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FIRST ON FOX: As America celebrates 250 years of independence this year, three conservative Supreme Court justices are warning that preserving the nation’s founding freedoms for future generations depends on Americans understanding their history, embracing civic education and actively participating in their system of government.

Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett each implored Americans to familiarize themselves with their system of government and the history behind it to ensure that the nation’s legacy is preserved.

Though the three conservative justices were united in their call for civic education, they each approached the topic differently in a series of interviews filmed by the Federalist Society and obtained by Fox News Digital. The videos come ahead of the Federalist Society’s 2026 National Lawyers Convention this week, which spotlights “250 Years of American Exceptionalism.”

Gorsuch, for instance, struck a distinctly religious tone.

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“I think it’s very easy to take the rights granted in our Constitution and the ideals expressed in the Declaration for granted,” he said. “They are, for us, a little bit like the air we breathe and the water a fish might swim in. They seem natural to us, but they weren’t in 1776. The ideas in the Declaration of Independence that all of us are created equal, that every one of us has God-given rights — they don’t come from government, they come from God.”

Gorsuch, who was appointed to the court by President Donald Trump in 2017 following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, went on to describe the importance of historical study to the preservation of the American way of life.

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“Our country is a blessing from God, and that we owe great thanks for it, and we have great responsibility for it,” he went on. “The reason why our Constitution and Declaration have survived is because people choose it anew in every generation. You need to know its history. You need to know what you’re preserving. Daniel Webster said it took 6,000 years for us to generate a system of government like this. Don’t expect that to happen easily or again.”

Kavanaugh, similarly, emphasized the importance of education.

“I think our education system is absolutely fundamental to ensuring that in the next 250 years, we preserve this republic and improve upon this republic. So, teaching American history, teaching the values of this country, the history of this country, why this country exists, how this country has been preserved, how this country has been improved over time, for example, by our constitutional amendment process and otherwise,” the justice, appointed to the bench following a tumultuous confirmation process in 2018, said.

“And I think all of us should be constantly striving to ensure civics education, not only for our youth, but for all of us, and that we constantly are learning and participating in our system of government,” he continued.

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The Federalist Society filmed its interviews ahead of its National Lawyers Convention, which will bring together minds from across the conservative legal movement to discuss matters deemed pressing.

While not interviewed by the Federalist Society, Justice Sonia Sotomayor shared her thoughts on America’s 250th anniversary during an event at Mount Vernon’s Washington Library, taking a slightly darker tone than her conservative colleagues.

During her talk, which centered primarily on civic engagement, Sotomayor argued that the United States is in a rough place at the moment and that it would take “some hard work” for it to get back on an “even keel.”

“There are some norms we may have lost forever,” she said. “But I don’t think that we will fail as a democracy. But I think we’re going to have a hard patch figuring out what that means.”

Barrett, meanwhile, focused on the Declaration of Independence and how she believes it should inspire civic participation today.

“We’re not passive observers in the American project. We’re participants in it. It is our project,” she said. “I might suggest that people look at the last line of the Declaration of Independence. It ends with a mutual pledge in which the signatories to the document mutually pledge their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to the success of the American project. And they made good on that promise. Some lost their fortune, lost their property to loyalists … and they pledged with their honor not to deviate from the commitments that they had made in signing the Declaration of Independence.”

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“Surely that’s the kind of commitment that it takes to have it keep going forward,” said Barrett.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been relocated from his home in Washington, D.C. to a military base amid Iranian assassination threats this week, a senior administration official confirmed to Fox News.

Tehran has ramped up its efforts to target senior U.S. officials overseas, with White House chief of staff Stephen Miller and Secretary of State Marco Rubio also relocating to military or protected housing in recent weeks.

The senior official told Fox that threats against Bessent had reached “more than an advanced stage.” The official declined to say when exactly Bessent was relocated.

Bessent has played a central role in the economic battle against Iran, launching “Operation Economic Outcast” this summer in an effort to isolate Iran’s economy from the rest of the world.

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Bessent said the wave of sanctions would bring about the “asphyxiation” of Iran’s economy.

The Treasury Department confirmed Bessent’s departure in a statement to Fox News on Tuesday, adding that the secretary refuses to “be deterred by the Iranian regime’s threats.”

The New York Times first reported Bessent’s relocation, citing three anonymous sources.

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The move comes as President Donald Trump continues to seek to end the war via diplomatic means, leaning away from a return to full scale war.

Rubio himself downplayed the possibility of re-escalating the conflict on Tuesday.

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“We don’t need to conduct military strikes if we’re achieving the same objective through economic means and economic pressure,” Rubio told reporters.

He rejected the suggestion that the U.S. and Iran were at a stalemate, arguing that sanctions, the naval blockade and other measures were steadily weakening Tehran.

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“They’re bleeding. They’re bleeding economically,” Rubio said. “It is an increased pressure on Iran that continues to grow every day.”

The push comes a week after an election in which the war proved a political liability for Republicans.

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The Iran war was a crucial factor in the House vote for 34% of voters, according to the Fox News Voter Poll, while about six in 10 said the U.S. had made the wrong decision to take military action against Iran.

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

A Marine veteran from a small North Carolina town spent 16 years fighting to build a national memorial honoring the Americans who served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm — overcoming congressional setbacks, years of bureaucratic hurdles and a lengthy battle over its location, all while refusing to use taxpayer money to get it done.

“I’m just an average everyday American,” Scott Stump told Fox News Digital. “I just felt like something had to be done to correct what I felt was a historical oversight.”

What began as one veteran’s determination to ensure the sacrifices of the 1990-1991 Gulf War generation were not forgotten became a 16-year undertaking that culminated in the Oct. 24, 2026, opening of the Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial on the National Mall.

Stump, who spearheaded the effort with a team of veteran volunteers, said he insisted from the beginning that the project be built without U.S. taxpayer funding, even as it required years of congressional action, federal approvals and financial support from donors.

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“I made the decision right off the bat that [I] was not interested in encumbering the taxpayer at all,” Stump said. “This should be 100% privately funded. Just felt like it was the right thing to do.”

Stump said the idea first came to him in November 2010, as the country approached the 20th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, the U.S.-led military campaign that liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation.

He had attended veterans events where service members from other conflicts were recognized, but those who fought in Desert Shield and Desert Storm were overlooked.

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“They skipped right over it, and they act like it never happened,” Stump recalled.

Living in Waynesville, North Carolina, Stump had no elaborate political operation or established Washington network to carry out his vision. Instead, he assembled a team of fellow veterans who shared his belief that the conflict deserved a permanent place in the nation’s history, he said.

Stump worked with then-Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., and Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., to secure the legislation necessary to authorize the memorial.

“It was kind of a ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,’” Stump said, referring to the classic film about an ordinary American navigating Washington politics.

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The legislative effort alone took roughly three and a half to four years, and Stump said he was forced to start over after legislation introduced late in one congressional session failed to advance.

He reintroduced the effort in 2013, testified before Congress in February 2014 and watched the House approve the measure in a unanimous 370-0 vote on May 28, 2014.

Stump said the Senate effort encountered additional legislative complications that threatened to derail the memorial authorization before the congressional session ended. He fought to clear the obstacle, knowing another failure could mean starting the legislative process from scratch for a third time.

The authorization ultimately passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2015, which President Barack Obama signed into law in December 2014.

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Next came the challenge of securing a location worthy of the service members the memorial would honor. Stump initially believed the site-selection process would take approximately 18 months. Instead, it stretched to 39 months, he recounted.

He said much of that time was spent educating officials and members of federal commissions about the significance of Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Some questioned whether the conflict had truly ended, he said. Others questioned whether enough Americans had died to justify a prominent national memorial.

“’There weren’t enough people who died to have a memorial for this,’” Stump recalled being told during the approval process.

After initially receiving approval for a different location, Stump and his team continued pushing for their preferred site near 23rd Street and Constitution Avenue.

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They secured approval on June 21, 2018, in an “absolute epic battle,” Stump said.

“We are not interested in just something visible,” Stump said, recalling the argument he made to commissioners. “But we wanted something that was visitable.”

He wanted visitors to do more than pass a monument on their way to another destination. He wanted them to walk through the memorial, experience its design and leave inspired to learn about a war that had faded from the memories of many Americans.

Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, prompting President George H.W. Bush to launch Operation Desert Shield and build an international coalition. After months of military buildup, Operation Desert Storm began Jan. 17, 1991, with weeks of airstrikes before a ground offensive launched Feb. 24 drove Iraqi forces from Kuwait in approximately 100 hours.

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“You know, you have 30 some odd countries, five continents, different races, religions, creeds,” Stump said. “It’s a wonderful story.”

Outside of the monument this month, DJ of Wisconsin told Fox News Digital his mother served in the Air Force as a nurse in the early ’90s. She was never deployed overseas, but during her time, she worked with many veterans from Desert Storm.

“[The memorial] reminded me of her and her service, and just the thanks that I have both for her and for all Americans who sign a blank check for the country that can be paid for up to and including their lives. So, I’m just very thankful, and this is a good, good, humble reminder of that sacrifice,” said DJ.

Desert Storm veteran Steve from Indiana told Fox News Digital he was “impressed” that the memorial was so close to the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial.

“In some ways, Desert Storm is somewhat forgotten. It was a relatively small war, but a very successful one, and I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned from that war,” said Steve.

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The Department of the Interior and National Park Service formally welcomed the Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in October, honoring the Americans who served.

“The Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial honors the courage of the Americans who answered our nation’s call, the sacrifice of those who never returned home and the families who supported them,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said.

Stump said he intentionally structured the organization behind the memorial as an association rather than a traditional foundation, allowing the project to maintain a singular focus on completing the monument rather than supporting a permanent payroll or other long-term institutional expenses. He added he did not want future operating costs to force compromises in the design.

“Our job, and I believe that we’ve achieved it through a wonderful design, a wonderful design team that worked extremely hard to come up with what we have, is to make an emotional connection with the visitor,” Stump said.

He pointed to the Korean War Veterans Memorial as an example of how a monument can move visitors even when they know little about the conflict it commemorates.

Young people, he said, often encounter the memorial’s statues of soldiers wearing ponchos and leave wanting to understand the war behind those figures.

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That is the experience he hopes the Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial will create for generations to come.

As Republicans reel from their bruising midterm election losses, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is hoping some of the court’s biggest conservative rulings will eventually be overturned.

Speaking at a weekend civics education event at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, the liberal justice singled out the court’s landmark 2024 presidential immunity ruling, which shields presidents from criminal prosecution for actions taken within their core constitutional powers and provides presumptive protection for other official acts. Her colleagues, Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, are both in their late 70s, raising questions about their potential retirements and whether a Democratic-controlled Senate could complicate Trump’s efforts to replace them with fellow conservatives.

“We saw the outpouring of voters on Tuesday … I tell people all the time, there’s no excuse for not voting. There just isn’t. Apathy is not acceptable,” Sotomayor said at 

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“I dissent a lot. I’m hoping that the court will take back some of the crazy things that it’s done. I’m only joking — maybe not,” she said at the same event. “No, seriously. You know, I’ve spoken openly about this, there’s some opinions that I hope in my lifetime will get overturned. The immunity case is one of them.”

The justice spent most of the hourlong event discussing the importance of civics education, stopping at times to discuss the state of American democracy. At one point, Sotomayor remarked that it would take “some hard work” for the United States to get back on an “even keel.”

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“There have been some systemic changes in my court’s jurisprudence in many areas of law,” she stated. “We’ll settle down, too. Not quite sure when. But we will. And a new order will be established that people will begin to understand.”

Sotomayor specifically singled out the Supreme Court’s 2024 landmark ruling on presidential immunity as something she would like to see revisited.

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In Trump v. United States, the case in question, the court ruled that former presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within their core constitutional powers and at least presumptive immunity for other official acts. The justices ruled that former presidents have no immunity from prosecution for unofficial conduct, leaving lower courts to distinguish between official acts protected by the decision and private conduct that remains subject to criminal prosecution.

Sotomayor sharply criticized the ruling in her 2024 dissent, arguing that the court’s conservative majority had effectively turned the president into a “king above the law.”

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“There are some norms we may have lost forever,” she said. “But I don’t think that we will fail as a democracy. But I think we’re going to have a hard patch figuring out what that means.”

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s voting rights restoration effort is facing fresh scrutiny after a state letter indicating that voting rights had been restored was mailed in the name of a woman who remains incarcerated on a felony drug conviction.

Spanberger and Secretary of the Commonwealth Candi Mundon-King have faced criticism over a series of apparent errors, including a letter sent to a dog in Goochland County that died five years ago, another sent to a sheriff’s office in Hampton Roads addressed to “Betty No Last Name” and others mailed to the families of deceased felons.

A Virginia resident who requested anonymity contacted Del. Tom Garrett, R-Buckingham, after receiving a voting rights restoration letter addressed to “Kayla Renae Vaughn,” a source told Fox News Digital.

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Fox News Digital obtained images of the letter from the Republican minority caucus in the Virginia House of Delegates. The document appears identical to other restoration letters previously reported, except for the recipient’s name.

The resident has no known connection to Vaughn, according to the GOP caucus. Meanwhile, Vaughn remains in prison at the Central Virginia Correctional Unit in Chesterfield County, serving a 40-year sentence with 37 years suspended.

Vaughn was charged in Pearisburg in May 2023 with “Drugs: Manufacture/Distribute; Schedule I or II; Second Offense,” according to state correctional records. She was sentenced in January 2025.

Fox News Digital sought comment from Vaughn and prison officials. The prison referred the inquiry to the Virginia Department of Corrections, which acknowledged receiving the request.

Virginia House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, a Republican, demanded an explanation from Spanberger.

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“Restoring the rights of the dead is a failure. Restoring the rights of a dog is an embarrassment,” Kilgore said, citing previous cases.

“Restoring the rights of someone still incarcerated on a felony conviction would represent a new level of carelessness. The Governor owes Virginia answers, and soon,” Kilgore said.

Garrett did not respond to a request for comment but has previously criticized the administration’s handling of voting rights restoration.

The letter signed by Spanberger and Mundon-King stated that the administration had a “completed review of the particulars of [Vaughn’s] case.”

Garrett recently pointed to a lawsuit filed by former Virginia House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford, challenging then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s attempt to restore voting rights to felons through a “big, blanket order.” The Virginia Supreme Court ruled that restoration decisions must be made individually, a precedent Garrett argues is relevant to the current controversy.

“[L]ook at the letters coming out of Governor Spanberger’s office. Every one of them claims the administration ‘reviewed the particulars of your individual case,” Garrett said, citing the previous letter addressed to “Biscuit Rigsby,” a dog in his district.

“They know the rule. They’re just betting no one notices the gap between what the letters say and what actually happened,” said Garrett.

Spanberger and Mundon-King did not respond to requests for comment.

Spanberger has publicly described her restoration efforts as benefiting “people who had previously been convicted of a felony, had served their time, returned home, and simply wanted the dignity of being able to fully participate in our democracy,” a description that does not apply to Vaughn, who remains incarcerated.

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The voting rights amendment approved by Virginia voters on Nov. 3 also limits automatic restoration to people who have been “once released from incarceration.”

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The amendment provides for restoration without requiring individual action by the governor. It excludes people “serving a sentence of incarceration for a felony” and those who “do not understand the act of voting.”

Top Democrats are lining up behind Republican Rep. Thomas Massie’s effort to impeach War Secretary Pete Hegseth, signaling that the fight could continue when Democrats take control of Congress in January.

“Hard yes on the Hegseth impeachment resolution,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said ahead of its introduction.

The Democratic reactions online telegraph an appetite to scrutinize Trump’s administration through congressional power once their majorities are formally sworn in in January, at the start of the 120th Congress.

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Massie himself framed the effort as likely to be repeated in the new year.

“My Hegseth impeachment resolution is a much gentler version of what’s coming when Dems control Congress,” Massie said.

Already, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas — who has repeatedly introduced impeachment resolutions against President Donald Trump — urged his colleagues to expand their horizons for impeachment moments after Massie introduced his resolution.

“If the Constitution is to be honored and Congress respected, a president whom many members of Congress have declared impeachable must be impeached. Failure to do so would be another step toward making the Constitution meaningless and Congress powerless,” Green wrote online.

Massie is filing eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth, accusing him of violating the War Powers Resolution in Iran and Yemen, failing to prevent civilian casualties, using lethal force in an extrajudicial manner, suppressing free speech and kidnapping a sovereign foreign leader without congressional authorization with the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Although he didn’t mention Massie by name, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., echoed Jeffries’ enthusiasm.

“The Senate needs to put Pete Hegseth on trial so we can remove him for his catastrophic failure in Iran,” Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor.

Even beyond a review of Hegseth’s record as war secretary, some Democrats argued that removing Hegseth would help end the conflict — a war that Democrats believe has extended far beyond Trump’s power to use the military in a conflict without a declaration of war from Congress.

“Impeach Hegseth. End the war,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said in a post to X.

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Calls for Hegseth’s impeachment have circulated among Democrats for months. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., has frequently called for Hegseth to step down.

“It’s way past time,” Omar, who shares her home state of Minnesota with Hegseth, said in September.

“He has made a mockery of our country; it risks our national security and it’s losing us respect.”

On Monday afternoon, Omar doubled down on those calls, arguing that Hegseth had operated beyond the boundaries of his office in conducting strikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela for allegedly carrying narcotics.

“Pete Hegseth has grossly abused his position as Secretary of Defense. He is waging an illegal war in Iran, conducting extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean and continues to put innocent civilians in harm’s way,” Omar said.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, echoed Omar’s list of grievances.

“He has caused the military and the members therein to have the lowest morale we’ve seen by his actions — firing individuals just based upon just cultural issues, basically. That kind of thing is not who we want to be a representative of us in the United States defense, and I think he should resign. And if I have to vote on it, whether it’s today or tomorrow or next week, to say that he should be impeached, I will vote so,” Meeks said on Tuesday.

When asked if Democrats should renew the effort in January should Massie’s resolution face defeat, Meeks hinted that he believed so.

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“I’m not going to let it go,” Meeks said. “We’re going to continue to dig into him, his involvement, his advice that led us to this illegal war in the first place.”

The House must approve articles of impeachment, and the Senate must vote to convict Hegseth for him to be removed from office.

The resolution can clear the House with a simple majority but requires two-thirds of senators to affirm a guilty verdict.

President Donald Trump isn’t backing off his pressure campaign against Iran despite claims the conflict contributed to sweeping Republican losses in last week’s midterm elections.

In fact, Trump is doubling down by expanding U.S. efforts to choke off the trade routes Tehran increasingly relies on as it tries to rebuild its military in the midst of war.

The new effort, dubbed Task Force Iron Gate, takes aim at a vulnerability that has persisted despite the U.S. naval blockade: the land and Caspian Sea routes Iran can use to bring in goods, dual-use technology and military supplies beyond the reach of American warships.

That approach, one expert claims, fits into a broader administration strategy of tightening the squeeze on Tehran while stopping short of restarting full-scale military operations. Meanwhile, others caution that it could produce escalation rather than an immediate diplomatic breakthrough.

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“We have Operation Iron Gate that just went into effect. That means nothing comes in by land,” Trump said Sunday.

But the roughly 20-person task force established at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa is taking a quieter approach than Trump’s sweeping description might suggest.

“This is not a deployable special operation task force,” Farzin Nadimi, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Fox News Digital, describing Iron Gate instead as a “fusion cell” coordinating military, civilian and intelligence efforts.

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Nadimi said its immediate role is likely to center on gathering intelligence about activity along Iran’s borders and building cooperation in the region that could support sanctions and other efforts to disrupt the flow of goods.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who heads the department responsible for spearheading the administration’s diplomatic foreign agenda, supports taking action that could decrease military escalation.

“We don’t need to conduct military strikes if we’re achieving the same objective through economic means and economic pressure,” Rubio told reporters on Tuesday.

He rejected the suggestion that the U.S. and Iran were at a stalemate, arguing that sanctions, the naval blockade and other measures were steadily weakening Tehran.

“They’re bleeding. They’re bleeding economically,” Rubio said. “It is an increased pressure on Iran that continues to grow every day.”

The push comes a week after an election in which the war proved a political liability for Republicans.

The Iran war was a crucial factor in the House vote for 34% of voters, according to the Fox News Voter Poll, while about six in 10 said the U.S. had made the wrong decision to take military action against Iran.

A separate Fox News/NORC survey conducted around Election Day found 68% said avoiding a prolonged military conflict in Iran was very important. When forced to choose, 61% said ending U.S. military involvement to lower gas prices was more important than restarting military action to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, while 35% chose restarting military action.

Yet four days after the election, CENTCOM announced Iron Gate, extending the administration’s pressure campaign to the land routes Tehran could use to blunt the effects of the naval blockade.

CENTCOM said the task force would coordinate efforts to disrupt advanced weapons, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials and illicit revenue moving across Iran’s land borders and the Caspian Sea.

“We will not allow the Iranian regime to rebuild its weapons factories or replenish its arsenal with materials smuggled across its borders,” CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said in announcing the task force.

CENTCOM declined to provide additional details about how Iron Gate would operate beyond its announcement.

The challenge is the sheer scale of the territory involved.

Iran shares land borders with Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan, spanning roughly 6,000 kilometers, according to Nadimi. While it has dozens of official border crossings, goods can also be smuggled through mountainous and desert terrain.

“It will be extremely difficult to know where and how things get in or out of Iran,” Nadimi said.

Much of Iron Gate’s effectiveness will also depend on governments outside Iran.

Nadimi said the task force could build relationships with military and intelligence services in neighboring countries to identify and disrupt suspicious shipments. Turkey and Pakistan have already placed some limits on goods moving across their borders with Iran, he said, contributing to long truck lines and higher shipping costs.

But even if neighboring governments cooperate, Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are likely to look for ways around the restrictions.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the effort should not be judged by whether Washington can completely eliminate Iran’s overland trade.

“That is not going to mean zeroing out this trade overnight,” Taleblu told Fox News Digital. Instead, he said the goal is to increase the cost of moving goods, pressure the foreign companies and individuals facilitating Iranian trade and give Washington more leverage over Tehran.

“This is literally akin to boxing in the Islamic Republic,” he said.

The routes have taken on added importance as Iran’s other avenues to the outside world have narrowed.

Taleblu said Iran’s missile program remains dependent on foreign inputs including fuel precursors and high-strength steel. China and Russia are important to those flows, he said, but Iraq, Turkey and Pakistan also represent important regional routes.

Nadimi described effectively restricting Iran’s land trade as a “mid- to long-term project” and predicted Tehran would initially “become more aggressive” as the pressure mounts.

Taleblu issued a similar warning.

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“It is entirely plausible that you squeeze them hard enough that they feel like the only way to throw off the strangulation is to throw a punch,” he said.

That leaves the administration trying to increase its leverage over Iran without reigniting the full-scale fighting voters strongly signaled they wanted to avoid — while Trump has publicly described the objective in much starker terms.

“Nothing comes in by land.”

A newly elected Democratic socialist congressman from Philadelphia did not respond to questions about a boycott targeting Jewish-owned businesses in the city, even as prominent Pennsylvania Democrats condemned the demonstration, which coincided with the anniversary of Kristallnacht.

Rep.-elect Christopher Rabb, D-Pa., who currently represents part of Northwest Philadelphia in the state House, did not respond to requests for comment about the boycott, which drew a large counterprotest supporting Jewish residents and businesses in Rittenhouse Square.

A staff member at Rabb’s Harrisburg office acknowledged Fox News Digital’s inquiry and the two-hour deadline for a response. Fox News Digital also contacted Rabb’s Harrisburg and campaign offices by email.

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Over the weekend, the left-wing cycling group Philly Bike on Your Left helped organize a boycott targeting Jewish-owned businesses in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square neighborhood.

Flyers promoting the rally carried the slogans “No business for Zionists” and “Not in our city,” according to published reports. Philly Bike on Your Left could not immediately be reached for comment. Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, refers to the November 1938 Nazi-organized attacks on Jews, synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses across Germany and Austria.

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Rabb has been an outspoken critic of Israel. He previously declared that the “Nakba never ended” — a reference to the displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war — and has appeared with anti-Israel streamer Hasan Piker. Rabb has also called for Pennsylvania and the federal government to divest from Israel and participated in “war criminal” protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the United Nations.

Rabb’s lack of response contrasted with public condemnations from several prominent Pennsylvania Democrats, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson and Sen. John Fetterman.

Rabb currently represents part of Northwest Philadelphia in the state legislature but is set to represent a much larger portion of the city in Congress, including Center City and Rittenhouse Square, where the boycott took place.

Fox News Digital asked Rabb whether he supports the boycott’s objectives, whether Jewish-owned businesses should be targeted over the Israeli government’s actions and whether he agrees with fellow Democrats who condemned the demonstration, including progressive Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.

Krasner noted the boycott’s proximity to the anniversary of Kristallnacht and described the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel as a “terrorist attack”. He also emphasized that “there is a difference between the leadership of a country and the people who reside there.”

He drew a comparison between criticism of Netanyahu and opposition to President Donald Trump, arguing that people should not be held responsible for the actions of their political leaders.

“Donald Trump didn’t do so well in this last election. Are all Americans the same as Donald Trump? Can they all be blamed for the things that he has done — is that fair?” he said, adding that legitimate demonstrations should not include epithets such as “ZioBusiness” — language he compared to rhetoric used by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

Although the boycott drew support from socialist activists, the Philadelphia chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America denied organizing or endorsing the demonstration, telling Fox News Digital that the group had no official involvement.

The group nevertheless criticized Shapiro, Johnson and Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., accusing them of participating in a “chorus of bad-faith and dangerous conflation of antisemitism with anti-Zionism and invoking comparisons of Kristallnacht that trivialize trauma and suppress political speech.”

GAZA-BORN DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST LAUNCHES PRIMARY BID AGAINST SEN JOHN FETTERMAN

“Democratic voters sent a resounding message to a Trump administration engaged in violent acts of war abroad and at home… Yet in the wake of these historic victories, establishment Democrats have retreated to the very playbook that cost them the election in 2024.”

Boyle publicly condemned the planned boycott Thursday, issuing a statement condemning the plans as anti-Semitism .

“[T]argeting local businesses simply because they are Jewish-owned is simply wrong. Indeed, it is antisemitism,” Boyle said. “It evokes the darkest chapters of history, including the Nazi boycotts of Jewish businesses in the 1930s and Kristallnacht.”

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“Philadelphia is a city that welcomes people of all backgrounds. This kind of hatred and discrimination has no place in our city, and I strongly condemn it.”

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The controversy presents an early test for Rabb as he prepares to represent a congressional district that includes both the site of the boycott and the Jewish-owned businesses targeted by demonstrators.

EXCLUSIVE: President Donald Trump is closing in on a new press secretary, and administration insiders are advocating for a person who will break the mold

“His name has been brought up to the president by many people,” a source close to the president told Fox News Digital Tuesday, referring to conservative commentator Ben Ferguson.

“[Trump’s] instincts are to pick a man,” the source said. “Which many people have told him that’s a good idea.”

LEAVITT OPENS UP ON HELPING TRUMP FIND NEW PRESS SECRETARY AFTER ZACHARIA DEBACLE: ‘WAS NOT FOR HER’

The source said Trump intends to choose someone to fill the vacant position soon and that he values the role of press secretary in the administration.

A second person familiar with the matter confirmed Trump is planning to pick a man as his next press secretary and said Ferguson is a frontrunner.

The last seven press secretaries, spanning Trump’s second term, former President Joe Biden’s single term and Trump’s first term have all been women. Sean Spicer was the last man to serve in the role. He was Trump’s first press secretary from January 2017 to June of that same year. He was replaced by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is now governor of Arkansas.

Ferguson is a conservative commentator who hosts the nationally syndicated radio show, “The Ben Ferguson Show.” He’s also a political commentator on CNN.

But Trump is still weighing his options.

“POTUS is not sold on the idea,” the source said of Ferguson. “I think it’s safe to say [Ferguson is] pursuing the job, and the president is aware.”

Scott Jennings, the conservative CNN contributor who frequently appears on “Newsnight with Abby Phillip” and worked in former President George W. Bush’s administration, is also in the running for the job.

“The president keeps going back and forth on Scott Jennings,” the source said. “I don’t think it will happen.”

A few other names have been floated but not emerged as clear picks for the job. This includes White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, Breitbart chief Matthew Boyle and Ari Fleischer, who was White House press secretary during President George W. Bush’s first term.

Many woman have also made the short list, but the two sources who spoke with Fox News Digital insist the next person to hold the job will likely be a man.

ALINA HABBA SHUTS DOWN SPECULATION SHE COULD REPLACE KAROLINE LEAVITT AS WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY

Ferguson has support from within the Trump administration, Fox News Digital has learned.

“Ben is one of loudest supporters of President Trump in the 21st century,” a senior White House official told Fox News Digital. “While many supporters don’t have the courage to take to the fake news, Ben consistently walks into the lion’s den and faces the media bias head on.”

The official said Ferguson runs circles around some people who are currently paid to defend Trump.

JEN PSAKI MOCKS TRUMP’S NEW PRESS SECRETARY, QUESTIONS IF SHE’S A ‘POTENTIALLY FAKE LAWYER’

“His resumé and experience are exactly what the administration will need when they face a Congress hell-bent on dismantling our efforts to Make America Great Again,” the official continued.

Another Trump administration official echoed that sentiment, claiming, “Ben has always been a skilled and talented commentator.”

“He and Scott are screamed at by the radical left everyday as they defend the president to a hostile audience,” the official said, adding that the hostility the pair face on cable news is not unlike what they would face standing behind the podium in the White House press briefing room.

“The president needs a tireless, talented communicator at the podium who’ll relay his success for the nation and how he’ll be a bulwark against Democrats’ attempts to dismantle our Republic,” the official said.

The White House has been without a press secretary since Oct. 13, when Katie Zacharia left the job at Trump’s urging after only a week.

Zacharia’s brief tenure was marked by controversy over her claims to be an attorney and a disastrous press conference that lasted only 14 minutes and was widely condemned as a train wreck.

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She was selected to replace Karoline Leavitt at the podium after the former press secretary served as a Trump world powerhouse through the 2024 campaign and into his first year-and-a-half back in office.

Leavitt resigned from the post in August after returning from maternity leave, citing a desire to spend more time with her growing family.

Alaska’s still too-close-to-call Senate race is expected to deliver another batch of ballot results Tuesday night after Monday’s latest ballot drop expanded Democratic nominee Mary Peltola’s lead over incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan to 2,517 first-choice votes.

Still current as of Tuesday midday ET, Peltola stands at 48.6% (106,321 votes) to Sullivan’s 47.5% (103,804) in the ranked-choice voting system that will kick in if neither candidate gets across the 50% threshold.

The controversial race, punctuated by the “Decoy Dan” scheme exposed by The New York Times, has Republican Gerald Heikes at 2.2% (4,865) and independent Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. at 1.7% (3,651 votes). Roughly 75–76% of the expected vote is in, with tens of thousands of early, absentee and questioned ballots still to be counted.

ALASKA SENATE FIGHT HEATS UP AS SULLIVAN MOVES TO BLOCK PELTOLA LAWSUIT OVER REJECTED ABSENTEE BALLOT RECORDS

“After every vote is counted, it is clear that Mary Peltola will be elected Alaska’s next United States Senator,” Peltola campaign manager Cheryl Bruce wrote in a statement Tuesday morning after that previous tranche of votes.

“Mary won today’s votes by a margin of 68-30, reflecting major support in key areas from Anchorage and Chevak. This overwhelming margin further strengthens Mary’s path to victory, and Mary is looking forward to continuing her relentless fight to lower costs and put Alaska first in the United States Senate after all votes are counted.”

Monday’s drop added nearly 5,000 ballots and marked a shift from the razor-thin, 637-vote Peltola edge that had held for days after Election Day.

The incumbent Sullivan and President Donald Trump have both suggested if Peltola does not get to 50% of the vote and ranked-choice voting (RCV) goes to rounds two or three that the Republican would absorb secondary voting strength in the system.

DOJ FACES ‘HEAVY LIFT’ IN ALASKA ELECTION APPEAL AS SEPARATE CRIMINAL PROBE CONTINUES

Under Alaska’s system, if no candidate reaches a majority of first-choice votes, the lowest finisher is eliminated and ballots transfer according to voters’ rankings until one candidate surpasses 50%. Right now, that would be the other Dan Sullivan, which might help Peltola break 50%.

The Official RCV tabulation is scheduled for Nov. 18 after the overseas absentee deadline.

The slow pace matches the timeline Gov. Mike Dunleavy described in an interview Sunday. He called the state’s process “very confusing” and “a slow system,” pointing to significant ballot dumps expected Friday, Nov. 13, and Wednesday, Nov. 18.

Dunleavy has also continued an investigation into the “Decoy Dan” candidacy of Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., which some Republicans allege was intended to siphon votes from the incumbent; the governor has said the Division of Elections and the Department of Justice are reviewing related questions.

TRUMP ADMIN PUTS ALLEGED ‘DECOY DAN’ CONSPIRATORS ON NOTICE IN ALASKA ELECTION SPOILER PROBE

“We’re still in the process of bringing in votes and counting votes,” Dunleavy said Sunday. “And we are in the midst of investigations as to determine if there was any wrongdoing, especially anything that might resemble perjury or, you know, a misrepresentation of individual’s intent on how they wanted their candidacy to be placed on the ballot.”

Other statewide races remain fluid on the same ballot count:

MURKOWSKI SNUBS TRUMP-BACKED ALASKA CANDIDATE, ENDORSES DEMOCRAT FOR GOVERNOR

• Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins leads the open governor’s race at 49.6% of the vote, compared to Republican Bernadette Wilson at just 28.9%.
• Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, holds a clear first-choice edge at 49.19% in the U.S. House race.
• Ballot Measure 2, which would repeal open primaries and ranked-choice voting, trails with roughly 52.3% voting “no” against repeal to keep the system in place for future elections.

Certification is set for Nov. 25.

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Democrats have won control of the Senate for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s final term, holding a 54-44 edge with both Alaska and the Mississippi Senate races still too close to call. Democrat Scott Colom leads incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., by about 2,500 votes (49.08%-48.81 %).

If Democrats win both those seats, their party would hold a 56-44 edge in the upper chamber, having gone 9-0 in seats flipped in these midterms.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin delivered a blunt message on immigration policy Tuesday, promising “zero change” following midterm elections that dealt a crushing blow to the Republican Party.

Mullin made the remarks during an appearance on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” where host Laura Ingraham brought up President Donald Trump suggesting Republicans work with Democrats.

“Amnesty will never be on the table,” Mullin said.

WHITE HOUSE DOUBLES DOWN AFTER TRUMP ANGERS BASE BY FLOATING ILLEGAL ALIEN DEAL WITH DEMS

He noted that the agency has been deporting roughly 3,600 individuals a day and has no plans to slow down.

“We haven’t slowed down at all. We’ve re-prioritize what we’re doing by going after the worst of the worst, by getting the murderers and the rapists and child predators and drug bankers and cartel members,” he added.

While Democrats secured majorities in both the House and Senate during the midterm elections, Mullin said Republicans cannot trust the opposing party to work with them.

“You can’t trust the Democrat Party we’ve been working with at all. You can’t, because nothing’s enough for them,” he said.

He also criticized the Democratic Party’s leadership, pointing to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and accusing the group of wanting to “defund the country.”

“You got DSA that’s running the Democrat Party right now. They want to defund my agency, the Department of Homeland Security,” he said.

BORDER DEM POISED TO WIELD ICE PURSE STRINGS REJECTS SOCIALIST ‘DEFUND’ PUSH

“You want to defund the country that is the agency that’s tasked with keeping our homeland safe? Doesn’t make any sense,” he added.

Mullin also recalled Trump’s comments about using his veto power if Democrats pass measures he opposes.

“The president has made it very clear he controls the veto. So if they were to send something over that the president and the Republicans don’t agree with, he can veto it, and he will veto it,” he said.

“The president will not sign anything that isn’t in the right movement for this country and the Republican Party.”

Mullin also argued that maintaining a strong immigration policy is imperative to national security.

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“You can’t have a secured nation and you can’t have a secured city if you don’t know who’s in your country,” he said.

A Shanghai-based tycoon known for pushing Chinese Communist Party talking points, whose activist network is flooding Capitol Hill this week, has directly funded some of the most powerful progressives in Congress, including members of “The Squad.”

Federal Election Commission records show that Neville Roy Singham and his wife, CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans, have given more than a combined $47,000 to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Chuy García, D-Ill.

Omar’s campaign took $4,200 from the couple from 2019 to 2023, according to FEC records. Singham gave her campaign $2,700 in March 2019, just weeks after she took office, and Evans gave $1,500 in two contributions in November and December 2023. None of it has been refunded.

HOUSE PANEL TO PROBE FOREIGN ‘TROJAN HORSES’ AS SINGHAM SCRUTINY WIDENS

Sanders’ campaigns have taken in at least $6,800 from the couple, according to FEC records, most of it for his presidential bids. Singham gave $2,700 to Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. Evans gave the 2016 campaign $2,800, of which it refunded $200, and at least $252 to his 2020 campaign in 2019. She also gave $1,250 to his Senate campaign committee, Friends of Bernie Sanders, in 2011.

García’s campaign took in $1,000 from Singham in August 2018, according to FEC records. He was running for his first term in Congress at the time, after winning the Democratic primary for Illinois’ 4th Congressional District, Singham’s home city of Chicago. The campaign has not refunded the contribution.

Jayapal has received more from the couple than any other member of Congress, a net $35,700 from 2016 to 2022, according to FEC records. Singham gave her campaign $17,800 and none of it was refunded. Evans gave $22,900, and the campaign refunded $5,000 of it in three payments between 2020 and 2023, leaving $17,900. Most of the couple’s money came in 2019 and 2021, including back-to-back maximum contributions from Singham in both years.

Under Federal Election Commission rules, a campaign has 10 days to decide whether to deposit a check or return it.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s, D-NY, campaign returned a $500 contribution from Evans through ActBlue on the day it arrived, Aug. 4, 2018, during her first run for Congress.

Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Sanders, Jayapal, García and Ocasio-Cortez and Omar’s office for comment but did not receive responses.

DHS, WAR DEPT JOIN PROBE INTO SINGHAM NETWORK ALLEGEDLY SOWING DISCORD IN US

After his wedding to Evans in 2017 and the sale of ThoughtWorks, the technology company he founded, Singham directed $285 million to nonprofits and media organizations, according to a Fox News Digital investigation. The People’s Forum received $22.4 million from Singham, while CodePink received $1.33 million. BreakThrough BT Media Inc., which operates BreakThrough News, received $1.098 million, according to tax filings. Singham and his wife, who are both American citizens, now live in Shanghai, China.

Organizations within the Singham network regularly participate in staged anti-ICE, anti-capitalist, anti-data centers and anti-Israel protests – many of which garner national and social media coverage.

FROM AUSTIN TO NEW YORK, PRO-CHINA NETWORK FUELS WEEK OF ANTI-US PROTESTS AS XI MEETS TRUMP

Last month, Evans and CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin embarked on a China propaganda tour across the communist country.

The trip, according to an event promotion link for sign-up on the CodePink website, was 12 days and 11 nights in Shanghai, Chongqing, Zunyi, Loushanguan, Maotai Village and Guiyang with the cost of attendance between $3,000 and $4,000 depending on the total number of participants. The CodePink website said attendees will be “greeted by local Shanghai comrades,” and a tour with Benjamin and Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans is included.

“Explore China’s revolutionary history, while marveling at high-tech infrastructure and modern socialist development,” the event description reads. “Highlights include Red Memorials, Historical Re-Enactments and Museums, Socialist Infrastructure, and Rural Revitalization.”

Singham’s wife’s California-based nonprofit does not shy away from their mission to rebrand China as an ally – displaying the tagline “China is not our enemy” on their website while actively promoting the “revolutionary history” of the communist country.

HOUSE PANEL SUBPOENAS 3 LEFT-WING GROUPS IN PROBE OF $39M TIED TO MARXIST TYCOON NEVILLE SINGHAM

A slew of federal and congressional investigations have been opened into the Singham network, including a grand jury probe led by the Department of Justice and the Southern District of New York – though Singham has yet to be charged with any crime.

During a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia committee hearing in September, Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, cited research saying Singham shares premises with Maku Cultural Communication, a Chinese communications firm that promotes a favorable image of China, and was photographed attending a Chinese Communist Party strategic communications workshop in 2023.

JIM BANKS, GOP LAWMAKERS RALLY BEHIND DOJ PROBE INTO ALLEGED CCP-LINKED FUNDING NETWORK

In a video that Fox News Digital unearthed, Singham stood at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Shanghai during a November 2025 conference and expressed support for “a new world order that is based on multilateralism that President Xi and the CPC [Communist Party of China] and China have proposed.”

Earlier this year, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled to New York City for a meeting with Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon, and sources told Fox News Digital that Bessent gave a blunt ultimatum to Solomon.

Bessent told Solomon that Goldman Sachs could face scrutiny for alleged conspiracy in the funneling of the Singham money and urged Solomon to cooperate with federal investigators.

A person familiar with the meeting told Fox News Digital that the discussion wasn’t contentious and that Solomon readily agreed to pledge his cooperation with the Justice Department investigation. A spokesperson for the bank said “all distributions from Mr. Singham’s donor-advised fund were made to legal nonprofits, as determined by the IRS. There have been no distributions from the account since August 2023, and it was closed in early 2024.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to Singham, CodePink and Evans but did not receive responses.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Tuesday that his office issued an investigative subpoena to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) to investigate whether the organization accepted contributions from “foreign sources of concern,” including entities in Cuba and China.

“Our laws prohibit accepting contributions from foreign sources of concern,” Uthmeier said in a video statement. “We will not allow foreign adversaries to influence Florida through the backdoor of non-private fundraising.”

The subpoena demands documents related to recent DSA delegations to China and Cuba, where organization members met with Cuban government officials, to determine if the DSA violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, according to Uthmeier.

DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA ACTIVISTS SIGNED PLEDGE TO SUPPORT, DEFEND ‘CHINESE SOCIALISM’

Uthmeier did not detail specific criminal allegations or name individuals accused of violating state law.

The DSA has repeatedly praised the Cuban regime and routinely advocates for lifting American sanctions and ending the U.S. embargo against Havana.

RNC WARNS DEMOCRATS FACE ‘POLITICAL SUICIDE’ AFTER DSA PRAISES FIDEL CASTRO, DEMANDS RUBIO’S PROSECUTION

The organization has sent multiple delegations to Cuba in recent years. During a 2023 trip, DSA members met privately with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and sought to establish formal communication channels with government ministries, according to a State Department report released in July.

The legal action comes shortly after several DSA-backed candidates won races across federal, state, and local levels in last week’s elections.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the DSA for comment.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed back against an impeachment effort Tuesday, accusing lawmakers of trying to turn disagreements over President Donald Trump’s military policies into impeachable offenses.

Congress is preparing to vote on eight articles alleging the Pentagon chief violated federal law and abused his authority.

“One disgruntled congressman wants to shred it over policy disagreements. That’s what it is: policy disagreements, not high crimes, not misdemeanors, not treason, not bribery, not the kinds of offenses the founders intended when they wrote the impeachment clause,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon press conference Tuesday morning.

“The proper remedy for a policy disagreement, it’s legislation, it’s debate, it’s the next presidential election,” he added.

But the impeachment resolution introduced Monday by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., goes beyond objections to the administration’s military strategy. It alleges that Hegseth violated congressional war powers, authorized unlawful military operations and retaliated against a sitting senator for exercising his constitutional rights.

HEGSETH RIPS IMPEACHMENT PUSH FROM OUTGOING REPUBLICAN AS ‘FARCE,’ ‘STUNT’

The clash puts the limits of impeachment at the center of a growing fight over Trump’s national security agenda, testing whether lawmakers can make a constitutional case for removing Hegseth or are just using impeachment to challenge military and policy decisions they oppose.

Massie’s eight articles center on several of the Trump administration’s most controversial national security decisions, with three accusing Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution during the war against Iran.

The outgoing Kentucky Republican alleges that Hegseth initiated hostilities without congressional authorization, continued military operations after Congress directed their termination and disregarded statutory deadlines requiring the withdrawal of U.S. forces.

Other articles accuse Hegseth of failing to comply with laws intended to minimize civilian casualties, including in connection with a strike on an Iranian school, and conducting unlawful maritime strikes against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean.

7 REPUBLICANS REBEL AGAINST TRUMP, VOTE WITH DEMS TO REIN IN IRAN WAR POWERS

The resolution also alleges that Hegseth retaliated against Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., over a video urging service members to refuse unlawful orders, and unlawfully directed military operations in Yemen and the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Massie has rejected the suggestion that the impeachment effort is simply a referendum on Hegseth’s job performance or the administration’s military policies.

“The question is whether he committed impeachable acts,” Massie wrote on X Monday. “And the answer is yes, eight times.”

Constitutional law scholar Jonathan Turley largely agreed that the impeachment effort was on shaky ground, arguing that six of Massie’s eight articles should be dismissed outright.

“In my view, six of the eight articles should be nonstarters, including the Iranian articles,” Turley wrote on X Tuesday.

Turley acknowledged that Congress has a legitimate constitutional interest in asserting its war powers, but argued that Massie was attempting to use impeachment to settle a longstanding dispute over presidential authority. Presidents of both parties, including Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, have claimed broad authority to launch military operations without congressional approval, he noted.

“Massie is not going to ‘litigate’ the matter through impeachments,” Turley wrote, arguing that Trump was exercising authority long claimed by his predecessors.

GOP REP THOMAS MASSIE INTRODUCES 8 ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST WAR SECRETARY PETE HEGSETH

Vice President JD Vance, however, argued Tuesday that lawmakers were using impeachment as a substitute for exercising their legislative powers.

“Has Pete Hegseth committed impeachable crimes? The question is absurd and the answer is: obviously not,” Vance wrote on X.

“Congress has so many tools for registering its policy disagreements. Rather than use them, they’re going to try to impeach Pete Hegseth,” he continued.

Vance suggested the effort was driven less by the war with Iran than by opposition to Hegseth’s broader changes at the Pentagon, including shifting U.S. forces away from Europe and Ukraine and reorganizing the military’s senior leadership.

TRUMP’S PENTAGON SHAKE-UP REVIVES A PRESIDENTIAL POWER PLAY WITH A LONG HISTORY

“This isn’t about Iran, this is about the fact that Pete took on the bureaucracy at the Pentagon,” Vance wrote.

DRAMATIC FOOTAGE SHOWS ALLEGED NARCO BOAT ERUPT IN FIREBALL DURING US MILITARY STRIKE

Turley dismissed the article of impeachment concerning Maduro’s capture, pointing to court precedent involving the U.S. seizure of former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega.

But Turley drew a distinction between those disputes over executive authority and two allegations he considered more serious: the maritime strikes against suspected drug traffickers and Hegseth’s treatment of Sen. Mark Kelly.

“The ‘double tap’ allegation would be a war crime, if true,” Turley wrote, noting that Trump and Hegseth have denied issuing such orders.

The effort to punish Kelly over a video urging troops to refuse unlawful orders also raised serious questions about a sitting senator’s free speech rights and potential undue command influence, Turley argued.

Still, he stopped short of concluding that either allegation met the constitutional threshold for impeachment, saying more evidence was needed.

DEMOCRATS RALLY BEHIND GOP LAWMAKER’S HEGSETH IMPEACHMENT PUSH, SIGNAL MORE TO COME IN JANUARY

“I will be looking for the underlying evidence on those two articles,” he wrote, describing both as potentially problematic but difficult to establish as “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

The Constitution authorizes impeachment for treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors, a standard that does not require proof of a criminal offense. Congress has historically treated serious abuses of official power as potential grounds for impeachment, though the precise boundaries remain contested.

That distinction complicates the argument that the allegations can be dismissed simply because they involve military policy. Lawmakers can disagree with a defense secretary’s decisions without those disagreements constituting impeachable misconduct, but allegations that an official knowingly violated the law or abused the powers of his office present a different constitutional question.

Hegseth, meanwhile, has maintained that the operations cited in the resolution were lawful and directed by the president.

“I stand behind every one of these operations. I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow,” Hegseth said Tuesday.

President Trump also rallied behind his defense secretary following the press conference, praising his performance and attacking Massie, who lost his Republican primary earlier this year.

“In just under two years, Secretary Hegseth has worked side-by-side with President Trump to restore American power on the world stage, build the strongest military in generations, and instill a warrior ethos at the Pentagon. President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have taken bold, necessary action to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop a nuclear weapon, bring narco-terrorist Nicolás Maduro to American justice, and defend our homeland from dangerous terrorists and cartels – saving American lives,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital.

“This spectacle only proves what we’ve known all along: Thomas Massie and the Democrats are far more interested in playing political games than working to improve the lives of the American people,” Wales added.

Trump Cabinet officials rallied behind Hegseth, with Collins, Burgum, Rollins, Mullin and Turner posting messages of support on social media. Rubio and Blanche also defended Hegseth publicly.

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Rubio said he carried out Trump’s orders “quite effectively” and Blanche rejected claims that he had done anything illegal or wrong.

The House is expected to vote Tuesday evening on whether to advance Massie’s impeachment resolution. Impeachment would require a simple majority in the House, but removing Hegseth from office would require conviction by a two-thirds majority in the Senate.

The vote will test whether lawmakers view the allegations as grounds for impeachment or a dispute better addressed through Congress’s legislative and oversight powers.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is safe from an impeachment vote in the House of Representatives after GOP leaders successfully stopped a looming vote led by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.

A vote to refer Massie’s resolution to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration — which effectively killed it in its tracks — passed on Tuesday evening by a 211-204 margin, averting a potential impeachment vote on Wednesday.

The GOP had been worried about having a significant number of absences on their side after their brutal midterm election performance last week, but it appears Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wrangled one more victory on his way out the leadership door.

HEGSETH IMPEACHMENT VOTE LOOMS AS HOUSE REPUBLICANS PRIVATELY WARN IT COULD PASS

Massie’s resolution is a wide-ranging piece of legislation accusing Hegseth of misusing his office via eight impeachment articles, spanning issues including the Iran war, U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and his retaliation against Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., over a video calling on troops to disobey “unlawful orders.”

Hegseth railed against the effort and criticized Massie personally during a news conference Tuesday morning.

HEGSETH LABELS IMPEACHMENT PUSH A POLICY DISPUTE, BUT DO LAWMAKERS’ ALLEGATIONS RISE TO HIGH CRIMES?

“What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting is not oversight, and it’s not accountability. It’s a political spectacle, a personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment,” Hegseth said.

The outgoing Kentucky Republican was able to force Tuesday night’s vote over the objections of House GOP leaders by filing a privileged resolution, a mechanism aimed at bypassing the will of the chamber’s majority. A privileged resolution must be considered within two legislative days of being filed.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: HOW MIDTERMS MAY CHANGE THE HOUSE IMPEACHMENT EQUATION FOR HEGSETH

All Democrats present backed moving forward with the impeachment on Tuesday evening, as expected. All Republicans but Massie voted to kill the resolution.

But some were worried earlier in the day about weak attendance potentially clearing the path for an actual impeachment vote.

“I’m going to vote no,” Rep. Jake Ellzey, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “I don’t know if any Republicans other than Massie will be in support of his articles of impeachment, but I don’t even know how many Republicans will be here by the time of the vote. The real question is how short are we. Numerically, if they’re all here and we’re not, what happens then?”

Ellzey called the impeachment effort “a ridiculous waste of time.”

Even House Republicans who are critical of Hegseth were hesitant to support Massie’s resolution.

“I think it’s an effort to scapegoat Pete Hegseth for Congress shirking their own duty and, frankly, the president taking action that, in my view, is unconstitutional. but it’s also not unprecedented,” Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, who is opposed to the Trump administration’s involvement in Iran, said.

“What would be unprecedented is to hold the secretary of defense accountable for a decision the president makes. Or, frankly, it would have been unprecedented for the secretary of defense to kind of break ranks on something that is clearly not unprecedented in terms of what has become the standard operating procedure for administrations going back to the Korean War.”

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Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a vocal critic of Hegseth’s, told reporters Tuesday, “I’m personally not a fan of the secretary. I don’t think he was the right guy in the job. But, also, when you read Massie’s impeachment, I don’t agree with it.”

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., returned to Capitol Hill this week and brought two lawyers with her following a scandal-plagued fall recess.

Fox News spotted the two attorneys exiting her Washington, D.C., office on Tuesday after what appeared to be a roughly two hour meeting with the congresswoman.

Omar hired two high-profile attorneys — Amy Jeffress and Joshua Matz — in the midst of dueling investigations, both of whom are partners at Heckler Fink LLP. After emerging from Omar’s office on Tuesday, Fox News asked about their confidence in Omar’s defense against the federal government.

The attorneys were also asked about the recent news that both the Obama and Biden administration had been the first to investigate Omar after she claimed that the Trump administration was politically targeting her.

They remained silent.

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This is the first sighting of Omar back on the Hill after two federal departments opened investigations into the Somali-born congresswoman looking into both her immigration status and previous financial filings.

In October, agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) raided her Washington, D.C., home as part of what Fox News Digital learned was an investigation into whether she or her father committed fraud when filling out her immigration paperwork.

She spent the final weeks of her campaign asking for money to defend herself in the investigations and accusing Trump of targeting her for political reasons.

About an hour after Omar’s lawyers exited her office on Tuesday, the congresswoman departed with her husband Tim Mynett.

She was approached by Fox News about the ongoing investigation, including whether she is concerned it could impact her ability to effectively represent her constituents in Congress.

“I am not,” Omar said.

She was then asked if there was any chance she would step down from Congress, despite just winning re-election, to let the investigation “play out.”

The congresswoman smiled and waved at the camera, but did not respond as the elevator doors closed with her inside.

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Omar also refused to respond to Fox’s question of whether she had spoken to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries about the investigation.

The attorneys seen exiting her office earlier, Jeffress and Matz, have both represented highly-raked Democratic elected officials and have taken on multiple cases against President Donald Trump, his allies and supporters.

Jeffress served as former President Joe Biden’s attorney in his lawsuit against the Justice Department earlier this year. She also served as counsel for then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot on Capitol Hill.

She is also married to the U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper of the District of Washington who ruled in May that Trump adding his name to the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center would be illegal.

ILHAN OMAR LASHES OUT AT ‘BIGOT’ TRUMP AFTER WINNING RE-ELECTION DESPITE INVESTIGATION

Matz served as counsel to House Democrats during both failed impeachment attempts against Trump during his first term in office. He also represented E. Jean Carroll in two civil cases against Trump’s denial of her sexual assault claims against him.

He also represented those opposed to the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, which banned teachers from teaching students about gender identity and sexual orientation.

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Omar has not yet formally announced a meeting with any members of Congress about the two ongoing federal probes on her. Her only formal address to the public on the investigations was posting to social media, including a video where she encouraged her supporters to keep sending money in light of the new investigations against her.

Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.

Voters in two Democratic strongholds approved restrictions on transgender participation in girls’ sports last week, delivering rare Republican victories amid a blue wave. But Democratic officials are already discussing ways to change the measures, drawing accusations of hypocrisy from Republicans who point to their support for the “No Kings” movement.

Colorado Gov.-elect Philip Weiser, who also criticized a separate ballot measure restricting gender-related surgeries for minors, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal , D-Wash., both raised objections to the measures approved in their respective states.

At his first post-election news conference, he suggested Colorado’s Democratic-controlled legislature could revisit the voter-approved measures, saying that it is “statutory … and a natural and I believe appropriate role for the legislature to say ‘what are the adjustments that need to be added.”

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Colorado voters approved ballot measures increasing penalties for fentanyl-related offenses, restricting transgender athletes from competing in sports designated for the opposite biological sex and prohibiting gender-related surgeries for minors. The measures passed even as Democrats swept into power across the state.

“I don’t believe it would be acceptable to Colorado to have every student athlete to have to go through full-body examinations or other invasions of privacy,” Weiser added of the sports-related referendum, according to the Denver Post.

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Weiser did not respond to a request for comment.

Republicans in suburban Denver criticized the governor-elect, dubbing him “King Phil I” and characterizing his response as “know[ing] better than Colorado voters in a healthy democracy.”

“But before the ink on the ballots is even dry, Governor-elect Phil Weiser is already signaling that the vote of the people is merely a ‘suggestion’. With Coloradans approving ballot measures to crack down on fentanyl and protect youth sports and children, Weiser walked up to the podium on Wednesday and essentially declared that the will of the majority needs to pass his personal vibe check first,” the Adams County Republican Party said in a statement.

Republicans characterized Weiser’s position as “you voted for it, but I don’t like it…”

“No Kings,” the Adams Republicans added, invoking the protest movement that Weiser has supported through participation in “No Kings” protests. The movement’s demonstrations have criticized President Donald Trump over what organizers characterize as authoritarian conduct.

The Colorado House Republican caucus echoed the sentiment, adding in a statement: “If the Democrats truly believe there should be ‘No Kings’ in America, it is time they take their own advice.”

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Meanwhile, in Washington State, Jayapal condemned a similar measure approved by voters.

Initiative 638 prohibits students defined as “biologically male” from competing in girls’ K-12 school sports and requires students seeking to participate on girls’ teams to provide verification of their biological sex from a health care provider. The measure passed with approximately 56% support in the reliably Democratic state.

Following the election results, multiple local news outlets reported that Jayapal pledged to “take our state back” after voters approved the initiative.

“We’re going to start planning for how we overturn these bad initiatives and how we go back to loving everyone with gender inclusivity the way we have for decades,” she said, according to several reports.

Jayapal did not respond to a request for comment.

Critics also pointed to Jayapal’s past support for “No Kings” protests, accusing her of contradicting her own rhetoric about respecting the will of voters.

One critic highlighted a November 2025 social media post in which Jayapal wrote: “We have democracy for a reason. America doesn’t belong to kings it belongs to the people and we’re going to keep it that way.”

“Rep. Jayapal, this you?” they asked.

Jayapal also faced previous criticism over her support for the “No Kings” movement after praising remarks by Britain’s King Charles III during his visit to the United States.

Washington Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad signaled support for a legal challenge, calling the ballot measure “unconstitutional on its face” and indicating the party would “support [for] organizations planning to challenge it in court.”

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Under Washington’s Constitution, lawmakers cannot repeal a voter-approved initiative during its first two years but can amend it with a two-thirds vote in each legislative chamber. After two years, the legislature can amend or repeal the measure with a simple majority.

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The controversy leaves Democrats in both states confronting a similar political dilemma: whether to preserve the restrictions voters approved or pursue changes through the legislative and judicial processes available to them.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., is accusing President Donald Trump of escalating a coordinated “weaponization” campaign against her after he ordered the Justice Department to examine remarks she made warning young Republicans they could face “a ton of problems” if they joined his administration.

In a Truth Social post over the weekend, President Trump accused Democrats of political weaponization and singled out Slotkin for “go[ing] after all young people that believe in Republican values” in her October remarks. “By copy of this statement, I am ordering the Department of Justice to look into this criminal act, immediately!” Trump wrote.

In a video response posted Monday, Slotkin defended her remarks, saying she was referring to people who might be asked to violate the law or misuse taxpayer dollars and citing her First Amendment rights.

“A couple weeks ago, I talked about how anyone who is violating the law or misusing taxpayer dollars should be held accountable, and if there’s young people who are thinking of joining people who are doing that, they should think twice,” Slotkin said. “If you’re not violating the law — no problem.”

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Slotkin said Trump began targeting her after her October remarks, first by “name-checking” her from the Oval Office before he “really ramped up his coordinated play” following Democrats’ midterm election gains. She also pointed to Attorney General Todd Blanche‘s Sunday television appearances discussing possible investigations. Slotkin said her attorney sent the Justice Department a letter Monday asking, “What are you going to do?”

The Justice Department has not confirmed whether it has opened an investigation into Slotkin. During an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Blanche declined to identify a specific crime when asked whether Democrats’ rhetoric could constitute one, saying, “It depends on what’s said. So, yes, it could be.” 

A DOJ spokesperson separately told NBC News that Slotkin’s comments should be evaluated under the facts and law but did not confirm an investigation.

Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.

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Slotkin’s original remarks also prompted a congressional ethics complaint. Michael Bicksel, a University of Chicago student who first publicized her comments, filed the complaint with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics on Oct. 22.

Bicksel argued that Slotkin had proposed using congressional investigations and potential prosecutions to deter young people from joining a Republican administration, asking the committee to determine whether her comments amounted to “improper conduct which may reflect upon the Senate.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Slotkin for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.

“It’s a coordinated, manufactured response,” Slotkin previously said about the backlash to her remarks concerning young Trump supporters. “They want to intimidate you to be quiet.”

Slotkin made the remarks Oct. 13 during a University of Chicago discussion about how Democrats could exercise congressional power if they regained control of Congress. Fox News Digital previously reported that Slotkin advocated pursuing “signature cases” against people who enabled Trump rather than focusing exclusively on the president. She also argued that the prospect of legal trouble could deter young Republicans from joining his administration.

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The latest dispute follows an earlier Justice Department investigation involving Slotkin and five other Democratic lawmakers who posted a video reminding military personnel and intelligence officials that they were not required to follow unlawful orders. A federal grand jury declined to indict the lawmakers.

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In a letter to Blanche made public Monday, Slotkin’s attorney, Preet Bharara, argued that her remarks were protected by the First Amendment and the Constitution’s speech or debate clause. Bharara demanded that Blanche publicly confirm the Justice Department would not investigate the senator.

“Just like last time, Senator Slotkin will not be deterred,” Bharara wrote. “She will continue to call out corruption by this administration and to exercise her First Amendment rights to speak out against the President’s many abuses of power.”

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, will be President Donald Trump’s top defender in Congress next year after winning a closed-door election for minority leader on Tuesday, sources told Fox News Digital.

Jordan defeated Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., currently the House of Representatives’ No. 2 leader, in what’s believed to be a narrow race. Jordan received 106 votes to Scalise’s 73, sources in the room told Fox News Digital. 

Fox News Digital heard loud, sustained applause from outside in the hallway when Jordan’s win became official.

Republicans huddled for a candidate forum on Tuesday morning where all GOP lawmakers running for leadership positions were peppered with questions by their colleagues.

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Sources inside the room for their Tuesday morning leadership forum said Scalise and Jordan both pitched themselves as the best person to unify the conference, but also signaled they would give a wide berth for lawmakers to “vote their districts,” as one person put it.

The question-and-answer session for House Republicans before electing their leader was largely cordial, Fox News Digital was told. Several people inquired about how both prospective leaders would unify the conference after their midterm losses and how they would handle leaks to journalists, Fox News Digital was told.

Jordan himself told Fox News Digital he believed the forum went well but declined to go further, stating he does not divulge details of closed-door meetings.

The voting body consisted of incumbent House Republicans and GOP members-elect who are projected to win their races from last week’s midterms. Votes were cast via secret ballot, meaning none of those in the room had to reveal who they chose.

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And the results on Tuesday show the House GOP was hungry for change. Jordan’s victory comes fresh off the back of a historic loss for Republicans across both state and federal races.

The magnitude of the losses forced Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to announce he was stepping aside and not seeking another leadership position for the next two years.

“I personally like Steve, but he’s been in leadership since before I was in Congress. And Jim Jordan, while he’s a leader in Congress, he hasn’t been part of the leadership team. He basically rose through the ranks because he was super effective,” Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital.

Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., another Jordan ally, told Fox News Digital the Ohio Republican “understands what we’re up against,” adding, “His ability to communicate is really kind of unrivaled by anybody else in the House right now.”

Jordan has long been among the House GOP’s brightest stars, rapidly gaining influence over the last decade as one of Trump’s most vocal supporters in Washington.

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He will now be the go-to defender as Democrats ready a barrage of investigations targeting Trump’s Cabinet, family and business interests.

A source in the office of a prominent nationally elected Democrat called “I’ve Had It” podcast host Jennifer Welch a “sicko” after she allegedly sought help managing backlash over a joke about digging up Charlie Kirk‘s body. Welch denied the source’s account as she and co-host Angie Sullivan renewed their attacks on Turning Point USA , with Sullivan telling the conservative organization to “f— all the way off” despite the hosts’ earlier apology.

The controversy has also cost the podcast advertisers. Cash App announced it was ending its sponsorship, saying on social media: “We do not condone violence of any kind, and we are no longer sponsors of this podcast.” Luxury bedding company Boll and Branch also reportedly dropped its sponsorship, while Turning Point USA’s Andrew Kolvet claimed on X that several other advertisers had withdrawn their support.

The hosts apologized over the weekend, but Sullivan subsequently told TPUSA to “f— off” while Welch said her apology was motivated by her own convictions rather than pressure from the conservative organization.

“Alright there’s a huge online, cancellation campaign from all the titty babies over at Turning Point who want the ‘I’ve Had It’ podcast canceled,” Welch said in a video posted to the podcast’s YouTube channel. She accused Turning Point USA of “spearheading” the campaign because they’re “losers and they lost” and “want to prove to their donors we can cancel libs.”

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“When we apologize for laughing at a joke on our podcast, that wasn’t for you. That was for us,” Welch continued. “Because someone I loved very much died from gun violence two years ago, and I just didn’t feel good about that. And that apology was so that when I advocate for commonsense gun reform that I’m doing it clean and clear. I don’t expect you to understand this because at Turning Point y’all laugh at violence all the time.”

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A Democratic source told Fox News Digital that Welch called them while seeking advice on how to manage the fallout from her comments. According to the source, Welch blamed Turning Point USA for the controversy rather than expressing remorse.

“I am not Turning Point. I’m a national Dem and we don’t need people like her in this party because it is exactly what we don’t like about the hard right,” the source said. The source also called Welch a “sicko” and estimated that the podcast had lost “tens of thousands” of dollars in sponsorships over the weekend. The source further alleged that Welch’s team used ChatGPT to help formulate a response to the controversy and identify “ways out of this.”

Welch denied the claims in a text message to Fox News Digital, saying she had not spoken with a top Democrat and that the podcast had not used ChatGPT. “Those are both wholly untrue,” she said.

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“We laughed at an insensitive joke. We regret it, and we apologized,” Welch said. She added that the podcast had removed the segment and donated to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun-control advocacy organization.

“Turning Point, the group leading the cancellation against us, mocks violence and never apologizes,” Welch added. “We still have plenty of advertisers and we aren’t going anywhere.”

While discussing their apology, Welch called TPUSA a “hateful organization,” and Sullivan said she was “not going to be lectured by these people.”

“These people support representatives to Congress that protect pedophiles and sex traffickers. They’re completely fine with American citizens being gunned down on the streets of Minnesota. They’re fine with putting people in cages and treating them like animals,” she continued. “And for those of you at Turning Point who are worried that I don’t talk enough, but yet, you don’t believe in universal human rights, I want you to hear me: F— off. F— all the way off.”

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The controversy began during an episode last week in which Welch and Sullivan read social media posts celebrating Democratic victories in the midterm elections. Both laughed after Welch read one post saying, “We’re digging up Charlie Kirk and doing it again.” The hosts also suggested, without presenting evidence, that Kirk’s accused killer supported President Donald Trump. Voter records, however, showed that he was unaffiliated and had not voted in the previous two general elections.

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After the episode sparked backlash, Welch and Sullivan posted an apology Saturday saying they had laughed at an “insensitive joke” and “should not have laughed.” They said there was “nothing funny about gun violence.”

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The hosts’ remarks also drew criticism from Democrats, including strategist Kaivan Shroff. “They are not helping Democrats,” Shroff told Fox News Digital. “They are hijacking the attention Democrats actually earned at the ballot box.”