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The battle for control of Congress is entering its final sprint, with Republicans and Democrats just over a month away from learning who will wield power for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s presidency.

House Democrats lead House Republicans in the most recent Fox News Power Rankings, with the left projected to win 215 seats in the lower chamber compared to 201 for the GOP. But 19 seats are still ranked as toss-ups, meaning the final majority is still anyone’s to claim.

One issue that’s given Republicans a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak cycle is the far-left insurgency that’s gripped the Democratic Party. Several key victories by socialist candidates could threaten to push the party further left than most Americans are, a warning that GOP candidates across the country have shared.

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: DEMOCRATS LEAD IN THE HOUSE, BUT REDISTRICTING KEEPS THE GOP IN THE GAME

Below is a list of 10 House districts currently held by Democrats where Republicans could see key victories that help them retain control.

Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District

Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala., is running for re-election in a congressional district that’s been redrawn to significantly favor Republicans.

SUPREME COURT ALLOWS ALABAMA GOP-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL MAP FOR MIDTERMS

A 2023 Supreme Court decision ordered Alabama to create a second Black opportunity district ahead of the 2024 election, meaning Black voters there would have meaningful sway in the general election. The resulting boundaries helped Figures win his seat, which was previously held by Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., who ran in a neighboring district that cycle.

But the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais earlier this year significantly curbed the Voting Rights Act’s enforcement of racial considerations in congressional maps, paving the way for southern states to alter district boundaries that were drawn to give minorities more representation.

BLOCKBUSTER SUPREME COURT VOTING RIGHTS RULING IGNITES REDISTRICTING WAR ACROSS SOUTHERN STATES

That hit Figures particularly hard. The new district would have voted for President Donald Trump by roughly 14% in 2024, according to 270ToWin. Both Fox News Power Rankings and the nonpartisan Cook Political Report (CPR) rate it as “likely Republican.”

Florida’s 9th Congressional District

Florida lawmakers also altered their state’s map ahead of November, aimed at giving Republicans a slight edge in the already-red state.

Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., who is running for a sixth term representing his district, was one of the Democrats whose seat was hit the hardest.

His newly redrawn district voted for Trump by nearly 18%, 270ToWin’s analysis states.

REDISTRICTING GIVES REPUBLICANS AN EDGE, BUT AFFORDABILITY WILL DECIDE THE MIDTERMS

Fox News Power Rankings rates it as “lean Republican” while CPR ranks the seat as a “likely” Republican pickup.

Florida’s 14th Congressional District

The Tampa-area House seat held by Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., was also among the blue seats redrawn by the Sunshine State’s government to make it more competitive for Republicans.

The longtime moderate Democrat has served in Congress since 2007 and represented her current district since 2013.

She’s facing off against a former Florida state lawmaker, Republican Mike Beltran, who also has name recognition in the area.

Under its new lines, which remove more Democrat-leaning places around the city of St. Petersburg in favor of more rural and suburban areas in the south and east, Trump would have won the district by 10.5% in 2024, according to 270ToWin.

Both Fox News Power Rankings and CPR rate it a “toss-up,” meaning it’s anyone’s game.

Florida’s 22nd Congressional District

Republicans redrew Florida’s 22nd Congressional District in a way that could have pitted incumbent Reps. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., against each other in a likely expensive and bruising primary.

But both opted to run in other districts, leaving the seat currently occupied by retiring Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., as a potential opportunity for both parties.

Under Florida’s new map, 270ToWin projects Trump would have won the district by roughly 10% in 2024.

Democrat Pia Dandiya, a political newcomer, is running against Republican businessman and Marine Casey Askar.

Both Fox News and CPR rank the district a “toss-up.”

Florida’s 25th Congressional District

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., is running in Florida’s 25th Congressional District after the GOP’s aforementioned redistricting play, a seat that on paper was amended to give Republicans a slight edge.

Redistricting shifted the seat from one that ex-Vice President Kamala Harris won by single digits to one that Trump would have won by nearly 10 points.

Moskowitz has long touted his bipartisan work in Congress and as Florida’s emergency management director under Gov. Ron DeSantis, giving Democrats some confidence that he could overcome the political shift in Republicans’ favor.

Fox News’ latest projections have the seat leaning Democrat, while CPR ranks it a “toss-up.”

Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District

Rep. Cleo Fields, D-La., is retiring at the end of this year, making his seat another open race.

But the same 2023 and 2026 Supreme Court decisions that affected Figures in Alabama are at play in the Bayou State this year.

After the most recent decision rolling back the Voting Rights Act, Republicans were able to redraw the 6th district in a way that diluted the Black population, who primarily voted Democrat in 2024, to factor in more red-leaning areas.

Because of the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation delaying the state’s House primary races to Nov. 3 and the general election to Dec. 12.

Both Fox News’ and CPR’s rankings project the seat to fall into Republican hands.

Maine’s 2nd Congressional District

The retirement of moderate Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, has opened up a rare opportunity for a GOP pickup in the American Northeast.

Golden, who is known for frequently breaking from his own party on key issues like immigration and tariffs, represents a district that Trump won by 9% in 2024, according to 270ToWin.

Republicans have a particularly strong candidate in that open race, former Gov. Paul LePage.

Fox News rates the district a “toss-up,” while CPR projects it as a likely Republican victory.

North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District

Perennial battleground Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., is facing one of his toughest re-election battles yet thanks to North Carolina also joining the nationwide redistricting fight ahead of November.

Like Golden, Davis also won a district that went to Trump over Harris in 2024.

But under the state’s new maps, Trump’s margin of victory in that state widened considerably — and with it, Republicans’ chances of winning.

Davis is facing Republican Laurie Buckhout, who he defeated in 2024 by less than 2%.

Fox News rates the district a “toss-up,” while CPR’s rankings say it leans slightly for Republicans.

Texas’ 35th Congressional District

Lone Star State Republicans kicked off the nationwide redistricting fight ahead of the 2026 midterms with a map that was redrawn to win the GOP up to five more seats in November.

Among those is a district currently represented by Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar, D-Texas.

But Casar is now running in the nearby 37th Congressional District, leaving the 35th a wide-open race that both parties see opportunity in.

Under the new boundaries, Trump would have won the district by roughly 10%, according to 270ToWin.

A GOP victory there, however, will depend heavily on its considerable Hispanic population shifting to the right again this year.

Both Fox News and CPR project the district leaning slightly in favor of Republicans.

Ohio’s 9th Congressional District

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, is also running a tougher race this year thanks to her state’s new congressional map.

Kaptur’s battleground district was shifted slightly to include more Republican-leaning areas, making an already difficult re-election bid even more of an uphill battle.

Trump would have won the district by 10.5% under its new lines, according to 270ToWin.

But Kaptur has survived several attempts at redistricting by Republicans since her first victory in 1982. She is the longest-serving woman in congressional history and the longest currently-serving House member from Ohio.

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Both Fox News and CPR rated the district a “toss-up” in November.

Fox News’ Remy Numa contributed to this report.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio abruptly ended talks and ordered the Iranian delegation to leave the U.S. after negotiations stalled, yet again, with no clear sign of a breakthrough more than seven months into the conflict.

And now, President Donald Trump is directly warning Iran it’s “possible” he will go harder with strikes in the Middle East after the midterm elections in November and revealed the U.S. military has significantly rebuilt its arsenal in recent months.

The latest messaging from the White House and State Department signals an increasingly strained diplomatic track, after days of negotiations failed to close the gap between Washington and Tehran over the terms of ending the war.

IRAN ‘MISCALCULATING’ BY BETTING ON MIDTERMS AFTER 3-HOUR TALKS, TRUMP OFFICIALS WARN

Asked in an interview with Time whether he would “ramp up bombing after the midterms,” Trump replied: “Possible.”

Further pressed on whether such an escalation was under consideration, the president declined to discuss potential targets but said the U.S. had spent months rebuilding its arsenal.

“We have a lot of weapons. You know, we’ve been stocking up for the last six months,” Trump said.

Trump also used the word “possible” when asked whether he “might annihilate Iran.”

After little progress in weekend meetings involving Iranian officials and Qatari mediators, Rubio told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his delegation on Monday that they needed to leave New York, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News Digital after Axios first reported it.

Rubio concluded the Iranians had “overstayed their welcome” after the high-level U.N. meetings had ended. Araghchi had remained in New York for indirect talks seeking to end the blockade of oil and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, ending the conflict overall and restarting negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.

TRUMP, IRANIAN PRESIDENT CONVERGE ON NYC FOR ‘DRAMATIC’ UN SHOWDOWN AS TEHRAN FACES TIGHT RESTRICTIONS

Trump said in his speech to the United Nation’s General Assembly last week that he would continue to make sure Iran is not able to obtain nuclear weapons.

Araghchi and his team departed early Tuesday. Iran disputed the U.S. account, saying the delegation’s Monday night departure had already been scheduled and communicated to the State Department on Sept. 17.

The order to leave amounted to an unusually sharp diplomatic rebuke at a moment when mediators are still trying to keep negotiations alive.

The latest talks have centered on a seven-day confidence-building proposal aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz and reviving the June framework that briefly halted the fighting. Qatar has been shuttling messages between Washington and Tehran, with the two sides still divided largely over the sequencing of concessions — including when Iran would reopen the strait, what nuclear steps Tehran would take and what economic relief the U.S. would provide in return.

Trump rejected Iran’s latest proposal over the weekend, later saying Tehran’s offer to reopen the strait was “not good enough. Nearly.” He also denied reports that he had offered sanctions relief or the release of frozen Iranian funds in exchange for movement on the nuclear issue.

Despite the diplomatic stalemate, oil flows through the region have been recovering. Estimates cited by major banks put recent Middle East exports close to pre-war levels, helping ease some of the supply fears that sent crude prices sharply higher earlier in the conflict.

But the lack of a deal is still putting pressure on energy markets. Brent crude settled above $103 a barrel Wednesday, while U.S. crude closed above $90, with oil posting steep September gains as traders weighed stalled U.S.-Iran talks against the recovery in regional supply.

Americans are still feeling that pressure at the pump. The national average for regular gasoline was about $4.43 a gallon Wednesday, compared with roughly $3.15 a year earlier, while diesel stood above $6.40 a gallon.

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The Strait of Hormuz remains central to both the negotiations and the economic stakes. Before the war, roughly one-fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies passed through the waterway, making even partial disruption a major driver of global energy prices.

The Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine, Troy Jackson, apologized for remarks in which he said he believed Jewish residents of Maine were rejecting the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s war in Gaza because of the Jewish persecution during the Holocaust.

In comments to Jewish Insider, Jackson said he had misspoken, stating that he apologized “for the pain that caused.”

“I believe what’s happening in Gaza is genocide, and I also understand that word carries particular weight for many Jewish families given the Holocaust — the genocide of six million Jews. In trying to acknowledge that, I misspoke and made a generalization about Jewish Mainers’ views that doesn’t reflect what I mean to say,” Jackson said in a statement.

AFTER DEMOCRATS’ SHAKE-UP, COLLINS FACES TOSS-UP AGAINST PLATNER REPLACEMENT IN MUST-WIN SENATE RACE

Jackson’s remarks sparked immediate backlash Tuesday on social media.

“This statement cannot be real. It must be a dark dark dark parody,” Dan Senor, the co-author of “The Genius of Israel,” wrote on X.

“Completely out of the closet,” Fox News host Mark Levin wrote on X.

“Dude could get a matching tattoo,” Fox News political analyst Guy Benson wrote on X, referring to Graham Platner’s Nazi tattoo.

“Jackson should not be within 10’points of [Sen. Susan Collins] when the totals post, just as Collins blew out the polls six years ago. Jackson is dull and ill-informed —cliche volcano, mostly spewing out of DSA-rewrites,” Fox News contributor and conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt wrote on X.

“Well, that’s a s—ty thing to say,” former GOP congressman and anti-Trump personality Joe Walsh wrote on X.

“Bro what,” GOP consultant Matt Whitlock wrote on X.

Jackson’s apology attempts to salvage political damage from his broad remarks about the Jewish community as he wages a nationally watched Senate race in a bid to unseat incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, which is a highly competitive race. It also underscores the challenge Democrats face as they look to condemn what they see as humanitarian concerns in Israel’s war in Gaza while, at the same time, expressing sensitivity to the antisemitism Jewish communities still face elsewhere in the world.

Jackson, a former gubernatorial candidate who received the backing of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) earlier this year, became the party nominee to replace former candidate Graham Platner. Platner abandoned his Senate campaign after news of past aggressive behavior towards women and an allegation of sexual assault sparked concerns among top party leaders. For his own part, Platner denied any wrongdoing.

But since securing the nomination at a Maine Democratic convention in late July, Jackson has sought to continue many of Platner’s progressive policy items, such as passing Medicare for All, increasing taxes on the country’s top earners and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

He has also continued Platner’s position on Israel.

MEET THE FAR-LEFT INSURGENTS WAGING WAR ON THE DEMOCRATIC ESTABLISHMENT IN 2026 MIDTERMS

Like many other progressives that align with the DSA, Jackson has listed ending U.S. aid to Israel among those other top priorities and, in his interview earlier this week, reiterated that stance in an interview on Tuesday with local media before making his comment about the Jewish community in Maine.

He was asked what he sees as the greatest foreign policy challenge facing the United States.

Jackson began answering by reiterating his cautious posture towards the U.S.-Israel relationship and his hesitancy to write a “blank check” in support of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government — someone Jackson maintains is a war criminal. He also remarked that, despite what he saw as clear evidence, some voters wouldn’t frame the conflict in those terms.

“It’s unfortunate that there are people here in Maine that don’t like to use that term only because they’re Jewish and what that means to them with the Holocaust. It fits that description. It is. It’s an unbelievable thing that’s happened there that people that are innocent are being murdered, and it is a genocide,” Jackson said.

SUSAN COLLINS DEFIES BLUE-STATE HEADWINDS IN CRUCIAL SENATE BATTLE AS NEW POLL REVEALS STRIKING SPLIT

Jackson’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on questions about whether he had faced pressure from other Democrats to issue an apology.

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Having secured the nomination, Jackson will face off against Collins in the Nov. 3 general election.

A teenage girl’s tragic death, allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant who was previously deported from the U.S., has now become a political flashpoint in her hometown.

Sheridan Gorman’s grieving parents made their heartbreaking plea for change directly to the two candidates running to represent their district in suburban New York during an electoral debate earlier this week. They asked Democrat Cait Conley and incumbent Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., whether they supported ending New York State’s law barring local law enforcement from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The 18-year-old Loyola University student was shot and killed while walking with friends late at night near her Chicago college campus in March of this year. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said the accused, Jose Medina, is a Venezuelan national who came to the U.S. illegally in May 2023 and was released by the prior administration.

He was arrested for shoplifting in Chicago the next month but released again, DHS said. Both Chicago and Illinois are sanctuary jurisdictions, meaning law enforcement there are also barred from cooperating with ICE.

GRIEVING PARENTS OF SLAIN STUDENT SHERIDAN GORMAN SPEAK OUT: ‘WE CAN’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO ANOTHER FAMILY’

Gorman’s killing fast became a rallying cry for supporters of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

Lawler, who is fighting an uphill battle for a third term representing New York’s 17th Congressional District, has also argued it is an example of what could happen more often if Democrats win control on Capitol Hill.

“Look, I’ve been very clear there should be reforms of ICE. They should wear body cameras. They should not wear masks. They should wear uniforms. They shouldn’t be going into places like the Home Depot parking lot. They should be very targeted in what they are doing. And states like New York should be cooperating with them to deport criminal illegal aliens,” Lawler told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “So look, I think the challenge here will be if Democrats win, they will do everything they can to return to the Biden-era of lax immigration policy, lax enforcement, and try to cut off the resources of ICE and [Border Patrol], and I, for one, just will not support that.”

DEM CANDIDATE CLEARS CROWDED FIELD TO FACE TRUMP-BACKED INCUMBENT IN NY

His district could be one of the few that decides control of the House for the latter half of President Trump’s final term.

Gorman’s parents tearfully said during his debate against Conley this week, “The man charged with her murder was here illegally and had previously been arrested for a crime and released under Chicago’s sanctuary policies. A simple five-second phone call between local and federal law enforcement would have saved her life.”

Conley responded to them first, “My heart absolutely breaks, and what happened to Sheridan is inexcusable. Government failed her. And for that, we have to make sure that that doesn’t happen again.”

WATCH: ANGEL MOM TURNS TABLES ON SANCTUARY POLITICIANS WITH BASIC QUESTION ABOUT THEIR PRIORITIES

“Immigration enforcement is essential,” she said, though added, “What is happening under this administration, unfortunately, is not a focus on violent criminals, but what we’re seeing is them rolling up people like grandmas and nurses, people in our communities.”

Lawler then accused Conley of dodging the question, adding, “She does support Kathy Hochul’s new law, and she would not support federal legislation to end sanctuary policies. Let me be very clear: I stand with you. I am against Kathy Hochul’s disastrous new law, and I support any legislation that will end sanctuary jurisdictions in this country.”

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

It came weeks after the Gormans took the stage alongside Lawler at the GOP’s 2026 midterm convention in Dallas, Texas.

“The Gormans have more courage than any Democrat member of Congress who voted against protecting our citizens from criminal illegals,” Lawler said in introducing them. “They are not running for office, but their story — Sheridan’s story — is the direct result of bad policy. Policies we cannot afford to get back to every again.”

OUTGOING HOUSE DEMOCRAT BACKS INCUMBENT REPUBLICAN LAWMAKER FOR RE-ELECTION

The teenager’s story again popped up in new ads released by Lawler’s campaign on Wednesday.

In one of the spots, Gorman’s mother tearfully tells the viewer, “He just shot her. Just shot her. Hunted her down. I thought I knew what sanctuary city policies are, I didn’t.”

SHERIDAN GORMAN’S MOM SCORCHES DEM LAWMAKERS SHE SAYS REFUSED TO HEAR FAMILIES OF SLAIN AMERICANS

“The sanctuary policies being pushed by Kathy Hochul and Democrats killed our daughter,” her father said. “I couldn’t protect her from these policies.”

Her mother added, “But Mike Lawler can.”

Illegal immigration was one of the top issues in 2024, and Republicans are trying to harness the same backlash from voters who opposed the Biden administration’s more lax border policies.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Conley’s campaign and to House Democrats’ elections arm for a response.

EXCLUSIVE: A pro-life group has released a new report calling on the Trump administration to take action against mail-order abortion drugs, arguing that it can enforce a 19th-century federal law to crack down on abortion pill shipments.

In the report obtained by Fox News Digital, the Restoration of America Foundation (ROAF) said Democrat-led states’ shield laws — adopted to protect providers in blue states from being prosecuted by GOP state governments — allow providers to ship, or are being used by providers to ship, the abortion pill mifepristone into red states “with no in-person exam or verification of who takes them or whether they take them willingly.”

ROAF attributed the growth in mail-order abortions in part to FDA policy changes that suspended the in-person dispensing requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic before making the change permanent, allowing abortion drugs to be prescribed through telehealth and mailed to patients.

BLUE STATE SHIELD LAWS ALLOWED 330K ABORTION PILLS TO BE SENT TO ABORTION BAN STATES, PRO-LIFE GROUP FINDS

The report said nearly 15,000 medication abortions each month were provided under blue state shield laws by June 2025. It also said that by the end of 2024, about 15% of all U.S. abortions were through medication mailed to women in states with abortion restrictions.

ROAF also cited an insurance claims analysis that the organization said found serious adverse health events following 10.9% of drug-induced abortions from 2017 through 2023, roughly 22 times the rate reported on the FDA-approved label for the abortion pill regimen. The group said the rate reached 11.2% in 2023 as the drugs were used more broadly.

According to the report, ROAF estimated that mail-order drugs were “directly responsible” for more than 300,000 abortions in 2025 alone.

This comes just ahead of the 110th anniversary of Planned Parenthood in the U.S., as the nation’s largest abortion provider will be commemorating its Oct. 16, 1916, founding later this month.

The ROAF report is urging Attorney General Todd Blanche to enforce the Comstock Act, an 1873 law criminalizing sending certain abortion-related materials that the pro-life group argues should be used by the Trump administration to stop shield laws from protecting mail-order medication abortions.

“As we come up with this anniversary for Planned Parenthood, we think it’s a good moment to release this paper. We really want to talk about the Comstock Act and the impact it could have on abortions going forward in this country,” ROAF CEO Doug Truax told Fox News Digital.

“The Comstock Act says it’s illegal to put these drugs in the mail, so we’re just asking them to enforce the law,” he continued.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which returned the power to make abortion laws to the states, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel under the Biden administration in December 2022 issued an opinion that concluded that the Comstock Act does not prohibit mailing mifepristone or misoprostol when the sender lacks intent that the recipient use the drugs unlawfully.

The Biden administration’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded in a December 2022 opinion that the Comstock Act does not prohibit mailing mifepristone or misoprostol when the sender lacks the intent that the drugs be used unlawfully.

But Blanche said during his confirmation hearings over the summer that he would review how the DOJ interprets the Comstock Act. ROAF says the department should withdraw the Biden administration’s opinion, investigate providers and organizations involved in mailing the drugs and enforce the 150-year-old federal law, which the group argues would effectively ban the mailing of abortion drugs nationwide.

PRO-LIFE GROUP FINDS BIDEN-ERA FDA POLICY IS DRIVING 500 ABORTIONS PER DAY, SAYS TRUMP HAS POWER TO END IT

“We are asking the administration to take a step back and say, okay, when Roe was the law of the land, Comstock was unenforceable. But since Roe is out, Comstock is back on the table, and it is valid law, and it is illegal to put abortion drugs in the mail. You have thousands of people in basically blue states mailing a ton of pills around this country … it’s resulting in the amount of deaths that we’re talking about here. So this is an illegal action that they’re taking. We just want you to enforce Comstock, and it will save hundreds of thousands of lives going forward,” Truax said.

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“It’s a great way to get momentum back on our side in the pro-life community, which, frankly, I think the president and all conservatives around the country would appreciate now, as we head into November 3, and then, especially as we head into the next election cycle,” he added.

FIRST ON FOX: The Federal Aviation Administration broke its all-time record for air traffic controller hiring this year, bringing on 2,235 trainees as the agency works to reverse years of staffing shortages across the nation.

The FAA surpassed its fiscal year 2026 goal of hiring 2,200 air traffic controller trainees, marking the most hired in a single fiscal year in agency history, the Department of Transportation told Fox News Digital exclusively.

The agency also reached its highest certified controller staffing level in a decade, with 11,027 certified professional controllers as of Sept. 30, up from 10,694 at the end of fiscal year 2025, according to the DOT.

CBP TOUTS HISTORIC MILESTONE, PUSHES FOR EVEN LARGER WORKFORCE: ‘WE AREN’T STOPPING HERE’

“We’re recruiting, hiring, and training more air traffic controllers than ever before—and the numbers show it,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News Digital.

“Thanks to President Trump, we’ve shaved months off the hiring pipeline, dramatically expanded our collegiate training programs, and inspired thousands of young gamers to pursue this exciting career,” Duffy said. “This is an important milestone, but not the finish line as we work to reverse decades of staffing shortages.”

The record comes less than five months after the FAA unveiled an aggressive three-year workforce plan aimed at rebuilding a controller workforce strained by staffing shortages, mandatory overtime and lengthy training timelines.

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford had offered a stark assessment of the problem during congressional testimony last December, warning lawmakers that the agency would “never” reach adequate staffing under its previous structure.

REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT MAKES DRASTIC CHANGE FOLLOWING DEADLY 2025 MIDAIR COLLISION

“We’ll never catch up,” Bedford said. “The system is designed to be chronically understaffed.”

The FAA’s 2026-2028 Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, first reported by Fox News Digital in May, called for hiring 2,200 controller trainees in fiscal year 2026, 2,300 in fiscal year 2027 and 2,400 in fiscal year 2028.

The agency finished the fiscal year 35 trainees above its first benchmark.

The latest numbers also show growth among controllers who have completed training and become fully certified.

The FAA entered fiscal year 2026 with 10,694 certified professional controllers and ended it with 11,027, a net increase of 333. The agency’s workforce plan identifies 12,563 certified professional controllers as the staffing target needed to meet forecast demand.

That leaves the FAA 1,536 certified controllers below its target as it enters fiscal year 2027.

WHEN AIRLINE PILOTS SAY THERE ARE SAFETY ISSUES, WE NEED POLICYMAKERS TO LISTEN AND ACT

The DOT told Fox News Digital it does not have an exact timeframe for reaching that benchmark, but said the administration is “supercharging” hiring and expanding its Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative.

The record follows another major hiring year in fiscal 2025, when the FAA brought on 2,028 controller trainees, its highest total since 2008.

The administration has moved to accelerate the hiring and training pipeline as the FAA contends with retirements and other workforce losses.

The FAA said in its May workforce plan that roughly 4,000 controllers were in the training pipeline at the time, including approximately 1,000 previously certified controllers training at new facilities.

Becoming a fully certified controller can take more than two years for a new hire, depending on the complexity of the facility where they are assigned.

The administration has also worked to retain experienced controllers while accelerating the pipeline for new ones. Nearly 400 retirement-eligible controllers were retained through a new bonus structure, while DOT says changes to the hiring process have shaved more than five months off the time it takes to bring on new recruits.

The FAA has also expanded its Enhanced Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative, allowing qualified graduates of participating college programs to bypass the FAA Academy and report directly to facilities for on-the-job training.

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The hiring surge comes as the Trump administration undertakes a broader overhaul of the nation’s air traffic control system, backed by $12.5 billion for upgrades including telecommunications infrastructure, new radios and radars, and electronic flight strips. The FAA is also expanding simulator-based training and exploring artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to better manage air traffic demand.

The record-setting year marks the first step in the FAA’s three-year hiring push. The agency is targeting another 2,300 controller trainees in fiscal year 2027 and 2,400 in fiscal year 2028.

“This is an important milestone,” he said, “but not the finish line.”

FIRST ON FOX — A former senior federal prosecutor who served in the Biden administration has been hit with a criminal investigation referral asking the Justice Department to look into whether she misled federal agents about her role in an investigation, Fox News Digital has learned.

Jina Choi joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California in late 2023, shortly after which Biden-appointed U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey tapped her to lead its Corporate and Securities Fraud Section, which handles major corporate and securities cases across the Bay Area, including Silicon Valley.

Before joining the office, however, Choi had represented IRL, a social-media startup co-founded by Abraham Shafi. The company was built around organizing and connecting people through events. IRL shut down in 2023 after a board-directed investigation concluded that 95% of its users were likely bots, a finding Shafi disputed. Shafi was later indicted in 2025 on federal fraud and obstruction charges.

The referral represents an unusually aggressive challenge to the conduct of a former prosecutor involved in the broader matter.

FEDERAL JUDGE REFERS PHILADELPHIA DA LARRY KRASNER TO DOJ FOR POSSIBLE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

Cully Stimson, acting director of the Heritage Foundation’s Legal Policy Center and himself a former federal prosecutor, told Fox News Digital that, while it is common for defense teams to attack prosecutors, resorting to a criminal investigation referral is rare.

The referral, sent on Tuesday by a lawyer Shafi retained separately from his defense, turns on whether Choi remained involved in the IRL investigation after joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office despite being screened from the matter because of her prior representation of the company. The Justice Department generally has no obligation to respond to referrals like this.

Prosecutors said Choi was walled off from the federal investigation involving IRL and Shafi. But Shafi’s lawyer now alleges that internal communications and an FBI interview report show she remained involved in the matter and later understated that involvement to federal agents.

JIM JORDAN SAYS HOUSE WEIGHING CRIMINAL REFERRAL OF JACK SMITH FOR ALLEGEDLY LYING TO CONGRESS

The FBI declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital.

In the criminal referral sent to the Justice Department on Tuesday, Shafi’s lawyer asked federal authorities to investigate whether Choi made false statements about her role in the investigation into IRL.

The federal investigation into IRL predated Choi’s arrival at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors have said she was screened from the matter because of her prior representation of the company.

Shafi’s defense claims to have obtained internal emails sent by Choi as well as FBI interview memoranda recounting a conversation she had with federal agents from the prosecution. Shafi’s lawyer argues the documents contradict Choi’s account to agents.

NEW FEDERAL GRAND JURY SUBPOENA ISSUED TO FORMER JAMES COMEY ADVISOR IN LEAK INVESTIGATION: SOURCES

While Choi’s communications are quoted or described in public court filings, the government filed the underlying email exhibits under seal or as sealed exhibit slipsheets. As a result, the public cannot independently inspect the original documents or assess their full context.

Choi worked for IRL as outside counsel before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to court filings. During this time, Shafi’s defense alleged in its motion to dismiss the case against him that Choi attempted to get federal authorities to target Shafi to shield other stakeholders at the firm. The government denied this characterization, acknowledging that she advocated that the firm itself not be targeted, but disputing that she wanted the government to go after Shafi.

The tech founder’s defense argues that Choi’s prior representation of IRL created a conflict of interest. Prosecutors have said she was walled off from the investigation because of that prior relationship. As of publishing, no ruling has been made finding that Choi operated under a conflict of interest that warrants dismissal.

Shafi’s lawyer argues that documents they obtained tell a different story.

ODNI SENDS CRIMINAL REFERRALS TO DOJ FOR EX-IG, WHISTLEBLOWER TIED TO TRUMP IMPEACHMENT

The FBI, which was investigating the Shafi case, interviewed Choi in July and questioned her about her role in the IRL investigation, according to the referral. Choi allegedly told agents that she did “not have any kind of role in the investigation.”

An internal message purportedly obtained by the defense, however, quotes her as saying, “I talked to [her predecessor]] and I wanted to see if it would be ok to add [him] to the IRL team to help move it along.”

In other instances, documents obtained by the defense allegedly show that she inquired about the name of the FBI agent working on the IRL case and that she sent press coverage of the case against Shafi to other prosecutors.

At one point during her FBI interview, Shafi’s lawyer claims Choi said that she was not aware “who was assigned to the case team.”

PROSECUTOR OUSTED AFTER ALLEGED ROMANCE WITH ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SEX-CRIME SUSPECT: ‘PATTERN OF MISCONDUCT’

According to the criminal investigation referral, Choi “admitted keeping a written case tracker on which ‘the SHAFI investigation was listed.’” The defense claims that the U.S. Attorney’s Office refused to turn over the case tracker by describing it as a “privileged and internal work product.”

Shafi was charged with wire fraud, securities fraud and obstruction a few months after Choi left the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The charges stem from allegations that he misled investors by misrepresenting user growth on his platform. Prosecutors allege that he used paid advertising to attract people to IRL, then passed off the resulting growth as organic while raising about $170 million from investors.

He also stands accused of misusing investors’ funds for clothing, home furnishings, travel, hotels and wedding-related costs. The founder’s lawyer argues that Choi’s alleged false statements to federal agents, coupled with her prior representation of IRL, taint the charges against Shafi.

JACK SMITH DOUBLES DOWN AGAINST GOP ACCUSATIONS HE LIED UNDER OATH

Shafi’s defense has a strong incentive to prove that Choi acted improperly, as doing so could seriously derail the prosecution of their client.

“Here, the defense’s allegations are troubling if true, because if their allegations end up being true, there was spillage,” Stimson told Fox News Digital. “And that would mean some other members of that office are therefore conflicted, and it could result in the entire office being conflicted if a judge found that the taint was so bad that it permeated the whole office.”

Stimson also said that, in his experience, individual U.S. Attorneys’ Offices generally operate with significant independence on casework, cautioning against attributing Choi’s alleged conduct to the Biden administration more broadly.

As of publishing, Choi has not been charged with any crime or disciplined for any professional misconduct in connection with the Shafi prosecution.

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Choi did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital.

FIRST ON FOX: The escalating battle over what children should be taught in public schools continues to drive America’s culture wars, and a new report ranks every state on some of the most contentious issues affecting today’s classrooms.

Red states dominated the ranking, which measures all 50 states and Washington, D.C., on issues spanning parental rights, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), gender and sexuality, teacher and union policies, and foreign influence, according to Defending Education’s first-ever Rankings on Integrity in State Education, released Thursday.

Tennessee claimed the top spot, followed by Alabama, Florida, North Carolina and Iowa, while Washington, D.C. ranked last, followed by Rhode Island, California, Oregon, and Illinois.

The rankings do not account for test scores or graduation rates. Instead, the report said it is designed to show how states are approaching hot-button issues as parents demand greater transparency in their children’s education.

DOJ LAWSUIT TARGETS ALLEGED SCHOOL ‘SECRET GENDER TRANSITIONS’ POLICIES THAT KEEP PARENTS IN THE DARK

“For the first time, parents have a single resource to see how their state handles the issues they’ve voiced concerns about over the last five years, empowering them to evaluate local schools and hold leaders accountable at the ballot box,” Paul Runko, senior director of strategic initiatives at Defending Education, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Of the report’s five categories, the parental rights category ended in a four-way tie, with North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia earning the top spot. Each was awarded points for policies that give parents more say over student gender transitions, sex education instruction and whether their children participate in those lessons.

Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina, all red states, received perfect scores on teacher policies. According to the report, laws governing teacher unions, strikes and collective bargaining, along with work authorization requirements, were key factors in the scoring.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PROPOSES STRIPPING TAX-EXEMPT STATUS FROM SCHOOLS USING RACE-BASED PROGRAMS

Iowa, Missouri and West Virginia topped the report’s DEI category after receiving high marks for laws restricting DEI initiatives and other policies related to restorative justice, teacher diversity and antisemitism.

Another major flashpoint in education has been a growing conversation on gender identity and transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. The report examined state policies blocking LGBTQ-specific curriculum, restricting transgender athlete participation, and state nondiscrimination and anti-bullying laws related to gender identity, finding Alabama, Florida and Indiana tied for the highest scores.

But the report went further than policies shaping the classroom. Seven red states received perfect scores for laws limiting Chinese government influence in education, including Confucius Institutes, China-backed language and cultural education centers. Alabama, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas aced the category.

In another statement to Fox News Digital, Dr. Terry Stoops, director of government affairs at Defending Education, congratulated the frontrunners.

EXCLUSIVE: HOUSE COMMITTEE PROBES CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS OVER HIDING ‘GENDER AFFIRMATION’ FROM PARENTS

“If your state is at the top of Defending Education’s rankings, congratulations!” he said. “You live in a state with public school policies that prioritize sound academics over shameless antics.”

Stoops also blamed elected leaders for the lowest-scoring states, accusing them of having “sacrificed educational excellence at the altar of social justice.”

“For parents in bottom-feeder states who value rigor over ridiculousness, the choice is either fight or flight,” he said.

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Despite more blue states embracing DEI and social justice policies, the report said it wants parents to have a clearer picture of where their state stands on education and how those policies could impact their children and future generations.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a multimillion-dollar strategy to combat antisemitism, drawing criticism from prominent Jewish leaders who described the announcement as an attempt to deflect attention from the mayor’s own rhetoric while avoiding one of the defining sources of modern anti-Jewish hostility: the demonization of Israel and Zionism.

Mamdani announced what his administration called the nation’s first municipal strategy dedicated to combating antisemitism, declaring that Jewish New Yorkers “should feel cherished and celebrated in the most Jewish city in America.”

The mayor cited New York Police Department statistics showing that although Jewish residents constitute approximately 12% of the city’s population, antisemitic incidents account for more than half of its confirmed hate crimes.

EXCLUSIVE: ISRAELI PRESIDENT HERZOG BLASTS MAMDANI, PRAISES TRUMP, SOUNDS ALARM ON IRAN

“This is not only unacceptable, it’s something we all have an obligation to change,” Mamdani said. “And City Hall will lead the way.”

His administration said it is increasing hate crime prevention funding by $26 million, an increase of more than 800% from the previous year. The plan includes $6.4 million for community organizations working to prevent hate violence and would restart an interagency security and infrastructure initiative disbanded in 2024.

The city also pledged $2 million for the Queens Holocaust Memorial Garden and $2.5 million for the Brooklyn Center for New Jewish Culture, alongside expanded education, reporting resources and security support for Jewish institutions.

The way that money would be distributed also drew scrutiny. Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, senior rabbi of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, said that only $1 million is dedicated specifically to security while millions more would be directed through community initiatives.

MAMDANI IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER FIRST VETO DERAILS BIPARTISAN EFFORT TO COMBAT ANTISEMITISM: ‘DISAPPOINTED’

“All of this money is pure pork barrel politics,” Steinmetz told Fox News Digital. “Outside of a million dollars in security, it is all being spent on community initiatives that will reward his supporters.”

The Jewish leaders who spoke with Fox News Digital welcomed the security investments but argued that physical protection alone cannot address an environment in which Jews increasingly feel pressured to distance themselves from Israel.

From Manhattan’s East Side to its West Side, three prominent rabbis shared another concern: Not one had been contacted by the mayor or his administration while the strategy was being developed, despite collectively leading some of the borough’s largest Jewish congregations.

Those concerns raise basic questions about how the strategy was constructed: which Jewish leaders and institutions helped shape it, how did the administration decide where the funding would go, and how were organizations selected to receive it? Fox News Digital asked those questions, along with Steinmetz’s criticism of the funding process, to the mayor’s office but had not received a response at the time of publication.

The mayor’s strategy acknowledges rising antisemitism since Oct. 7 and expands Holocaust education, but does not directly address the hostility Jewish students have experienced on college campuses or examine when anti-Israel activism crosses into antisemitic harassment and intimidation. The three rabbis interviewed by Fox News Digital identified that omission as a significant weakness in the city’s strategy.

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan and president of the New York Board of Rabbis, said the plan omits what he considers the central driver of contemporary antisemitism.

CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM EXTENDS BEYOND STUDENT PROTESTS AND INTO CLASSROOMS, ADL WARNS

“If the purpose here is to combat and reduce antisemitism, the plan omits the central driver of contemporary antisemitism, which is an obsessive loathing of Israel,” Hirsch told Fox News Digital.

That hostility, he said, is directed “not only” toward the state of Israel but toward “the Zionist idea, the right of Israel to exist, the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in the land of Israel.”

“To write a 30-page report and never mention the state of Israel, let alone address the vicious anti-Zionism, partially fomented by the mayor himself, is evading the issue,” Hirsch said. “It’s not dealing head-on with the issue itself.”

ANTISEMITIC VIOLENCE REACHES DEADLIEST LEVEL SINCE 1994, NEW GLOBAL REPORT FINDS

Hirsch welcomed the additional security funding, while emphasizing that Jewish institutions must routinely absorb expenses other communities do not face.

“The security obligations in every Jewish institution in the city are, in effect, an additional surtax on New York Jews that nobody else pays,” he said. “And so any funds for security are welcome.”

He also supported educational initiatives and Holocaust museum visits but said the city must teach more than the history of Jewish persecution.

“What I would like to see is a focus in New York public schools on the nexus, the connection between anti-Zionism and antisemitism,” Hirsch said.

“One of the key lessons from the Holocaust,” he added, is that “Jewish self-determination and Jewish empowerment are the answer to Jewish powerlessness that gave rise to centuries of antisemitism that culminated in genocide.”

Steinmetz also said the mayor is using the strategy to avoid examining the consequences of his own language.

“Rather than taking responsibility for combating antisemitism, Mamdani is using this plan to deflect attention from himself,” Steinmetz said. “His rhetoric has been reckless.”

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Steinmetz said statistics measuring physical crimes capture only part of what Jewish New Yorkers experience.

“Far more common is the nasty look and whispered insult,” he said. “You cannot talk about a trip to Israel at the water cooler. Jews feel like they have to hide parts of themselves to be accepted.”

The mayor has long been an outspoken critic of the Israeli government and has faced scrutiny from Jewish leaders over his descriptions of Israel, Zionism and organizations that support the Jewish state. Critics argue that separating antisemitism from anti-Zionist rhetoric ignores how Jewish identity is experienced by much of the city’s Jewish population.

Rabbi Yosie Levine of The Jewish Center on Manhattan’s Upper West Side thanked the mayor for recognizing the severity of the problem but called for a corresponding change in his language.

“I want to thank the mayor for his commitment to combat antisemitism,” Levine told Fox News Digital. “Acknowledging the problem is an important first step.”

ISRAELI MEDICS TRAIN US SYNAGOGUES HOW TO RESPOND TO ATTACKS, AS HIGH HOLIDAYS APPROACH

“At the same time, we would welcome an equally clear commitment to stop using rhetoric that vilifies Jewish leaders and the Jewish state,” Levine continued.

“When you turn Zionism into an accusation, you turn Zionists into the accused.”

A spokesperson for the Jewish Federations of North America, referred Fox News Digital to a joint statement issued by UJA Federation of New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.

While the organizations recognized “positive elements” in the plan, including increased security funding and the expansion of established programs, they warned that it “fails to address a central issue that the mayor himself has perpetuated: rhetoric that demonizes and delegitimizes Israel inevitably leads to the targeting of Jewish New Yorkers.”

“Those who truly seek to address antisemitism must unequivocally reject such rhetoric and help ensure that Jewish New Yorkers are never made to feel suspect, excluded or unsafe in their own city,” the statement continued.

Mamdani said the administration’s efforts would ultimately benefit every community because “our safety is bound up together.”

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“Fundamentally, what is lacking is even an acknowledgment that obsessive loathing of Israel is generating much of this antisemitism,” Hirsch said. “It would have been much more mature and, frankly, much more useful to lay out that fact.”

“Simply to omit it and avoid it is a wasted opportunity,” he concluded. “I’m disappointed in the mayor, and he should have done better.”

FIRST ON FOX: A top Republican senator whose phone toll records were secretly subpoenaed during Jack Smith’s investigation of President Donald Trump sued the former special counsel in his personal capacity Wednesday, arguing he was never lawfully empowered to wield the authority behind the Arctic Frost investigation.

The lawsuit, Senator Marsha Blackburn v. John L. Smith, argues the prosecutor lacked lawful authority to serve as special counsel and violated the lawmaker’s rights by obtaining the records. Blackburn is asking a federal court to declare Smith’s appointment unconstitutional, order the records destroyed and award $1 in nominal damages.

The case therefore seeks to test not only Smith’s tactics, but the legitimacy of the authority he claims to have exercised as special counsel appointed by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland during the Biden administration.

“This lawsuit is solely about holding Mr. Smith accountable and ensuring that our nation’s justice system can never again be weaponized against the American people,” Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital.

JACK SMITH HIT WITH CRIMINAL REFERRAL AS GOP MOVES TESTIMONY FIGHT TOWARD PROSECUTION

“Through his Arctic Frost witch-hunt that targeted conservatives across America and even the president of the United States, Jack Smith perpetrated one of the worst abuses of government power in our nation’s history,” she said.

Blackburn’s suit argues that Smith lacked lawful authority to hold the office he purported to exercise, while separately seeking to impose personal liability on him for the way that purported authority was used against her.

JACK SMITH THRUST BACK INTO SPOTLIGHT AT BLANCHE HEARING OVER EXPOSED SENATORS’ MESSAGES

The case opens a new legal front against Smith one day after his contentious Senate Judiciary Committee testimony, during which he acknowledged approving subpoenas for members of Congress despite understanding that nondisclosure orders prevented them from challenging the seizures under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.

Smith is a longtime prosecutor who most recently served as special counsel overseeing the Justice Department’s investigations into President Donald Trump. Earlier in his career, he prosecuted cases before the International Criminal Court and led the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, which brought bribery charges against former Virginia Republican Gov. Robert F. McDonnell in a case where the Supreme Court later unanimously vacated the conviction.

Arctic Frost was the codename for the FBI investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents and alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election before the probe was handed over to Smith by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Blackburn and her data were swept up in the probe after Smith’s team subpoenaed toll records from her and several other Republicans—a move that sparked outrage at Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing over whether obtaining the records without notification violated the Constitution.

In May 2023, Smith’s office issued a grand-jury subpoena seeking Verizon toll records, while a separate nondisclosure order barred the company from notifying affected customers—including Blackburn—that its information had been turned over.

While the records did not reveal the contents of conversations, they showed whom Blackburn communicated with, when and for how long, according to the complaint. The lawsuit alleges that Smith’s office obtained a court-approved nondisclosure order without informing the judge that the subpoena sought records belonging to a sitting U.S. senator.

JACK SMITH’S TRUMP PROBE SWEPT UP FOX NEWS, OTHER MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS AS INVESTIGATION WENT BEYOND LAWMAKERS

More broadly, Smith’s team issued 197 subpoenas to 34 individuals and 163 businesses seeking information involving at least 430 Republican individuals and entities, according to Senate Judiciary Committee records.

Tuesday’s hearing also began with a scathing rebuke from Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who accused Smith’s prosecutors of sweeping up communications between journalists at Fox News and other media organizations and sources connected to the first Trump administration.

For his part, Smith repeatedly hit back at allegations of corrupt or partisan prosecution, saying at one point his “investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation.”

Blackburn’s suit is being brought by the nonpartisan New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) on her behalf, and the Tennessee senator thanked the group for its partnership.

JACK SMITH’S SENATE PHONE RECORDS PROBE TURNS TO VERIZON’S HANDLING OF SUBPOENAS

Blackburn’s attorneys argue that Smith exercised special counsel powers without lawful constitutional or statutory authorization. Separately, the complaint names Smith in his personal capacity and seeks to hold him liable for alleged violations of Blackburn’s constitutional and civil rights arising from the subpoena and nondisclosure order.

“Jack Smith was illegally named Special Counsel in November of 2022, with Attorney General Merrick Garland handing a private citizen the sweeping powers of a special counsel,” NCLA said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

“Then-President Biden did not nominate Smith, nor did the Senate confirm Smith as either Special Counsel or in any other position. And no statute authorized his appointment.”

“NCLA’s complaint asks the court to declare Smith’s appointment unlawful under the Constitution’s Appointments Clause and to hold Smith accountable, in his personal capacity, for his gross abuses of power.”

VETERAN DEM BREAKS PARTY LINE AS JACK SMITH SPYING SCANDAL GRIPS CAPITOL HILL

The suit alleges the subpoena violated Blackburn’s constitutional and civil rights and that the nondisclosure order prevented her from challenging the demand under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.

“This lawsuit is not only about the faux authority granted to Smith through an unconstitutional appointment. It is also about ensuring that the Department of Justice—the very body responsible for enforcing federal law on behalf of our nation—acts only within its constitutional bounds,” NCLA counsel L. Margaret Harker said in a statement.

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The lawsuit seeks a declaration that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional, the return and destruction of Blackburn’s phone records, and $1 in nominal damages. NCLA says the limited damages request reflects Blackburn’s stated goal of obtaining judicial accountability for what the complaint alleges were constitutional violations committed while Smith exercised special counsel powers.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Smith’s counsel for comment.

After spending years railing against fraud, Utah Republican state Rep. Trevor Lee has resigned after being charged with fraud himself.

The Utah Attorney General’s Office filed criminal charges against Lee on Monday, accusing him of forging documents and engaging in fraud in order to obtain a home loan. Prior to the charges, Lee had pushed legislation aimed at combating unemployment fraud and publicly praised efforts to expose the sweeping fraud scandals that have rocked Minnesota in recent years.

In one video obtained by prosecutors, the CEO of a Utah water company “stated that Lee had requested cash advances totaling $93,000 to show increased income to assist in purchasing his home, and that Lee said he would make (the CEO) ‘whole’ by securing (his) company a government contract with Hill Air Force Base,” according to the charging document.

SWING-STATE’S FRAUD RECKONING RAISES MINNESOTA-STYLE ALARM AS WILD SCHEMES EXPOSED

Another company claimed that Lee improperly used an offer letter from them to make it seem as if his income was higher than it was.

“Lee devised a scheme to obtain a $1 million home loan by false pretenses. To execute it, he communicated fraudulent documents to Kind Lending through the mortgage process — a forged Enevive employment contract, a loan application overstating his Enevive income, and a Blue Logic offer letter he knew misrepresented his employment,” prosecutors wrote.

Investigators say Lee admitted during an interview that he personally forged the Enevive CEO’s signature on the employment contract to obtain the loan and knew the offer letter did not reflect income the company could actually pay him.

EXCLUSIVE: NICK SHIRLEY FIRES BACK AT MINNESOTA CRITICS: ‘NUMBERS DON’T LIE, AND CONVICTIONS DON’T LIE’

Lee’s social media feed is full of positive references to Nick Shirley, a content creator who attracted national attention after releasing videos alleging fraud involving Somali-run childcare centers and other publicly funded programs in Minnesota.

“Nick is going to stop a Gavin Newsom presidency single handily (sic.),” Lee said in one post. In another post, Lee offered Shirley assistance after he was charged a fee for filming at the Utah state capital building.

“Keep up the good work Nick,” Lee said in his most recent post directed at the YouTuber, dated July 11.

In addition to the praise of Shirley, Lee also introduced pieces of legislation designed to crack down on unemployment assistance fraud in 2023 and 2024.

BRAZEN SOCIAL MEDIA FRAUD SCHEMES WREAK HAVOC AS TRUMP OFFICIAL ISSUES STARK WARNING FOR ‘FRAUDFLUENCERS’

Lee resigned from the legislature shortly after the charges were filed.

“Due to personal circumstances that require my attention, I no longer feel I can give my constituents the time, attention and service they deserve,” he said. “I will always be grateful for the people I have met, the relationships I have built and the opportunity I have had to serve the people of Utah.”

Even if the fraud charges hadn’t come, Lee’s time in the legislature was approaching an end as he had lost his GOP primary election in June.

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Lee did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

The political right celebrated after a White House X account posted a graph showing that legal immigration to the U.S. from nations with Muslim majority populations has all but halted.

The account highlighted a 96 percent cut in legal immigration from majority-Muslim countries since 2024 and attached a graph from the Cato Institute, a notoriously pro-immigration think tank.

The graph showed a drastic decline in quarterly admissions of immigrants from those countries beginning in January 2025, when President Donald Trump officially took office. It also declined in late 2024, the last year of former President Joe Biden’s tenure in office.

AMERICA NEEDS WORKERS, BUT TRUMP’S POLICIES ARE SHARPLY CUTTING LEGAL IMMIGRATION

At its peak, immigration from Muslim-majority nations was over 22,000 people per month between July and October of 2024, according to the graph. But by the beginning of January of this year, that number had dropped to almost zero.

Online, the political right cheered the drastic shift.

“Absolutely incredible victory for the American people, thanks to POTUS,” Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, said.

“These are the wins we need to continue to deliver on,” said Brandon Herrera, the GOP nominee for Congress in Texas’ 23rd District.

“4 percent to go! Thank you, President Trump,” said Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla.

“Let’s pump up those rookie numbers for every category of immigrant,” columnist Kurt Schlichter said.

100 DAY SPRINT TO THE MIDTERMS KICKS OFF AS REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS CLASH FOR CONTROL ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Some turned the graph into a referendum on the results of Republican leadership, and urged conservatives to vote during the 2026 midterm elections despite concerns about cost-of-living, the Iran war, and other issues for which Trump has been knocked by members of his own party.

“I voted for this—and will again,” said user David Harrison.

“The next time you get the urge to ‘punish the GOP.’ Remember that Democrats will reverse this overnight,” said Turning Point Action’s Ben Larrabee.

“People screaming that Trump and the GOP aren’t doing anything about this problem [are] hardest hit, like squarely between the eyes,” online personality James Lindsay said of the graph.

JONATHAN TURLEY: SUPREME COURT HANDS TRUMP A BORDER VICTORY LIBERALS CAN’T SPIN

“Vote like Western Civilization depends on it, because it does,” said Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet.

Not everyone was thrilled with the decline in legal immigration from this demographic, though, including David J. Bier, who is the director of immigration studies at Cato and who took credit for the research behind the graph.

“Thanks for citing my work. You are violating the law and harming Americans while making the country less safe, less free, and less prosperous,” he said in reply.

Despite Bier’s claim, no court has decided that Trump’s move to reduce immigration from Muslim-majority countries is “illegal,” though there have been challenges in district courts.

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During his first term in office, Trump faced a challenge to his proposed travel restrictions from Muslim-majority countries. The policy was enjoined by the federal district court for the District of Hawaii, and upheld by two federal appellate courts. However, the Supreme Court ultimately decided in Hawaii vs. Trump that Trump’s policy was legal.

Pitching his administration’s conservative record as a national blueprint for Capitol Hill, Gov. Ron DeSantis rallied Republicans in Osceola County Tuesday night, portraying Navy veteran Dan Green’s bid for Florida’s 9th Congressional District as part of a broader push to bring aggressive Florida-style governance to Washington.

Speaking before a crowd in St. Cloud, south of Orlando, DeSantis pointed to his administration’s high-profile battles on education policy, state spending reductions and corporate pushback and urged voters to bring that same combative, policy-driven mandate to the halls of Congress.

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“I will say that I’m looking forward to y’all getting the congressman elected that has served this country and that has served for the right reasons. Now, I am a big believer that we need term limits for members of Congress. But until we do that, you can show your current guy the term limit by kicking him out of office.

“So, I think what we need is what we’ve done in Florida. It can be a model for people like Dan going to Washington, other states, you name it, because it’s not just about peacocking and putting social media press releases out and never getting anything done. We have fought every big fight that there has been to fight in the state of Florida, and we have won every big fight that there is to fight in Florida.”

DeSantis rallied the conservative faithful with a recap, alleging major victories over left-wing institutions, agencies and agendas.

“Just think about it. We beat Dr. Fauci on COVID. We beat Disney on gender ideology. We beat Soros on crime by removing two of his prosecutors. We beat Martha’s Vineyard on illegal immigration.

“We just beat the Muslim Brotherhood by banning Sharia law. We beat the teachers unions by enacting universal school choice for all Florida families. We beat SEIU by doing paycheck protection.

“Every single time there was a fight, we would beat and win the fights. And that’s ultimately what it’s all about. Because leadership — when it’s popular, when it’s easy — anyone can do that. ‘I’ll just go with the flow,’ all this other stuff. It really matters when it is tough and when you’re going to face arrows.”

TRUMP’S HANDPICKED DESANTIS SUCCESSOR WINS CROWDED GOP PRIMARY FOR FLORIDA GOVERNOR

DeSantis repeatedly emphasized that his top priority was sticking to the courage of his convictions, not seeking political expediency or going along to get along.

“I remember during COVID, I was doing things, and people said, ‘Oh, he’s not shutting down the beaches. Why does he have these people in school?’ And all this other stuff. You know, people come after you, and a lot of people told me that I was frittering away my governorship, that I wouldn’t be able to win in ’22, and all this other stuff. I don’t know if that was true. Who knows, right? 

“But when you get in a position to lead, you either do it or you should just sit down. My job was not to be worried about my own political hide. My job was to be worried about protecting the liberty, jobs, and businesses of the people I was elected to serve. So, we started the fire, and we gave them his right.”

It is clear that the two-term governor considers his famed battle with Disney to be a particular feather in his cap.

“Nobody in the history of the state had ever taken on Disney in anything. A lot of people told me I was making a mistake,” DeSantis said.

“But the reality is, do we want a society in which our 6-year-olds are being told they can change genders, or do we want a society rooted in truth? If you want a society rooted in truth, even if the biggest, most powerful corporation in the state is against you, you’ve got to stand up and you’ve got to fight. And we fought, and we won.”

As the federal debt has topped a staggering $40 trillion, DeSantis made the case that he has taken the state on a markedly divergent course.

“Just look at the results. For four straight years, Florida has reduced its budget. Is any other state in the country reducing spending? We’ve done it four years in a row,” DeSantis said.

“I was just able to announce today if you take all of Florida’s debt for all of our history up until the time I became governor, just in my tenure, we will retire 54% of the state’s debt, more than cutting it in half. 

“We’ve been ranked No. 1 for education freedom, and our public university system is ranked No. 1. We have the lowest in-state tuition of any state in the United States, and it’s the exact same cost today to students and families that it was the day I took office. 

“It did not go up one penny under my tenure. Is there anything else that didn’t go up? The dollar menu at McDonald’s is all $2.99 now. Everything else has gone up, but that has not gone up.”

And DeSantis touts Florida as a national leader in lowering taxes for its citizens and called for voters to back Amendment 3 in Florida, which would pave the way for elimination of non-school property taxes.

“If you look at tax relief, we’ve done $10 billion over my tenure — more than anyone. Some of it is permanent, like no tax on baby items, back-to-school items and no tax on business rent. But, really, the big enchilada is going to be on the ballot in November when you have a chance on Amendment 3 to vote yourself more control over your own home and not let them tax you to death. So vote yes on 3.

As Republicans face headwinds heading into the midterms in a little over a month, DeSantis drew a parallel between this year’s election, and the 2018 election, which propelled him to the governor’s mansion by a narrow margin.

“We’ve done all this stuff, but I think the lesson is this: When I won eight years ago, it was kind of similar to how it is now. People were saying it was a ‘blue year.’ There was a lot of wind in the face of Republican candidates,” DeSantis recalled.

“A lot of people thought Florida was a swing state — that we were purple — where one point had decided all these races for the previous decade. A lot of people didn’t think I could even win given those circumstances. And even if I won, they said, ‘Well, the state’s going to go blue. You’ve got all these people moving from Puerto Rico, the Northeast, anything.’ So, I’m running. It wasn’t easy, and we won.”

DeSantis maintains he has never taken a poll as a means to determine a position on an issue.

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“It was a close race, so I had a choice to make: Do I try to tiptoe around the tulips, not offend anybody, and just try to walk this tight line? Or do I say, ‘You know what? I won the election. I got 100% of the executive power, and I didn’t get elected to follow. I got elected to lead,'” DeSantis said.

“So, I am going to fly the banner of bold colors, not pale pastels. I’m going to do what I believe in. I am not going to take any polls. I have not to this day ever polled a single issue in my entire time as governor.

“The reason is simple. … It depends on how you ask the question, right? I can tweak the words and get a different result. But also, what does a poll actually mean? Like Popeye said, ‘I am what I am,’ right?”

A Honduran illegal immigrant facing multiple child sex crime charges is back in federal custody after authorities in Fairfax County, Virginia, previously released him from an immigration detainer, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Oscar Evaristo Nunez on Sept. 15, during a targeted enforcement operation, DHS announced Wednesday.

Nunez was initially arrested over a year ago on Aug. 27, 2025, on charges of aggravated sexual battery involving children and offenses related to the non-consensual filming of an undressed minor, according to DHS.

ICE lodged a detainer with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center two days later, but DHS said local authorities did not honor it and released Nunez without notifying the agency.

GUATEMALAN MAN CHARGED WITH CHILD PORN POSSESSION RELEASED BY FAIRFAX COUNTY DESPITE ICE DETAINER, DHS SAYS

The case has become the latest point of contention between the Trump administration and Virginia officials over cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

“Another criminal illegal alien has been taken off the streets by the brave men and women of ICE, with no help from sanctuary politicians in Fairfax County,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a news release. “This illegal alien from Honduras had been arrested for child sex crimes in August last year, but Fairfax County refused to honor ICE’s detainer and let this creep back out onto the streets.

“Once again, ICE did the job that these heartless sanctuary politicians won’t do: enforce the law and protect American lives. DHS is calling on Governor Abigail Spanberger and her fellow sanctuary politicians to stop putting the needs of illegal aliens over the safety of the American people.”

‘OUT OF CONTROL’ KILLINGS IN SPANBERGER’S VIRGINIA REACH ‘INSANE’ POINT AS MIGRANT CHARGED IN STABBING SPREE

Spanberger, a Democrat, was not governor when Nunez was arrested and ICE lodged the detainer in August 2025. She took office in January 2026.

Spanberger has moved Virginia away from some forms of state participation in federal immigration enforcement since taking office, including directing state agencies to terminate agreements with ICE under the federal 287(g) program.

A representative for Fairfax County did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

DHS said Nunez illegally entered the U.S. near Arizona around September 2003.

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Nunez remains in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings.

Republican congressional candidate Scott Singer is making the case that party, not just policy, will be decisive in his closely watched South Florida showdown with Democrat Rep. Jared Moskowitz, arguing that the incumbent’s moderate, pro-Israel image is at odds with his voting record and the direction of the Democrat Party.

Singer, the former mayor of Boca Raton, told Fox News Digital that he believes his record of cutting taxes and reducing crime at the local level, combined with unwavering support for Israel, gives voters a clear contrast in Florida’s newly redrawn 25th Congressional District.

“Well, it is a tough cycle, but people understand the real Jared Moskowitz, one who votes with the squad 90% of the time, voted to put [Rep.] Ilhan Omar [D-Minn.] on the Foreign Affairs Committee, has passed no bills in Congress, but traded $4.5 million worth of stocks since he’s been there. This district, after redistricting, is now a Republican plus five district,” Singer told Fox News Digital.  

GOP’S SINGER ‘VERY PREPARED’ TO OUST DEM MOSKOWITZ IN TOSS-UP FLORIDA RACE THAT COULD DETERMINE HOUSE MAJORITY

“It takes in all of Boca Raton, where I was mayor for eight years, cut taxes, red tape, and crime, and goes down to Miami Beach, where I was born, and Fort Lauderdale, where I was raised,” he continued. “Moskowitz doesn’t live in the district, he’s not from the district. 

“But beyond that, the Republican plus five, a trend in Jewish voters, of which we have 25% … in our district, moving more conservatively, and people who are opposed to socialism and communism, which he will not denounce, understand that this is a critical race for House leadership, and they want someone like me, a local leader with a record of results.” 

Singer’s business-friendly fiscal conservatism is the cornerstone of his campaign, and provides the policy framework for his priorities on Capitol Hill.

“Well, it gives me the record of results one would need. As mayor of Boca Raton, not only did we have the lowest property tax rate of any full-service city in Florida, I cut the tax rate seven times. I cut red tape, 21 streamlining initiatives,” he said. “I cut crime by more than 25% from what were 40-year lows. Those are a record of results that people can relate to, because we improved the quality of life, improved the job base, lowered taxes, and made our streets safer.”

UNEARTHED AUDIT EXPOSES VULNERABLE DEM’S HANDLING OF COVID RELIEF FUNDS: ‘GROSS OVERSIGHT’

Singer continued: “That’s what we want right now in America. We want secure borders, not like the porous borders that Jared Moskowitz supported under [former] President [Joe] Biden that have increased crime and ravaged communities. They want tax relief, not the tax hike that he voted for. $4 trillion, including taxes on Social Security, tipped workers, small businesses and families that are hurting. Now he’s trying to come around with a modest talk of the gas tax reduction. 

“He had the chance to vote on taxes and repeatedly has voted for higher taxes. People want a leader with a record of results. That’s what I bring.”

While Moskowitz has carefully cultivated a moderate image during his tenure in Congress, Singer disputes that characterization. 

“No, he’s not. He’s been voting in lockstep. He’s already said he’ll vote for whoever the Democratic leadership is. And you can see that we’ll have committee chairs like [Rep.] Rashida Tlaib [D-Mich.] and AOC [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.], if heaven forbid, the Democrats win Congress,” Singer said. “He already voted for Ilhan Omar on Foreign Affairs, despite his talking about her statements being bad, he voted to keep her in charge of foreign affairs in our country.” 

FLORIDA GOP NOMINEE BLASTS 20-YEAR DEM INCUMBENT AS A ‘SOCIALIST’ RUBBER-STAMP WITH ‘PRECIOUS LITTLE TO SHOW’

Added Singer: “He’s voted for tax hikes again … He says he’s strong on Israel, but he voted against US-Israeli cooperation, when other Democrats were willing to cross the aisle. And then just a few weeks ago, he would not denounce socialism, even though other Democrats would. He’s trying to have it out both ways, but his record is really Democratic, really liberal, 90% with the squad.”

Both Moskowitz and Singer both position themselves as strong supporters of Israel, but Singer argues that membership in today’s Democrat Party makes effective advocacy for Israel difficult.

“I’m a stronger supporter for Israel. I would never have put Ilhan Omar on the Foreign Affairs Committee. I would not have, like he did, voted against U.S.-Israel cooperation in the NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act],” Singer said. “I would have not voted to undercut President [Donald] Trump’s efforts and our military’s efforts with the War Powers Act vote months ago when the U.S. and Israel were fighting against a common enemy. 

“He’s done all of those things because Democratic leadership requires him. And he admitted three weeks ago to Jewish Insider that he’s being ostracized in his own party. He doesn’t have any more chits to give in. He has to go with the way the majority is going, and that expanded squad is going to tamp out any voice he has. 

“In my party, support for Israel is a feature, not a bug, and I don’t have to moderate my views or vote in accordance with the majority…I can be a strong supporter for Israel without reservation. Jared’s admitted he can’t be and won’t be.”

Finally, while Singer said he is a strong supporter of the Trump administration’s military engagement in Iran, he would like to see an end to the conflict soon.

“I think we need to have a resolution of this. I think we need to emerge victoriously. We have to remember that nuclear Iran is an existential threat,” he said. “We have seen how dastardly, vicious, murderous this regime has been over 47 years. Their foreign policy is death to America. They’ve killed Americans, they’ll kill more. 

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“And even since this conflict started, they’ve started attacking other nations who weren’t combatants trying to widen the conflict. They support terror across the world. It’s hurt America, it’s hurt Americans, it’s hurt our allies like Israel, and it’s hurting the free world. We need to stop this. 

“And I am optimistic we’ll see a resolution soon. And that’s a small price to pay. Even if we have some hiccups there, it’s a smaller price to pay to ensure Iran does not have a nuclear weapon.”

Michigan voters have concerns about both candidates in the U.S. Senate race and that leads to a tight contest, according to a new Fox News poll.

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has a slim 1-point edge against Republican Mike Rogers, 50-49%, among Michigan likely voters. The survey, released on Wednesday, is the first Fox News Poll this season among likely voters, so a direct comparison can’t be made to previous polls.

Yet among registered voters, the preference is almost identical, 51% El-Sayed vs. 48% Rogers. That’s a reversal since August, when Rogers was ahead by 4 points among registered voters, 51% to El-Sayed’s 47%.

FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS QUESTION WHETHER AI’S PROMISE OUTWEIGHS ITS RISKS

The analysis below is among likely voters, unless otherwise noted.

More of El-Sayed’s backers feel certain of their choice (87%) than Rogers’ (80%). Overall, 15% say they could switch their pick before voting, including 18% of Rogers’ supporters and 12% of El-Sayed’s.

FOX NEWS POLL: SQUEEZED BY COSTS, FRUSTRATED VOTERS TURN TO THE DEMOCRATS

Here’s why the race is tight.

Roughly equal numbers of Michiganders say they are extremely concerned Rogers is too close to President Donald Trump (39%) as say El-Sayed’s views are too liberal (36%).

And their favorable ratings are also close: 47% view El-Sayed positively compared to 44% for Rogers. Among registered voters, positive views of El-Sayed increased by 5 points since August while Rogers’ declined by four points.

El-Sayed’s best groups include those that traditionally go Democratic: women, Black voters, and those with a college degree. He’s also ahead with voters under age 45 and the small subgroup of union households.

The groups giving Rogers some of his strongest support include men, rural voters, White evangelical Christians, married voters, and Whites without a college degree.

Both candidates receive near-universal backing from their party. Rogers receives 95% among Republicans, while it’s 93% for El-Sayed among Democrats. In addition, Rogers gets 99% of MAGA Republicans and 88% of non-MAGA Republicans, while El-Sayed garners 98% of DSA Democrats and 90% of non-DSA Democrats. The small number of independents narrowly favor El-Sayed.

This year’s political landscape favors El-Sayed: the Democrats hold a 5-point advantage when voters are asked which party they want to control the Senate, 52% to 47%. But to capitalize on that, he’ll need to consolidate Democratic support after a contentious primary, as 11% of likely voters who backed his primary opponent Haley Stevens say they plan to vote for Rogers.

“The Michigan Senate race is unique in that short-term political forces favoring the Democrats are somewhat offset by concerns about the Democratic candidate,” says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducts the Fox News Poll with Democrat Chris Anderson. “The bad news for Rogers is El-Sayed has made progress shoring up Democratic support and has room to grow given voter concerns about the economy.”

Four in ten Michiganders say they are falling behind financially, and they back El-Sayed by 25 points. But the largest share, nearly half, describe their family as holding steady, and they favor Rogers by 13 points, while the small number who are getting ahead prefer Rogers by 36 points.

Still, for 7 in 10 voters, the cost of living will be extremely important to their Senate vote, and they back El-Sayed by 13 points. He also has advantages among the 4 in 10 focused on U.S. policy toward Israel (+8 points) and AI technology (+17 points). Conversely, Rogers is favored by 26 points among the 44% focused on immigration.

Half of Michigan voters consider Trump extremely important to their Senate vote, and they favor El-Sayed by 22 points.

In 2024, Trump won Michigan by less than two percentage points, while Rogers lost to Democrat Elissa Slotkin by less than half a point.

Voter frustration with the administration is a drag on Rogers, as nearly 6 in 10 disapprove of the president’s performance. While 40% approve, not all support Rogers (93%). He remains competitive with support from 19% of Trump disapprovers overall, even as 28% who only “somewhat” disapprove of Trump prefer El-Sayed.

In the gubernatorial race to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Democrat Jocelyn Benson leads Republican John James 54% to 45% among likely voters.

Twelve percent of those backing Rogers in the Senate race cross party lines to favor Benson.

Conducted September 24-28, 2026, under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with a sample of 1,203 Michigan registered voters randomly selected from a statewide voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (114) and cellphones (794) or completed the survey online after receiving a text message (295). Results based on the registered voter sample have a margin of sampling error of ±2.5 percentage points and for the subsample of 1,028 likely voters it is ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics of respondents are representative of the registered voter population. Likely voters are based on a probabilistic statistical model that relies on past vote history, interest in the current election, intention to vote, age, education, race, ethnicity, and marital status. Results among subgroups are only shown when the sample size is at least N=100. 

Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report.

Elon Musk is taking on a new role in the Trump administration, this time helping the Pentagon determine which weapons and technology American troops will need to fight the wars of the future.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that Musk will co-lead Project Meridian, a new Pentagon initiative tasked with looking years and even decades ahead to identify emerging domains of warfare and the capabilities the U.S. military will need to dominate them.

Musk, the former leader of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), will lead the effort alongside defense tech billionaire Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich under the direction of War Department Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael.

EXCLUSIVE: HEGSETH TO DOUBLE CUTS TO GENERALS, ADMIRALS IN MAJOR PENTAGON SHAKEUP

“The best forecasters of future conflict do not solely reside inside the Pentagon,” Hegseth said during his State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico. “There are obvious biases and risks to asking ourselves to both ask the questions and answer them.”

Hegseth said the initiative would begin immediately, and he would meet with Musk, Luckey and Gingrich in a secure site just 200 yards from the stage after his speech.

Project Meridian will have 120 days to “ruthlessly map the trajectory of wars, domains and technologies,” culminating in a public rollout of its findings and a classified annex.

Hegseth described a sweeping mandate that stretches “from under the Earth to beyond the moon.” 

Rather than developing new military strategies or policies, the group will seek to identify “the domains that we must conquer and capabilities we must master” and focus on “discovering, developing and fielding” weapons and systems that could be needed by future generations of American troops.

Musk and Luckey enter the effort with firsthand experience developing technology for the U.S. military. Musk’s SpaceX is a major Pentagon contractor, while Luckey founded Anduril Industries, a defense technology company specializing in autonomous weapons and other advanced military systems.

Their industry experience positions both men to bring an unusually close view of emerging technology and the modern battlefield to the Pentagon’s long-range planning. It could also raise potential conflict-of-interest questions as executives whose companies compete for defense business help identify the capabilities and technologies the military should pursue.

BATTLEFIELD ROBOTS OPEN NEW FRONT IN INNOVATION WAR WITH MAJOR US ADVERSARY

Meridian was one piece of a broader push announced by Hegseth Wednesday to remake the military around autonomous warfare and rapidly emerging technology.

Hegseth announced the creation of Autonomous Warfare Command, or AUTOWARCOM, a new four-star combatant command with what he described as “service-like authorities” to scale autonomous and robotic capabilities across the joint force.

The War Department will also begin phasing in new occupational frameworks across the military departments to create dedicated career paths for what Hegseth called a new generation of “autonomous warfighters.”

“We should have been thinking about Autonomous Warfare Command ten years ago,” Hegseth said, explaining that Meridian is intended to look far enough ahead to anticipate the next technological transformation before the military falls behind.

The announcements came during the second iteration of what the War Department has dubbed Hegseth’s annual State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico.

The setting was the same as last year, but the audience was markedly different. Hegseth summoned generals, admirals and other senior military leaders from around the world to Quantico for his first address, where he laid out sweeping changes to military standards, personnel and what he called the “warrior ethos.”

This time, Hegseth addressed a younger generation of military leaders, including top-performing E-6 enlisted service members and O-3 officers from across the force. He called them the military’s “current and future leaders on the front lines” and said the address would become an annual opportunity to assess the state of the force and lay out his vision for its future.

Hegseth used Wednesday’s speech to unveil six new initiatives, ranging from the military’s embrace of autonomous warfare to an effort to make U.S. bases and defense supply chains less vulnerable to foreign disruption.

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The secretary also used the address to deliver some of his most pointed rhetoric yet about his effort to reshape the culture of the military and about the news media.

“We are no longer the woke department or the weak department,” Hegseth said. “No fatties, no trainees, no weirdos, no beardos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors.”

Hegseth later accused some journalists of engaging in “partisan activism” that jeopardizes military operations and service members, calling such reporting “fundamentally anti-American.”

“It’s sick. It’s a national betrayal. It’s treason, actually,” Hegseth said.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Wednesday announced plans to build a modern, self-sustaining military fortress, saying the site will be selected through a merit-based competition among governors pitching their states as potential locations.

The megaproject, dubbed the “Next Great American Base,” was unveiled during an address at Marine Corps Base Quantico as part of Hegseth’s six strategies to modernize the military.

The initiative rejects what Hegseth described as the legacy approach to spend heavily on advanced weapons systems while service members live on aging bases with outdated barracks.

“For too long, our military has been bogged down by the same old tired Washington playbook: spending trillions on exquisite weapons systems, while our troops live in aging bases, outdated barracks, and with inadequate infrastructure. That era is over,” Hegseth said.

EXCLUSIVE: HEGSETH TO DOUBLE CUTS TO GENERALS, ADMIRALS IN MAJOR PENTAGON SHAKEUP

“To back up our warfighters, when we bring the troops home, we won’t just reshuffle troops onto legacy posts. We are going to build them beautiful new bases from the ground up,” he added.

The ambitious undertaking will feature a brand-new military installation spanning hundreds of thousands of acres and housing up to 25,000 service members.

“We are talking hundreds of thousands of acres with organic power generation, modern air defenses, and cutting edge technology — a fortress,” he said.

The installation is expected to provide first-class living conditions, high-end training grounds and essential services such as health care and child care, while operating entirely off the commercial grid with independent power sources.

Hegseth added that the base will support President Donald Trump’s executive order on “Beautiful Civic Architecture,” which calls for federal public buildings and military installations to be designed in timeless and classical styles.

“We owe our warriors nothing less than the gold standard,” Hegseth said.

SENATE REPUBLICAN PUSHES MERIT-BASED MILITARY PROMOTIONS, TARGETS BIDEN-ERA DEI POLICIES

To determine the site location, the Department of War said it is launching a transparent, merit-based competition in which state governors can pitch their proposals directly to top military leadership at the Pentagon.

The winning state will be chosen based on its ability to remove regulatory hurdles and bureaucracy to speed up construction, while offering the best package of land, community support, top-tier housing, schools and other services.

“The state that cuts the most red tape and offers the best package of land and support will win the historic honor of hosting the most lethal, modern, and beautiful military installation on the planet,” a press release stated.

Pitch deliberations will be recorded and made public to eliminate “political favoritism,” according to the Pentagon.

“No backroom Washington deals. No political favoritism – just a straight-up, merit-based contest to see which state will partner with us to build the most modern, beautiful, and lethal military installation on the planet,” Hegseth said.

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The project is the fourth announcement among six major strategic initiatives unveiled by the secretary.

According to the Department of War, the other initiatives focus on restoring male physical standards and combat roles, improving the comprehensive review of military standards, overhauling complaint processes, reforming senior leadership and focusing on core training and maintenance.

Louisiana Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill is escalating her fight against abortion pills entering states that ban abortions through two lawsuits — one targeting the providers accused of distributing the drugs and another challenging the blue-state laws shielding them from prosecution.

Murrill, along with Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, sued New York, California and Massachusetts at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, alleging their shield laws block cooperation with investigations into abortion-pill providers. The attorneys general also filed a separate lawsuit in Louisiana against more than 30 people and organizations accused of advertising, prescribing, dispensing or shipping abortion pills into their states.

“This is drug dealing and it’s illegal,” Murrill told Fox News Digital. “And we’re going to continue to do everything that we can to enforce the laws in our states.”

The two lawsuits, filed Wednesday, are the latest move in a widening state-by-state fight over abortion. That conflict has grown since the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which struck down Roe v. Wade and gave elected officials the power to set abortion policy in their states.

HAWLEY SENDS CRIMINAL REFERRAL OF ‘LEFT-WING DARK-MONEY’ GROUP OVER MAILED ABORTION DRUGS

Murrill said the Supreme Court case targets the blue states’ legal protections that have thwarted Louisiana’s previous efforts to prosecute out-of-state doctors.

“These shield laws are very comprehensive,” Murrill said, arguing that California and New York prohibit officials from assisting other states seeking to enforce judgments stemming from abortion-related conduct.

Louisiana has already indicted New York physician Margaret Carpenter and California physician Remy Coeytaux over allegations that they prescribed abortion drugs that were sent into Louisiana. New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom have refused to extradite the doctors.

The Supreme Court complaint cited Louisiana’s unsuccessful effort to extradite Carpenter, saying Hochul declared there was “no way in hell” she would comply with Louisiana’s request. The filing said New York later strengthened its shield law, including by allowing prescribers of abortion drugs to keep their names off prescription labels.

Newsom similarly rejected Louisiana’s request to extradite Coeytaux in January, saying California would not help other states punish doctors for providing abortion access that is legal in California.

CALIFORNIA ABORTION PILL SUPPLIERS PLOT WORKAROUNDS AHEAD OF SUPREME COURT MIFEPRISTONE DECISION

When Murrill vowed to sue, Newsom responded on X telling her to “Go f— yourself. California will never help you criminalize healthcare.”

“I think that if I sent guns into their states illegally, they would certainly try to come after me,” Murrill told Fox News Digital. “I said specifically at the time that we would be coming for them and we are.”

“We are going to take down those laws using every tool that we have at our disposal,” she continued.

The second lawsuit directly targets what Murrill calls the “pill pipeline.”

The 100-page complaint alleges providers used online questionnaires to obtain information from customers before abortion drugs were mailed into states where their distribution is prohibited. The states allege some organizations openly acknowledged that their conduct violated those states’ laws while relying on shield laws to protect themselves from legal consequences.

Murrill said investigators have conducted controlled purchases and received pills packaged in small bags, sometimes in quantities she said exceeded what would ordinarily be prescribed.

“We’ve seen it for ourselves,” Murrill said. “There’s no supervision, there’s no healthcare, there’s no communication whatsoever. It’s all done online.”

Murrill argued that the system can allow people other than pregnant women to obtain the drugs, pointing to cases Louisiana authorities said involved women being pressured or deceived into taking abortion medication.

PRO-LIFE LEADER SOUNDS ALARM AFTER DOCTOR GETS 6 MONTHS FOR FORCING ABORTION PILLS ON GIRLFRIEND

“We have a situation in one town in Louisiana that we’ve documented and investigated where a father did not want his teenage daughter to keep a pregnancy,” Murrill told Fox News Digital. “And so he basically put the medication in a smoothie, forced her to drink it. She did ultimately give birth to that baby at 23 weeks and is still in a NICU fighting for its life.”

The attorney general also said Louisiana wants more help from the Trump administration.

“Obviously we think the FDA could be doing more and we’ve asked them to do that,” Murrill said.

Louisiana has separately challenged federal rules that eliminated an in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser backed the litigation, accusing blue states of using their laws “to obstruct justice” and urging the Justice Department to settle Louisiana’s separate FDA litigation.

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“Democrats’ pro-abortion extremism has brought this country to a crisis point. Abortion activists flagrantly sell dangerous drugs across state lines and women and children pay the price, with more and more survivors of ‘death in a pill’ bravely coming forward,” Dannenfelser said in a statement.

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Fox News Digital reached out to New York, California and Massachusetts’ governors’ offices for comment.

Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Wednesday that a federal grand jury had indicted ten lawful permanent residents accused of voting illegally or attempting to do so in multiple Minnesota elections, including the state’s August 2026 primary.

The ten defendants — who are originally from Liberia, Canada, South Africa, Brazil, Bosnia, Germany, Ghana, and Lithuania — allegedly lied to election officials and told them they were U.S. citizens so they could register to vote.

They were accused of voting in the 2022 and 2024 general elections, according to court records.

“Voter fraud erodes the public’s trust in our electoral system, and it’s vital to our democratic process that we do everything that we can to restore that trust,” Blanche said in a press conference announcing the charges. “The most basic way the Department of Justice can accomplish this restoration of trust is by working to make sure the only people voting in an election in the United States are American citizens who are eligible to vote.”

FEDERAL INDICTMENT HANDED DOWN IN MINNESOTA RELATED TO ISSUE SOME DEMS CLAIM NEVER HAPPENS: ‘HOTBED FOR FRAUD’

The 10 defendants were charged separately. They are Bhator Konah Bryant, 61, of Liberia; Edvile Vaidoto Edmunds, 59, of Lithuania; Joshua Frederick Kofi Edzie, 63, of Ghana; Alan Barbu Kargbo, 48, of Liberia; Paul Kras, 78, of Germany; Fadil Rasim Ozegovic, 58, of Bosnia; Aparecido Donizetti Padovan, 62, of Brazil; Chris Adam Pettiquoi, 43, of Liberia; Christian Liam Schenk, 47, of Canada; and Hester Sophia Weihmann, 69, of South Africa.

Bryant appears to be the only defendant who wasn’t charged with voting illegally, only falsely claiming citizenship in 2024 in order to register.

Making a false citizenship claim to vote is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while voting by a noncitizen is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Blanche also expressed frustration that the media has, in his view, not taken the Justice Department’s work prosecuting election fraud cases seriously to this point.

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION GRANTED WOMAN GREEN CARD MONTHS BEFORE SHE ILLEGALLY VOTED IN 2024 ELECTION: DHS

“I don’t know what the number is that will work for you guys. Whether it’s 106, maybe it’s 120,” he said, referring to a hypothetical number of investigations. “”At some point it has to become meaningful to to the media.”

Blanche said that since President Donald Trump has returned to office, the Justice Department has charged more than 90 people with voter fraud offenses, including 50 illegal immigrants in the past five weeks.

Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said there have been 10 voter fraud-related convictions and that there are more than 1,600 active investigations into similar conduct across the country.

Mullin did not answer a reporter’s question about how the department plans to use the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database, known as SAVE, to identify voters who may be ineligible ahead of the midterms.

STATE DEPARTMENT CONSIDERS SHARING PASSPORT RECORDS FOR VOTER CITIZENSHIP CHECKS

The Supreme Court ruled Friday that the administration may use the database for voter-eligibility checks while litigation continues. SAVE has historically been used to help government agencies verify whether noncitizens applying for public benefits are eligible to receive them.

States’ use of the SAVE database is voluntary, but federal law generally bars states from conducting systematic voter-roll purges within 90 days of a federal election. With the midterms less than a month away, the Supreme Court’s ruling is expected to have limited immediate impact.

During the same press conference on Wednesday, Blanche also announced that the Justice Department had filed a judicial misconduct complaint with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals against several Minnesota federal judges who spoke with The New York Times about cases the department said were still pending.

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The article, published on Sept. 17, centered on an interview with Judge Patrick J. Schiltz, who said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violated nearly 100 orders from the federal district court in Minnesota during the height of Operation Metro Surge, which saw hundreds of federal agents in the streets of Minneapolis throughout January of this year.

Schiltz, a George W. Bush appointee, told The Times that the alleged violation of these orders likely came down to incompetence and staffing shortages at the Justice Department.

Blanche said Schiltz airing various complaints about the Trump administration to The Times was a violation of judicial canons and his ethical duties.

“We have asked the Eighth Circuit to conduct an investigation, and in the meantime, we ask that these judges recuse themselves from every case involving DHS, either criminal or civil in nature, because of the obvious bias they have shown in this article,” Blanche said.

Shiltz issued this response to Fox News, “As legal-ethics experts have confirmed, I was acting well within the ethical rules that apply to federal judges in speaking to the New York Times.  Indeed, in February of this year, the Committee on Codes of Conduct issued an advisory opinion to emphasize that federal judges may ‘speak[] and writ[e] on core judiciary matters such as advocacy for the rule of law and judicial independence.’ That is exactly what I did.”