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Violent riots sweeping France have exposed a far-left network of communist groups, labor unions and political activists mobilizing around student grievances, raising questions about whether similar political and immigration tensions could ignite unrest on American streets.

A Fox News Digital investigation identified 50 organizations involved in France’s student protest movement and its broader network of supporters and international amplifiers, including communist and socialist groups, labor unions and political parties.

The American parallels extend beyond political rhetoric. Fox News Digital previously reported that agitators at Delaney Hall in Newark used encrypted Signal chats to coordinate transportation, supplies and demonstrations before clashes with federal agents.

Santiago Vidal Calvo, a researcher at the Manhattan Institute, singled out New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, arguing that their approaches to immigration enforcement could move the United States closer to conditions he associates with France’s crisis.

RO KHANNA SPARKS BACKLASH OVER FRANCE RIOT COMMENTS AS CRITIC SAYS HE WANTS TO ‘RIDE THE RAGE WAVE’

“I have absolutely no doubts that if we had Mamdanis or El-Sayeds or AOCs in charge of immigration policy, our immigration landscape would be very different today than what it currently is,” Calvo told Fox News Digital.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has made a similar argument, explicitly tying France’s violence to the stakes of the 2026 midterms.

“France is descending into chaos because they wanted OPEN BORDERS — just like the socialist Democrats in America,” Johnson wrote on X. “What we are witnessing is a chilling warning for all Americans of what happens if the radical Marxist insurgent left gets their way.”

Johnson argued that a Democratic victory in November would lead to more permissive immigration policies, casting the election as a choice between the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the approach favored by Democrats. President Donald Trump similarly posted on Truth Social that “migrants have taken over France,” urging the country to “CLOSE THE BORDERS, FAST!”

The immigration debate is also playing out directly in the 2026 midterms. In Michigan’s closely watched Senate race, Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed has made abolishing ICE a campaign position, arguing that the agency cannot be reformed. His Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, has sought to portray El-Sayed as an ideological extremist as the two compete for a seat that could help determine control of the Senate.

In New York City, Mamdani signed a February executive order reinforcing sanctuary protections and restricting federal immigration enforcement on city property without a judicial warrant. Both Mamdani and El-Sayed frame their policies as safeguards against abusive enforcement, while critics warn they could weaken immigration controls.

The unrest began with students protesting conditions in France’s education system before labor unions, political activists and groups with separate grievances joined the movement. Fox News Digital’s investigation found that 15 of the 50 organizations identified in the broader network were student or youth groups.

Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, described a convergence of frustrations over school funding, rising costs, France’s stagnant economy and longstanding tensions surrounding immigration and assimilation.

FRANCE IS DEVOURING ITSELF AS SCHOOL RIOTS REVEAL A CRISIS FAR BIGGER THAN BROKEN CLASSROOMS

“You’ve got the simple educational one which is partially economic, you’ve got the larger economic one and on top of that you have the assimilation issue,” Arthur said.

But Arthur expressed skepticism that the United States would experience nationwide riots on the same scale, pointing to differences in immigration patterns and assimilation.

“Now can we see mass protests like this in the United States? I don’t think so,” Arthur said, noting that protests over urban ICE operations have not escalated into a comparable nationwide movement.

Nathalie Szerman, a Europe-based researcher with the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), pointed to another potential factor: The demonstrations intensified around the 65th anniversary of the Oct. 17, 1961, massacre of Algerian demonstrators by Paris police.

“October 17 is a very symbolic date for the Algerian-ethnic groups,” Szerman told Fox News Digital, describing demonstrators memorializing a deadly 1961 crackdown by Paris police on Algerian demonstrators.

“The first protest groups were not ideologically aligned with ‘political Islam’ but were students from immigrant suburbs, driven by education concerns. Agenda-driven, organized ‘Political Muslim’ groups used the momentum of the protests for their own ends,” Szerman said.

“It’s a lot of things together, the resentment towards France and the political agenda,” she said.

Alan Mendoza, executive director of the U.K.’s Henry Jackson Society — named for the late Washington Sen. Scoop Jackson — argued that the far-left movement led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon helped encourage broader mobilization ahead of France’s next presidential election.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu blamed Mélenchon and his party for the unrest, according to Le Monde, while Mélenchon fired back after Lecornu demanded that LFI “choose a side” between France and the rioters — calling the either-or “detestable.”

Mendoza warned that similar political tensions could surface in America, citing backlash against socialist New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani from anti-Israel activists who had previously supported him.

“What was interesting was the sight of him being turned on by the pro-Palestinian protesters the other day, when he was acknowledging October the 7th, the loss of human life on his radio site, he was turned on by the very hard left people who had helped propel him to power,” Mendoza said.

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“What that shows you is that it is very real a possibility at the hard left who are never satisfied and actually want chaos more than anything else,” Mendoza added.

Arthur said France’s far left can openly champion expansive immigration policies, while American Democrats face a different political reality: They cannot publicly embrace open borders without risking backlash, he argued, pointing to the Biden administration’s tendency to portray illegal immigration as a problem it could not control rather than a policy it actively supported.

“Riot is to France what football is to the United States,” said Arthur.

Szerman, however, said comparable unrest was possible despite differences between the two countries.

“I definitely think that what’s happening in France could happen in the United States,” she said, while noting that the more accommodating U.S. education system and different approach to immigrant integration could reduce the severity of any such violence, making a French-style nationwide crisis less likely.

Calvo, meanwhile, warned that adopting more expansive immigration policies without adequate screening and integration safeguards could create pressures similar to those he believes contributed to France’s unrest.

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“France is in this mess because of the horrible policies they had in immigration over the last years,” he said, warning that importing similar approaches could bring unrest to American communities.

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani, El-Sayed and Ocasio-Cortez for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Ashely DiMella contributed to this report. 

FLUSHING, N.Y. — Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz confronted employees at two New York City senior care centers over suspected Medicaid fraud, challenging their billing practices as Fox News Digital got an exclusive look at the crackdown in action.

Oz, accompanied by senior federal health officials, delivered warning letters to Kent Senior Care and Evergreen Adult Day Care in Flushing, Queens, during a broader fraud crackdown that involved the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the NYPD and other agencies.

The letters notified the facilities that their billing practices had raised concerns among federal authorities. The two visits by Oz were part of a broader crackdown in which CMS officials conducted more than 80 visits and delivered warning letters to providers across New York City on Tuesday.

Fox News Digital accompanied Oz as he pressed employees about questionable billing records and challenged their explanations for how taxpayer dollars were being spent.

DR. OZ NAMES 5 STATES IN FRAUD CRACKDOWN AS TRUMP ADMIN TARGETS MEDICAID ABUSE

“The whole experience was suspicious,” Oz told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview following the visits.

Oz said federal authorities were conducting a broader crackdown that included arrests, search warrants and efforts to stop certain operators from billing Medicaid, although Fox News Digital did not independently witness those enforcement actions at either Queens facility.

Kent Senior Care declined comment during a phone call with Fox News Digital on Tuesday. Evergreen Adult Day Care did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Oz questions senior center director: ‘We don’t believe you’

The first stop came around 8:30 a.m. at Kent Senior Care, where Oz entered the facility and personally handed its director a letter from the federal government notifying the business that its billing practices were under scrutiny.

FBI LAUNCHES ‘MOST WANTED FRAUDSTERS’ LIST AS DOJ CHARGES OHIO DEFENDANTS IN $30M MEDICAID SCHEME FOR KIDS

“The bills are much higher than they should be,” Oz told the director. “The billing is for more people. It doesn’t look very crowded here.”

The director pushed back during the exchange, explaining that it was still early and additional seniors would arrive later in the morning, as Oz questioned whether the facility’s Medicaid billing records accurately reflected its actual attendance.

The occupancy of the space was 70 persons, according to an observe posted maximum occupancy sign on the wall.

“The bills we’re getting are as though it’s completely full all the time,” Oz said.

FBI ADDS 2 FUGITIVES TO ‘MOST WANTED FRAUDSTERS’ LIST AMID HISTORIC $6.5B HEALTHCARE TAKEDOWN: PATEL

The director maintained that the facility billed only for seniors who actually attended, and that it required participants to sign attendance sheets.

“You’re getting this letter from the U.S. Government because we don’t believe you,” he told the director.

During the exchange, Oz also questioned why the center’s billing records appeared to reflect seniors attending five days a week when the director acknowledged that many participants typically attended only two or three days.

The director insisted the facility billed for actual attendance and said some seniors attended more frequently than others.

The confrontation intensified when Oz and other federal officials raised questions about specialized transportation services billed for seniors using wheelchairs.

DR OZ SAYS 800 HOSPICE PROVIDERS SUSPENDED IN CALIFORNIA OVER ALLEGED $1B MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME

“I don’t see any wheelchairs here,” Oz told the director.

Fox News Digital observed seniors inside the facility, including individuals using walking aids, but did not see anyone using a wheelchair during the visit.

Another official said billing records included charges for specialized wheelchair transportation, raising questions about whether the services had been provided and which company was responsible for submitting the charges.

The director said some seniors had mobility difficulties, including those recovering from strokes, and that the facility had wheelchairs available. He also said that workers could have copied information from previous files instead of properly updating the billing codes as it applied to wheelchair use.

“Probably he just copy and pasted,” the director said.

MEDICAID PROVIDER ALLEGEDLY BILLED $165K FOR DEAD PATIENT’S RIDES AMONG FRAUD EXPOSED IN EXPLOSIVE REPORT

During the visit, Oz walked over to several mahjong tables set up inside the facility, questioning whether taxpayer dollars were being properly spent on the recreational activities offered through the Medicaid-funded program.

“Should the American taxpayers be paying so folks can play mahjong?” Oz asked the director.

The director defended the activity, explaining that mahjong helps seniors exercise their fingers, socialize and improve their memory, particularly those experiencing cognitive difficulties.

“It’s free for them, not free for the taxpayers,” Oz responded. “Is that what our federal tax dollars for Medicaid is supposed to go to? Or is it life-saving heart surgery? Or, you know, new therapies for cancer?”

Oz raises concerns over seniors entering without signing in

Oz raised additional concerns about the facility’s attendance records after observing seniors entering without signing in, despite the director’s insistence that participants were required to document their attendance.

“People were just walking in there without signing anything,” Oz said. “And then after I showed up and he saw what we were doing with my team, he started collecting these documents to be signed.”

Oz said the apparent inconsistencies raised further questions about whether the facility’s attendance records accurately reflected the services being billed to Medicaid.

Fox News Digital also witnessed several seniors enter Kent Senior Care without immediately signing attendance sheets. Additional seniors who arrived later were instructed to sign in.

Social adult day care programs can provide eligible seniors with structured activities, supervision, meals and social support. Medicaid reimbursement depends on applicable program rules, individual eligibility and documentation of services provided.

TREASURY HAILS SUCCESS OF ANTI-FRAUD PROCESS THAT FLAGGED AND PREVENTED $99 MILLION IN PAYMENTS TO DEAD PEOPLE

At the second stop, Evergreen Adult Day Care, Oz confronted a floor manager over another set of billing discrepancies before examining the facility’s attendance records.

The manager told Oz that approximately 200 seniors attended the facility on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, compared with about 150 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, although it was unclear whether those figures represented total daily attendance or the number of seniors present at one time.

But Oz questioned those numbers after walking through the facility and observing significantly fewer people.

“So I look at maybe 25 people in the whole space now,” Oz said.

The manager disputed that estimate, explaining that some seniors were participating in classes while others had left to shop, visit a pharmacy or attend medical appointments.

“The numbers don’t seem to add up,” Oz responded.

Oz also questioned the manager about wheelchair-related billing, asking how many participants used wheelchairs.

TRUMP’S WAR ON FRAUD EXPANDS AS TREASURY LAUNCHES NEW SITE WITH WHISTLEBLOWER INCENTIVES

The manager initially indicated that none did before acknowledging that a small number of seniors used them.

“But you said there weren’t any, were you?” Oz pressed.

He subsequently discussed the apparent discrepancy with other federal officials accompanying him.

“I’m struck by how few people are here as well,” Oz said. “This makes me wonder how they sustain these billing levels.”

The visit took another turn when Oz examined the facility’s attendance books, which he said contained “fraud.”

Fox News Digital observed sign-in sheets that appeared to contain names entered for Oct. 22, and Oct. 23, dates that had not yet occurred at the time of the visit.

The entries dated Oct. 22 and Oct. 23, both after the visit, raised questions about whether the facility was documenting attendance in advance, although Fox News Digital could not immediately establish whether the entries were completed attendance records or advance schedules.

Oz alleges organized crime ties to NYC Medicaid fraud

Oz said federal authorities believed organized criminal networks were exploiting the Medicaid-funded programs by offering seniors money to attend facilities and then billing the government for services that were not actually provided.

Oz alleged that individuals he described as being connected to the “Chinese mafia” were paying some seniors between $1,000 and $1,200 to participate in fraudulent billing arrangements, though the administrator did not identify a specific criminal organization or provide supporting evidence during the interview.

Oz said the federal government had identified significant spikes in billing across the industry and claimed that annual spending on the programs had approached $1 billion.

“We know from the billing here that there’s no way this business is running in the way that they claim to be running without something being wrong,” Oz told Fox News Digital.

“Is it an innocent mistake? A hundred times in a row, I don’t think so.”

Oz alleged that proceeds from fraudulent Medicaid billing schemes were being used to finance other criminal activities, including money laundering and human trafficking, although Fox News Digital had not independently verified those connections or established any such link to the two facilities visited.

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“It’s really a clubhouse for crime,” Oz said while describing the alleged broader scheme.

He said fraud accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic and criticized the previous administration for failing to address what he described as rapidly rising spending and suspicious billing.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul acknowledged the crackdown on Tuesday, calling it part of a “massive effort to combat fraud and abuse” in Medicaid and confirming that state health officials had joined federal and state law enforcement in targeting suspected fraud at social adult day care programs.

While Oz personally delivered warning letters to the two Queens facilities, state, local and federal law enforcement officials were simultaneously conducting searches at other locations across New York City as part of the coordinated crackdown.

Specific details about the facilities targeted, individuals involved and evidence recovered were not immediately available as the investigations remained ongoing.

The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia ignored at least 1,670 immigration detainers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement between 2023 and 2025, releasing criminal illegal immigrants back into the community instead of transferring them to federal custody, according to a new House Judiciary Committee report.

The interim staff report – obtained by Fox News before its noon Tuesday release by the committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement – also accuses Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano of treating illegal immigrant defendants differently from similarly situated American citizens to limit their immigration consequences.

“This interim report provides evidence of the ways in which just one local jurisdiction has implemented policies that allow dangerous foreign nationals to reoffend and avoid deportation,” the report, issued under House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Chair Tom McClintock, R-Calif., concluded.

SANCTUARY COUNTY REFUSED 615 ICE TRANSFER REQUESTS, TURNED OVER JUST 11 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, RECORDS SHOW

“But Fairfax County and prosecutor Steve Descano are not outliers. They are indicative of a modern, radical, socialist Democrat Party that seeks to erase national borders and place illegal alien criminals ahead of law-abiding American citizens,” the report added. “The policies supported by these Democrats, including sanctuary policies, will have negative and lasting consequences for Americans. The Committee and Subcommittee will continue to conduct oversight of these sanctuary policies to inform potential legislative reforms to better protect American communities.”

SOROS-BACKED DA ACCUSED OF GOING EASY ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS GETS SQUEEZED BY HOUSE GOP

The committee said a preliminary review of more than 1,100 criminal cases identified more than 100 previously unreported illegal immigrants who benefited from Descano’s prosecutorial decisions. The report said Descano’s office rarely pursued charges against illegal immigrants accused of crimes including driving under the influence, felony drug possession, felony grand larceny, shoplifting, fraud, trespassing, destruction of property and assaulting a law enforcement officer.

The committee accused Descano’s office of “de facto” decriminalizing some offenses and said most of the defendants reviewed went on to reoffend, in some cases escalating to violent crimes and murder.

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

The report, titled “Fairfax County, Virginia: The dangerous consequences of sanctuary policies,” also alleges that Descano misled Congress about the scope of his policies.

“The Biden-Harris Administration worked to weaken the first Trump Administration’s efforts to hold sanctuary jurisdictions accountable for undermining immigration enforcement,” the report read. “In addition to dropping federal litigation relating to sanctuary jurisdictions’ policies, the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice Department, beginning in April 2021, no longer required jurisdictions to cooperate with ICE as a condition of receiving federal grant funding.”

SOROS-LINKED PROSECUTOR FACES PRIMARY CHALLENGE AS FELLOW DEMOCRAT TARGETS HIS RECORD

During testimony before the committee in May, Descano said his policy was “written with legal permanent residents in mind for minor crimes.” But in a September letter, the committee said Descano acknowledged that prosecutors could consider immigration consequences in cases involving illegal immigrants as well.

Descano’s campaign website previously stated that when “possible,” his office would “make charging and plea decisions that limit or avoid immigration consequences.” He also argued that “if two people commit the same crime, but only one’s punishment includes deportation, that’s a perversion of justice and not a reflection of the values of Fairfax County.”

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

The committee cited numerous cases in which it said criminal defendants benefited from reduced or dismissed charges. In one example, prosecutors allegedly reduced felony charges involving the sexual assault of a child to misdemeanor “consensual sex with a child” and offered a 90-day suspended jail sentence.

The report also said Descano’s office dropped more than 50 charges against a serial fraudster from China and allowed defendants charged with malicious wounding, strangulation, assault and battery and other violent offenses to “escape accountability and reoffend.”

ICE ARRESTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CONVICTED OF ATTEMPTED MURDER, RAPE AND CHILD SEX CRIMES IN TARGETED CRACKDOWN

The committee detailed additional cases involving defendants accused of child pornography, rape, abduction, firearm offenses, drug possession and assault. In some cases, the report said, defendants were released despite ICE detainers and later arrested again.

One case involved Marvin Morales-Ortez, an alleged MS-13 member whose charges were dropped before the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office released him in December 2025. The report said Morales-Ortez allegedly murdered a man in Reston, Virginia, one day later.

ANGEL MOM SAYS BLUE STATE DAS ARE PUTTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMINALS BEFORE PUBLIC SAFETY

Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid blamed the release on the lack of prosecution, writing that “the system must work as a whole.” She added: “When criminal defendants are prosecuted, authorities are better able to track court dates and monitor releases.”

Kincaid has also previously criticized the county’s prosecution practices, stating, “It’s shameful the way things have not been prosecuted.”

BIDEN ADMIN RELEASED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ACCUSED OF FATALLY STABBING FAIRFAX COUNTY MOTHER

The report highlighted the case of Stephanie Minter, who was fatally stabbed in February. The suspect, Abdul Jalloh, is an illegal immigrant with more than 40 prior charges in Fairfax County. The committee said Descano’s office had dropped charges against Jalloh in almost every case and that police warned prosecutors before the killing that “it is not a question of if, but rather when [Jalloh] will maliciously wound — or worse — again.”

Cheryl Minter, Stephanie’s mother, told the committee that “a system failed my daughter.”

“When policies protect people who are a known threat, innocent lives are put at risk,” she said. “When warnings are ignored, families like mine pay the price.”

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The committee said Fairfax County’s policies “threaten public safety and undermine the safe and effective enforcement of federal immigration law.” Descano has rejected the allegations and previously said that “the idea that [his office] favor[s] one group over another is completely wrong.”

FIRST ON FOX: Popular grocery delivery company Instacart has reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) after it was accused of discriminating against American workers.

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division says it has reached a $5 million settlement with Maplebear Inc., which operates the delivery service used by Americans to get groceries sent to their front doors. The resolution addresses allegations that the company purposefully discriminated against U.S. and American workers based on country of origin, which the DOJ says violates the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII).

The company, according to the Justice Department, was abusing the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) process by placing undue burdens on American applicants by requiring them to physically mail applications to the company, deviating from Instacart’s standard electronic application process. The scheme occurred from December 2023 through February 2026.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PROPOSES ENDING 60-DAY GRACE PERIOD AFTER JOB LOSS FOR H-1B, OTHER VISA HOLDERS

“This significant resolution marks the 15th settlement agreement the Civil Rights Division has reached under my leadership to protect U.S. workers,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said. “Our record demonstrates that the Justice Department is holding companies who prefer workers with temporary employment visas accountable. We will not stop fighting for U.S. workers until there is a fair playing field.”

The settlement was secured in conjunction with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Instacart will be required, under the settlement, to set up a $4 million fund to compensate applicants who may have been wronged, and another $1 million in civil penalties.

The PERM program allows employers to sponsor temporary visa workers for permanent residence in the United States. However, companies using the PERM program are required to make a “good-faith” effort to hire American workers before resorting to foreigners.

STARBUCKS RESOLVES FLORIDA DEI LAWSUIT WITH BLOCKBUSTER AGREEMENT

Companies cannot create “additional burdens for U.S. and American workers; publishing job advertisements that disfavor, limit, specify, or otherwise discriminate against U.S. and American workers; or use processes that limit, segregate, or classify applicants in any way that tends to deprive U.S. and American applicants of employment opportunities,” according to the DOJ.

The settlement is the 15th of its kind since President Donald Trump began his second term in office in January 2025 and is part of a broader effort to ensure American workers aren’t illegally discriminated against.

The EEOC has dubbed the mission “Project Firewall.”

“Today’s settlement makes clear that when employers erect unlawful barriers that harm American workers, the EEOC will act decisively,” said Andrea Lucas, the chair of the EEOC. “The EEOC is committed to holding companies accountable when they deny equal work opportunities to U.S. workers by preferring temporary visa holders for jobs. Discrimination against workers based on their American national origin has no place in our economy.”

“We’re proud to be a U.S.-based grocery technology platform, employing thousands of American workers and serving millions of customers, retailers, shoppers and brands. We encourage qualified U.S. jobseekers to apply to join our team,” an Instacart spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

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“Hiring and investing in American workers across our U.S. business is our priority, and we actively promote every role across many channels to ensure qualified U.S. candidates are always first in line for opportunities. While we maintain that our practices complied with all applicable laws and regulations, we’re pleased to have resolved this matter so we can keep our full focus on delivering on our mission for customers, shoppers, retailers and brands.”

Republicans have had their share of good and bad election nights this century, but they’ve usually been able to count on the heartland.

Once evenly divided, rural voters have become substantially more Republican over the last two decades. Nearly two-thirds of these voters backed President Trump in the 2024 election.

REPUBLICANS FACE BRUTAL MIDTERM HEADWINDS. SIX FORCES COULD HELP THEM DEFY HISTORY.

Today, just under half of rural voters say they’ll support the GOP again in November.

Like other groups, rural Americans are concerned about paying the bills. Nineteen percent said the rising cost of living is their biggest economic problem in a recent survey, with gas and energy costs not far behind.

The Trump administration has, in part, tried to counter those anxieties by talking about job growth and the AI boom, but rural voters are frustrated about those issues too.

Less than a quarter of rural voters say the economy is in good shape, and unemployment is a focal point: 8% called a lack of jobs and unemployment their biggest economic issue, and only 28% thought there were good or excellent job opportunities in their communities.

DAVID MARCUS: ON THE GROUND IN MIDDLE AMERICA, FOUR ISSUES WILL DECIDE THE SENATE, AND NONE ARE AFFORDABILITY

Data centers are part of the story too. Only 2% called it their biggest economic problem, but that number is larger than it seems. For 1 in 50 rural voters, data centers are a bigger problem than housing, the cost of living, or getting a job.

These factors have put the Republicans in a tough spot all over the map.

They are a reason why heartland states like Ohio and Iowa have been competitive most of the year and why more rural districts, including some that Trump won by double digits, are becoming margin-of-error races.

Even setting the polls aside, there are signs that the rural vote is on shakier footing. TV viewers in Wyoming will see ads this week for Republican candidate Chuck Gray that don’t mention Trump or the GOP. Two years ago, Trump won 71.6% of the vote there — his best performance in any state, in any election.

Low rural turnout or party switching would make many races closer than the GOP would like, including in Florida, Mississippi and South Carolina.

Four states are worth singling out thanks to another complicating factor.

TRUMP-ALIGNED CONSERVATIVE EMERGES FROM CROWDED PRIMARY TO DECIDE WHO FILLS WYOMING’S LONE HOUSE SEAT

This year, prominent independent candidates are running for Senate against a Republican in four rural-heavy states: Idaho, Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota.

They are pushing anti-establishment policies like congressional term limits and lobbying bans and have a heavy focus on corruption, the top voter concern in last week’s Fox News poll.

And all four say they won’t caucus with either party or would form their own independent caucus if they were elected.

With the Democratic brand still relatively weak around the country and abysmal in these states, the party has stepped out of the race entirely in three of the four (in Montana, a Democrat is staying on the ballot, though support for her has declined).

Normally, frustrated partisans stay home in scenarios like these, leaving the incumbent party to win by a more modest margin. This year, those voters have the ability to turn out for a different candidate, so the margin may get narrower.

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: AS THE HOUSE FALLS, THE SENATE STAYS IN PLAY

All these states have been competitive over the last decade or so. Former Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, held on to his seat in Montana in 2018; Republicans have scored single-digit victories in South Dakota and Nebraska (where the same independent is running again this year), and even Idaho had a gubernatorial race that came within 15 points back in 2014.

These states could be close again.

In this week’s Power Rankings, two gubernatorial races get more competitive as the final two weeks of campaigning begin.

Florida

The Sunshine State is the beating heart of the “MAGA” movement. Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis have posted stronger results each time they’ve run, with the latter winning his last re-election bid by nearly 20 points.

Thanks in part to those performances, Republicans have carved out structural advantages, including a 1.5 million registered voter gap and a resilient get-out-the-vote operation.

But DeSantis’ first win came within around 30,000 votes (or 0.4 points) and in a similar environment to the one we’re in now.

Here, Hispanic voters will play an outsized role, and polls suggest that a large chunk of them have shifted away from the GOP. In last week’s national Fox survey, 31% of Hispanic voters said they preferred the Republican candidate over the Democrat. That’s down 12 points from their support for Trump in 2024.

The Republican candidate, Rep. Byron Donalds, will be pleased to have the endorsement of DeSantis. He remains popular in the state. Donalds still has the edge against Democrat and former Rep. David Jolly, who is hoping former President Bill Clinton can shore up his support when they appear together for the first time today.

Still, this race is no sure thing for the GOP. Florida moves from Likely R to Lean R.

Nebraska

In Nebraska, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen is looking for a second term in office. He cruised to victory the first time with a 23-point win, but with both suburban and rural voters wavering on Trump this cycle, this could be a tougher battle.

Three other factors are playing a role.

First, the presence of Dan Osborn, one of the four notable independents on the ballot in Senate races this year, could boost Democratic turnout for challenger Lynne Walz in a governor’s race that would otherwise attract less attention.

There’s Pillen himself, who has faced some local pushback over a 5% budget cut and hiring freeze within state government.

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Finally, the ballot, which will feature third-party challenger Brett Lindstrom, a former state lawmaker who lost to Pillen in a Republican primary four years prior. He’ll appear on the ballot as an “America First” candidate. The party was founded in July.

EXCLUSIVE: The top House Republican overseeing Europe policy is blaming the riots roiling French cities on mass migration, and warning the U.S. could soon follow suit.

Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital that he was not surprised by the violent demonstrations across France — and moreover, argued they were a long time coming.

“They’ve been allowing this to happen for years and years, so they are reaping what they sowed,” Self said. “We’re also trying to get a handle on our mass migration consequences, just like France should have done years ago. That’s why I say this is a lesson to America. We are watching the future of America in France and the U.K., frankly.”

Self is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He is also a co-founder alongside Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, of the Sharia-Free America Caucus.

VIOLENT FAR-LEFT RIOTS IN FRANCE ARE ‘CHILLING WARNING’ FOR AMERICANS AT HOME, MIKE JOHNSON SAYS

Democrats have criticized the group as Islamophobic, and it’s been condemned by groups like the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations.

But Self doubled down on his beliefs, suggesting France’s growing Muslim population is at least partially responsible for the riots.

“They’ve got, what, 7% now are Muslims in France? And, you know, when you reach that percentage — and very concentrated in some large cities — that gives you the tipping point that everybody talks about,” he argued.

Islam is the second-most popular religion in metropolitan France among people aged 18 to 59 after Catholicism, according to the country’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.

ITALY’S SCHOOL VEIL BAN EXPOSES EUROPE’S ASSIMILATION FIGHT AS EXPERT WARNS US COULD BE NEXT

He said later: “This is what you get when you think that everyone is culturally and morally equivalent. They’re not. And at some point, you have got to make the decision: Are we going to defend a Christian heritage in France, or are we not?”

It comes after multiple days of violent protests and riots across France that have seen stores looted and centuries-old buildings burned and desecrated.

France’s secular centrist government has blamed far-left groups for exacerbating tension over high living costs and expensive education, among other issues.

Self argued France was in an open “civil war” and said its military should step in, but was pessimistic that it would.

WHO’S WHO: INSIDE FRANCE’S ‘CHAOS INC.’ FRANCHISE OF COMMUNIST GROUPS, LABOR UNIONS AND GLOBAL ACTIVISTS

“There’s too much destruction now, so we’ll see if they’ve got the gumption to send in the military. But if they don’t, then they’re very close to losing their culture in the large cities,” he said.

Asked if the turmoil should force French President Emmanuel Macron to step down, Self said, “That’s up to Macron. I think it would probably be beneficial to France.”

But he maintained the chaos should not turn into a backlash against the U.S.-France relationship — in fact, Self said, the U.S. ought to help France with intelligence-gathering about the protests.

“I think we probably ought to offer them what help we could, facial identification, whatever,” Self said, clarifying that he did not mean sending Americans in person. “France is still a very important, very large ally and partner. So we need to do what we can, understanding that, you know, President Trump has tried to get them to step up and do more. But this is not the time to abandon France.”

LIMOGES TOWN HALL ‘LARGELY LOST’ AFTER FAR-LEFT RIOTERS SET HISTORIC BUILDING ON FIRE AMID FRENCH UNREST

More than 500,000 people took to the streets in various cities and towns across France this weekend. French authorities said 1,800 people were arrested nationwide, with over 800 of those arrested in the capital city of Paris alone.

In addition to photos and videos of French heritage sites in flames, images showing some protesters carrying Algerian, Palestinian and Moroccan flags have led figures on the right to blame France’s immigration policies.

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The Louvre Museum in Paris announced Monday that it would be closed “for the time being” due to the protests.

Texas Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico got a big-name boost from a surprising corner of the Republican Party as former first daughter Barbara Bush recently donated to the main PAC supporting his campaign.

Former President George W. Bush has had a strained relationship with President Donald Trump dating back to the 2016 campaign, when Trump mocked both his mother and brother. But the donation by Bush’s daughter, the twin sister of NBC host Jenna Bush Hager, comes at a crucial time for Republicans’ hopes of holding the U.S. Senate.

Fox News Digital confirmed through FEC filings that Barbara Bush — who shares the name of the late first lady, her grandmother — contributed $2,500 to Lone Star Rising PAC this quarter. The PAC accounts for almost all the outside spending supporting Talarico, according to Houston Public Media.

TALARICO SAYS THE DIVIDE IS ‘TOP VS. BOTTOM’ — THEN HEADS TO ONE OF AMERICA’S RICHEST DONOR ENCLAVES

While the amount is smaller than contributions from some other big-name donors, including The Eagles’ Don Henley, who gave $150,000 to the PAC, analysts said it is notable that Bush did not make an effort to conceal her politically famous identity.

“She didn’t give it to a 501(c)(4), in which her contribution would’ve been completely anonymous. She gave it to a PAC that reports all the money in and out,” Texas campaign finance expert Andrew Cates told Houston Public Media.

GEORGE W BUSH RAISES MONEY FOR REPUBLICANS, BUT NOT KEY SENATE CANDIDATE

Barbara Bush, 44, is currently an executive at the National Basketball Association, where she is vice president of social impact and inclusion. Her FEC filing reflected an address in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

According to the George W. Bush Presidential Center, Bush works with the league internationally to use the “convening power of basketball” to support humanitarian efforts involving social justice, “health equity” and sustainability.

She also co-founded the Global Health Corps geared toward empowering youth to solve global health issues. She and Hager also co-authored several children’s books.

The George W. Bush Presidential Center did not respond to a request for comment directed to both former President Bush and Barbara Bush.

Fox News Digital also reached out to the Washington Speakers Bureau, which represents Barbara Bush.

Talarico has lambasted big money in politics and criticized Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and opponent Ken Paxton for “want[ing] corporations and billionaires to decide our elections, not Texans.”

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However, Talarico has also said he will not “unilaterally disarm” on campaign spending while Republicans employ political action committees, according to the Texas Tribune.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Talarico’s campaign for comment on Barbara Bush’s donation.

Fox News’ Will Jacobs contributed to this report.

DES MOINES, Iowa — House Republicans are pinning hopes of keeping their majority on a state that President Donald Trump won by roughly 13 points in November 2024.

And while Iowa has leaned red in recent years, Republicans are now finding themselves defending three of its four congressional districts as polls give Democrats more hope by the day that the key to a blue wave runs through the Midwest.

But Republicans are dismissing public perception surveys as a political cudgel used by the media and the left to discourage GOP voters, while insisting the results will come down to one thing.

“Nobody knows what’s going to happen on November 3. But I’m here to tell you, if our people show up, we win. If our people don’t show up … then we’re going to be scratching and clawing to hang on to every inch that we’ve got,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told a room of GOP supporters in Dubuque, Iowa, on Thursday.

MEDIA NARRATIVE PREDICTING BLUE WAVE IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE NOT MESHING WITH LOCAL REPUBLICANS: ‘FIRED UP’

Fox News Digital joined Emmer and several other House Republicans on a two-district swing in Iowa late last week. The No. 3 House GOP leader spent his afternoon at an event for congressional candidate Joe Mitchell in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, followed by a fundraiser for Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, in Des Moines in the evening.

At both events, he argued that polling showing Democrats with a growing advantage was incorrect, but he and others are still warning that getting Republicans out to vote will be key to the party’s success.

“Republicans do not like to participate in surveys,” Emmer told people Thursday evening in Des Moines. “We are very suspicious of the people who are giving the information to and the databases they’re putting us in. By the way, there are Republicans who answer these surveys who may tell exactly the opposite of what they actually stand on, because again, we don’t trust them.”

CRITICAL HOUSE RACE THAT COULD DECIDE CONTROL OF CONGRESS HITS HOME STRETCH AS GOP REP WARNS WHAT’S AT STAKE

Fox News Power Rankings show all but one of Iowa’s four congressional districts are in play. Nunn’s district and the one represented by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, both “lean Democrat.” The seat Mitchell is vying to take over from retiring Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, is ranked a “toss-up.”

Republicans across the country are privately worrying that Trump’s low approval numbers coupled with some of his more unpopular policies could drag down the GOP. Add in the overall high cost of living and gas prices, some on the right are bracing for a 2018-style blue wave.

TRUMP’S BEEF IMPORT SCHEME WREAKS HAVOC ON FED-UP RED STATE CATTLE RANCHERS

Two of the policies that could sandbag Republican candidates in Iowa in particular are Trump’s tariffs and his decision to import foreign beef. The agriculture-heavy state has been hit particularly hard so far, with tariffs making farm equipment and other materials more expensive, while Trump’s trade war with China has hit American farmers hard with Beijing’s retaliation.

Trump has sought to mitigate the impact of his steel tariffs in particular, announcing plans last month for a $15 billion steel plant in Lee County, Iowa.

But both Nunn and Mitchell are confident in the races they are running.

TRUMP-LINKED SUPER PAC PULLS FUNDING FROM 2 HOUSE REPUBLICANS AS GOP FIGHTS TO KEEP MAJORITY

“We feel very confident about the race. And that’s because we’ve talked to every voter we can, asked for their vote on November 3, and we’ve been traveling the district for the last 13 months — all 22 counties, rural and suburban and urban, telling people, this is an election of common sense versus crazy,” Mitchell told Fox News Digital. “We have the hardest workers on the ballot.”

Nunn told attendees at his event, “Not only is Iowa at the front line of the entire country when it comes to making sure we’ve got three competitive House seats, Des Moines, Iowa, the third district, our proud district, is now one of the most competitive in the country.”

“So not only are we on the front line, we get to be at the tip of the spear,” Nunn said, weeks after he led a bipartisan bill aimed at curbing Trump’s imports of foreign beef.

And despite the national-level outlook on Trump, turning out the president’s supporters could be the difference between narrowly keeping the GOP majority and losing control of the House.

TRUMP SAYS POLLS ‘DON’T ACCOUNT FOR ONE THING,’ AS HE PLEDGES TO DEFEAT COMMUNISTS ‘ONCE AND FOR ALL’

Trump, for his part, is doing what he can to motivate the base.

Nunn kicked off his Thursday evening event shortly after a phone call with Trump, during which the president said he “is committed to making sure we remain here in Iowa,” the congressman said.

Trump is also set to descend on the state later this week for a rally in Sioux City, though it’s taking place in the only safe district for Republicans in the state.

“I’m always competing. I don’t care if it’s Iowa, I don’t care if it’s Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, Texas, Florida, they’re all important to this midterm,” Emmer told Fox News Digital. “This midterm, to me, will come down to about 10 seats. Everybody talks about 20-plus. No. It’s going to be a very narrow end, and for Republicans, Iowa is a great example. If the Republicans come out to vote, we’re going to be just fine.”

If the fate of the House majority did come down to the results of just 10 seats, that would mean Iowa would be responsible for roughly one-third of that success.

And while not all Republicans are as confident in the GOP’s chances in Iowa, they do agree that the final results will come down to turnout.

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“This goes one of two ways — and both aren’t great for Republicans. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Joe Mitchell, and Zach Nunn either win by the skin of their teeth or it’s complete and total obliteration on November 3,” a GOP operative familiar with campaigns in Iowa told Fox News Digital. “There is no in-between. If Republican voters turn out to the polls, there’s hope. If not, it’s going to be bad.”

Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico skipped a Monday night rally headlined by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in El Paso, instead holding campaign events hundreds of miles away in North Texas as his closely watched race against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton enters its final weeks.

Sanders appeared at the Abraham Chavez Theatre alongside former Rep. Beto O’Rourke and Democratic Reps. Greg Casar and Veronica Escobar as early voting began ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

Talarico, meanwhile, held a rally at North Crowley High School in Fort Worth as part of his “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts” campaign tour, following an earlier campaign stop in Denton.

JAMES TALARICO RESURFACES AFTER EXTENDED ABSENCE AS HIS CAMPAIGN PUSHES BACK

Fox News Digital reached out to Talarico’s campaign for comment on why the candidate held a separate event instead of campaigning with the other Democrats, who used the El Paso event to promote his Senate bid and criticize Republican campaign spending.

“They have spent, so far, $368 million just against one man, the next senator from the state of Texas, James Talarico. That’s how desperate, how scared and how panicked they are right now,” O’Rourke told supporters.

DEMOCRATS SEE NEW CHANCES TO FLIP RED STATES — BUT A $400M GOP SPENDING ADVANTAGE COULD DERAIL THEIR PLANS

Casar also expressed support for Talarico, telling the crowd that electing him would help advance Democrats’ legislative priorities.

Sanders, who did not mention Talarico by name during his remarks, instead directed his criticism toward wealthy political donors and their influence on American elections.

“What you are seeing in this campaign, what you are seeing right here in Texas, all over America, is multibillionaires are pouring hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars,” Sanders said.

The Vermont Independent urged supporters to vote early, casting the midterms as a battle over the political influence of wealthy Americans.

At his separate Fort Worth rally, Talarico delivered a similar message about money in politics, targeting Paxton and billionaire Elon Musk over the influence of wealthy donors in the Texas Senate race.

TALARICO SAYS THE DIVIDE IS ‘TOP VS. BOTTOM’ — THEN HEADS TO ONE OF AMERICA’S RICHEST DONOR ENCLAVES

“We have an affordability crisis because we have a corruption crisis,” Talarico told supporters.

He also sought to frame his candidacy as an appeal beyond traditional party divisions.

“This election shouldn’t be about the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. It’s bigger than that,” he said.

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Talarico and Paxton are competing for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. John Cornyn. The race has drawn national attention as Democrats seek their first Texas U.S. Senate victory since 1988.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE – President Donald Trump is putting cash behind his crackdown on taxpayer fraud, preparing to offer Americans rewards for tips that help bring fraudsters to justice.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance will unveil a $25 million Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program during a Tuesday afternoon announcement with the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud in the Oval Office, a White House official told Fox News Digital.

The program, known as WHIP, will offer eligible tipsters up to $30,000 if their information leads to a successful fraud conviction or a significant federal enforcement action, the official said.

TRUMP’S WAR ON FRAUD EXPANDS AS TREASURY LAUNCHES NEW SITE WITH WHISTLEBLOWER INCENTIVES

Trump also plans to present independent journalist Nick Shirley with a $10,000 check for his work exposing suspected fraud in Minnesota, according to the official.

“Every day, President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud is zeroing in on the rampant abuse of taxpayer dollars and giving Americans the accountability they deserve. This administration has zero tolerance for individuals who steal from Americans,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital.

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

The Justice Department will administer the new program, and Americans will be able to submit tips through fraud.gov, the official said. The initiative aims to encourage both independent journalists and everyday Americans to flag suspected fraud involving taxpayer money.

Shirley drew national attention in December 2025 after publishing a video questioning whether several Somali-run Minnesota day care centers were operating as legitimate businesses. His video showed apparently empty facilities and included people who said they had not seen children at the locations.

AG BLANCHE UNVEILS FEDERAL CHARGES AGAINST 160 DEFENDANTS IN PANDEMIC RELIEF SWEEP

The White House credited Shirley’s reporting with helping spur a surge of FBI and Department of Homeland Security resources into Minnesota, followed by investigations, arrests and new charges.

One facility featured in Shirley’s video was Future Leaders Early Learning Center, whose former CEO, Fahima Egeh Mahamud, pleaded guilty in July to wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

HOUSE GOP BILL MOVES TO CLOSE WHISTLEBLOWER GAPS EXPOSED BY MINNESOTA MEDICAID FRAUD SCANDAL

Prosecutors said Mahamud stole more than $4.6 million through false child care assistance claims and $850,000 through a federal child nutrition program connected to the Feeding Our Future scandal.

Shirley previously pointed to Mahamud’s guilty plea as vindication of his reporting amid efforts to discredit his investigations.

WHITE HOUSE LAUNCHES INTERACTIVE MAP TRACKING BILLIONS IN SUSPECTED FRAUD

“Well, numbers don’t lie, and convictions don’t lie either,” he previously told Fox News Digital.

The reward initiative adds a public tip incentive to the administration’s broader campaign against fraud in federal benefits programs.

TRUMP SAYS ANTI-FRAUD EFFORTS ARE UNCOVERING BILLIONS IN WASTE, CLAIMS SAVINGS COULD BALANCE BUDGET

Trump established the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud in March, with Vance serving as chairman. The executive order directed the group to coordinate efforts across federal agencies to uncover fraud, strengthen eligibility checks and prevent improper payments.

Under the new program, submitting an allegation alone would not qualify someone for a reward. The tip must lead to a successful fraud conviction or a significant federal enforcement action, according to the White House official.

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Fox News Digital’s David Unsworth contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Ilhan Omar‘s older sister was questioned by federal investigators last week in relation to an immigration fraud probe into the congresswoman, Fox News Digital has learned.

Three sources familiar with the investigation said Sahra Noor voluntarily spoke with the investigators after the high-profile Monday morning raid on the residence Omar shares with her husband in Washington, D.C. It is not clear the scope of the conversation Noor had with investigators.

Like Omar, Noor came to the United States as a child fleeing civil war in Somali. She currently lives in Kenya, according to her LinkedIn page, but has been in the United States promoting her new book, “Salt in the Snow: A Somali Immigrant Story.”

The House lawmaker’s sister canceled a Minnesota stop on the book tour last week amid the fallout of the raid and the ensuing interview with authorities.

ILHAN OMAR’S SISTER SKIPS BOOK TOUR EVENT AMID WEEK OF CHAOS FOLLOWING RAID ON PROGRESSIVE’S DC HOME

The book event, which was scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, at the University of Minnesota Rochester, was promoted online by Garden Party Books, a local bookstore that listed itself as a “proud supporter” of the event alongside the university and the Rochester Public Library.

A representative from Garden Party Books told Fox News Digital last week that the event was canceled because Noor had a “family emergency.” It is now revealed that last week she was questioned by federal investigators.

Omar’s D.C. home was raided by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the chief investigatory body of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), at around 6 a.m. last Monday. Sources confirmed to Fox News Digital that the agency executed a search warrant in relation to an immigration fraud probe.

Specifically, they are probing whether the lawmaker or her father falsified information when filling out her citizenship paperwork.

ILHAN OMAR’S TURBULENT WEEK EXPLAINED: THE DUELING PROBES THAT THREW THE SOMALI-BORN PROGRESSIVE INTO CHAOS

Border Czar Tom Homan revealed over the weekend that if the allegations are proven, they could lead to Omar’s denaturalization.

During the raid, Omar’s personal phone, passport and computer were seized, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. And Omar’s attorneys over the weekend demanded that the Justice Department return some of the property confiscated by HSI.

Additionally, The New York Times reported that about a dozen people, including Omar’s relatives, have been subpoenaed in the case.

Omar has not been seen publicly since before the raid, though her husband has been seen several times walking their dog, taking out the trash and speaking outside the home with one of the congresswoman’s aides. Omar has not responded to Fox News Digital’s repeated requests for comment, but she did react to the raid publicly on social media.

“This raid by Trump’s DHS is an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies,” she said in a statement posted to X hours after feds descended on her home.

FEDERAL AGENTS SEIZE PHONE OF REP ILHAN OMAR IN RAID TIED TO IMMIGRATION FRAUD PROBE

“For a decade, Donald Trump has relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with inflammatory rhetoric, repeatedly putting a target on her back,” the post continued. “Now, those attacks have escalated to a pointless federal raid. The Congresswoman has done nothing wrong. No president should be able to use the power of the federal government to intimidate his political enemies.”

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital last Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance said the investigation is not politically motivated.

“We don’t want to be like the Biden administration. We never want to be like that — where they would allow the law to go after their political opponents,” he said.

DEMOCRATS’ FURY OVER ILHAN OMAR RAID DRAWS STINGING GOP REMINDER ABOUT RAID FROM THE PAST: ‘SET THE PRECEDENT’

“We really want to let the law, the facts drive this,” he continued. “And if justice requires something else be done, then, of course, we’ll take a step when we have to.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Noor, but did not hear back before publication.

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Omar’s attorneys did not immediately return a comment request.

EXCLUSIVE: WICHITA, KANSAS — President Donald Trump is expected to tout his immigration agenda in ruby-red Kansas on Monday, weeks after federal immigration agents made dozens of arrests in the southwestern portion of the state.

Trump is headed to the Sunflower State for a rally just outside of Wichita as a tighter-than-expected Senate race that could determine the balance of power in the upper chamber unfolds.

Fox News Digital has learned that Trump will lean into the policy positions that helped propel him and Republicans to power two years ago.

TRUMP DHS HITS 16 STRAIGHT MONTHS WITH 0 RELEASES AT THE BORDER

“President Trump stopped the invasion of our country and delivered Americans the most secure border in American history,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital. “Under the President’s leadership, 3 million illegals have left the United States and zero illegals have been released at the border in seventeen months.”

“Meanwhile, radical Democrats want to go back to their extreme open border policies, abolish ICE, and grant amnesty to the illegal aliens they released into our communities,” she continued.

The Trump-led Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have touted a string of arrests and deportations of illegal immigrants in the state over the last several months.

GEORGIA ICE SWEEP NABS OVER 700 CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS, INCLUDING SEX OFFENDERS, CHILD ABUSERS

According to the White House, among some of the “worst of the worst” who were arrested in the state by federal immigration officers include Omar Israel Hernandez of Mexico, convicted of first-degree murder, Jose Luis Rauda-Diaz of El Salvador, convicted of aggravated robbery and two counts of possession of a weapon, Oscar Sanchez-Corona of Mexico, who had previously been deported for drug offenses, damaging property, and driving under the influence, Greg Chukwuka Orji of Nigeria, convicted of dangerous drugs and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and Alberto Estrada of Mexico, convicted of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and rape.

Trump’s rally comes as the race between Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton has cranked up in a state the president has won by double-digits in the last three presidential cycles and has given Republicans cause for concern in a state where voters haven’t elected a Democratic senator in nearly a century.

The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan race ranker, downgraded the contest to a toss-up earlier this month and money from GOP and Democratic groups is flowing into the state.

KANSAS DEMOCRAT BEGS KAMALA HARRIS NOT TO CAMPAIGN WITH HIM, ‘PLEASE DO NOT COME TO MY STATE’

Marshall, who is vying for a second term, has run close to Trump, rarely breaking from him on key issues throughout this cycle. Hamilton, however, has run away from the Democratic establishment in Washington, D.C., and warned that if elected, he wouldn’t support Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for another term leading the caucus.

Trump’s appearance in the state also follows ICE’s three-day sweep in Southwest Kansas last month, dubbed “Operation Safe Community — Kansas,” where agents made over 100 arrests.

Marshall pushed back on the operation, demanding that “when ICE operates in Kansas, it needs to coordinate with our local law enforcement.”

“Our sheriffs and police know these communities better than anyone, and working together keeps officers and residents safe,” Marshall said on X.

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Meanwhile, Republicans have targeted Hamilton for his immigration stance, accusing him through ads run by outside groups, like the Senate Leadership Fund, of supporting mass amnesty.

Hamilton, however, pushed back on the Biden administration’s immigration policies and told the Johnson County Post that the previous administration’s open border policies “caused a different kind of chaos.”

“Record crossings overwhelmed communities, and the immigration courts fell years behind,” Hamilton said. “I’m not for open borders, and dangerous criminals don’t belong here.”

Republican Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers took aim at Democratic opponent Abdul El-Sayed during a town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday, warning voters that his rival’s policies would hurt the state.

Rogers accused El-Sayed of having a “pattern of deception” and called him a “manufactured candidate,” claiming the Democrat has misrepresented his political positions.

“He is the most extreme candidate. He has called for defunding the police. He has called for letting criminals out of prison,” Rogers said. 

TRUMP TAKES BORDER CRACKDOWN TO DEEP-RED STATE AS SHOCK SENATE BATTLE THREATENS GOP STRONGHOLD

“He has called for the Green New Deal, which for Michigan is a killer.”

Rogers also touted his campaign’s ground operation, saying volunteers are approaching 6 million doors knocked across Michigan.

“That’s the energy, and what we’re getting off of those doors is, ‘Yes, we’re voting,’ ‘No, we’re not going to be a DSA state,’ ‘No, we’re not going to let this happen on our watch.'”

The Republican also said his campaign is seeing support from voters who traditionally back Democrats.

MICHIGAN DEMOCRAT CONFIRMS SISTER-IN-LAW’S TERROR WATCHLIST LAWSUIT DAYS BEFORE OBAMA CAMPAIGN APPEARANCE

Rogers later took questions from voters, including a Jewish woman who said she sometimes feels afraid to show her Jewish identity in public.

Rogers said he had heard similar stories from Jewish students at the University of Michigan who said they concealed religious symbols because they were being harassed.

Rogers also pointed to housing, education and skilled trades, saying he wants to make it easier for young adults to buy homes and bring more defense industry work to the state.

‘THE VIEW’ CO-HOSTS DEFEND EL-SAYED COMPARING HIMSELF TO JFK OVER MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD SCRUTINY

He also called for putting shop classes back in Michigan high schools, arguing that expanding skilled-trade education would give students more paths to well-paying careers.

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Rogers closed by again targeting El-Sayed’s policies, arguing Michigan “cannot afford” them.

“We certainly can’t risk his ideology,” he said.

El-Sayed’s campaign could not immediately be reached by Fox News Digital for comment.

Vice President JD Vance declined to endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reelection bid, saying he intends to stay out of Israel’s election despite President Donald Trump throwing his support behind the Israeli leader.

During an interview Monday with Mark Halperin on “2WAY Tonight,” Vance said his focus remains on U.S. candidates ahead of the midterms, Politico reported.

“The president has the most effective endorsement in American or international political history,” Vance said. “I endorse American candidates, and that’s where I’m focused on in the midterms. So I’m not getting involved in Israeli elections.”

OMAR RAID DRAWS OMINOUS WARNING FROM VANCE AS HE BLASTS PROGRESSIVE REP’S ‘RAGE’ TOWARD AMERICA

However, Vance made clear that his decision should not be interpreted as opposition to Netanyahu.

“I’m not anti-endorsing him. I’m not pro-endorsing him. I’m not getting involved in Israeli elections,” the vice president added.

The comments come one day after Trump gave Netanyahu his “Complete and Total Endorsement” in a lengthy Truth Social post, praising the prime minister as a key U.S. ally and partner in confronting Iran.

“Bibi Netanyahu has been a Great Warrior Prime Minister, and an even greater Partner for Peace in combatting the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote.

TRUMP SAYS NETANYAHU NEEDS TO BE RE-ELECTED, OR ELSE US WILL HAVE TO ‘FINISH THE JOB’ AGAINST IRAN ALONE

Trump said Netanyahu had remained strong despite intense political pressure.

“Please let this Letter serve to represent my Complete and Total Endorsement of Bibi Netanyahu in his upcoming Race for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Israel. BIBI NETANYAHU WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” Trump said.

Netanyahu quickly welcomed the president’s backing, thanking Trump for what he called his “extraordinary endorsement.”

“President Trump, my friend Donald — thank you for your extraordinary endorsement,” he said. “Israel has never had a greater friend in the White House. Together we will never let Iran’s regime get nuclear weapons. Thank you for your clarity, courage and unwavering support.”

NETANYAHU PRAISES TRUMP’S ‘WICKED SENSE OF HUMOR,’ DEFENDS IRONCLAD ALLIANCE AHEAD OF HISTORIC ISRAEL VOTE

Vance’s decision to stay out of Israel’s election comes after he reportedly waded into another foreign political contest earlier this year.

The vice president previously traveled to Hungary in April, where he campaigned alongside then-Prime Minister Viktor Orban shortly before Orban lost his reelection bid, according to Politico.

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The White House could not immediately be reached by Fox News Digital for comment.

The violent riots rocking France are a dark harbinger of what could happen in the United States if Democrats win the midterms, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is warning.

The top leader in the House of Representatives compared the far-left groups plunging France into chaos to the socialist insurgency that’s gripped the Democratic Party. And the coming election, he argued, is the best way to prevent the same scenes from playing out in the U.S.

“France is descending into chaos because they wanted OPEN BORDERS — just like the socialist Democrats in America,” Johnson posted on X. “What we are witnessing is a chilling warning for all Americans of what happens if the radical Marxist insurgent left gets their way.”

FRANCE’S VIOLENT STUDENT PROTESTS RAISE WARNING FOR AMERICA: ‘A CAUTIONARY TALE’

He blamed the riots on France having overly lax rules for illegal immigration, an issue that proved pivotal in Republicans’ 2024 victories here at home.

“America is not merely in a battle of political ideologies — it’s a battle for the preservation of our civilization, our freedoms, and our way of life. If Democrats take back control, it will be open borders and criminal illegals overrunning our country, many of whom want to destroy it,” Johnson said.

More than 500,000 people took to the streets in various cities and towns across France this weekend, protesting high living costs and the price of education, among other issues.

French authorities said 1,800 people were arrested nationwide, with over 800 of those in the capital city of Paris alone.

VIOLENCE ERUPTS AT FRANCE PROTESTS AS MACRON WARNS UNREST IS BEING EXPLOITED

Photos and videos showed centuries-old buildings being destroyed as protesters set fire to public property and looted stores.

France’s centrist government blamed far-left groups for fomenting the violence.

LIMOGES TOWN HALL ‘LARGELY LOST’ AFTER FAR-LEFT RIOTERS SET HISTORIC BUILDING ON FIRE AMID FRENCH UNREST

And images showing some protesters carrying Algerian, Palestinian and Moroccan flags have led figures on the right to blame France’s immigration policies.

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“What’s happening in France is the progressive political agenda at its natural conclusion. When you build a massive welfare state while increasing your population through third-world migration, it isn’t long before basic social order collapses,” Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, posted on X.

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican state House Speaker Lisa Demuth traded fire over Minnesota’s massive fraud scandal as they faced off for the first time on the debate stage in the race to replace embattled Gov. Tim Walz.

The race is unfolding against the backdrop of the state’s welfare assistance fraud scandal, which has attracted national attention for nearly a year and prompted Walz, a two-term Democrat, to abandon his 2026 re-election bid. The fraud schemes, involving pandemic-era social services, siphoned hundreds of millions, and potentially billions, of taxpayer dollars from federal and state programs in Minnesota.

Demuth is aiming to become the first Republican in twenty years to win a gubernatorial election in the blue-leaning Midwestern state. Polls indicate Klobuchar holding an upper single digit lead over Demuth, and the Fox News Power Rankings rate the race Likely Democrat.

Demuth, during the first half of the debate, repeatedly steered the conversation to the fraud scandal.

FRAUD EXPERT EXPOSES HOW HIDDEN NETWORKS DROVE MINNESOTA FRAUD

“We have allowed a culture of waste and fraud to go on far too long and we can’t keep going this way,” she said, as she worked to link Klobuchar to Walz, who has taken full responsibility for the scandal.

“Klobuchar, referring to Walz, said, “I have been very clear. I would have caught that fraud. I would have done something about it. We have very different backgrounds.”

Demuth asked her rival, “You could have reached out to the governor and said I think we have a problem in Minnesota… Why didn’t you do more.”

And Demuth asked, “Why weren’t you at the hearings about fraud in your own Senate Judicial Committee hearing when we had Minnesotans who were concerned about fraud.”

FORMER NFL SIDELINE REPORTER PUTS MINNESOTA’S SENATE SEAT IN PLAY FOR REPUBLICANS

Klobuchar, pushing back, highlighted that “the minute that the fraud went public, I did something that was real….. I called the justice department and asked for more resources. The senator said her actions led to more federal prosecutors assigned to investigate the fraud scandal. “That’s doing the real work,” she emphasized.

Responding to Demuth’s claims of missing hearings, which Fox News Digital reported on earlier this year, Klobuchar said, “I’ve been at a dozen hearings where I’ve raised or asked questions about fraud. The particular hearing that was raised here was a subcommittee that I was not even on.”

Demuth also pledged to fire “all of the commissioners in the state of Minnesota” in order to start “fresh” after the fraud scandal.

The two candidates also sparred over healthcare, with Demuth pointing to Klobuchar’s support of ObamaCare as being tied to the rising healthcare costs in the state.

“We must recognize that our healthcare costs have exploded across the country and in Minnesota because of the Affordable Care Act,” Demuth said. “The senator said that it would bring the cost of our healthcare down, we could access whatever we needed and it would be more affordable. That is absolutely untrue where we find ourselves today.”

The two candidates, in what was billed as a business forum hosted by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, also took aim at each other over high gas prices, healthcare, paid family and medical leave, and efforts to cap insulin costs.

On state taxes, both seemed in agreement.

“Tax hikes are absolutely off the table for me,” Demuth emphasized.

Klobuchar said, “I’ve made clear I’m not going to increase taxes.” And she touted, “I’ve been willing to take on my own party on taxes in the past.”

Klobuchar launched her gubernatorial campaign in January, three weeks after Walz, who served as the Democrats’ 2024 vice presidential nominee, dropped his re-election bid.

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Klobuchar, who was first elected to the Senate in 2006, won all four of her Senate elections by healthy margins, including a nearly 16-point re-election in 2024. Before serving in the Senate, Klobuchar was elected twice as county attorney in Hennepin County, Minnesota’s most populous. She also ran unsuccessfully for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

She captured nearly 90% of the vote in the August Democratic primary against a large field of longshot rivals.

Demuth, who was first elected to the Minnesota House in 2018, has served as GOP leader in the chamber since the start of 2023 and as speaker for the past year and a half,

In the GOP gubernatorial primary, Demuth topped a crowded field, defeated by 11-points second place finisher Mike Lindell, the My Pillow founder and former CEO who is a close ally of President Donald Trump and who joined the president in denying former President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 White House race. Trump endorsed Lindell a month before the August 11 primary.

France is confronting a major intelligence failure after authorities badly underestimated the scale of nationwide protests that descended into riots and looting.

The days of chaos have prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to order a security review as senior officials acknowledged police “lost control” in several major cities and senior government officials have offered to resign after they failed to predict the level of pandemonium.

Some 550,000 people joined 110 marches nationwide Saturday, according to France’s Interior Ministry, far exceeding an intelligence estimate of roughly 200,000 demonstrators. Organizers put turnout even higher, at 800,000.

Cars burned in the streets, more than 1,500 stores were reportedly ransacked or destroyed and public buildings were attacked across the country. In Limoges, rioters broke into and torched a 19th-century city hall that had survived both world wars, causing its roof to collapse.

By Monday, the Louvre remained closed as student protesters blocked its entrances, extending the disruption into another day.

TOP TOURIST DESTINATION IN THE WORLD SHUTS DOWN AMID VIOLENT PROTESTS

The unrest overwhelmed some 60,000 police, gendarmes and other security personnel deployed nationwide. Nearly 1,000 law enforcement officers and firefighters were injured, at least 2,400 people were arrested and French authorities estimate some 3,000 businesses sustained damage.

As crowds swelled, police were stretched across multiple flashpoints while groups of masked rioters smashed storefronts, set fires and clashed with security forces. In some cities, authorities were unable to keep looters from moving through commercial districts even as officers struggled to contain the larger demonstrations.

By Monday, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez was acknowledging what shopkeepers and residents had already witnessed.

FRENCH NEWSPAPER RIPS MACRON AFTER RIOTS ERUPT ACROSS FRANCE: ‘INDELIBLE STAIN’

“Yes, Saturday, in certain large cities, we lost control,” Nuñez said.

He acknowledged a “lack of anticipation” ahead of the demonstrations and said authorities had underestimated not only the number of protesters but the violent groups that would exploit the unrest.

Nuñez offered his resignation to Macron. The president refused it and instead ordered a review of what the Élysée described as failures in planning and intelligence, demanding an accounting of how authorities had been caught so badly off guard.

Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin was even more direct.

“We unquestionably failed,” Darmanin said, pointing specifically to intelligence and France’s difficulty tracking and confronting the ultra-left.

The failure is particularly striking because the unrest did not emerge without warning.

The warning signs had been building for weeks.

The unrest began in September with high school students protesting teacher shortages, deteriorating school buildings and other conditions in classrooms around Paris. The movement quickly spread nationwide, drawing teachers, labor unions and other groups frustrated by rising living costs and declining public services.

Violence had already begun creeping into the demonstrations. Students set fires at schools, cars were torched and protesters clashed with riot police as authorities made thousands of arrests.

French intelligence services were watching the shift.

At an Oct. 1 government crisis meeting, intelligence officials assessed that the movement had reached a “tipping point” from school blockades toward urban violence and attributed its origins to the hard-left France Unbowed party and its allies, Reuters reported.

Yet little more than two weeks later, authorities were caught off guard by the scale of what hit the streets.

Saturday brought together students, trade unionists, Yellow Vest veterans and other groups under a loose “convergence of struggles.” Hundreds of thousands marched peacefully, while smaller groups of masked rioters broke away, looting stores, setting fires and attacking police.

The violence has since ignited a separate political fight over immigration.

WHERE’S MACRON? FRENCH LEADER BLASTED FOR ATTENDING CONCERT AS RIOTS ESCALATED

President Donald Trump blamed the destruction on France’s migration policies, writing Monday that “the migrants have taken over France” and urging the country to close its borders. Other right-wing political leaders across Europe have made similar arguments.

French authorities, however, have not blamed immigrants for the violence. Macron and his government have instead accused ultra-left militants and criminals of exploiting demonstrations rooted largely in education, living costs and public services.

The unrest is nevertheless intensifying a political battle already reshaping France ahead of its 2027 presidential election, giving the right fresh ammunition on immigration, crime and the government’s ability to maintain public order.

Marine Le Pen’s National Rally has seized on the violence to argue that Macron’s government has lost control of the country, while other figures on the French right have pushed for tougher policing and immigration restrictions.

The images of burning buildings, ransacked stores and overwhelmed police are landing at a particularly vulnerable moment for France’s political establishment. Macron cannot seek a third consecutive term in 2027, leaving an open presidential contest as voters increasingly identify immigration, security and purchasing power among the country’s major political concerns.

The riots have also widened a debate over whether the breakdown reflects a failure of policing, deeper economic and social grievances or years of government policy on immigration and integration — competing explanations that are likely to shape France’s political fight long after the streets are cleared.

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For Macron’s government, the immediate question is more concrete: how security services that were already tracking an increasingly volatile protest movement still failed to anticipate the scale of Saturday’s violence.

In politics, you sometimes just do what you can.

All 100 duly chosen and sworn U.S. senators understood why the Senate met for a week at the end of September.

Yes there was the college sports bill. Yes there was the confirmation of Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling. Yes there was a big hearing with former special counsel Jack Smith.

But you’d be badly mistaken if you thought both sides were really there to hammer out a package to bring down the cost of living for Americans.

Don’t take my word for it. Take the word of the senators.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: A GUIDE TO THE COLLEGE SPORTS VOTE AND SENATE’S OHIO SHOWDOWN

You are correct to say that Democrats blocked two bills that Republicans say voters really want. One was a measure to diminish the costs consumers pay for data centers and a plan to restrict stock trades by lawmakers. The latter bill even included a voter ID requirement – crucial to the GOP and its base. But Republican senators knew that Democrats wouldn’t accept these proposals.

This was about politics.

And Democratic senators wouldn’t accept any of the GOP’s legislative propositions, either.

So let’s start with the Ratepayer Protection Act.

Both sides know that voters are tripped out about AI and utterly losing it when it comes to data centers. An internal GOP memo in August revealed that the party was especially leery of what this meant for Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Husted to the Senate last year to succeed Vice President JD Vance. Husted helped foster development of data centers as an official back in the Buckeye State.

So, the final week of the Senate’s session before the midterms crawled with politics.

REPUBLICANS FEAR THEY ‘HAVEN’T DONE A DAMN THING’ TO LOWER PRICES AHEAD OF MIDTERM RECKONING

Republicans aimed to curb skyrocketing utility costs associated with the construction of data centers.

“(People) ought to be guaranteed no electricity bills will go up by a cent because of a data center,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. “It sends a clear message that these AI companies and these data centers can’t just come into local communities and strip mine out (land). Raise the electricity rates. Kick people off the grid. Take their water.”

But Democrats say the bill didn’t compel compliance by AI firms. This was just a suggestion that those who build the data centers help foot some of the bill.

“It is a sham. A charade because it has no enforcement,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

“Everything in that bill can already be done by a state regulator. Or it can already be done by a data center developer. And the bill requires nothing of them,” argued Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.

I pressed Kaine on if “something was better than nothing.”

He disagreed.

“No. You shouldn’t trick people. And this is not even something,” replied Kaine. “It’s nothing,”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., piled on with, “The Ratepayer Protection Act is a fraud. It does not require any protections at all. While Americans are demanding real guardrails on AI and data centers, Republicans are offering a toothless messaging bill.”

The bill is laced with midterm politics. Democrats claim Republicans called the vote to throw a lifeline to Husted.

Many Senate Republicans were ready for the Senate to leave town for the midterms. But they hedged their bets around the data center bill. And, Husted.

“Can you say 110 precent this is not a vote to help Jon Husted in Ohio?” yours truly inquired of Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.

“I think it will help him,” replied Hoeven. Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., agreed with Hoeven.

“The one thing I’ll just say is that this is clearly a political ploy,” said Kim. “This is not something that’s good for the American people. But it’s certainly good for Sen. Husted.”

DATA CENTERS COULD BE THE SLEEPER ISSUE OF THE 2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS

The tilt between Husted and former Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is one of the nation’s most contentious Senate contests.

“I don’t think that there’s a secret that Sen. Husted is trying to pass a piece of legislation so he could go home and run a campaign ad,” said Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M.

Husted conceded as much.

“We gave everybody a chance to do something about affordability and the Democrats blocked it. So we’ll go campaign on it,” said Husted.

So yes. The Senate’s last week of session was about the midterms.

“Has there ever been a late September or October before an election that wasn’t all politics?” asked Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.

The evolving positions on the data center bill by Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., may be an example of that.

Welch was a yea when asked about the legislation on September 23 , after it overwhelmingly cleared the House.

“I support it and I’d be glad to vote on it,” said Welch.

But the Vermont Democrat flipped to nay when the issue approached a roll call vote on the floor.

“Why did you change? I asked Welch.

“Well, two things. One, they won’t allow us to have an amendment. And the problem with this bill is that it has no teeth,” he replied.

So the question is whether the sides prefer action. Or, if they’d rather have the issue. In fact it could be argued that Husted may have scored some political capital, deploying the blocked bill as a foil in an effort to contrast himself to Democrats.

“It ought to be something that should be a no brainer here on the floor of the Senate,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

TRUMP’S DATA CENTER PUSH FRACTURES CONGRESS AS LOCAL ANGER EXPLODES: ‘GRASPING AT STRAWS’

It’s rare that competitive Senate contests pivot on a solitary issue. And certainly an individual debate or vote. Democratic Maine Senate nominee Troy Jackson is pushing Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, on her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. It was one of the most factious confirmation battles in history. But Collins won reelection in 2020. That vote was eight years ago.

A vote like the one on the data center measure just before the election can plant a seed in the mind of voters. And since Republicans were struggling on affordability – and then AI and data centers emerged as an issue – forcing this vote was probably the best political play the GOP had at its disposal. In campaigns, you do all you can.

Let’s say for a moment that Husted loses narrowly to Brown in two weeks. And maybe Republicans would have held the Senate had Husted prevailed. Perhaps exit polling reveals that voters wished Republicans had done more on affordability. Party insiders would then accuse the Senate GOP brass of political malpractice by denying Husted a chance to make his case.

It was the best Husted could do. And the best Senate Republicans could do.

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It may not work. But at least Republicans can say they did what they could.

President Donald Trump is giving New Mexico another branding pitch, urging the state to swap “Mexico” for “America” and suggesting the change could boost everything from home values to state pride.

“New Mexico should immediately change its name to New America. We are not Mexico, we are the United States of America!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“The name would add great value and prestige to the State! Home Values and Incomes would rise, and you would be even prouder while saluting our beautiful American Flag!”

The president also worked in a swipe at the state’s elections.

AFTER ‘LAKE AMERICA,’ TRUMP SUGGESTS A NEW NAME FOR THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

“Maybe even the Crooked Elections, that New Mexico is known for, would become honest again!” he wrote.

MAP IT: DOJ ILLEGAL VOTING CRACKDOWN SWEEPS 17 STATES AS RAZOR-THIN ELECTIONS FACE SCRUTINY

Trump offered no evidence in the post to support his election allegation or explain how a name change would increase property values and incomes.

The suggestion revives an idea Trump floated last month, when he shared a map showing “Mexico” crossed out in red and replaced with “America.” The White House amplified that post on its official X account.

TRUMP TAUNTS CANADA ON RENAMING LAKE ONTARIO THE ‘LAKE AMERICA’ AMID RISING BORDER TRADE RIFT

Trump also pitched the change during remarks at the RNC Midterm Convention on Sept. 9, suggesting neighboring New Mexico become “New America” and claiming the idea was popular.

“You have a neighboring state, New Mexico. We think it should be called New America,” Trump said. “I’ll tell you, the people love the idea.”

“I don’t know about the radical left. I’m sure it doesn’t like it, but the people love it,” he added.

New Mexico’s Democratic governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, pushed back at the time, telling Fox News Digital that the state’s name “isn’t up for debate — it’s been ours since before the United States existed.”

She accused the White House of focusing on a distraction while her administration worked on child care, education, health care and housing.

NEW YORK GOV HOCHUL REJECTS TRUMP’S ‘LAKE AMERICA’ RENAMING WITH BLUNT MESSAGE

“While the White House wastes time coloring on maps, Nuevo México is busy doing the work,” Lujan Grisham said last month.

Trump’s latest post calls for the state to change its name but does not lay out a formal process for doing so. New Mexico’s name is expressly written into Article I of its constitution, which states, “The name of this state is New Mexico.”

HOUSE DEM DEBBIE DINGELL PLACES TRUMP’S LAKE ONTARIO NAME CHANGE IN THE CROSSHAIRS

The proposal follows Trump’s moves to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” for federal use and the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

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Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX — A Black conservative filmmaker is challenging the Smithsonian to explain why his documentary questioning progressive views on race has yet to secure a public screening at its African American history museum, which has previously showcased films examining systemic racism.

“White Guilt,” directed and co-produced by Eli Steele, is based on a book by his father, noted Black conservative academic Shelby Steele. The younger Steele, who is Black, Jewish and deaf, has drawn on his own experiences to challenge prevailing views on race and identity.

The documentary argues that White guilt over America’s racial history, along with fears of being labeled racist, has pushed institutions to prioritize racial identity over individual merit.

The dispute comes as the Smithsonian faces mounting pressure from President Donald Trump and his administration over allegations of ideological bias in its portrayal of American history. The White House has accused the institution of promoting progressive narratives and threatened to restrict federal support, escalating a broader battle over whose perspectives are represented in the nation’s museums.

SMITHSONIAN AMERICA 250 EXHIBIT FEATURES 3X MORE LIBERAL ITEMS THAN CONSERVATIVE ONES

Steele provided communications to Fox News Digital showing that the museum declined his proposed screening dates and offered him a private rental option instead. The filmmaker says the museum has yet to respond to his request for alternative dates for a public screening.

“The film is professionally shot, the quality is there. A comparable film that they’ve shown is ’13th,’ which itself is a very controversial film,” Steele told Fox News Digital. “So that’s the big question we have here: Do we have viewpoint diversity or do we not? Do you have to be the right kind of Black to be shown at the Smithsonian?”

“That’s the big question that we have to address in this room. But I hope that it’s not about any of that,” he continued.

The filmmaker has questioned the apparent decision to not screen his film, given that the museum has allowed numerous other films with more progressive messages to have public screenings, though stopped short of accusing the museum of ideological discrimination.

“13th,” the film mentioned by Steele, is featured in educational and public programming at the NMAAHC. It argues that the 13th Amendment’s exception permitting forced labor as punishment for a crime enabled racial control to persist after slavery by allegedly criminalizing Black behavior.

Other films shown by the NMAAHC in public screenings include such titles as “Hidden Figures” in 2016, “I Am Not Your Negro” in 2017 and “Faith in Blackness: An Exploration of AfroLatine Spirituality” in 2023, the latter presented in partnership with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

LIBERAL FACULTY STILL HUGELY OUTNUMBER CONSERVATIVES IN HIGHER EDUCATION: REPORT

While Steele was hesitant to speculate as to why his film hadn’t been scheduled for a public screening, other Black conservatives saw the museum’s handling of his request as part of a familiar pattern.

“Academia is not what it was years ago when I went to graduate school, when it touted itself as a marketplace for ideas,” Carol Swain, a retired Black conservative professor and prominent media commentator, told Fox News Digital. “There would always be a token conservative included. And I have found over the years that conservatives were tolerated less and less. And if they were black, at some point they were not tolerated at all.”

“When you look at an institution like the Smithsonian, that’s supposed to belong to all of us, to all Americans, you would think that it would be open to divergent views,” Swain, who spent her career at institutions such as Princeton and Vanderbilt, continued. “That is not what we find.”

Wall Street Journal columnist and Manhattan Institute senior fellow Jason Riley shared a similar perspective.

FORMER DEMOCRATIC STAFFERS, DEI LEADERS SHAPE SMITHSONIAN LEADERSHIP AMID POLITICAL FIRESTORM

“I think the type of people who run the Smithsonian Institute are part of the broader liberal intelligentsia in this country that prevails in academia, prevails and the media. And this is not a point of view. That they take kindness to,” Riley told Fox News Digital. “In fact, this film takes some rather direct shots at that group of people. So there might be some self-interest here. It might cut a little too close to these folks.”

“I do think that they have a vested interest in putting forward a narrative out there to advance a political agenda. And I think that’s what’s really going on here at places like the Smithsonian,” Riley continued, citing his experience as a Black commentator who has spent his career sparring with White liberals.

TRUMP V. SMITHSONIAN: A TIMELINE OF HOW THE WHITE HOUSE FIGHT OVER ‘WOKE’ HISTORY UNFOLDED

Both Riley and Swain argued that viewing the film could do a service to White progressives by challenging their assumptions about race and forcing them to confront whether their preferred policies are actually helping Black America. Riley stated that the Black Americans who regularly attend the NMAAHC could benefit from Steele’s film as it challenges the popular assumption that they are blocked from social mobility by virtue of their race.

In recent months, the Smithsonian has been the target of criticism from Republican elected officials, including the president, who argue that the institution has allowed political bias to overshadow the neutral presentation of history, an argument some within the organization reject, claiming that they are simply presenting the good and the bad aspects of the American story. As part of its effort to pressure the Smithsonian over what it describes as ideological bias, the Trump administration has threatened to restrict federal support, including discretionary grants and cooperation from federal agencies.

While Riley and Swain raised questions about the Smithsonian’s motives, the museum told Steele that his proposed dates were unavailable but did not explain whether it would consider alternative dates for a public screening, according to correspondence reviewed by Fox News Digital.

Steele and his team reached out to the Smithsonian in late August about a public screening of their film, receiving a response within the day directing them to fill out an event application form, according to correspondence reviewed by Fox News Digital. In early September, they submitted a completed application form and provided two possible dates for a screening.

About two weeks later, the NMAAHC responded by informing them that neither date was available for a public screening, according to the correspondence. After Steele’s team asked about alternatives, the museum offered them the option of renting space for a private screening at a quoted cost of $35,000, according to correspondence reviewed by Fox News Digital, rather than arranging a museum-sponsored public screening.

INSIDE THE BEHEMOTH SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM NETWORK DRAWING FIRE FROM THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

When Steele and his team clarified that they wanted a public screening and signaled flexibility on their requested dates, they received no response from the museum, per correspondence reviewed by Fox News Digital.

“Answering email does not take that much time,” Steele told Fox News Digital.

“I watched the film last night. It’s a well-made and powerful representation of ideas that Shelby Steele has been developing over the last 40 years,” Glenn Loury, an African American professor at Brown University who has described himself as “conservative-leaning,” told Fox News Digital. “Those ideas — about how racial identity interacts with the pursuit of ‘black power’ and the quest for ‘white innocence’ in the West — are vividly illuminated through the film’s exploration of a number of exemplary cases.”

“The arguments advanced via Steele’s eloquent narration in the film are not beyond questioning, but they are invariably provocative and insightful,” he continued. “It would certainly be an appropriate use of the platform of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture to screen this documentary, as a means of provoking critical engagement with its themes from all corners of the political/ideological spectrum.”

IN PICTURES: HISTORIC SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM PACKED WITH WOKE POLITICAL MESSAGING ON RACE AND GENDER

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

“My father, Shelby Steele, was born into segregation and has spent decades examining how America has changed, how far we have come, and what still divides us. ‘White Guilt,’ drawing on his 2006 book, brings that work to the screen,” Steele said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. “We approached the Smithsonian’s African American museum because we believe that conversation belongs there. Sharing his life’s work in a museum dedicated to the history he lived would mean a great deal to both of us.”

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“Our proposal remains open, and we would appreciate an answer.”