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FIRST ON FOX: As Americans grapple with soaring housing, food and energy costs, both parties are racing to convince voters they have the answer to the affordability crunch ahead of the high-stakes midterm elections.

A new report from the conservative group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence lays out 10 proposals aimed at lowering costs by cutting red tape and expanding production across the economy.

“Yes, there’s an unaffordability crisis and it’s the government’s fault,” Richard Stern, vice president of the Plymouth Institute for Free Enterprise at Advancing American Freedom, told Fox News Digital.

That argument is at the heart of the report, “10 Ways to Improve Affordability Now Across 10 Levels of the Economy,” which calls affordability the “No. 1 issue facing the American people” and targets costs associated with housing, energy and business, among others.

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Its proposals in the report range from easing zoning restrictions and expanding oil and gas access to overhauling Social Security and SNAP eligibility, echoing parts of President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda.

But the conservative blueprint breaks with Trump on two key pocketbook issues: tariffs and credit card interest rates.

On trade, the report argues Trump’s sweeping tariffs have come at a cost to American consumers and the broader economy by raising prices, straining U.S. alliances and resulting in nearly 900,000 fewer jobs than expected.

The authors at Advancing American Freedom (AAF) call for shifting more tariff authority back to Congress.

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If nothing else, Trump’s tariffs proved to be a windfall for Washington.

In January alone, duties totaled $30.4 billion, that’s up about 242% from $8.9 billion a year earlier, according to Treasury data.

The report also opposes Trump’s proposed 10% cap on credit card interest rates, warning it could make lending to roughly 60% of Americans unprofitable. Stern framed the broader affordability debate as a question of whether Americans can still build a better future for their families as many see hopes of living the American dream slipping from their fingers.

Housing and energy, he said, are two areas where rising costs have put “a sharper edge on this question of affordability.” Stern blamed zoning restrictions for pushing families farther from jobs and making homeownership harder for younger Americans.

Those costs can be substantial. The National Association of Home Builders estimates government regulations account for about 26% of the price of a new single-family home.

The report recommends limiting local zoning restrictions, streamlining approval for projects that meet existing rules and tying roughly $50 billion in annual federal housing aid to zoning reform.

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On energy, the proposal calls for more oil and gas leasing and rejecting state fracking bans. Stern argued greater domestic production could lower costs throughout the economy because energy touches “every good we move, every service provided.”

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Stern warned that economic frustration can turn Americans against one another, toward “viewing each other as the enemy, and that’s what socialism is.”

“I hope that people can take away from this, that it’s not businesses that are the problem,” he said. “It’s not entrepreneurs. It’s not other Americans. It’s government.”

President Trump’s return to office was made possible in part because of increasing support from three traditionally Democratic groups: Hispanic voters (41% supported Trump, a 6-point improvement from 2020), young voters (46%, up 10 points) and Black voters (15%, up 7 points).

There isn’t much evidence that Democrats have figured out how to talk to these voters again, but for two of the three groups, Trump’s declining approval rating is doing the job for them.

In a recent Marquette survey, two-thirds of young Americans said they disapproved of Trump, and 56% said they would support the Democratic candidate in their district. Hispanics were also unhappy with the president: 71% disapproved of his performance and 56% said they’ll support a Democrat this November.

Black voters haven’t come all the way home yet. One in five Black Americans approves of Trump, but only 69% say they’ll support a Democrat in their district. That’s 21 points below Biden’s 2020 share of the Black vote, when he thanked those voters for delivering his victory.

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Democratic candidates in three battleground states are also staring at Black voter erosion, but they’ve found ways to stem the losses. In Georgia, Sen. Jon Ossoff is running 10 points behind Biden’s 2020 support among Black voters. In North Carolina, it’s 7 points. In Texas, State Rep. James Talarico is running about even with Black voters over that period.

It’s a different story in Michigan. According to a new Fox News poll, 75% of Black voters support newly minted Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed. That’s down 18 points from their support for Biden.

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El-Sayed’s far-left platform is probably playing a role in Black voters’ skepticism. In the Marquette survey, just 36% of Black Americans said they had a favorable view of the Democratic Socialists of America.

(Bear in mind that because Black voters are a small group in most surveys, these results have large margins of error.)

You can also see it in the maps from three recent Democratic primaries: El-Sayed did poorly in Black-majority areas like Detroit, while Wisconsin democratic socialist Francesca Hong underperformed in Milwaukee, another city with a high Black population.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a card-carrying member of the DSA, also struggled with Black voters in New York City last year. That might explain why he’s been on a “Black media blitz” to defend some of his most controversial ideas.

It might be working: Mamdani’s favorability among New Yorkers sat at 69% in a Siena poll released last week.

In any case, the clock is ticking for the far-left. Michigan starts absentee voting on September 24. The state’s Senate race moves to toss-up in this edition of the Fox News Power Rankings, along with another big-name state. Three gubernatorial races also just got more competitive.

Senate: Two more states become toss-ups, giving both parties a chance at a landslide

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The latest Senate forecast includes six states where neither Democrats nor Republicans have an edge. That could make for an extraordinary election night. In one scenario, the Democrats not only flip the Senate, but end up with 53 seats. In another, Republicans hold on to the Senate with no net loss of seats.

The GOP has a better chance at flipping Michigan than it did a week ago. In last week’s Fox survey, former Rep. Mike Rogers had the support of 51% of voters to El-Sayed’s 47%, within the margin of error.

Republicans are united in their support for Rogers, a strong and seasoned campaigner. With a quarter of Black voters not backing El-Sayed, his coalition isn’t complete. The fundamentals still favor the Democrats, but in what is certain to be a high-turnout election, El-Sayed will need every Democrat to show up. This race is now a toss-up.

FOX NEWS POLL: A SENATE BATTLE LOOMS IN MICHIGAN

At the same time, the national environment hasn’t changed. Trump’s overall approval rating is stuck in the 30s; his ratings on the economy and Iran are often lower. Gas prices have proven even tougher to sell: only 21% of Americans recently said they approved of Trump when asked specifically about that issue.

That has benefited Talarico, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas, who has enjoyed some robust polling results this summer. He’s averaging 48% in three recent polls, hitting 51% in Fox’s survey, while his opponent, Ken Paxton, averages 46%.

Paxton’s history of legal and personal issues is likely playing a role in that latter figure, and while Talarico must defend a history of “woke” comments, voters say they’re less worried about those. They could make the difference in an election year that’s already favorable to Democrats. Texas is also a toss-up.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer raised some eyebrows last week when he said Democrats were expanding the Senate map to include Kansas (Trump +16 in 2024) and Mississippi (Trump +23).

The comment came shortly after El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan, and with parts of the party establishment balking at that win, Schumer may just be giving donors options.

Still, Kansas wouldn’t be out of reach on an outstanding night for Democrats. Megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton is already a well-funded Democratic challenger; he faces incumbent GOP Sen. Roger Marshall. This race moves to Likely R.

Governor: Texas, Alaska, and Minnesota are all in play

Based on polls alone, Texas’ gubernatorial race looks remarkably similar to the Senate. In the same three polls this summer, incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott has the support of 49% of voters, with Democrat Gina Hinojosa sitting at 46%.

There’s more to the story than that. When Republican voters show up in Texas, they easily outnumber Democrats, and while Paxton appears not to be helping this ticket, Abbott’s fundraising prowess and experience in close races should keep the candidates apart when the votes are tallied.

Even as Republicans maintain a lead, though, this race is clearly competitive. It moves from Solid R to Likely R.

Alaska voters will head to the polls tonight for their top-four primaries, which will narrow the field but won’t tell us a whole lot more. This year’s gubernatorial election features 17 candidates, none of whom is an incumbent, but one might seem that way: Tom Begich, a former Democratic legislator with three relatives who have served in the U.S. House or Senate.

It’s a difficult race to predict, but between former Rep. Mary Peltola’s Senate push and Begich’s name on the ballot, it’s going to be competitive. It moves from Likely R to Lean R.

Finally, the Republican establishment had a good week in Minnesota, where popular former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya won the party’s nomination for Senate, and state House Speaker Lisa Demuth became the party’s gubernatorial nominee.

Demuth will face Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar this November, a formidable opponent who has criticized the state’s handling of fraud involving government programs.

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But that issue gives the GOP a rare opening in this blue-leaning state, and with this slate of candidates, the party is likely to invest here. Minnesota’s gubernatorial race moves from Solid D to Likely D.

Iran failed to reach a final deal with the U.S. by Monday’s deadline, leaving disputes over Tehran’s nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz unresolved nearly six months into the war.

Tehran instead announced an understanding with Oman on a new commercial transit route through the strait, but the plan cannot take effect without U.S. approval, and leaves unresolved Washington’s blockade, Iran’s nuclear program and the broader negotiations.

Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil traverses, remained at the heart of the deadlock, leaving the two sides without a path to a broader agreement on ending the war or resolving the nuclear dispute. Iran insists it must retain authority over passage through the strait, while the United States has demanded unrestricted commercial navigation.

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Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the two countries had reached “an understanding … regarding the map of the transit route” and were working to finalize a joint statement.

President Donald Trump responded in a Fox News interview: “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s— out of them.”

Trump also said Iran should surrender to end the war, telling Fox News, “They should put up the white flag of surrender.” He has maintained that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remains the administration’s central objective.

The 60-day window was established under a June memorandum of understanding (MOU) intended to halt hostilities, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and provide a framework for a broader agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions and regional security issues.

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the conclusion of the negotiating period with no deal reached.

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Instead, the framework broke down as Iran and the United States accused each other of violating its terms and resumed military action.

Iran has demanded sanctions relief, the release of frozen Iranian assets and an end to the U.S. naval blockade, while maintaining that it must retain authority over passage through Hormuz. Washington has demanded unrestricted commercial navigation through the strait, which carried roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the war.

The ceasefire arrangement was repeatedly tested by attacks on commercial shipping and U.S. retaliation inside Iran.

Iran was blamed for a June 25 strike on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting U.S. strikes on Iranian missile and drone storage sites and radar facilities, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

Fighting escalated again in July after Iran struck three vessels in the waterway. CENTCOM said it struck more than 300 Iranian military targets over three nights, including missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, ammunition storage facilities, communications networks and coastal surveillance positions.

U.S. strikes continued through July 22, with CENTCOM saying the operations targeted Iran’s maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites and air defense assets. The command did not release an updated cumulative target count.

Most recently, two vessels operated by the UAE’s state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company were attacked while transiting the strait, Reuters reported. The UAE blamed Iran, which did not immediately comment.

The threat to shipping has sharply reduced traffic through the narrow waterway and increased pressure on the Trump administration to end a conflict that has disrupted global energy markets.

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The failure to secure a deal also comes as reports indicate the war has strained U.S. munitions inventories.

Reuters reported earlier this month, citing sources familiar with the data, that the Army had used “virtually all” of its ATACMS and Precision Strike Missile stocks during the conflict and had expended just under half of its global Tomahawk inventory.

Pentagon officials have pushed back on the contention that the drawdown has undermined U.S. readiness, while calling on defense companies to accelerate weapons production. An analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that U.S. Patriot interceptor inventories had fallen by at least 65% from their prewar level.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that the U.S. Navy could maintain its blockade of Iran indefinitely by rotating ships in and out of the region.

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With the deadline expired, no compromise over Hormuz and the nuclear dispute unresolved, the Trump administration now faces a choice between extending negotiations, escalating pressure on Tehran or continuing a war that has disrupted global energy markets and strained U.S. weapons inventories.

MINNEAPOLIS — Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., officially has a Republican challenger who is making the case that Minnesota voters are “fed up” with fraud and dysfunction and are ready for a change as he looks to unseat Omar in one of the country’s most closely watched progressive strongholds.

John Nagel, a Minnesota native who spent 30 years as a state trooper, told Fox News Digital in an interview that he believes his background gives him a unique opportunity to make the case against Omar in Minnesota’s deep-blue 5th Congressional District.

“I think the people of Minnesota have been lied to. They’ve had their money stolen. They want to see somebody that’s going to come in and fix things,” Nagel said. “They’re tired of being told the same old things.”

Nagel argued that his roots in the state and decades in law enforcement separate him from the political class.

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“I’m from Minnesota, born and raised here. I’m not a Washington plant,” Nagel said, pointing to his three decades as a state trooper and his work teaching defensive driving and working in schools across the area.

Nagel, who won the Republican primary in Minnesota’s 5th District last week, said his campaign will focus heavily on the fraud scandals that have rocked Minnesota in recent years, drawing a sharp contrast with Omar and Democrats in the state.

“I’m pro-American. I’m from Minnesota. I love Minnesota and I love my country,” Nagel said when asked about the contrast he plans to draw with Omar.

“I’m not involved in fraud,” he added, before arguing that Omar’s district has been at the center of the state’s fraud problems and Fox News Digital has extensively reported on Omar’s ties to those implicated in the scandal.

Omar’s former campaign staffer Guhaad Hashi Said pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering after prosecutors said a fraudulent food site he established received nearly $3 million in reimbursements while serving only a fraction of the more than 1 million meals it claimed.

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Omar also promoted Safari Restaurant as a meal distribution site during the pandemic, praising the Minneapolis establishment in a 2020 Somali-language video. Safari co-owner Salim Said was later convicted in the Feeding Our Future scheme, with prosecutors alleging the site received more than $16 million in fraudulent child nutrition funds. Safari had also hosted Omar’s 2018 election-night watch party.

Omar additionally introduced the MEALS Act in 2020, which sought to expand waivers for federal school meal programs during the pandemic. Provisions similar to the legislation were ultimately enacted as part of broader bipartisan COVID relief, and Omar later pushed the Trump administration to extend pandemic-era meal waivers. Republican Minnesota lawmakers have argued those changes removed safeguards and helped create conditions exploited by Feeding Our Future fraudsters.

Omar has rejected that characterization, telling Fox News Digital earlier this year that any suggestion she knew about the fraud scheme is “flat-out false.”

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Nagel also accused Minnesota Democrats of failing to adequately combat fraud and argued voters in both parties are looking for leaders willing to crack down on abuse of taxpayer dollars.

“I have not met a Democrat yet that has come out and said, yeah, we really want to do something about fraud,” Nagel said. “It’s been just the opposite.”

Nagel also suggested he sees an opening with voters who may not traditionally support Republicans, including members of Minnesota’s Somali community who have grown dissatisfied with Omar.

He specifically pointed to Somalilanders in the district, claiming some former Omar voters are “coming out of the woodwork” and turning against the congresswoman and saying he is willing to work with members of the community who share his vision for the state.

“I’m here to serve everybody in Minnesota,” Nagel explained. “I don’t care what faith you are, I don’t care what color you are. When you go to Congress, you’re supposed to be taking care of everybody from Minnesota, and she doesn’t do that.”

Nagel, who described himself as a “just a normal guy that wants to make things better” without “big bucks backing me” will face an uphill battle in the district which includes all of Minneapolis, from downtown and the university area to North, Northeast and Southwest Minneapolis, but also inner-ring suburbs including Richfield, St. Louis Park, Golden Valley, Robbinsdale, Crystal, New Hope, Brooklyn Center, Columbia Heights and Fridley.

The Cook Political Report ranks the race as “Solid D.”

Nagel, who is from St. Louis Park, told Fox News Digital his years in law enforcement have never been about partisanship and that he intends to speak to all voters regardless of party affiliation.

“When I would get to a crash scene, I didn’t ask them if they were a Democrat or Republican before I gave them first aid,” Nagel said. “I don’t care who you are, I don’t care how you voted in the past.”

“If you want lower taxes, if you want to have pro-police, if you want your schools to be better, if you just want to [have] a normal life where your paycheck comes back to you and you can go to work every morning and not have much to worry about, those are the people that I want to talk to,” he continued.

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Nagel said concerns about Minnesota’s economy and schools are also driving his campaign, arguing that the state is losing jobs and risks making itself unattractive to families and businesses.

“We are losing jobs,” Nagel said. “Our school system is so bad that no one’s going to want to bring their kids here, even if we do have industry here.”

“People are just fed up. They want normalcy, which is what I want,” he added.

Nagel said his motivation is personal, pointing to his family and a new granddaughter as reasons he decided to enter politics.

“I’m doing this because I’ve got a family,” he said. “I’ve got a brand-new granddaughter. And I’m not going to leave what we currently have in Minnesota, which is a mess.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Omar’s campaign for comment.

President Donald Trump has endorsed North Carolina state Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, the new Republican nominee for the state’s 11th Congressional District.

Balkcom was tapped to run this month after Trump-backed incumbent Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., dropped his re-election bid.

“It is my Great Honor to endorse America First Patriot, Jennifer Balkcom, who is running to represent the wonderful people of North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District!” Trump declared in part of a Monday Truth Social post.

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Balkcom thanked the president in a post on X.

“THANK YOU, President Trump! I’m incredibly grateful for your support, and I’m proud to stand and fight for the people of Western North Carolina. In Congress, I’ll work with you to continue rebuilding WNC after Helene, deliver real results for our communities, and fight to make life more affordable for hardworking families. I’m ready to get to work,” she wrote, adding an American flag emoji.

Trump had endorsed Edwards for re-election before the lawmaker decisively won the March 3 Republican primary in the state’s 11th Congressional District, but the congressman announced on Aug. 5 that he was ending his re-election run.

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Edwards made the announcement in the wake of the House Committee on Ethics releasing a report about him recommending censure.

The report states that the committee found that the congressman “engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers.”

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“While Representative Edwards denied that any of his conduct was intended as a sexual or romantic advance, his pattern of behavior would lead a reasonable observer to interpret it as such, including providing the young women with lavish and recurrent gifts, making comments regarding their appearance and dress, inviting them to intimate dinners and vacations, sending notes regarding his effusive affection, and inviting them to other activities as a way to spend time together,” the report stated.

The high-stakes battle between the left wing and the center-left establishment over the future of the Democratic Party takes the spotlight Tuesday in Florida, where a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) faces a more moderate incumbent Democrat who supports Israel.

After attention-grabbing left-wing victories this month by Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed and Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in crucial Democratic Senate nomination showdowns, and a major setback for the DSA with the defeat of DSA member Francesca Hong in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, the next faceoff in the party’s civil war comes in Florida, which, along with Alaska and Wyoming, is holding primaries.

The Senate primaries in Alaska and Florida will set up crucial general election showdowns in the fight for control of the chamber. Floridians will pick the major party nominees in the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis, while longtime Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is fighting for political survival against a socialist candidate in a dramatically altered congressional district.

But the primary grabbing the most national attention is in Florida’s 25th District, where DSA-endorsed Oliver Larkin is challenging the more moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz in a key congressional swing district that’s among roughly two dozen House seats that will determine whether Republicans hold onto their razor-thin majority in the midterm elections.

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The 33-year-old Larkin, a veteran of Sanders’ 2016 Democratic presidential campaign, is the only DSA-endorsed House candidate running in a crucial congressional swing district.

Larkin says he supports abolishing the U.S. Senate, arguing in a Fox News interview that it’s an “undemocratic institution,” and has referred to Israel’s ruling coalition as a “religious supremacist regime.”

Moskowitz is a strong and vocal supporter of Israel and has advocated for robust U.S. military and security assistance.

The two-term federal lawmaker, a former state representative and Florida emergency management director, is running for re-election in the state’s newly redrawn 25th Congressional District, a Broward County-anchored swing seat in the southeastern corner of the one-time battleground state that has leaned red.

Moskowitz, who enjoys establishment backing from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, is also supported by AIPAC, a major pro-Israel political group. Larkin has support from prominent far-left figures, including controversial political streamer Hasan Piker.

Wasserman Schultz, an 11-term congresswoman and former Democratic National Committee chair, is running for re-election in the newly drawn 20th District, even though she lives in an adjacent district. She has faced criticism from Black leaders for being the only White candidate running for a majority-minority seat that has been represented by Black lawmakers for three decades.

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The field includes former congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who resigned from Congress in April over allegations that she misused $5 million in federal funds, which she denies; former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness; and community activist Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell, a rapper best known for his role in 2 Live Crew.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a leading political group on the left, is backing Elijah Manley, a 27-year-old substitute teacher who overcame childhood homelessness.

In the race to succeed DeSantis, Rep. Byron Donalds enjoys the backing of President Donald Trump. The large field of contenders also includes Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, and businessman James Fishback.

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Former Republican Rep. David Jolly, who became a Democrat last year, is the best-known candidate running for his party’s gubernatorial nomination. No Democrat has won an election for Florida governor in more than three decades.

Florida’s Senate primary will tee up the race to fill out the remainder of the term previously held by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who stepped down from the Senate early last year to serve in the Trump administration.

DeSantis appointed then-Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to fill the vacant seat. She faces three primary challengers on Tuesday.

Retired Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, who gained national attention after testifying in Trump’s first impeachment trial, faces progressive state Rep. Angie Nixon for the Democratic nomination.

Democrats are hoping to flip the Senate seat in the midterms, as they aim to win back the Senate majority.

Democrats also have their eyes on red-leaning Alaska, where Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan is running for re-election and is expected to face a formidable challenge from former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola.

Sullivan and Peltola are the best-known candidates among the 16 contenders in the state’s all-party primary, where the top four vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation.

A former teacher also named Dan Sullivan is on the ballot. Republicans unsuccessfully tried to block the other Dan Sullivan from appearing on the ballot, accusing him of colluding with Democrats to help elect Peltola by confusing voters, an accusation he and the Peltola campaign have denied.

Meanwhile, Peltola made headlines last week by distancing herself from an endorsement coming from former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Alaska also has crowded primary fields in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy and in the contest for the state’s sole congressional seat, where Republican Rep. Nick Begich is seeking re-election.

In bright-red Wyoming, Trump is backing Rep. Harriet Hageman in her bid to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Cynthia Lummis.

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There are also primaries for governor, where GOP Gov. Mark Gordon is term-limited, and for the state’s at-large U.S. House seat, which Hageman is leaving to run for the Senate.

Meanwhile, four months after Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell quit Congress amid sexual assault allegations that sank his bid for California governor, voters in his former Bay Area district will choose a replacement. Both candidates on the ballot are Democrats, meaning the GOP’s razor-thin House majority will narrow further.

A federal appeals court panel on Monday upheld an order that disqualified Sigal Chattah as the top federal prosecutor in Nevada, finding that the Justice Department could not keep her in charge through the appointment and delegation mechanisms it used after her interim term ended.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a judge’s ruling that Chattah ‌was not validly leading the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.

The ruling disqualifies Chattah from supervising the prosecutions in three criminal cases.

Chattah, who served as Nevada’s Republican National Committee member before joining the U.S. Justice Department, was appointed interim U.S. attorney effective April 1, 2025, for a term of up to 120 days.

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As her tenure was about to expire in late July of that year, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi designated Chattah as first assistant U.S. attorney after Chattah resigned from the interim role shortly before the 120-day term expired. The Justice Department argued that the move allowed her to serve as acting U.S. attorney under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act while a permanent U.S. attorney had not been confirmed.

Bondi also appointed Chattah as a special attorney, while DOJ maintained that her designation as first assistant — the No. 2 position in the office — allowed her to serve as acting U.S. attorney under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998.

Federal public defenders in Nevada challenged Chattah’s authority in multiple unrelated criminal cases, arguing she should be disqualified because her appointment was unlawful and called for the cases to be dismissed.

U.S. District Judge David Campbell sided with the public defenders in September, and the Trump administration would then ​appeal.

The appeals court panel on Monday found that under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act provision DOJ relied on, a first assistant could automatically become acting U.S. attorney only if that person held the first-assistant position when the vacancy occurred.

“Nor can the Attorney General create a de facto Acting ‌U.S. Attorney ⁠by delegating all of the functions and duties of the U.S. Attorney to someone else,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Eric Miller, an appointee of President Donald Trump.

The unanimous panel also included U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr., another Trump appointee, sitting by designation, and U.S. Circuit Judge Sidney Thomas.

The Justice Department had argued that Chattah’s designation as first assistant automatically allowed her to serve as acting U.S. attorney under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and, alternatively, that the attorney general could delegate U.S. attorney functions to her. The panel rejected both arguments.

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This is the latest court setback for the administration’s efforts to keep temporary appointees serving as top federal prosecutors without Senate confirmation. The dispute comes amid controversy over the Senate Judiciary Committee’s so-called “blue slip” tradition, which can allow home-state senators to significantly impede U.S. attorney nominees when the committee chairman honors their objections.

Trump did not nominate Chattah for the permanent Nevada U.S. attorney post, instead nominating George Kelesis in February 2026.

In December, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of ​Appeals found that Alina ⁠Habba, a former personal lawyer for Trump, was not lawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey and disqualified her from supervising cases.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The U.S. Senate is on the clock. In a matter of speaking. Or ticking.

The House of Representatives approved a bill earlier this year to thrust the nation onto permanent daylight saving time. In other words, the House voted to ditch the twice-a-year ritual of springing forward and falling back. Now it’s up to the Senate to sync up.

“Around the country, people are going to be excited because they don’t have to go back and forth,” opined Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., one of the biggest advocates of shifting to year-round daylight saving time.

Under this temporal regime, Florida and many southern states would benefit from “more” sun later in the afternoon and evening in the winter.

HOUSE PASSES DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME REFORM AS TRUMP SIGNALS SUPPORT FOR ENDING CLOCK CHANGE

Scott isn’t the only one who says time should expire for daylight saving time.

“People are sick and tired of having to change their clocks twice a year. It is foolish, inconvenient and, in some cases, very costly. For Cities and States with Watchtowers, and hard to reach places, it costs Millions of Dollars,” declared President Donald Trump in a post on his social media site Truth Social.

It’s unclear whether Trump was trying to reach voters with allegiances to Jimi Hendrix or Bob Dylan when writing about “Watchtowers.” But if the president has his way, the times won’t be “A Changin’,” later this fall. We’d be welded to daylight saving time.

President Trump continued.

“This is an issue that Republicans, Democrats, and Independents can unite behind. I am asking Republican Senators to release their holds, and allow the hotline to clear on the Republican side. LET’S PASS THE SUNSHINE PROTECTION ACT, ASAP,” he wrote.

Let’s dial things back a bit here and dissect the title of this bill: “The Sunshine Protection Act.”

First, there is a finite amount of sunshine available, period. Any time of the year. Bellingham, Washington, scores only about eight-and-a-half hours of sunlight around the winter solstice in December. And whether we’re on daylight saving time or standard time, the sheer amount of sun doesn’t change.

The only thing that differs is at what time Bellingham gets that sun. Under standard time (following the autumn clock shift), the earliest the sun sets in Bellingham is 4:13 p.m. in mid-December. But under permanent daylight saving time, you can sing good day, sunshine, at 5:13 p.m. The problem is that the sun goes down really early in northern states in the winter under year-round daylight saving time. But southern states — like Florida — benefit.

The reason Congress even bothers with this issue is because Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution grants the House and Senate authority to establish the “Standard of Weights and Measures.” So all Congress is doing is determining a temporal regimen.

In short, if Congress says it’s 3 o’clock, it’s 3 o’clock. But if we fall back in November, then 3 o’clock is really 2 o’clock.

However, leave it to Congress to create the illusion that it is safeguarding something for the voters, such as “protecting” sunshine. Or, giving everyone an “extra hour” in the winter. It’s just saying that everything would start earlier.

That’s all.

TRUMP URGES SENATE TO PASS BILL MAKING DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME PERMANENT AFTER OVERWHELMING HOUSE VOTE

Regardless, the push to embrace daylight saving time isn’t partisan.

“People across New Mexico and across so many parts of the country don’t want to be changing those clocks day after day,” said Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M.

Luján survived a stroke several years ago. He believes that a singular time, year-round, would provide health benefits.

“I can speak to it from the perspective of all the neurologists that I’ve spoken to as well. There are more and more health concerns with moving that time change back and forth,” said Lujan.

And daylight saving time advocates say passing the Sunshine Protection Act is more pressing than you think.

“You know, that might be more important to my people back home than the SAVE America Act,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. That’s a reference to the touchstone of the president’s legislative agenda which is stymied in the Senate. The SAVE America Act would require proof of citizenship in order for people to vote.

But there are detractors. We heard from southern lawmakers. But many in New England fret about how little sunlight they score in the winter anyway.

“You want your kid standing out on the bus stop in the dark at 10 a.m.?” asked Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt.

That’s an overstatement. The latest the sun comes up anywhere in Vermont in late December is 7:28 a.m. But shift that to permanent daylight saving time and you’re still in the dark until 8:28 a.m. But you get the idea.

And there’s no consensus from residents of states that are split by two time zones. A staggering 14 states feature two time zones: Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas. Eastern Time and Central Time cleaves Indiana.

“Hoosiers care a lot about time,” said Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind. “They also have fundamental disagreements within the state, about what time it is or should be at any given moment.”

And there’s the old adage that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. This potential toggling of the time worries Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas – who represents one of the states that falls within two time zones.

HARRIS BECOMES ACCIDENTAL SAVE ACT ‘SALESWOMAN’ AS TRUMP ATTACK SPECTACULARLY BACKFIRES

“Didn’t we do this once before?” asked Cornyn.

“In the ‘70s,” I told Cornyn. “And we reversed it in six months.”

“Yeah, well that should be a cautionary tale,” observed the Texas senator.

The U.S. faced an oil shock thanks to an embargo by OPEC in the early 1970s. President Richard Nixon – and many in Congress – believed they could “save energy” by moving the U.S. to year-round daylight saving time. Congress approved the move in late 1973. But the decision proved so unpopular that future Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., prepped a bill to undo the time change. People abhorred having less sunlight in the morning. The bill passed in August 1974.

Interestingly, had Nixon not resigned in August 1974 due to Watergate, it’s possible he would have fought the whiplash time change.

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In other words, if you want to blame someone for why we switch our clocks twice a year, we’ve found your culprit: Deep Throat.

It was the Senate that OK’d a bill to nix the biannual time change in 2022. But the House never acted. Now the House has acted. The president is engaged. But it’s up to the Senate.

The Senate must take action by the end of this Congress. Time is running out. And they can’t change the clocks for that.

Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, suggested in a post on X that Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., is an “ally” of the “swamp.”

Graham, who finished the Aug. 11 South Carolina GOP special U.S. Senate primary in first place, will go head-to-head against second-place finisher Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., in an Aug. 25 runoff.

“Ralph Norman will work to drain the swamp. The swamp wants allies not adversaries. The swamp appointed an ally. These are the stakes in South Carolina,” Davidson wrote in the Monday social media post.

RUSSELL FRY ENDORSES EX-RIVAL DARLINE GRAHAM AFTER FAILING TO ADVANCE TO SPECIAL GOP US SENATE PRIMARY RUNOFF

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Graham to fill the seat of her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, last month in the wake of the senator’s death.

Fox News Digital attempted to reach out to Sen. Darline Graham’s campaign on Monday.

MARK LYNCH ENDORSES RALPH NORMAN AS CONGRESSMAN HEADS INTO RUNOFF AGAINST DARLINE GRAHAM

President Donald Trump, who urged Graham to run and endorsed her prior to the special primary, is continuing to back her heading into the runoff contest.

“SOUTH CAROLINA: GET OUT AND VOTE FOR DARLINE GRAHAM ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 25TH. DARLINE HAS MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT — SHE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” the president declared in an Aug. 14 Truth Social post.

DARLINE GRAHAM DETAILS HOW SHE’D FORGE OWN PATH IN SENATE WHILE CARRYING ON BROTHER LINDSEY’S LEGACY

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The president’s post included an image of a post on X in which Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., who placed third in the South Carolina special GOP U.S. Senate primary, urged those who backed him in that contest to vote for Graham during the runoff.

A lofty New York City toll slapped on drivers in an effort to reduce congestion and improve air quality produced nearly no change in pollution after its first year, according to the city’s own analysis.

The New York City Health Department’s report, released Friday, examined four traffic-related pollutants inside Manhattan’s Congestion Relief Zone since the $9 toll was implemented last year. Researchers found that the city’s overall pollution levels remained largely unchanged, with no statistically significant improvement attributable to the toll.

Still, officials in the Big Apple touted the study as the city’s most comprehensive look at congestion pricing’s effect on air quality to date.

MAMDANI’S AFFORDABILITY REVOLUTION STUMBLED AS RENT COSTS SOAR TO RECORD HIGHS

They pointed to reduced traffic, public transit improvements, less traffic noise and other benefits as positive outcomes from the toll being implemented in January 2025. All similar things that New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul hailed in a June 2023 speech when she backed congestion pricing.

Despite an 11% drop in traffic since implementation, the Health Department said vehicles account for only about 10% of the city’s pollution, meaning fewer cars alone is not expected to significantly improve overall air quality. Unlike many parts of the country, where cars and trucks are a major source of air pollution, New York City’s emissions come largely from other sources.

The city’s dense concentration of buildings, which burn fuel for heat and hot water, along with emissions from restaurants and power plants that supply the most populated U.S. city with electricity, are reasons for its poor air quality.

Findings in the recent report could backfire and provide fresh ammunition to critics who have blasted congestion pricing as an expensive burden on commuters, small businesses and working families in America’s largest city.

The New York City Health Department and Hochul’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

MAMDANI’S RENT FREEZE, TAX HIKES A ‘ONE-TWO WEALTH DESTRUCTION PUNCH,’ ECONOMISTS WARN

New York City’s congestion pricing toll applies to passenger vehicles entering the Congestion Relief Zone in Manhattan at or below 60th Street. The lofty $9 toll applies to E-ZPass users once a day during peak hours, which are weekdays from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., and weekends from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

All other off-peak hours require a $2.25 toll.

Those who do not have E-ZPass could face toll-by-mail rates that are about 50% more than the typical charge.

President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have been among the program’s most prominent opponents, with Duffy previously calling the toll a “slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners.”

The Trump administration also attempted to withdraw federal approval for the Biden-era program, but a federal judge ruled in March that the effort was unlawful.

Following that ruling, Gov. Hochul called congestion pricing a “once-in-a-lifetime success story,” saying its first year brought “reduced gridlock, faster trips, safer streets, and cleaner air” while generating funding for mass transit upgrades.

“Congestion pricing is legal, it works, and it is here to stay,” Hochul said in a March 3 statement.

For now, the toll remains, traffic is down, but the city’s first-year data show no statistically significant improvement in air quality.

Some online critics pounced on the findings, dragging up a 2023 speech where Hochul promised: “With congestion pricing New Yorkers have a lot to lose. How about 15 to 20% fewer vehicles in the central business district every single day? Less noise, less honking, less gridlock.”

“How about less air pollution, lower carbon emissions, lower speeds, fewer crashes?” she went on. “I don’t mind losing that.”

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“Kathy Hochul’s congestion pricing did not significantly improve air quality in Manhattan like she promised it would. Who could’ve possibly seen this coming?” wrote the popular right-wing X account called Libs of TikTok.

Another account noted: “Hochul looked right into the camera and swore this toll would scrub the air and let kids with asthma breathe easier. When they wrap a new tax in an environmental bow, the only thing that ever improves is the government’s balance sheet.”

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) has slashed lengthy concealed carry permit delays after a Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit accused the agency of leaving thousands of applications in limbo and forcing some gun owners to wait nearly three years for action.

The turnaround prompted the DOJ to end its landmark lawsuit against LASD, with federal officials announcing Thursday that the sheriff’s department is now meeting California‘s permitting deadlines after adding personnel and new processing software.

The case put one of the nation’s largest law enforcement agencies at the center of the Trump administration’s push to enforce Second Amendment rights, with the DOJ calling the outcome a “huge win” for Los Angeles County residents and gun owners.

INSIDE TRUMP’S UNPRECEDENTED BATTLE PLAN TO EXPAND SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS THROUGH JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

The agreement marks the conclusion of a case the DOJ touted when it was filed in September 2025 as its first-ever affirmative lawsuit brought in support of gun owners’ Second Amendment rights.

At the time of the lawsuit, applicants were waiting an average of more than nine months to receive decisions on their permits, the DOJ alleged. LASD has since “drastically” reduced those waits and is now complying with California’s statutory deadlines, the DOJ said.

“The sheriff acknowledged the problem and devoted substantial additional resources, including new processing software and additional personnel, to cutting waiting times dramatically,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said.

“We applaud their efforts and are happy to be able to bring this litigation to a successful conclusion!”

CIVIL LIBERTY ADVOCATES SUE BLUE STATE OVER ‘SHOW YOUR PAPERS’ GUN LAW

The settlement caps a battle that began in March 2025, when the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division opened a pattern-or-practice investigation into whether the nation’s largest sheriff’s department was effectively denying residents their constitutional right to bear arms through excessive permitting delays.

The DOJ said at the time that it had received numerous complaints about the department’s handling of concealed carry applications. Federal officials pointed to a court case in which applicants had faced waits of roughly 18 months.

The investigation escalated into a federal lawsuit on Sept. 30, 2025.

Federal prosecutors alleged that between January 2024 and March 2025, LASD received 3,982 applications for new concealed carry licenses but had approved just two as of May 2025.

TRUMP’S PUSH FOR NATIONAL CONCEALED CARRY RECIPROCITY WOULD PROTECT GOOD GUYS WITH GUNS

Approximately 2,768 applications remained pending, while another 1,210 had been withdrawn, according to the complaint.

The federal government alleged applicants waited an average of 281 days before LASD took action on its applications, while the median delay was 372 days. Some applicants had waited as long as 1,030 days — nearly three years.

California law requires licensing authorities to provide applicants with an initial approval or denial within 90 days.

The DOJ argued those delays amounted to a “pattern or practice” of depriving people of their constitutional rights, alleging LASD was effectively forcing some applicants to abandon their efforts to obtain a permit.

MARYLAND SYNAGOGUE SUES COUNTY OVER LAW RESTRICTING CONCEALED CARRY NEAR HOUSES OF WORSHIP

“The Second Amendment protects the fundamental constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to bear arms,” former Attorney General Pam Bondi said when the lawsuit was filed. “Los Angeles County may not like that right, but the Constitution does not allow them to infringe upon it.”

The federal action followed separate litigation brought by the California Rifle & Pistol Association, Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners of California, the Second Amendment Foundation and individual gun owners challenging California and local concealed carry restrictions.

That case resulted in a preliminary injunction that included allowing qualifying non-California residents to apply for concealed carry permits. California subsequently changed its law to permit qualifying non-residents to apply, and LASD’s current application portal includes an option for out-of-state applicants.

The DOJ’s case also came amid a broader effort by the Trump administration to use federal civil rights enforcement to protect Second Amendment rights.

DOJ SUES DENVER OVER BAN ON ‘ASSAULT WEAPONS’ AS CITY’S DEM MAYOR SAYS IT ‘WILL NOT BE BULLIED’

The Civil Rights Division has since established a dedicated Second Amendment Section, which has pursued challenges involving firearms laws and permitting practices in several jurisdictions.

Under the settlement announced Thursday, LASD will maintain procedures designed to ensure concealed carry applications are processed under objective standards and without lengthy delays.

The DOJ credited Sheriff Robert Luna’s department with putting additional personnel and new technology toward eliminating the backlog.

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The DOJ said its Second Amendment Section will continue accepting complaints from current and prospective gun owners who believe state or local governments have infringed their right to keep or bear arms.

Fox News Digital reached out to the LASD for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

A recent campaign video released by Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers in Michigan left one of his opponent’s staffers feeling triggered.

Rogers on Sunday released a video of himself riding shotgun in a red antique Ford pickup truck, which had two American flags affixed to the tailgate. The video shows Rogers smiling and waving from the passenger’s seat as the truck breezes down the road. Toby Keith’s “American Ride” accompanies the video.

“Gotta love this American Ride! There’s no better way to do the Woodward Dream Cruise!” said a post from Rogers accompanying the video online.

FOX NEWS POLL: A SENATE BATTLE LOOMS IN MICHIGAN

But one staffer for Abdul El-Sayed, the far-left socialist-adjacent Democrat running against Rogers, did not find the bit of Americana to his liking.

“Mike Rogers’ campaign has the aesthetics of a 1960s white flight suburb and a KKK cross burning,” Mason Pressler, who serves as a El-Sayed’s political manager in the northern part of Michigan, said on X.

Rogers’ campaign seized on the post, accusing Pressler of thinking that “driving a Michigan-made Ford truck is akin to the KKK.”

The campaign also added “Old Ford trucks” to its running list of things it says El-Sayed hates.

El-Sayed’s communications director, Roxie Richner, explained to Fox News Digital that Pressler’s views are not representative of the campaign as a whole because Pressler’s X bio explicitly states that his posts are his own opinions.

BIDEN-WORLD VETERAN ISSUES STARK WARNING ABOUT ABDUL EL-SAYED AS HE CROSSES PARTY LINES

She did not return a follow-up request for further comment on the post from El-Sayed’s campaign aide.

The Democratic candidate has been dogged for his particular brand of left-wing politics, even by some members of his own political party who believe he is too far left.

El-Sayed during his campaign has campaigned and partied with socialist streamer Hasan Piker, who is known for saying “America deserved 9/11,” praising Mao Zedong and Communist China, arguing that capitalists should be murdered in the streets and spewing a litany of antisemitic comments.

The far-left candidate also argued against the Second Amendment in videos discovered among the 100 he hid from public view from his YouTube channel. In an unearthed essay, he drew a parallel between President Donald Trump and Osama Bin Laden.

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

Fox News Digital previously reported that El-Sayed has received more than $100,000 in campaign cash from 41 people who work for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a designated a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates and formally designated or labeled as such in Florida and Texas.

El-Sayed’s sister, Eman Abdelhadi, has also been revealed as a socialist University of Chicago professor who was arrested last year for allegedly spitting on a police officer during an anti-ICE protest outside the Broadview, Illinois immigrant detention facility.

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Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller and Kiera McDonald contributed to this report.

Disgraced former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., admitted to FBI agents that he had “physical relations” with suspected Chinese intelligence operative Christine “Fang Fang” Fang on a “handful of occasions,” newly declassified FBI records show.

The records, which were declassified by President Donald Trump and released by the White House Government Transparency Task Force Monday, detail two FBI interviews with Swalwell — one at an Oakland field office in May 2015 and another at the same location in March 2016 — conducted as part of a broader investigation examining Fang Fang’s involvement with illicit campaign contributions, funneling interns to Swalwell’s office and other activity.

During the first interview, Swalwell told agents he had “physical relations” with Fang Fang on a “handful of occasions,” with their last physical encounter occurring in March 2015. Swalwell, meanwhile, joined Congress in 2013.

In the second interview, Swalwell described multiple encounters, including one in which Fang Fang arrived at his apartment banging on his door and the two subsequently “hooked up” after Swalwell had taken a powerful sleep medication. The former congressman indicated he had little recollection of the event. The records indicated they “probably” occurred before Swalwell was elected to Congress.

CUBA BUILT COVERT NETWORK INSIDE AMERICA THROUGH SPIES, ACTIVISTS AND UNIVERSITIES, STATE DEPT ALLEGES

“FANG left after a couple hours. Swalwell barely remembers the event because he had taken Ambien prior to FANG arriving,” stated an interview summary from the FBI.

Swalwell told investigators he considered his physical relationship with Fang Fang “casual,” while maintaining that the two “never dated” and “never had a romantic relationship.” He also told agents he believed Fang “may have wanted a more romantic relationship,” according to the 2015 interview summary.

“Swalwell had a drink with Fang a couple weeks after they first met in 2012. He had physical relations with Fang on a handful of occasions, but never dated her or had a romantic relationship. March 2015 was the last time Swalwell had physical relations with Fang,” the documents say. “Swalwell considered their physical relationship to be casual, but believed that Fang may have wanted a more romantic relationship.”

IRAN MINES US TROOPS’ SOCIAL MEDIA AS MILITARY CONSIDERS SEIZING CELLPHONES

The documents, which were first reported on by Just the News, were declassified as part of the administration’s broader efforts to combat foreign threats to U.S. elections and other political systems. They provide a much more detailed look at Swalwell and Fang Fang’s relationship, which had remained publicly murky for years as Swalwell refused to say several times whether their interactions were sexual or romantic, and described the allegations as GOP attacks.

Beyond the revelations about Swalwell’s intimate relationship with Fang Fang, the records show the FBI said financial records indicated Fang Fang used conduits to conceal herself as a prohibited foreign-national source and orchestrated conduit contributions to Swalwell’s campaign at least twice in 2013 and at least twice more in 2014.

They also show Fang Fang referred prospective interns to Swalwell’s political operation. During his 2016 FBI interview, Swalwell told agents he viewed anyone Fang Fang put forward for an internship as coming through the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association, or APAPA, an organization with which Fang was reportedly connected.

SCOPE OF CCP-BACKED CHINESE EXCHANGE PROGRAM INSIDE AMERICAN SCHOOLS UNCOVERED IN SWEEPING REPORT

The internship referrals were one component of the FBI’s broader inquiry. An investigative memo said agents were examining allegations that Fang Fang facilitated access to Swalwell and internships in his congressional office in exchange for campaign contributions. However, the FBI ultimately said it did not find evidence that Swalwell committed federal corruption violations or participated in a quid-pro-quo scheme. 

Swalwell was removed as a subject of the investigation in 2017, but the bureau did indicate it found evidence that Fang Fang herself violated federal election laws involving foreign-national and conduit contributions.

The declassified files revealed that the FBI had previously tried to cultivate Fang Fang as a confidential source under the codename “RUSTY THUMBS,” as agents suspected she had ties to China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), including her parents who were reportedly considered known Chinese intelligence officers.

Fang also repeatedly encouraged Swalwell to visit China, according to the records. During his 2016 FBI interview, Swalwell told agents that Fang “would generally mention that SWALWELL should go to CHINA,” and said she extended a China invitation to someone in his orbit at a November 2014 election-night party.

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By the time of that 2016 interview, Swalwell told agents he had cut off contact with Fang Fang after first meeting with the FBI about the matter. Agents had given him a defensive briefing in late April 2015 about foreign-intelligence targeting and specifically discussed Fang Fang and her connections.

Fox News Digital reached out to Swalwell and his attorneys for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

President Donald Trump praised a teenage California lifeguard as a hero during a Monday meeting at the White House, after the 16-year-old rescued a 10-year-old boy in a viral ocean rescue.

Trump met with Ryder Williams, 16, and his family, as well as Nathaniel Rai—who was swept into the ocean by a wave—and his family. 

The rescue drew national attention when it was captured on video.

“It’s an honor to be with Ryder Williams,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “I understand he was a winner right from the time they first saw him as a lifeguard. He saved this young gentleman who I had a long talk with.”

BEACH HERO JUMPS INTO THE WATER AFTER SPOTTING 3 GIRLS IN DANGER OF DROWNING

Trump praised Williams, saying, “What you did was incredible and everybody saw it.” He said the teen was an inspiration for young Americans.

Williams, a California State Parks lifeguard, was on duty when Rai was pulled into the water just before the July 25 rescue. Williams rushed to get ahold of the boy, who was being pounded by rough waves until another lifeguard came and helped pull them both to shore.

The rescue went viral, catching the eye of Eric Trump, before President Trump issued a White House invitation to Williams.

“In those dangerous moments that we have, we always try to fall back on our training,” Williams, who aspires to become a firefighter, told reporters. “We are trained so well by many to handle that situation as best we can.”

MAN, WOMAN KILLED IN RIP CURRENT AS LIFEGUARD SHORTAGE LEAVES DANGER ZONES IN BEACH DESTINATION

“I hope that everybody can take away from this and try to help more people. Try to look out for everybody around you and just try to help everybody out as much as you can,” he added.

Nathaniel’s father, Sumit Rai, who was also in the Oval Office, thanked Williams, saying he’s “beyond grateful” for the rescue of his son.

The teen’s action showed how important lifeguards are, Trump said.

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“Maybe lifeguards don’t get the credit they deserve,” he said.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is capitalizing on Democrats’ internal civil war as he crisscrosses the country in a bid to keep the House majority for Republicans in November.

During a campaign stop in Virginia Beach on Monday, Johnson name-checked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., as he described the wave of socialist-linked primary wins in Jeffries’ home state.

“It’s a fascinating thing to see the Democrat Party, they’re in the midst of, now, an open civil war. Truly, they don’t know who they stand, what they stand for, or who stands with them. They don’t have a leader,” Johnson said.

It comes after candidates linked to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani toppled establishment-backed candidates, including two sitting House Democrats.

JOHNSON TURNS DEMOCRATS’ SOCIALIST CIVIL WAR INTO NEW WEAPON FOR MIDTERMS

“Hakeem Jeffries is the top leader, the Democrat leader in the House. But he lost his slate of candidates in his own backyard,” Johnson said. “Several weeks ago, you saw Mamdani endorsed a slate of radical far-left candidates, DSA-approved and endorsed candidates, and they all won. And one of those races was in the Bronx, in Hakeem Jeffries’ own backyard.”

The specific race Johnson was referring to saw Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., defeated by socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York’s 13th Congressional District. The area spans parts of the Bronx and Upper Manhattan.

In the 10th Congressional District, encompassing part of western Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, former DSA member Brad Lander defeated Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y.

SOCIALISM VS CAPITALISM: HOUSE DEMS CLASH OVER WHAT NY ELECTION RESULTS MEAN FOR PARTY

Both incumbents were endorsed by Jeffries, as is usually the case. Both Chevalier and Lander were backed by Mamdani, himself a DSA member.

Socialist Claire Valdez, also a Mamdani-backed candidate, won a Brooklyn- and Queens-area House seat being vacated by Rep. Nydia Velázquez. Jeffries did not endorse in that race, but it’s notable that Velázquez’s chosen successor lost.

Jeffries’ own district sits entirely in Brooklyn. Despite that, however, neither Chevalier nor Valdez has publicly backed Jeffries to remain House Democrats’ leader.

It’s a microcosm of the wider fight playing out across the country between the establishment party and a far-left insurgency. The war has proved to be a boon for Republicans who are facing an uphill battle to keep their razor-thin House majority.

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

Johnson, who was in Virginia campaigning for endangered House Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., compared Democrats to a “rudderless ship.”

“But the thing that is so, I think alarming — let me use that word, alarming, for the American people — is that you have open Marxists who are winning primaries in that party,” Johnson said before referencing the DSA’s own platform.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES CONFRONTED ON ‘YOU’RE NEXT’ CHANTS FOLLOWING NY DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST VICTORIES

“The challenge is coming from people who, you know, they put their platform out, they published it. They want to abolish the border. They want to abolish all prisons in America. They want to abolish the U.S. Senate. They want to remove the president. They want to expand the House and make it a unicameral governing body over the country. Why? Because they believe that over two or three cycles, they’ll be able to bring a wave of Marxists, communists into the Congress and take it over.”

When reached for a response, a spokesperson for Jeffries referred Fox News Digital to an exchange between the House Democratic leader and NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Kristin Welker on Sunday.

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“I expect that there will be at least 220 members of the House Democratic Caucus when we take back the majority, if not a number much greater than that,” Jeffries said in response to a question about challengers from the left toppling incumbents. “We as House Democrats are committed to fighting for an affordable America every day, every week, every month until we solve this crisis.”

Attorney General Todd Blanche on Monday launched a new process to allow certain people who are barred from possessing firearms to apply for restoration of their federal firearm rights.

Under a final rule issued by Blanche, applicants must establish the circumstances of their prohibition, as well as show that they are not likely to pose a danger to public safety.

“The Second Amendment is not a second-class right, and the federal government should not permanently deprive Americans of a constitutional right without regard to whether they pose a danger to public safety,” Blanche said in a statement. “This rule establishes a rigorous, commonsense process that protects the public while giving deserving Americans a real path to restoration.”

INSIDE TRUMP’S UNPRECEDENTED BATTLE PLAN TO EXPAND SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS THROUGH JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Along with the circumstances of the prohibition, the applicant’s record, reputation and subsequent conduct will also be taken into consideration, the Justice Department said.

“Absent extraordinary circumstances, violent felons, registered sex offenders, illegal aliens, and other individuals who present an ongoing danger will remain presumptively ineligible for relief,” the agency said. “Any relief granted under the rule removes only applicable federal firearms disabilities and does not override independent restrictions imposed by state law.”

The National Rifle Association (NRA) told Fox News Digital that it has long championed the restoration of Second Amendment rights for individuals who paid their debts to society and who are not demonstrably dangerous to public safety. 

“NRA submitted extensive comments in response to the original proposal to ensure the process was fair, accessible, and consistent with the underlying statute,” the group said in a statement. “While the final rule falls short on a few of these suggestions, it is an important step in the right direction. As ever, we will continue our advocacy to ensure no American is unduly deprived of the right to keep and bear arms.”

Monday’s announcement is another win for gun-rights advocates.

Last week, the Trump administration declined to pause a judge’s ruling that allows people to possess short-barreled rifles, shotguns and silencers without registering them with the federal government.

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The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) established a $200 tax on silencers, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and other firearms that also required additional federal registration to obtain.

Republicans reduced that tax to zero in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), prompting gun rights groups to successfully argue that the added registration requirement was unconstitutional.

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“Our court victory against NFA registration is the greatest Second Amendment legal win in American history,” U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., wrote on X last week.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

A top commander responsible for defending the U.S. homeland warned Thursday that American military bases are “ill-equipped” to repel a swarm of small attack drones.

The vulnerability that persists even as the Pentagon seeks billions for new counter-drone weapons, and Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Jarrard said the shortfall begins well before troops try to shoot down a drone.

Some bases do not have the sensors to spot and track an incoming swarm or the weapons to take it out, the deputy commander of U.S. Northern Command and vice commander of the American contingent at North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

“We don’t have the sensors, and depending on where that swarm is going to attack, it depends on whether we have any sensors at all, and also whether we’ve got any effectors to go after that problem,” Jarrard said at the annual Space and Missile Defense Symposium.

Jarrard said NORTHCOM is folding counter-drone tactics into Operation Noble Eagle, the long-running U.S.-Canada homeland air-defense mission. For now, he said, NORAD is relying on radars already in its inventory while working to connect with local law enforcement and other agencies that operate detection systems beyond military installations.

“Detection is obviously the biggest issue, and so how we are able to detect is one of our biggest concerns right now,” Jarrard said. “That’s where we’ve got to get to with respect to the interoperability between not just military systems, but also those that are protecting our cities, critical infrastructure, etc., that are off our installations.”

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Jarrard’s assessment offers a blunt measure of the gap between the Pentagon’s rapid counter-drone push and the protection available at installations today. Cheap, one-way attack drones have changed the battlefield calculus in Ukraine and the Middle East, where adversaries can threaten equipment, infrastructure and personnel without expending the missiles or aircraft traditionally associated with a strike on a military target.

“We are ill-equipped right now to handle something like that, and obviously we’ve seen it used,” Jarrard told the audience. “We’re seeing it used on a daily basis around the world, and we’ve got to figure out how to mitigate that threat.”

His warning echoed concerns raised in May by NORTHCOM commander Gen. Gregory Guillot, who said troops deployed along the southern border lacked adequate counter-drone tools. The Pentagon has since sought a record $21 billion for drones, counter-drone weapons, munitions and other related capabilities as it tries to close the gap.

The warning also comes as President Donald Trump moves ahead with the Golden Dome plan, his broad homeland missile-defense initiative intended to protect the United States and critical infrastructure from ballistic, hypersonic and cruise missiles, as well as other advanced aerial threats.

The issue has resurfaced as it relates to the administration’s broader discussion of unidentified objects around U.S. military sites.

Earlier this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the government should take seriously reports of objects flying over military installations — more recently called unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs) rather than unidentified foreign objects (UFOs).

“I don’t know who it is. I don’t know what it is, but there are things flying over our military installations, and they’re not ours, and we should look into this, be serious about it,” Rubio said while discussing UAPs in an interview with Katie Miller, wife of top White House aide Stephen Miller.

Rubio was not specifically referring to drone swarms, and Jarrard did not suggest that every unidentified object reported near a military site is a drone. Still, the two officials’ comments point to the same practical concern for U.S. forces: an aircraft does not need to be mysterious to present a danger.

Jarrard, in his remarks, was describing a more immediate and localized vulnerability: the ability to detect and defeat low-cost drones flying toward a base before they can strike.

The military is pursuing several answers, from radio-frequency systems that can jam drone communications or interfere with satellite navigation to high-powered microwave weapons designed to disrupt the electronics of multiple nearby drones at once.

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It is also moving closer to fielding high-energy lasers. Fox News Digital reported this month that the Army is nearing a contract award for the Enduring High Energy Laser, or E-HEL, program, which could become the service’s first permanent operational capability for a family of high-energy laser systems.

Army acquisition chief Lt. Gen. Frank Lozano said in July that the technology had shown “a lot of recent promise and capability” during testing at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

A laser could allow troops to engage drones that have entered a defended area without relying solely on expensive missile interceptors, but it is not a complete solution: lasers are line-of-sight weapons, which limits their reach, and they must be integrated with the sensors, command-and-control networks and other systems Jarrard said are lacking at some locations.

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In an era when small drones can be cheap, expendable and deployed in numbers, the military must be able to identify the threat quickly and prevent it from reaching the installation it is meant to protect.

Los Angeles teachers are patrolling neighborhoods near schools for ICE agents — a rogue effort the school district disavowed as it ramps up support for immigrant families, while DHS blasts critics for pushing a “false narrative” about enforcement at schools.

“We recognize the fear and uncertainty that immigration enforcement activity can create for students, families, and staff,” a Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Friday. “Our responsibility is to ensure our schools remain safe, supportive, and welcoming places for every student. We have strengthened communication and coordination with city leaders and municipal partners, increased our presence in impacted communities, and established rapid-response protocols should enforcement activity occur.”

The spokesperson was responding to a report that teachers were participating in “ICE Patrols” before the school day begins, driving through neighborhoods near schools to search for signs of federal immigration agents. CBS Los Angeles reported on the patrols, joining a ride-along with Los Angeles teacher Lupe Carrasco Cardona and other members of an anti-immigration enforcement group, called Unión del Barrio. When the group spots suspected ICE activity, members document what they see — including photographing license plates — and alert families and others in the community.

The patrols are not sanctioned by LAUSD, according to the district, but they come as the nation’s second-largest school system has built its own network of services for families worried about immigration enforcement — including legal referrals, “Know Your Rights” resources, transportation assistance and alternative learning options.

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“Tinted windows, that is a red flag. We’re looking for double-parked like this one; that would be a red flag,” another teacher riding with Cardona told the outlet.

The teachers say their patrols have helped families, with Cardona saying some community members plan their days around the group’s reports.

“It’s been really beautiful to witness teachers devoting their own personal time to just watching the neighborhood and making sure that it’s safe,” said United Teachers Los Angeles Chapter Chair Jon Paul Arciniega. “It’s been really beneficial.”

The district provides families with “24/7 access to Know Your Rights resources, legal referrals, mental health services, and a dedicated hotline” through its “We Are One” campaign, said the spokesperson. LAUSD also offers a multilingual Family Preparedness Packet to help families understand their rights and prepare for encounters with immigration officers.

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“We do not ask about or share a student’s immigration status unless required by law, and we remain committed to maintaining safe zones around our schools,” said the spokesperson.

The schools also offer access to transportation assistance, alternative learning options through the Virtual Academy and referrals to legal service providers.

“ICE is not going to schools to make arrests. If a dangerous or violent illegal criminal alien felon were to flee into a daycare, or a child sex offender is working as an employee, there may be a situation where an arrest is made to protect the safety of the children,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

“This is just another false narrative to try and demonize our brave ICE law enforcement who are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them and an 8000% increase in death threats,” the DHS spokesperson added. “Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, ICE is targeting the worst of the worst. Nearly 70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S. “

TRUMP’S DC LAW-AND-ORDER BLITZ MARKS ONE YEAR WITH EYE-POPPING HAUL OF SUSPECTS

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ICE amped up operations in Los Angeles last year, with Mayor Karen Bass recently reaffirming her support for immigrant communities, saying, “We will always protect our neighbors, and we continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with immigrant families in LA and everywhere.”

A top House GOP firebrand is accusing a multibillion-dollar global corporation of injecting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into the U.S. economy at a time when Americans are struggling with rising cost of living.

Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, who chairs the House Oversight Committee’s Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses, is targeting McKinsey & Company in a new probe over DEI reports that he says were “highly influential in American corporations.”

He’s accusing the massive consulting firm of publishing reports that say race- and gender-based hiring practices are beneficial to U.S. companies, which he argues are a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Meanwhile, Americans are at the mercy of many of the same companies as they grapple with high prices across housing, food, and other areas.

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“These McKinsey reports have been highly influential, being cited by publicly traded companies, asset managers, proxy advisory firms, and banking institutions, among others, as cause for embedding illegal racial and sex-based targets into hiring, promotion, executive compensation, and asset manager proxy voting policies,” Gill wrote in a letter sent Monday.

“With the support of the previous administration, progressive activists cited McKinsey’s reports to push companies, governments, and stock exchanges to implement rules which forced or incentivized illegal corporate racial or gender-based hiring and disclosure policies.”

Gill also questioned whether the findings of that report were legitimate.

“Although in 2024 McKinsey stated that it ‘stands by its findings,’ other researchers have found zero statistical correlation between a company’s gender and racial diversity and its financial performance,” the letter said. “Racial discrimination in the employment context, including under the guise of DEI, has been pervasive despite being plainly illegal for over half a century.”

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It comes just after Gill’s panel led high-profile hearings into the Smithsonian Institute’s teaching of American history, bringing national attention to what Republicans are calling a warped and politicized version of the U.S.

Gill accused National Museum of American History director Anthea Hartig of pushing a left-wing ideological agenda rather than facilitating a straightforward education on the country’s past. Hertig stood by the museum’s teachings, which she called apolitical.

In the letter sent Monday, Gill cited a 2026 White House Economic Report that said DEI initiatives cost the U.S. economy roughly $94 billion in 2023.

He also pointed out that four reports published by McKinsey between 2015 and 2023 argued that companies with increased racial and gender diversity financially outperformed companies without.

NEW YORK TIMES SUED BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OVER ALLEGED ‘DEI-RELATED’ EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION

“Researchers assessing the McKinsey DEI studies cannot recreate the results and also find that McKinsey likely swapped the cause and effect of its DEI conclusions,” Gill wrote. “The Executive Office of the President has identified $94 billion in annual economic costs to the U.S. economy due to promotion of otherwise illegal race and gender-based hiring practices, perhaps in part motivated by the findings of McKinsey’s DEI reports that are partially inaccurate or wholly incorrect.”

McKinsey’s corporate website states, “The business case for gender equality, diversity, and inclusion is strong and growing stronger.” The website estimated that the national GDP would go up by $12 trillion if the workforce gender gap is narrowed by 2025, but no update appears to be provided. Another statistic cites $2 billion in additional revenue “if financial inclusion efforts broaden services for black Americans.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the company for comment on Gill’s letter.

The Department of War announced Monday that the U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon, an RTX business, a $22.9 billion contract to accelerate production of Tomahawk missiles, as the Pentagon moves to expand the nation’s munitions capacity and replenish critical long-range strike weapons.

The news came after President Donald Trump pushed back on concerns over the strain the Iran conflict might be placing on U.S. weapons stockpiles.

“What we’ve used is peanuts,” Trump told Fox News’ Trey Yingst in an exclusive phone interview earlier Monday. “We have a lot of mid-level weapons.”

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The massive Tomahawk award is intended to give RTX the stability needed to expand its workforce, increase manufacturing output and strengthen supply chains while speeding deliveries of the long-range cruise missile to U.S. forces, according to the department.

“The Department called upon industry to expand munitions production, and RTX has answered that call,” Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey wrote in a statement. “This Tomahawk award increases our ability to equip the Joint Force, ensuring our Warfighters never face a fair fight.”

Pentagon officials have increasingly focused on expanding the U.S. defense industrial base and shortening the time required to produce key weapons as military operations and heightened global tensions put renewed attention on the size and resilience of American weapons stockpiles.

“Guaranteeing our naval and joint forces have the lethal firepower they need to deter aggression and protect the homeland is paramount,” acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao wrote in a statement. “This landmark $22.9 billion investment will accelerate Tomahawk missile delivery to our warfighters at unprecedented speed.

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“By working closely with industry to expand our munitions industrial base’s capacity, the Department is utilizing every available tool to meet the demands of our current operations, ensuring they are equipped to fight, win, and come home safe.” 

The Navy said the agreement also supports the Department of War’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy, which is aimed at accelerating weapons deliveries and reducing procurement lead times.

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The Tomahawk is one of the U.S. military’s primary long-range strike weapons and can be launched from Navy ships and submarines against targets hundreds of miles away. The Navy’s Portfolio Acquisition Executive Munitions oversees procurement and delivery of the service’s munitions and strike capabilities and is working to coordinate weapons programs with the industrial base to expand production capacity.