compliance with the new voter ID and citizenship requirements.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, but did not hear back at time of publication.

A South Carolina Democrat running for U.S. Senate who previously opposed legislation restricting transgender athletes’ participation in girls’ sports is now emphasizing her opposition to biological males participating in female athletics as President Donald Trump targets her record ahead of the midterm elections.

Trump took aim at Annie Andrews, a pediatrician challenging Republican Sen. Darline Graham, in a series of Truth Social posts this week, dubbing her “Annie Trannie” and accusing her of supporting transgender policies that are out of step with South Carolina voters.

The president also shared an attack ad accusing Andrews of supporting biological males competing against female athletes. “Annie Andrews is for they/them, not for our values, not for South Carolina,” the ad said.

But Andrews pushed back in an interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday, arguing that her positions have been misrepresented.

“I don’t support biological men playing in women’s sports and I don’t support gender surgery on minors,” Andrews said.

Her comments stand in contrast to her public opposition to South Carolina’s 2022 Save Women’s Sports Act, which restricted transgender athletes’ participation in girls’ and women’s school sports. At the time, Andrews called the legislation “shameful” and “actively harmful,” raising questions about how she reconciles her past opposition to the law with her current campaign position.

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As passed, the bill required interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural and club teams sponsored by public schools and colleges to be designated as male or female-coded. It then closed women’s teams to male students and similarly closed men’s sports to women — unless the school did not have a designated women’s team. Private schools competing against public schools were required to follow the same rules.

It also allowed students harmed by a violation to sue schools.

Andrews’ social media post at the time garnered resurfaced attention as she launched her 2026 Senate bid, attracting pressure from Republicans.

“Annie “Trannie” Andrews is running against our wonderful Darline Graham for the Senate in South Carolina,” Trump wrote in one post.

“Annie Trannie is not, in particular, as it pertains to representing the Values of the Great People of South Carolina — She is in favor of Transgender for Everyone, Open Borders, Defunding the Police, High Taxes, a Weak Military, and will absolutely fight to take your guns away — In other words, she is against our Great Second Amendment! Trannie is not for South Carolina, and South Carolina must show, in the upcoming Election, that it is not for her,” Trump added.

In her interview with Fox News Digital, Andrews dismissed Trump’s barb, calling it a distraction from the issues central to voters in South Carolina.

“And in regards to the name-calling, if calling me names is going to lower gas and diesel prices here for so many hardworking South Carolinian families, if it’s going to lower grocery prices or somehow make healthcare more affordable then he can call me all the names he wants but I don’t think that’s a path to solution so I’m going to stay focused on what I can do to help folks in South Carolina,” Andrews said.

Andrews did not immediately respond to additional requests for comment on whether her statements reflected a change in stance. She also did not expand on what had drawn criticism for the Save Women’s Sports Act.

TALARICO CAMP SAYS HE OPPOSES TRANS ATHLETES IF UNSAFE OR UNFAIR BUT ACCUSES POLITICIANS OF BULLYING STUDENTS

At least one Republican onlooker, National Republican Senatorial Regional Press Secretary Nick Puglia, believes her remarks speaks poorly of the message she’s presenting to voters.

“Annie Andrews’ blatant lies show just how desperate she is and how little she thinks of South Carolinians. But nothing Andrews says or does will change her far-left record,” Puglia said in a comment.

This isn’t the first time Andrews has received Republican criticisms for what they view as retreats from trans policies. In 2022, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., called out Andrews for, in her view, trying to walk back her opposition to H. 4047, a bill that would “prohibit the performance of a medical procedure or the prescription or issuance of medication, upon or to a minor, that is intended to alter the appearance of the minor’s gender or delay puberty, with exceptions; to create criminal penalties; and for other purposes.”

Andrews said she opposed the bill in a post to X, calling it “dangerous,” only to later say that she opposed trans procedures for minors.

“She called thewww.youtube.comwww.youtube.com legislation to ban that kind of surgery dangerous. She called that legislation an attack on our youth. And it wasn’t until we called her out on it that she decided that she’s now not for something that she was very publicly in support of just last year. And so it’s really hard to play hide and seek from your public comments, because once you tweet it, it’s on their public record forever. And that’s how we discovered it,” Mace told Fox News Digital at the time.

Notably, she isn’t the only Democrat who in recent weeks has received attention for seeming shifts in her position over transgender policies. Fellow Democrats like Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., and Sarah Trone Garriott, a congressional candidate in Iowa, have all been forced to reiterate their positions as Republicans have highlighted their records on the subject.

WATCH: BATTLEGROUND DEMOCRAT CALLED IOWA A ‘BACKWATER’ OVER TRANSGENDER ATHLETES BAN

In Kaptur’s case, she described how she had “voted with Republicans to keep transgender ideology out of our schools” despite voting against a women’s sports bill. Similarly, Davis voted “present” on that same women’s bill while later claiming that women should have “safe and fair space” in sports. And Garriott, who cast a vote against a ban on biological men in women’s locker rooms, clarified her stance earlier this year, stating that “I oppose letting men in women’s locker rooms.”

Those statements reflect broader trends in public opinion showing consensus on trans athlete policies.

Recently, the Pew Research Center found in a Aug. 11 report that 73% of respondents were “not at all” or “not too” comfortable with “athletes competing on sports teams that do not match their sex at birth,” compared to just 13% that replied that they were “extremely” or “very” comfortable with the idea. Similarly, 66% of participants said they would support laws or policies requiring trans athletes to compete on teams that match their biological sex compared to 15% who said they would oppose such policies.

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With just four weeks left to address criticisms over her views, Andrews now heads to South Carolina’s general election on Nov. 3., having cleared the state’s Democratic primary earlier this year in June.

New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James went silent for several seconds when asked to name a former state attorney general she admired during Thursday’s New York attorney general race debate.

“Tick tock,” Errol Louis of Spectrum News 1, one of the moderators said to James, prompting laughter from the Attorney General.

The attorney general’s race in New York comes against the backdrop of James’ ongoing dispute with President Donald Trump, who called James “a Complete and Total Disaster” and accused her of leading a “WITCH Hunt” against him in his endorsement of James’ Republican challenger, Saritha Komatireddy, in August.

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The pause from James drew immediate criticism from Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor and chief of staff for the Drug Enforcement Administration, who quipped from the podium that James “only admires herself.”

“An absolutely devastating moment for Tish James,” conservative communications strategist Steve Guest wrote on X. “‘She only admires herself’ is a debate zinger for the ages.”

“No, no, no, no, we admire others,” James said. “I admire all of the past attorney generals because it is a difficult job and you’ve got to stand up.”

When asked the same question, Komatireddy named Dennis Vacco, who served as the state’s attorney general from 1995 to 1998. Like Komatireddy, he was also a former federal prosecutor.

James then said that she admired former Democratic Attorney General Bob Abrams, who served from 1979 to 1993.

The exchange, which came in the final moments of Thursday’s debate, led critics to question whether James knew of other New York attorneys general.

“Very telling moment,” Steve McLaughlin, Rensselaer County executive, wrote on X. “James went completely blank because she’s A: dumb as a rock B: has no idea who any former AG is because she’s not doing the job and never has been.”

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“She’s a mouthpiece,” McLaughlin continued. “Zero institutional knowledge.”

“Letitia James doesn’t know the plural form of ‘Attorney General,'” another Twitter user wrote.

Nicole Kiprilov, a spokesperson for Komatireddy, echoed the candidate’s comment on the debate stage.

“Letitia James can’t name a single former Attorney General she admires because she’s too busy admiring herself. She’s turned the Attorney General’s office into her own political stage and ignored the safety of the state,” Kiprilov said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “New Yorkers deserve a real prosecutor, not a joke like her!”

But James’ campaign pushed back on Komatireddy’s characterization of James and how she runs her office.

“Attorney General Letitia James spent much of the debate teaching her opponent how the Office of the Attorney General actually works, and she was happy to name former Attorney General Bob Abrams as someone she respects,”  a spokesperson for James said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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James’ attorney general’s office has been thrust into the national spotlight after New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed James as special investigator to examine an alleged gang rape that occurred at Cornell University in October 2024. The renewed attention comes in response to a recent lawsuit filed by the alleged victim, Jane Doe, against the university, the alleged perpetrators, her sorority and a bar that allegedly served her alcohol while she was underage.

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But James has faced calls from an attorney for one of the defendants to recuse herself from the case over social media posts showing support for Jane Doe before James was appointed special investigator.

More than 100 rounds fired in a Minnesota neighborhood have left police struggling to explain a troubling pattern: Somali American youths from financially comfortable households are turning online disputes into gang violence.

The violence raises bigger questions about what is driving these gangs and whether struggles to fit into American life, cultural or clan ties, government policies or failures by schools and other institutions have played a role and what makes these youths different from traditional American street gangs.

“They’re coming from families. They got money, and they have resources,” Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges told Fox News Digital of the young Somali American gang members under investigation.

Those questions follow a late-night Bloomington gunfight that left one person injured during a string of shootings across suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul.

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Hodges said the suspects defy traditional drug- or money-driven gang profiles. Asked what drives the violence beyond social media disputes, he acknowledged investigators lack a clear answer.

“I don’t know. I can’t tell you. I really wish I could,” Hodges said. 

Somalia, long considered a failed state until the mid-2010s, according to the U.N., has endured decades of clan-based warfare and weak central government authority, including the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu depicted in “Black Hawk Down,” when Somali militiamen battled U.S. forces during an ill-fated military operation, part of the turmoil that drove waves of refugees to America.

More than 111,000 Somali refugees were admitted to the U.S. between 2001 and 2023 through the federal refugee resettlement program, spanning the George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations. Minnesota became a major destination, alongside sizable Somali American communities in New York, Texas and Ohio.

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, believes one possible explanation lies in how refugees have been resettled.

“We have to remember also that this population’s origins were as refugees who were a vulnerable population and traumatized in many cases,” Vaughan told Fox News Digital.

“But they were settled in clusters in certain places in the United States. And I believe that is a policy that has facilitated the formation of these gangs because it removes a lot of the incentives for people to assimilate.

“And it just makes assimilation to the larger society much more difficult because it’s not necessary for people to get by.”

Vaughan described an emphasis on preserving homeland cultures rather than encouraging integration as a “missed opportunity,” arguing it can leave immigrants in a “separate society within the larger Minnesota community.”

History, however, complicates the argument that maintaining strong ethnic ties necessarily prevents assimilation.

Stanford sociologist Tomás Jiménez cautioned against treating gang involvement among a small subset of second-generation immigrants as evidence that an entire community has failed to integrate.

“I would actually not think of it as, like, a failed assimilation, as much as a particular kind of assimilation,” Jiménez said.

He noted that Italian, Irish, Mexican and Salvadoran communities experienced gang activity while broader integration continued.

Jiménez emphasized that assimilation unfolds across generations, pointing out that the Italian American experience spanned roughly 75 years rather than occurring overnight. He identified education, economic advancement, language and intermarriage as important measures of integration.

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Donald Tricarico, an Italian American immigration scholar at Queensborough Community College, drew parallels between Italian and Irish immigrants, who established close-knit ethnic communities in New York. He said Italian families often followed relatives from the same villages into the same neighborhoods and occupations.

“They came to the same neighborhoods … what migration historians call ‘chain migration,’ and they … went to the same neighborhoods,” he said, citing his own family’s multigenerational experience in New York City.

“There isn’t a switch that gets flipped,” Tricarico said, challenging assumptions that Italian Americans assimilated quickly and noting that close-knit ethnic communities persisted into the 1980s in some cases.

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“Assimilation is a slow crawl,” he said, explaining that economic advancement and integration typically unfold across generations.

Tricarico noted that some Sicilian immigrants arrived with ties to existing Mafia networks overseas, a criminal element distinct from the broader Italian immigrant population. Hodges, meanwhile, said investigators have found no evidence that longstanding clan rivalries in Somalia are driving the Minnesota violence.

Somali American community figures have offered their own explanations, including the challenges facing immigrant parents.

At an Eden Prairie news conference Wednesday, Somali teacher Fardousa Yossuf suggested parents working long hours may have neglected their children’s needs and “expressed disbelief” that people raised with Islamic values could engage in gun violence, according to Alpha News.

Imam Yusuf Abdulle rejected characterizing the violence as a Somali problem in an interview with WCCO – CBS Minnesota posted on YouTube.

“These kids are Americans. They’re born and raised here,” Abdulle said. “It is an American problem. It is not a Somali problem.”

Vaughan, meanwhile, warned that the gangs have not reached the sophistication of transnational organizations such as MS-13 but could become more entrenched without intervention.

She pointed to families and schools as critical to preventing recruitment and argued that local institutions and law enforcement must intervene before the groups become more organized.

Vaughan acknowledged she had not established that specific Minnesota schools or resettlement policies prompted the shootings.

Asked whether longstanding Somali clan rivalries were fueling the shootings, Hodges said investigators found no evidence supporting that explanation.

“No, we have not seen that. I haven’t seen it,” he said.

He added that people from groups in conflict in Somalia can belong to the same cliques in Minnesota.

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Hodges said police are redirecting task force resources toward the gangs and questioned whether some Hennepin County prosecution policies could limit intervention.

He warned the Bloomington gunfire could have endangered innocent bystanders had it occurred during daylight.

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“If that had been one o’clock in the afternoon, it would have been a different story on that block,” he said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday that the Trump administration is imposing sweeping financial sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), a body the president has sought to dismantle throughout his second term.

To date, the administration has sanctioned 17 individuals with ties to the ICC, including judges and prosecutors. The latest move marks the first time the U.S. has gone after the institution itself.

“Our message is clear: The United States and the American people are not subject to the jurisdiction of this fake ICC,” Rubio said in a pre-recorded video message released Friday morning. “Both parties agree on this, but only President Trump has the resolve to take the action needed to end this threat once and for all.”

This comes hours after this year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, a former ICC judge.

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In a statement Friday, the Netherlands-based court strongly condemned the U.S. sanctions as “an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order.”

“This measure targets an independent judicial institution, created by treaty and entrusted by 125 States Parties with investigating and prosecuting genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression,” the ICC added.

“It is an attempt to obstruct the course of justice and to prevent the Court from doing what it was created to do.”

ICC President Tomoko Akane, who was personally sanctioned by the Trump administration in August, said the court will continue to operate despite the new penalties.

In announcing the sanctions, Rubio argued the ICC believes it has the authority to prosecute American service members operating overseas and even U.S. Border Patrol agents. There is no evidence the court has sought to investigate or prosecute Border Patrol agents, though Rubio previously raised that possibility in July.

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The administration’s concerns about U.S. personnel are not entirely hypothetical. In 2017, an ICC prosecutor sought authorization to investigate alleged war crimes committed by U.S. military and intelligence personnel in Afghanistan.

ICC judges initially rejected the request, but that decision was overturned on appeal in 2020, allowing the investigation to proceed. The court’s prosecutor later de-prioritized alleged crimes involving U.S. personnel to focus on alleged crimes committed by the Taliban and ISIS-K.

Under the new sanctions, any ICC assets subject to U.S. jurisdiction will be frozen, while Americans, U.S. businesses and banks are generally barred from conducting transactions with the court.

The sanctions will not go into effect immediately. The Treasury Department has given the ICC a 180-day general license to maintain its operations, giving the court time to address U.S. concerns.

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“Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC. And we expect our allies, many of whom are part of the ICC and that rely on American service members for their defense, to rein in this rogue court,” Rubio said.

“If they do not, the United States will continue its campaign to dismantle the ICC piece by piece until Americans are threatened no longer.”

One of the other major grievances the administration has with the ICC is its decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in 2024.

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The ICC argued both officials were responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza during Israel’s military response to the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in 2023. Both men have denied wrongdoing.

In a February 2025 executive order authorizing sanctions against ICC officials, President Donald Trump called the arrest warrants “baseless” and said the court overstepped its authority since Israel was not an ICC member.

The ICC maintains that it can exercise jurisdiction over nationals of non-member states when they are accused of qualifying crimes committed on the territory of a state that has accepted the court’s jurisdiction.

Katie Zacharia has been offered the role as the next White House Press Secretary, two White House officials confirmed to Fox News Digital Friday afternoon.

She currently serves as the senior communications advisor to Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs the president’s social media website Truth Social. Zacharia is an attorney and frequent television commentator. 

She also briefly served as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after Tricia McLaughlin left her post alongside former Secretary Kristi Noem. 

She will succeed Karoline Leavitt, who left the role in late August following the birth of her second child in May. Since her departure there have been only two formal White House press briefings — one with Vice President JD Vance and one with Attorney General Todd Blanche.

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This story is developing. 

President Donald Trump said that Michigan GOP U.S. Senate candidate former Rep. Mike Rogers “obliterated” Democratic opponent Abdul El-Sayed in a Thursday night debate.

“Mike Rogers, the great American Patriot and Republican Candidate for the U.S. Senate from Michigan, completely obliterated Mohammad El-Sayed in the big debate tonight. If this was a fight they would have stopped it,” the president declared in a Truth Social post issued shortly after midnight on Friday.

“Mohammad is a Jihadist lunatic who hates our Country, the Black People of Detroit, and wants to see the U.S. fail. Short on Stature, Patriotism, and Truth, Mohammed’s statements have been loaded up with lies and deceit. I won Michigan BIG, and know that Mike Rogers, a total winner, is the man for you!!!” Trump added.

MICHIGAN SENATE DEBATE ERUPTS INTO PERSONAL ATTACKS AS ROGERS, EL-SAYED CLASH OVER ISRAEL, IRAN AND MORE

El-Sayed’s campaign and the White House did not immediately respond for comment to Fox News Digital. 

Trump has endorsed Rogers, who previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives from early 2001 until early 2015. Trump also backed Rogers in 2024, but the GOP candidate lost the 2024 Michigan U.S. Senate race to then-Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin.

EL-SAYED’S SCATHING OBAMA CRITIQUE RESURFACES AHEAD OF JOINT CAMPAIGN RALLY

In part of a Wednesday Truth Social post, the president wrote, “Mohammed El-Sayed is a terrible Candidate for the Dumocrats. While his opponent, Mike Rogers, is an extremely good one, Mohammed goes back to the days of the Jihad. He is a RADICAL Extremist, Terrorist Sympathizer, and no different from his best friend, America Hating Hasan Piker.”

UNEARTHED SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS CONTRADICT EL-SAYED’S ‘CAPITALIST’ NARRATIVE

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El-Sayed, whose full name is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, declared in a statement on Thursday, “He knows my name is Abdul. He says it every day. But he’s not just attacking me. He’s attacking all of us. He thinks so low of us. He thinks he can use my name and my faith to distract us from the suffering his policies are inflicting on us at the pump, at the grocery store, and at the doctor’s office. He thinks we don’t know any better. It’s time for change.”

President Donald Trump has set up a committee to investigate Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over allegations she made false statements on mortgage documents, the same accusations Trump has cited for over a year in a bid to remove her from office.

Trump attempted to remove Cook in August 2025, triggering a lengthy legal battle that culminated in the Supreme Court blocking her firing in June 2026. In a 5-4 ruling, the court ruled she had not been given adequate time to respond to the allegations against her.

This newly-formed committee appears to be the process the White House has settled on to give Cook a chance to advocate for herself, as she will be allowed to submit a written statement ahead of her first scheduled hearing on Nov. 5, 2026.

WHO IS LISA COOK? THE CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR AT THE HEART OF THE SUPREME COURT’S TRUMP-FED SHOWDOWN

Her statement must be received by the committee at least three days ahead of the hearing, which will unfold at the White House and will last no more than four hours, according to a notice dated Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, but released on Friday by the Trump administration.

At the hearing itself, Cook will be able to “present argument, written evidence, and written witness statements regarding the evidence and allegations,” the White House said. In turn, lawyers with the Department of Justice will question her.

The hearing will be closed to the public but will be transcribed.

EXPLAINED: HOW LISA COOK’S THREE HOME LOANS BECAME CENTRAL TO TRUMP’S FIGHT OVER HER FEDERAL RESERVE SEAT

Three White House staffers, including National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, will serve as members of the committee. Hassett was one of Trump’s top picks to replace Jerome Powell as Fed Chair before he ultimately settled on Kevin Warsh.

The White House said it expects Cook to submit another written statement after the hearing, after which the committee will make a recommendation to Trump on whether there is adequate cause to remove her from her post.

The White House revisited its effort to fire Cook in August, sending her a letter informing her that Trump was once again considering terminating her.

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This time, Cook was given 21 days to respond. Her attorneys submitted a letter to the White House on Aug. 26 denying that she had committed mortgage fraud.

The White House alleged that Cook claimed homes in Atlanta and Michigan as her primary residence on separate mortgage agreements and later rented out the Atlanta property.

Cook’s attorney said the Atlanta designation was an inadvertent mistake, arguing that she sought financing for it as a vacation home and consistently identified Michigan as her “primary” or “permanent” residence.

FIRST ON FOX: A blue state’s law enforcement officials are keeping illegal immigrants accused of violent crimes out of the reach of federal authorities, a new report claims.

The House Judiciary Committee, led by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, released new findings Friday in its investigation into sanctuary jurisdictions and their impact on law enforcement across the country.

The latest is a 25-page report that accuses top prosecutors in Denver and Boulder of helping illegal immigrants evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), while also revealing for the first time the names and graphic charges against some of those whom House GOP investigators say are being shielded from President Donald Trump’s federal crackdown.

JIM JORDAN SUBPOENAS BLUE STATE DAS ACCUSED OF ‘PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT’ FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMINALS

Among them is “Fernando Barrios-Ramirez, a Venezuelan national arrested for sexual assault on a child,” the report said. Another alleged criminal Denver is accused of ignoring an ICE detainer for is Juan Andres Holguin-Mendez, a Mexican national whose “criminal history also includes arrests for willful cruelty to a child, DUI, malicious mischief, possession of a controlled substance, trespassing, disturbing the peace, and evading a peace officer.”

Holguin-Mendez was arrested for damage to property, the report said.

A Venezuelan national named Diego Cano-Diaz with multiple alleged protective order violations was “arrested for aggravated assault with a weapon, resisting arrest, and assault,” the report said, but his ICE detainer was ignored in Denver as well.

At least four illegal immigrants were arrested due to alleged domestic violence in Denver but also had their ICE detainers ignored, the report said.

WATCH: DEM DEMANDS ‘ONE CASE’ WHERE SANCTUARY CITIES DIDN’T TURN OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS; DHS PROVIDES LIST

In Boulder, “Mario Hernandez-Quiroz, a Mexican national arrested for child abuse and failure to appear,” was among those whose ICE detainer was ignored.

Ignoring an ICE detainer does not necessarily mean law enforcement released the accused back onto public streets. It does, however, delay potential federal deportation proceedings to ensure the accused does not stay in the U.S.

DHS BOSS REVEALS OVAL OFFICE PLAN TO ‘WITHHOLD FUNDING’ FROM SANCTUARY CITIES AFTER AGGRESSIVE NEW YORK BUST

But the report did accuse district attorneys in Denver and Boulder of helping illegal immigrants suspected of criminal acts to evade ICE, including being more lenient with their treatment in order to avoid federal immigration proceedings — in effect, accusing them of letting more undocumented criminals back onto the streets.

For instance, House GOP investigators said they obtained internal documents that show the Denver Sheriff’s Department provides written explanations in a suspected illegal immigrant criminal’s preferred language that said they have “the right to refuse to speak to federal immigration authorities.”

DENVER MAN’S ESCAPE EXPOSES CHILLING TREN DE ARAGUA KIDNAPPING PLOT THAT LANDS TRIO IN PRISON

The report also accused Denver officials of providing insufficient notice when they do notify ICE about suspected illegal immigrant criminals.

An example highlighted in the report involved a suspected Tren de Aragua gang member, about whom ICE was given “between one and two hours’ notice to take him into custody.”

The suspected gang member, Abraham Smith Gonzalez, was subsequently released, the report said, and “as a result, when ICE officers attempted to arrest Gonzalez outside a Denver jail in 2025, he assaulted one officer.”

The report also accused both Boulder and Denver prosecutors of weighing immigration consequences when pursuing charges against an individual.

DOJ ACCUSES MARYLAND OF ‘ACTIVE AND DELIBERATE EFFORT’ TO PREVENT DEPORTATIONS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: LAWSUIT

“In Boulder, District Attorney Dougherty prohibits information sharing with ICE,” the report said. “Before President Trump even took office in January 2025, Dougherty emailed Boulder defense attorneys to remind them of his office’s pro-illegal alien policies, including his office’s consideration of collateral immigration consequences.”

An excerpt that the report noted is part of Boulder County District Attorney’s Office guidance stating that attorneys “consider the immigration and other collateral consequences to a defendant in recommending dispositions.”

Both Denver and Boulder encourage suspected illegal immigrants to not cooperate with ICE unless a judicial warrant is presented, the report said.

ICE ARRESTS ILLEGAL ALIEN ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING CHILDREN AFTER FAIRFAX COUNTY RELEASE: DHS

Dougherty in Boulder has already been targeted by Jordan’s probe, with the Ohio Republican subpoenaing Dougherty and accusing him of failing to sufficiently cooperate.

He told Fox News Digital in response to the report, “This report is a political stunt to sway voters before the midterm elections. My responsibility is to do justice, enhance public safety, and fight for victims. I’m not going to be distracted by political theatre or intimidated into abandoning my responsibility to protect the community and uphold the law. I am proud of our amazing and dedicated staff. They work incredibly hard to uphold the best interests of Boulder County and Colorado. It is my privilege to work alongside the outstanding women and men in the District Attorney’s Office.”

Dougherty’s office also accused committee Republicans of “intentionally” misrepresenting one individual’s case in its report that was not mentioned in this article.

“Under the Republicans’ approach, Contreras would have been released to ICE and immediately deported. That would have been a violation of state law. Also, Contreras would be free in another country with no consequences for his criminal conduct, the harm to the victim, and the risk he poses to the community,” the office said. “Under Boulder County’s approach, the Sheriff complied with state law and, ultimately, Contreras was held fully accountable by the prosecutors in our office and sent to state prison for eight (8) years. When he completes that sentence, he will then face deportation.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the district attorney’s offices in Denver and Boulder as well as the police departments in each city for a response to the GOP’s accusations. The Boulder Police Department referred Fox News Digital to the county sheriff’s office.

President Donald Trump and Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton are raising questions about Democratic challenger James Talarico’s whereabouts after the candidate spent nearly two weeks away from the campaign trail, as new reporting reveals concerns about his absence among members of his own volunteer network.

Talarico, who is challenging Paxton in Texas’ closely watched Senate contest, has not appeared at an in-person campaign event since late September, citing a case of the flu. The prolonged absence has prompted attacks from Republicans, including Trump, who questioned Talarico’s whereabouts during a Wednesday campaign rally in San Antonio and later on his social media platform Truth Social, calling the Texas Democrat “MISSING IN ACTION.”

“TalaFREAKo has been missing for 12 days! Now, after looking for him throughout all of Texas, and beyond, probably even weirder places than anyone would think possible, he put out a statement that he has the ‘flu.’ 12 days is a long time to rid yourself of the so-called flu bug,” Trump wrote Wednesday. “What’s going on? We need a Senator that’s a proven Champion like one that has been, without question, the Greatest Attorney General in the History of Texas, and one of the Greatest in the U.S.A.”

PAXTON VENTS OVER LACK OF CAMPAIGN CONTROL AS DC ESTABLISHMENT HE ONCE BATTLED COMES TO HIS AID

Paxton similarly questioned his opponent’s absence, asking supporters at Wednesday’s rally, “Where is James Talarico?”

“If it’s as tight as they claim it is, and he’s got a lead the way they claim that he is, and you’re a billionaire writing these big checks right now to Talarico, wouldn’t you want a ROI, like a return on your investment?” conservative radio host Ben Ferguson questioned on “The Will Cain Show” Thursday. “Why have we not gotten transparency from his campaign? What is really going on? Why did a guy disappear after doing an interview where he didn’t look like he had the flu?”

Talarico’s absence comes during the final stretch of Texas’ closely watched Senate race, with Election Day less than a month away. The Democrat’s last publicly documented in-person campaign event in Texas was Sept. 26, when he held a news conference in Carrollton addressing rising gasoline prices and the war in Iran, according to CNN.

Talarico subsequently attended a private fundraiser in New York and participated virtually in a Sept. 30 business forum, where he said he had been diagnosed with the flu at a Dallas urgent care facility the previous evening. Talarico has Type 1 diabetes, which puts him at greater risk of developing serious flu complications, according to the CDC.

His campaign has said Talarico expects to return to in-person campaigning this weekend ahead of a publicly scheduled CNN town hall on Oct. 14. The campaign also cited “more than 100 public events” Talarico has already done.

TEXAS VOTERS HAVE PLENTY TO SAY ABOUT WHETHER LONE STAR STATE COULD TURN BLUE

“I guess I’ve been shaking too many hands on the campaign trail, and so I want to keep everybody safe,” Talarico explained, adding he did not want to risk spreading the illness to vulnerable individuals.

“Ken Paxton has been ignoring Texans this entire campaign, and his priorities are clear: he doesn’t answer to the people of this state — he answers to his billionaire megadonors and special interests,” campaign spokesperson JT Ennis told Fox News Digital.

Meanwhile, the New York Post reported Thursday that leaked messages from a private Slack channel showed members of Talarico’s volunteer network discussing his prolonged absence, with one expressing concern that he could lose momentum.

“I think it’ll be fine. It’s [j]ust conservatives blasting him. I’m just worried about him losing momentum,” a Talarico campaign volunteer wrote in a group chat with other volunteers, featuring nearly 4,000 people, according to The Post. “But I 100% expect him to make a comeback at the CNN [t]own hall that’s a given.”

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“It’s a buncha people that don’t actually want him to be out touring that are causing a stink. Noone’s genuinely upset,” another volunteer wrote.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Talarico campaign for additional information on where the candidate is recovering and when this weekend he will reappear on the campaign trail but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

“I would much rather have my candidate rested and have any ailments out of the way now than down the stretch, because if they’re sick two weeks before the election, they’re still going to be on the road which means it’s only going to get worse. So let them heal up and get their strength back,” veteran Texas-based Democratic strategist Ed Espinoza told Fox News Digital. “Even though Talarico’s off the trail, he’s still on the airwaves,” Espinoza added, referring to the campaign’s significant ad spending in Texas. “He’s got plenty of money to get his message out.”

Fox News Digital’s Brittany Miller and Brooke Taylor contributed to this report.

South Carolina Democratic Senate nominee Dr. Annie Andrews appears to be distancing herself from her past opposition to restricting transgender athletes in girls’ sports, telling Fox News Digital she opposes biological males competing in women’s sports and gender transition surgeries for minors.

As Democrats fight to regain control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections, Andrews is among a group of candidates in competitive races in red and swing states who seem to be shifting positions on transgender issues. Meanwhile, Republicans are aiming to use the highly-charged issue as a cudgel to bash Democrats for a second straight cycle.

“I don’t support biological men playing in women’s sports, and I don’t support gender surgery on minors,” Andrews told Fox News Digital.

Andrews, who’s locked in an increasingly competitive midterm election showdown with Republican Sen. Darline Graham in reliably red state South Carolina, delivers the same message in a new campaign commercial, adding “I want you to hear me loud and clear.”

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But Graham, who was appointed to the Senate following the sudden death this summer of her older brother, longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham, is accusing Andrews of trying to conceal her previous position on transgender athletes.

Andrews “has spent years supporting biological males competing in girls’ sports. Now that she’s running for Senate, she’s trying to hide from that radical record,” Graham recently charged.

Graham and Republicans point to Andrews’ opposition to a 2022 South Carolina law barring transgender athletes from competing on girls’ and women’s public school sports teams.

“This is shameful legislation that does nothing to protect or support women or children in SC. In fact, it is actively harmful. I will always support trans youth,” Andrews wrote in a social media post at the time.

Republicans are seeking to once again make the issue a campaign liability.

The GOP effectively blasted Democrats in the 2024 election, with President Donald Trump‘s campaign targeting Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris with ads declaring “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”

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Republicans spent more than $200 million to run ads targeting Democrats on the transgender issue in the 2024 campaign, arguably helping the GOP to sweeping victories.

The latest national polls indicate that most Americans oppose transgender athletes playing on sports teams that don’t match their birth sex.

More than three-quarters (76%) of those questioned in a Fox News national poll conducted last month backed banning biological men from competing in women’s sports, with one in five opposed. The survey indicated bipartisan support, with 90% of Republicans, 77% of independents, and 61% of Democrats backing the ban.

Facing a rough political climate amid an unpopular war in Iran and soaring gas and diesel prices as they try to hold their fragile congressional majorities, Trump and the GOP are increasingly looking to replay their transgender political playbook.

Trump, at last month’s GOP midterm convention, described anti-trans messaging as one of the party’s most effective campaign tools to drive voter turnout and target Democrats in the final stretch leading up to Election Day.

“It’s one of our great soundbites of all time,” the president said at the two-day confab in Dallas.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

And some of the other top speakers at the convention, including Vice President JD Vance, Speaker Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and Senate and House GOP re-election chairs Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Richard Hudson highlighted the issue in their addresses.

Meanwhile, Republican ads on the issue are running for a second straight cycle.

But Democrats are recalibrating, and learning to fight back.

One of the first to pivot following the 2024 election setbacks was California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate. In early 2025, he suggested that biological males playing in women’s sports was “deeply unfair.”

Also making headlines and sparking a debate among Democrats was Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, who said soon after the 2024 elections that he opposed transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports and that Democrats spent too much time trying not to offend people.

Veteran Democratic strategist Maria Cardona told Fox News that “Democrats are being smart on this issue in terms of defining where they are on it so their opponents can’t define them and then pivoting back to the issues that they know that voters actually care about.”

“I have two little girls, I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that,” Moulton told The New York Times.

Fast-forward to present day, and while most Democratic politicians remain steadfast supporters of transgender rights, there are an increasing number who have changed course.

Texas state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic Senate nominee trying to flip a GOP-held seat in red-leaning Texas, has been targeted by Republicans over his past support for allowing transgender athletes in girls’ sports. But he told Fox News last month, “I oppose trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it endangers safety or fairness.”

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In Republican dominated Iowa, where Democrats are aiming to capture another open-GOP held Senate seat, Democratic nominee state Rep. Josh Turek has expressed opposition to biological males competing in women’s sports and gender transition surgeries for minors after facing Republican criticism.

Longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, who is facing a tough re-election bid, is running ads saying “boys should not play in girls’ sports” and that she is focused on “making your life more affordable.”

In her campaign mailers she touts that she “voted to ban schools from touting gender ideology in classrooms,” and, “Unlike the far left, I believe boys shouldn’t play girls’ sports.”

But the National Republican Congressional Committee pointed out that Kaptur voted against the GOP-led Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act in April 2023 and January 2025.

LONGTIME DEMOCRAT GETS HIT FROM THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT OVER THIS ISSUE

“Lies from desperate Democrat Marcy Kaptur can’t erase her radical record. Kaptur is in damage control, and she must remove herself as a co-sponsor of the Equality Act and disavow her previous votes or remove her lies from the airwaves,” NRCC spokesman Zach Bannon told Fox News Digital.

Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina, another vulnerable Democrat seeking re-election, was one of only three House Democrats who voted last year for a GOP bill that could lead to prison for health care workers providing gender-affirming care for minors.

Davis, who played football at the Air Force Academy, appears alongside a football field in a re-election advertisement, saying, “I believe states should decide what’s right for protecting women and girls, and North Carolina has decided.”

But both Kaptur and Davis have faced pushback from Democrats over their messaging on the transgender issue.

And in deep blue Massachusetts, Moulton, who apologized for his past transgender comments, was still trounced in last month’s Democratic Senate primary by progressive Sen. Ed Markey, who accused his challenger of throwing transgender children “under the bus.”

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Republican strategist Colin Reed, pointing to Democrats who’ve shifted their positions, told Fox News Digital that “voters should be very skeptical in the authenticity of any shifting policy positions that occur weeks before an election, especially in red parts of America where these types of issues have proven to be so politically toxic in the past.”

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But Cardona, a veteran of the Bill Clinton administration, the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns and the Democratic National Committee who currently serves as a DNC committee member, said Democrats are “defining where they are on the issue so their opponents can’t define them and then pivoting back to the issues that they know that voters actually care about.”

She argued that “Republicans won’t be able to weaponize this issue this cycle the way they were able to in 2024 for two reasons. Democrats are fighting about and actually talking about it and defining themselves. But more importantly, when people can’t make ends meet, they’re not going to be drawn into culture issues which don’t make a difference when you go to gas pumps and can’t fill up your car to go to work.”

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report

EXCLUSIVE: American autism care providers who backed the Trump administration’s crackdown on Medicaid fraud are now sounding the alarm, warning that efforts to root out abuse could have unintended consequences after reimbursement cuts put therapy for Georgia foster children at risk.

The Autism Families Alliance, which describes itself as a national advocacy organization dedicated to supporting Applied Behavior Analysis providers and the families who rely on their services, said that efforts by the Trump administration and state leaders to fight fraud have gone too far, potentially leaving many of Georgia’s children with autism in foster care without the care they need.

This warning is in response to a move by Amerigroup, the insurer that covers Georgia’s foster children through Medicaid, to cut what it pays autism therapy providers by 30%. Providers caution that they may no longer be able to afford to treat vulnerable children and that many foster families will be unable to switch them to another insurer.

“It’s scary to see that so many different things are being slashed in terms of Medicaid, and that we’re seeing this drastic outcome,” Taylor Sanders, a family advocate at the Autism Families Alliance, told Fox News Digital. “It’s so important that we keep in mind that children with autism are in a very vulnerable place where they’re still needing to learn safety skills. There are some children who have extremely aggressive behaviors, challenging behaviors. So, when we’re seeing some of these cuts, we’re seeing it affect the providers who are able to provide access to these services.”

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“If we’re not able to provide a good amount of pay to our providers, we’re not able to make sure they’re set up for success to be able to give some of these services, and we’re going to see less and less children being able to access services at all,” she added.

Sanders said 75% of clinics will have to close their doors or stop serving foster kids due to the massive cuts.

The 30% cut will not only affect providers’ ability to provide access to these families, but it will also limit foster children’s opportunities to learn essential skills, according to Sanders. Foster children with autism depend on regular therapy to develop everyday skills, but a sudden loss of that support could set them back.

“If they don’t learn these school skills at an early intervention or an early age, it’ll be a lot more costly later on,” she said.

In August, the Autism Families Alliance put its support behind 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. Some states, including Georgia, have also taken steps to enhance oversight of autism services.

The group backed eliminating fraud and prosecuting suspected criminals, but also feared 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. The coalition called on policymakers to ensure fraudsters are removed from the system without creating what they described as unnecessary barriers for families of vulnerable children seeking care.

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Now, the group says Georgia’s foster families face the risk that they had previously raised concerns about.

“I think fraud should be prosecuted by all means,” Sanders said. “Anybody who is engaging in fraudulent behavior should be prosecuted to the highest extent of the law. Are we able to not only tackle the fraud, but still give access to services for our children? Why can’t we do both at the same time?”

“What’s really happening here is we’re going in with a sledgehammer when really we should be going in with a scalpel,” she continued, adding that officials need to be “approaching this in a way where it’s not going to totally obliterate the care to our families.”

One Georgia foster mother has already been told her nearly 3-year-old son’s provider may be forced to stop treating him after he started making progress, according to the Georgia Recorder.

“Reforms that improve care, increase efficiency and prevent abuse are something we all support, but when those efforts make it harder for children with autism to get the care they need, something has gone terribly wrong,” Kelsey Bennett, a family advocate with the Autism Families Alliance, told Fox News Digital.

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“No one wants to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse more than the providers who dedicate their lives to caring for these children. Every taxpayer dollar should go toward helping the people it was intended to serve. But you can’t fix a system by making it harder for vulnerable children to get help. Reforms that end up hurting the very children the system is supposed to protect are not in Georgia’s best interests,” she continued.

Bennett urged Georgia’s lawmakers “to bring everyone to the table, including the Medicaid managed care companies and the providers who care for these children every day.”

“By listening to those on the front lines and working together, they can find a better way forward that improves efficiency without putting children’s access to care at risk,” she said.

“Children with autism, especially those in foster care and those welcomed into loving foster families, already face enough challenges. Their families shouldn’t have to worry about whether the care they depend on will suddenly disappear. Georgia’s leaders need to step in, address these cuts and make sure these children aren’t the ones paying the price for efforts to save money,” she added.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli called out California Democrats for watering down the state’s criminal law after federal law enforcement led the charge on a massive drug crackdown in the infamous Skid Row neighborhood on Thursday.

Essayli told Fox News Digital in an interview that California’s state and local law enforcement have worked with the feds just fine, but that it’s the politicians who are getting in the way.

“Unfortunately, states like California have totally watered down their laws, their criminal justice laws. They’ve also emptied their prisons and closed prisons, so effectively, there’s not much of a deterrence on the state side. No one faces any serious consequences on the state side,” Essayli said.

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“We work really well with our local law enforcement partners,” he continued. “Local law enforcement isn’t the problem. It’s more the governor, it’s the legislature, it’s these loud-mouth federal, you know, Congress members who all they care about is attacking the administration, attacking the president.”

Essayli did give credit to Mayor Karen Bass for approving the Los Angeles Police Department to participate in Thursday’s Operation Save Skid Row.

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“This is a climate in which you have people right now trying to defund the police. You have people trying to disarm the LAPD, and those people are on the side of criminals,” he added. “Anyone who’s calling for disarming the police is on the side of the drug dealers that we arrested today. They’re lunatics.”

Operation Save Skid Row saw federal and city authorities execute 28 arrest warrants and 44 search warrants in an effort to dismantle drug distribution networks in the notorious neighborhood.

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Over 100 law enforcement vehicles were involved in the operation, with arrests targeting members of multiple gangs, including the “Main Street Crips,” “Grape Street/Raymond Avenue Crips” and the “Pueblo Bishop Bloods.”

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“We are no longer going to have open-air drug markets in the United States, let alone on Skid Row. And that is the reason you see so many homeless people who are experiencing psychotic episodes, who are unwell, they aren’t seeking help, it’s because you have people, like the drug dealers we are arresting today, keeping them addicted and taking their public assistance money to pay for their drugs,” Essayli said during a news conference on Thursday.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is confident that Democrats will win the Senate, but whether they support him as leader remains to be seen.

Schumer, who has led the Senate Democratic Caucus since 2017, believes that Democrats have “wind in our sails” heading into what some Republicans fear could be a brutal midterm election in November.

And win or lose, he plans to retain his spot as the top Democrat in the Senate.

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“I am running for re-election for leader,” Schumer told Politico. “Period.”

But some of his own candidates on the trail running in elections that could shape the balance of power in the Senate aren’t keen on supporting him to once again lead Senate Democrats since he took the mantle from his friend and mentor, the late Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Adam Hamilton, who has gained enough ground on incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., in ruby-red Kansas to make it a toss-up race, reiterated this week that he won’t support Schumer for leader in either a majority or minority.

“And no disrespect for him at all, it’s just that I think we need new ideas,” Hamilton told CBS News. “We need new ideas, we need fresh leadership. I support term limits. I support age limits, and I just think there’s a time where we need to have new and fresh leadership coming in, and I think this is one of those times.”

SCHUMER DUCKS QUESTION ON CAMPAIGNING WITH SOCIALIST CANDIDATE WHO REFUSES TO BACK HIM AS LEADER

He’s not alone, either. Both Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota have been noncommittal — during and after their primary victories earlier this year — with their support of Schumer, despite both welcoming dollars from the Senate Majority PAC, the political action committee closely aligned with the Democratic leader.

Fox News Digital reached out to both campaigns for comment.

Since the 2024 election, when Schumer lost the Senate, Democrats have quietly questioned a new path in leadership. Those conversations emerged twice last year — when Schumer refused to allow a shutdown early in President Donald Trump’s term, and when he was unable to prevent Democrats from jumping ship to end the longest full government shutdown in history.

SLOTKIN SAYS DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEEDS ‘NEW LEADERSHIP’: ‘OLD MODELS ARE NO LONGER WORKING’

While many Democratic senators won’t publicly engage with the topic of replacing Schumer, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., did. Earlier this year she argued that Democrats were still reeling from the 2024 election, and that “every day, there’s a debate within the party about the path forward.”

“That’s why I believe we need significant new leadership,” Slotkin said. “The old models are no longer working, and that includes the Democratic Party.”

One lawmaker has emerged as a possible replacement who has the backing of progressives, including El-Sayed: Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

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Van Hollen declined to say whether he would mount a bid against Schumer, but said before leaving Washington, D.C., last month that the midterms were “all I am focused on.”

Other Democrats aren’t quick to weigh in, either. When asked if retaking the upper chamber could strengthen Schumer’s hand, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., declined to say.

“I’m not doing those questions now,” Murphy said.

Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed traded personal attacks and accusations during a heated Michigan U.S. Senate debate Thursday night, clashing over everything from affordability, the war in Iran and U.S. support for Israel to their respective financial dealings and personal backgrounds.

The contentious showdown in Grand Rapids marked the first time the two candidates faced off onstage ahead of November’s closely watched election after Rogers declined to participate in a debate last month hosted by FOX 2 Detroit, citing concerns about the moderator’s impartiality.

At the top of Thursday’s debate, what began as a discussion about affordability quickly devolved into personal attacks, with Rogers repeatedly questioning El-Sayed’s medical credentials and accusing him of misleading voters. El-Sayed accused the former congressman of enriching himself through corporate connections.

“He’s lying. So, he lied about being a physician. He lied now about being an Egyptian citizen or not being an Egyptian citizen,” Rogers charged during one particularly heated exchange. “That’s a con man.”

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El-Sayed, who holds a medical degree from Columbia University, rejected the attacks and accused Rogers of attempting to distract voters from issues affecting their everyday lives.

“He wanted to make this about him or me. But the question is about you,” El-Sayed responded. “Can you afford your gas? Can you afford your groceries under this guy who’s going to rubber stamp everything Donald Trump tells him to rubber stamp?”

The candidates also sparred over their personal finances, with El-Sayed repeatedly accusing Rogers of profiting from corporate relationships after leaving Congress and referencing his Florida property and alleged yacht ownership. 

Rogers, who denied owning any yachts, countered by questioning El-Sayed’s investments and alleged overseas property holdings in the UAE, while also slamming him for accepting money from billionaires despite simultaneously stumping on not taking money from corporate PACs and getting money out of politics.

EL-SAYED GRILLED ON PIKER, ISRAEL AND SOCIALIST TIES AFTER MIKE ROGERS SKIPS SENATE DEBATE

The exchanges became so heated that moderator Rick Albin repeatedly intervened.

“Look, here’s the situation. We’ve got dozens of questions we want to get to. You can’t litigate all of these with 14 different rebuttals,” Albin told the candidates. 

After a commercial break, Albin remarked that, in 30 years of moderating debates, he had never witnessed candidates continue arguing throughout a commercial break. 

The personal accusations remained constant throughout much of Thursday night’s debate, but one of the evening’s sharpest policy disagreements emerged over Israel and Iran.

Asked whether he would support providing defensive weapons to Israel if the country were attacked by Iran or another state actor, El-Sayed indicated he would not and reiterated his opposition to using American taxpayer dollars to fund foreign militaries.

“I don’t want our tax dollars buying weapons for other countries. I don’t know what’s so hard about that,” El-Sayed said.

MICHIGAN STUDENT CONFRONTS EL-SAYED OVER IRAN STANCE IN TENSE EXCHANGE: ‘DO YOU STAND WITH US?’

“I think both of them have proven dangerous in their own way. One at risk of attacking us, one getting us into wars we have no business fighting,” he added, referring to Israel and Iran.

El-Sayed also declined to say whether Israel or Iran posed the greater threat to the United States despite repeated questioning from the moderator.

“I think both of them have proven dangerous in their own way,” El-Sayed said. “One at risk of attacking us, one getting us into wars. We have no business fighting.”

Rogers, by contrast, indicated he would support providing defensive weapons to Israel and reiterated his support for the Jewish state. 

He repeatedly accused El-Sayed of having connections to individuals and organizations supportive of terrorist groups as well, allegations El-Sayed disputed.

ABDUL EL-SAYED HITS BACK AT ISRAEL QUESTIONS, SUGGESTS HIS NAME AND FAITH ARE BEHIND PRESS SCRUTINY

The pair also differed on whether the war could come to an end if Iran still maintains the ability to produce a nuclear weapon and continues to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz.

El-Sayed blamed the conflict for rising gas prices and accused Rogers of supporting an unnecessary war, arguing that diplomacy could resolve the conflict even if Iran retained the ability to produce nuclear weapons.

Rogers argued that Iran’s nuclear capabilities had been significantly diminished and said the war should end, while maintaining that Iran could not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.

On domestic policy, El-Sayed expressed openness to federal price controls on domestically produced oil, arguing that high gasoline prices constituted an emergency.

“Look, I definitely think that’s something we should consider,” El-Sayed said.

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Rogers rejected price controls, instead advocating temporary gas tax relief, diesel rebates and a pause on diesel exports.

Healthcare also became a major flash point.

El-Sayed defended his Medicare-for-all proposal, insisting that Americans who wanted to retain private insurance could do so. Rogers argued that the proposal would eliminate existing private coverage and impose significant new taxes on families.

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The debate unfolded against the backdrop of an exceptionally competitive Senate contest.

A late-September Fox News poll showed El-Sayed leading Rogers 50% to 49% among likely voters, a statistical dead heat.

The candidates are competing for the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, with Republicans hoping to flip the seat and Democrats seeking to maintain their hold on it.

A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., has heard evidence concerning possible false statements former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson made to the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, Fox News Digital has learned.

Additional evidence could be presented to the grand jury as soon as next week, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The proceedings remain in the grand jury phase, and no final decisions have been made about whether the matter will result in criminal charges, the source said.

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Hutchinson, a former top aide to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, emerged as one of the most prominent witnesses before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and President Donald Trump’s efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election.

During a nationally televised hearing in June 2022, Hutchinson provided testimony about Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, including an account she said she heard from another White House official about the president’s reaction after being told he could not travel to the Capitol.

Her account of an alleged confrontation inside the presidential vehicle was subsequently disputed by other individuals familiar with the events.

FORMER WHITE HOUSE AIDE CASSIDY HUTCHINSON ‘STANDS BY ALL OF THE TESTIMONY SHE PROVIDED’ TO JAN. 6 COMMITTEE

It remains unclear which portions of Hutchinson’s congressional testimony are being examined by the grand jury.

The New York Post reported Thursday that the Justice Department was investigating Hutchinson over possible false statements to Congress and that a federal grand jury had been convened to hear evidence.

Grand jury proceedings do not necessarily result in criminal charges, and the presentation of evidence does not establish that a crime occurred.

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A representative for the Justice Department and Hutchinson’s attorney did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

One of President Donald Trump’s most prominent allies in Congress could soon become his highest-ranking defender against a barrage of Democrat-led investigations and impeachment threats.

Several House Republicans told Fox News Digital they expect the chamber will slide out of their control come November — and with it, a major shake-up in their top leadership ranks.

“I don’t see a scenario where everyone gets to keep their job,” one House GOP lawmaker bluntly told Fox News Digital. “I think [Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.] would be first out, and then [House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.] has got to decide if he’s going to run for leader and, can he beat [House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio]?”

Jordan and Scalise’s names came up often, in Fox News Digital’s discussions with various House Republicans, all of whom spoke under the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conference matters.

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A second House Republican said Jordan is the “number one name” in talks of a GOP minority leader.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES UNLEASH MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR MIDTERM BLITZ AGAINST DEM ‘SOCIALIST’ INSURGENCY

The Ohio Republican already enjoys high name recognition among the party base. As the first lawmaker put it, “His celebrity status is very helpful … when Jim Jordan comes to town for you, you put 300 butts in seats.”

That status has been on full display so far this election cycle. Jordan has spent much of August and October traveling across the country campaigning for fellow House Republicans along the political spectrum, from vulnerable moderates to conservative MAGA acolytes.

TOP REPUBLICAN UNLOADS ON RISE OF ‘ANTI-AMERICAN’ CANDIDATES HEADING INTO MIDTERMS: ‘YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING’

It’s a far cry from the Jordan who ran for speaker in October 2023, when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster sparked a historic scramble to replace him. Jordan’s bid at the time was marked by fervent conservative support and fierce opposition from moderates, several of whom said they felt threatened by Jordan’s allies for their opposition.

The first House Republican described his current persona as “Jim Jordan 2.0.”

“He’s taken steps to, I think, build out way beyond the Freedom Caucus in terms of people that support him,” that person said. “Like, he’s just a great citizen of the conference.”

But Jordan himself has not publicly pushed any leadership ambitions since the 2023 battle, when Johnson ended up speaker after several weeks of political chaos. The second House Republican said they’ve seen Jordan actively dismiss any such conversations.

He told Punchbowl News earlier this week that he was “focused on winning” the House majority.

The first person said, “I think [Jordan] quietly, without campaigning for it, has built up some infrastructure like that. But also, he could be throwing darts at leadership, and he’s not. He’s just trying to help us win.”

A third House Republican pointed out that, if Democrats win the House in another blue wave, many of Jordan’s most vocal opponents from 2023 will have lost their seats. And unlike a speaker race, where a majority of the full House is needed, a minority leader would only need to win a majority of the GOP conference.

“If we lose 20 or 30 of those guys and all you’re left are guys like me, I think Jim Jordan’s chances are much higher. Because the only people left in the conference are going to be conservative,” the third GOP lawmaker said, adding they would “1,000%” back Jordan.

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But a potential minority leader Jordan would not come without a fight. Most House Republicans are privately expecting Scalise, Johnson’s No. 2 and a member of House GOP leadership since 2014, to run for the job.

“It’s very obvious they’re both jockeying for it,” a fourth House Republican told Fox News Digital. “Jordan’s a pretty big draw for a lot of folks. I think he might have a play there. But there’s a lot of people who are loyal to Steve, especially those that have been around a while.”

Like other members of House GOP leadership, Scalise has also spent recess traveling the country campaigning for Republican candidates. He is also known as a prolific fundraiser for the party.

A fifth GOP lawmaker said, “I would guess, at this point, that Scalise would be in the lead with Jordan running a close second.”

“And I think it would just depend on, you know, who would people see as a better fighter against the Democrats?” the fifth person posed.

A sixth House Republican said a fight between the Louisiana Republican and Jordan seemed on the horizon if Republicans lost, and argued Scalise is best positioned to continue leading if that majority comes back.

“In some respects, Jim Jordan, I think, would make a pretty good minority leader because he’s a bulldog … [but] I’ve never believed that Jim Jordan would be an effective speaker,” that sixth person said. “I think Steve Scalise probably is the best candidate that we have out there that has experience in dealing with the administration, that understands the must-pass portion of our agenda … and is our best negotiator.”

It would likely be a bruising battle, given there’s no love lost between the two men after their competing bids for speaker after McCarthy’s ouster. Scalise had won a majority of Republicans in a head-to-head against Jordan behind closed doors but ultimately did not see a House floor vote. Jordan’s 2023 bid collapsed after he failed to clinch a majority on the House floor. 

JOHNSON DELIVERS BIG FOR TRUMP, BUT FRUSTRATION GROWS ACROSS RAZOR-THIN GOP MAJORITY

But it’s not clear if it may even come to that.

“I think that if Johnson runs for minority leader, he would still get the votes,” the fifth person said. “He’s done everything you could ask of a leader. He’s raised the money, he’s been on the road. He’s cobbled together very difficult votes over the last two years that no one thought possible.”

There is also a world where Republicans defy expectations to keep the House. And in that world, Johnson is all but guaranteed to remain in charge.

“Speaker Mike Johnson is an example of the American Dream. As Speaker, he’s continued to defy the odds with a slim House majority and pass America First-bills,” Trump’s campaign posted on X. “After Republicans win in November, they should re-elect Mike as Speaker quickly!”

If the polls prove correct, however, most people are expecting Johnson to willingly step aside.

“I don’t think he’s going to want to be minority leader after being the Speaker of the House, like, that doesn’t make any sense to me,” the fourth House Republican said.

The third GOP lawmaker was more blunt: “Johnson’s done.”

Johnson himself dismissed any talk of leadership races in an interview with Fox News Digital last month.

“I really haven’t given it a moment’s thought because we’re laser focused,” he said when asked if he would seek to be minority leader. “This is a midterm unlike any other, and I’m convinced we are going to defy history and keep and grow this majority.”

If Johnson’s prediction does not pan out, one member of leadership is expected to have a good shot at staying in his place: House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn.

Emmer has been privately telling House Republicans that he intends to run for the whip job again no matter what, multiple people told Fox News Digital, avoiding a possible collision course with Jordan and Scalise.

“I think it was a brilliant move, saying, ‘You know what? I’m not going to do anything but try to keep my own spot,’” the first House GOP lawmaker said. “I think Tom’s got pretty wide respect, and most of the hand-wringing from people was, ‘I don’t want to have to pick between Tom and Jim.’”

The fifth person said, “It’s my understanding that Emmer is, if there is a race, going to be happy being the No. 2.”

But nothing is a sure thing in an environment where multiple House Republicans have said they are expecting a “bloodbath” in the midterms.

Three GOP lawmakers told Fox News Digital they expect Democrats to win between 20 and 25 seats — with Republicans’ redistricting efforts sparing them from an even more devastating loss.

A solid defeat, several House Republicans warned, could have people clamoring for a full leadership shake-up.

The second House Republican said the entire leadership team could be “wiped out” in that situation.

“It strikes me that there wouldn’t be a high likelihood of everybody just being OK with the status quo,” the first person said.

In that case, there is another name people see waiting in the wings for a potential leadership bid: Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas.

“I keep hearing rumors but have not heard that directly,” a seventh House Republican said. “My guess is that he is preparing to make a run in case the opportunity presents itself, but he’s being tactically quiet.”

The second House Republican said they heard his name second only to Jordan in terms of frequency.

“When I was a candidate, I had no idea who he was, but he called me and gave money to my campaign,” the first lawmaker said. “He’s very ambitious, but I don’t know what he’s aiming those ambitions towards.”

Several people speculated that he could run for the No. 2 job as whip if Emmer opted to step aside or was forced to.

The fourth House Republican said they could see a world where Pfluger runs to be chairman of the House GOP campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).

“I think that he’s positioned himself very well to be able to be in some sort of leadership position. I think it just depends on what that looks like,” that person said.

But there is one thing Republican lawmakers seem to largely agree on: November is not looking good.

“Everyone that I have talked to across the country is seeing the same numbers that I’m seeing. So if you’re in anything less than an R+6, I think you’re at risk,” the third House Republican said.

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The first person said, “There seems to be a lot of panic buttons being pushed.”

The Pentagon confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday that the firing squad execution of convicted Fort Hood terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan will be livestreamed, allowing the public to witness the military’s first execution in more than six decades.

“It will be livestreamed. Details will follow,” a War Department official told Fox News Digital.

The execution is scheduled for Dec. 3 at Fort Hood, Texas.

FORT HOOD SURVIVOR SHOT IN HEAD VOWS TO WATCH TERRORIST FACE HISTORIC FIRING SQUAD

Hasan, a former Army major, killed 13 people and wounded 32 others when he opened fire on unarmed soldiers and civilians after shouting “Allahu Akbar” at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, 2009. He was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to death for the massacre.

President Donald Trump approved the use of an Army firing squad, following War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s recommendation. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell previously announced the decision on X, declaring, “Judgment day for Hasan has finally come.”

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If carried out, Hasan’s execution would be the first by the U.S. military since 1961 and the first military execution by firing squad since 1945. Hasan remains on military death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.