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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is expanding his investigation into alleged privacy violations from Flock Safety cameras to three additional companies amid concerns about the handling of images and data generated by AI-backed surveillance cameras.

Hawley put Motorola Solutions Inc., Verkada Inc. and Axon Enterprise Inc. on notice in a series of letters that the lawmaker sent on Wednesday.

“On August 26th, I wrote to your competitor Flock Safety to express my concerns regarding the size and pervasiveness of its network and demanding answers as to reports of abuse and costly errors from its technology,” Hawley’s letter to the three companies reads. “However, Flock does not stand alone in this industry; you and others are building large camera networks, assisted by artificial intelligence, that intrude on the privacy of all Americans.”

HAWLEY RIPS FLOCK’S SPRAWLING SURVEILLANCE WEB AS TEXAS CITIES CUT CAMERAS OVER PRIVACY AND DATA FEARS

Hawley, who serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, has been vocal about his concerns that Flock Safety cameras undermine personal privacy with an AI-powered system that tracks the movements of Americans.

“Americans do not surrender their privacy rights when they drive to work, drop their kids off at school or go to church,” Hawley said in a post on X last week. “I’m investigating Flock cameras to determine WHO has access to hundreds of millions of Americans’ data – and what they’re doing with it.”

POWERFUL CRIME-FIGHTING SURVEILLANCE GROWTH SPURS LAWMAKERS TO ISSUE WARNING: ‘ORWELLIAN’

Hawley asked each of the companies to explain how broadly customers can search vehicle data, how long the company retains license plate information, how many confirmed cases of misuse have occurred since 2021 and what safeguards are in place to ensure law enforcement officers provide legitimate justifications before conducting searches.

“We received the letter and have reached out to Senator Hawley’s office to discuss his requests,” an Axon spokesperson said. “We welcome the opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to safety and responsible innovation.”

A number of politicians have taken action against AI-powered cameras, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordering the removal of all license plate reader cameras from Florida state roads and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordering all state agencies to stop spending state money on Flock Safety cameras.

FLOCK SURVEILLANCE SPREADS ACROSS THE SOUTH AS RED-STATE LAWMAKERS SEEK TO AX ‘1984’-STYLE TRACKING TOOLS

Flock Safety cameras use artificial intelligence to automatically track and identify vehicles and license plates for local law enforcement use. Nationwide concern has grown about whether the AI-backed system should be allowed to track the movement of vehicles without a warrant or the consent of drivers.

About 120,000 Flock Safety cameras operate in every state except Alaska.

Last week, Hawley also sent a letter to Flock Safety, requesting similar information from the company.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Flock Safety said the company would comply with the investigation.

FLOCK SAFETY CEO CALLS FOR NATIONAL ‘COMPROMISE’ AMID CAMERA SABOTAGE AND PUBLIC REVOLT

“We look forward to working with Senator Hawley and the Subcommittee to provide additional context about how our technology works, the safeguards built into our platform and how law enforcement agencies use Flock to solve crime and find missing people,” Flock Safety spokesperson Paris Lewbel said.

INSIDE THE FAR-LEFT’S ANTI-DATA CENTER PUSH AND WHAT EXPERTS SAY IS DRIVING IT: ‘PLAYBOOK WE’VE SEEN BEFORE’

The growing backlash against Flock cameras illustrates an unusual convergence: Republicans and far-left activists are arriving at the same target from sharply different ideological directions. While GOP lawmakers are focused on privacy, government overreach and protecting Americans from warrantless tracking, socialist and communist organizers have folded the cameras into a broader campaign against artificial intelligence, policing, immigration enforcement, the construction of data centers and the demonization of the United States as a “police state” and “AI surveillance state.”

Over the past year, far-left organizations within a network funded by pro-China, Shanghai-based tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham have built vocal community campaigns against the Flock Safety cameras, while also targeting the construction of data centers. The GOP, including President Donald Trump and administration officials, have been leading voices of support for the continued construction of data centers.

In May, the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Denver chapter partnered with Indivisible and the far-left Sunrise Movement and promoted a forum examining the “connections between mass surveillance and data centers and how BOTH only serve the needs of billionaires and not our communities.”

MARXIST ORGANIZER LEADS CAMPAIGN AGAINST VIRGINIA AI DATA CENTER AS FOREIGN INFLUENCE CONCERNS MOUNT

By July 25, in Tucson, Ariz., the local Party for Socialism and Liberation chapter joined “deFLOCK Tucson” and the “No Desert Data Center Coalition” for an event called “It’s ALL Connected” at the “Global Justice Center” on E. 26th Street.

The promotional material asked what mass surveillance, data centers and electric power had in common. The answer: “IT’S ALL CONNECTED.”

In a new report, “The Compute War at Home,” commissioned by Consumer Action for a Strong Economy, the authors note that “money, media, organizing capacity and campaign objectives converge in the same ecosystem.”

“Issue pairings rarely multiply fourteen-fold in a matter of weeks without a catalyst, particularly when the surge begins immediately after organizers start promoting the connection,” the report states.

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The Trump administration proposed new regulations on Thursday to revoke the tax-exempt status of private schools and colleges if ​they use race in admissions, scholarships or other school-administered programs, the latest effort by the federal government to root out diversity initiatives in education.

The rules, proposed by the Treasury Department ‌and Internal Revenue Service, aim to end what administration officials argue is discrimination against white students in favor of students of color.

“Schools rebranding race-based preferences as equitable, inclusive, or diversity-enhancing does not change their discriminatory nature,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a ​statement.

The proposal follows the Supreme Court’s 2023 Students for Fair Admissions decisions, which prohibited most race-conscious admissions policies at colleges and universities.

DOJ OPENS PROBE INTO PRESTIGIOUS COLLEGE OVER ALLEGED DISCRIMINATION FAVORING MINORITY STUDENTS

Admissions, educational policies, scholarships and loans, athletics and “every other school-administered or ​school-supported program” would be covered by the Treasury’s proposal.

It would apply to any program that considers race, color, or national or ethnic origin “for any purpose,” including efforts to address past racial discrimination.

The ​Treasury estimated that the rules ​could impact as many ⁠as 18,000 schools at all education levels and 750,000 students who could be affected because they may qualify for race-based scholarships.

The proposal would not prevent private schools from having a ​religious mission, curriculum or program. Religious schools could continue to choose students ​based on religious ⁠affiliation, according to the Treasury.

The Treasury also said the proposal would not prohibit schools from helping disadvantaged students using race-neutral criteria, including income, geography or first-generation status.

The new proposal is subject to a public comment period and would likely spark legal challenges if ⁠adopted.

The American Association of University Professors, which advocates for academic freedom and has sued the administration ​to block funding cuts in the past, said it is considering legal action against the proposal.

“This is not neutral enforcement ‌of ⁠civil-rights law. It is an affirmative attempt to turn civil-rights law against the very people it was enacted to protect,” AAUP President Todd Wolfson said in a statement. “For half a century, federal policy recognized that measures intended to dismantle entrenched racial exclusion are not equivalent to policies designed to preserve it.”

DOJ OPENS PROBE INTO HARVARD’S FINANCIAL AID FOR ALLEGED DISCRIMINATION AGAINST AMERICAN STUDENTS

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The administration has sought to eliminate ⁠diversity, equity and inclusion policies ​in K-12 schools and higher education since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

In addition to DEI, the administration has targeted educational institutions across the nation for issues such as race-based admissions and scholarships and alleged antisemitism on campus.

Trump has singled out Harvard University in particular with federal funding cuts, investigations ​and threats to the institution’s tax-exempt status.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, is demanding answers from Connecticut’s Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont after an Ohio man was killed in a car crash by an illegal immigrant who Moreno says was granted a driver’s license by the blue state governor’s policy.

“My office has learned that an illegal alien granted a drivers license by the state of Connecticut killed a 29 year old Ohioan in a reckless driving accident,” Moreno posted on X on Tuesday night. “While one death alone is an inexcusable tragedy, Connecticut has granted over 60,000 such licenses to illegal aliens, putting countless Americans at risk on the roads. This insanity has to stop.”

Moreno also called on Lamont to “immediately apologize for his state’s role in this tragedy while also account for exactly how many illegals have been given Connecticut drivers’ licenses and whether or not they have used them to vote in U.S. elections.”

Washington Guillermo Naula-Ochoa, 34, was driving a 2024 Ram 3500 westbound in Fulton County, Ohio on Aug. 29 when he allegedly failed to yield at a stop sign and pulled into the intersection of State Route 66, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

THREE-TIME DEPORTED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED WITH KILLING NORTH CAROLINA GIRL, 6, AFTER RUNNING STOP SIGN

Naula-Ochoa’s car then struck a 1993 GMC Suburban driven by Austin J. Karr Grimes, 29, of Fayette, Ohio. Grimes lost control, went partially off the roadway and overturned. He suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two passengers in Naula-Ochoa’s truck were uninjured, while two passengers in Grimes’ vehicle suffered minor injuries. Naula-Ochoa was charged with vehicular manslaughter and failing to yield at a stop sign.

Naula-Ochoa’s booking record at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio (CCNO) shows an immigration detainer lodged against him by federal authorities. Additionally, Naula-Ochoa is listed as “homeless.”

“The safest way to arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens from our streets is by lodging arrest detainers,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital, confirming the ICE detainer was placed on Naula-Ochoa, an Ecuadoran national. “7 of the top 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE. Our message is clear: if you come into our country illegally and break our laws, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will deport you.”

Moreno’s X post was accompanied by a letter sent to Lamont tying him to the Connecticut program that allows for illegal immigrants to be licensed on the road.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT CHARGED IN CRASH THAT KILLED POLICE OFFICER AND HIS GIRLFRIEND

“Despite his lack of legal status, Connecticut issued him a driver’s license,” Moreno wrote. “Horrifyingly, Connecticut not only permits illegal aliens to receive a driver’s license, but encourages it, all while Americans pay the ultimate price.”

Moreno’s letter criticized Connecticut’s drive-only license program, backed by Lamont, which allows certain individuals who cannot establish legal presence in the United States or provide a Social Security number to obtain a license for driving purposes.

“Quite simply, your policies are killing my constituents,” Moreno wrote to Lamont, adding, “You should be ashamed of this policy and its dangerous consequences, yet your support for illegal aliens knows no bounds.”

Moreno also criticized Lamont’s 2024 proposal to remove the “drive-only” marking from the licenses, arguing that the change would make them difficult to distinguish from other non-REAL ID licenses. Lamont’s office said at the time that the change was intended to protect Connecticut residents from discrimination in other states.

Moreno asked Lamont to provide the number of drive-only licenses issued to people who are unlawfully present, how many recipients have committed crimes, how many registered or voted, and how much the program has cost taxpayers.

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“I strongly suggest that you consider joining the vast majority of states that have adopted this common-sense requirement before another American citizen becomes the victim of vehicular manslaughter or is gravely injured by an illegal alien,” Moreno wrote.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Lamont said his “heart goes out to the family and friends of Austin J. Karr Grimes, and to all families who lose a loved one to a motor vehicle accident..”

“Drivers must be held accountable for violating traffic laws, especially when it causes a tragic loss of life,” Lamont said. “States including Connecticut offer drive-only licenses to undocumented residents to help ensure all drivers are trained, tested, and know the rules of the road. This reduces hit-and-run accidents and brings more drivers into the insurance system who might otherwise be driving uninsured. Undocumented residents in many states already need to drive for work, school, and daily life; it’s safer for everyone when that driving happens within a regulated system.”

Moreno responded on X on Thursday, saying, “The answer to the presence of illegal aliens is NOT to ‘train them’ and allow them on our roads to wreak havoc. The answer is to DEPORT them! Of course, Democrat politicians know this, but need a crop of dependent and obedient voters to keep them in power.”

The question of illegal immigrants driving on American roads has become a Trump administration priority, with federal officials arguing that state-issued licenses can make it harder to identify and locate people in the country illegally.

The Justice Department sued New York in 2025 over its “Green Light Law,” which allows illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses while restricting the state from sharing DMV information with federal immigration authorities. The administration has also expanded ICE enforcement against criminal illegal immigrants, arguing that local arrests should trigger federal immigration action.

Mehek Cooke, a GOP strategist and attorney in Ohio, told Fox News Digital, “What is especially infuriating is that Connecticut Democrats get to congratulate themselves for being compassionate, while an Ohio family is left grieving the loss of 29-year-old Austin Karr Grimes.”

“Connecticut made the policy choice, but Americans hundreds of miles away paid the price.” Cooke said. “There is nothing compassionate about a policy that puts the interests of illegal immigrants ahead of the lives and safety of American citizens.”

Outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., called for President Donald Trump to replace War Secretary Pete Hegseth, slamming the Pentagon leader following the news that Army Secretary Dan Driscoll was resigning.

“I urge the President to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent rather than diminish it,” Tillis declared in a fiery Wednesday post on X.

Tillis praised Driscoll in the post — and apparently referring to ex-Army chief of staff Gen. Randy George (ret.), the senator declared, “He and General George began a transformative period of innovation in how we array our forces and equip our Soldiers. He challenged our legacy approach to manning and procurement. Most of all, he cared deeply about the men and women in our Army formations and quickly earned their respect.”

But Tillis excoriated Hegseth.

“If we had a @SecWar who maintained the same priorities and forward-thinking, he would be fighting to retain talented leaders like Dan and the many flag officers he has forced into retirement. Instead, he is creating a leadership void at the top of our military ranks,” the senator wrote.

ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF ORDERED TO RETIRE IMMEDIATELY AS HEGSETH CONTINUES PENTAGON SHAKEUP

“I served on Senate Armed Services for 8 years and as chair or ranking member of the Personnel and Readiness subcommittee. I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country. He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force,” the lawmaker declared.

Tillis, who announced last year that he would not seek re-election, told Politico Magazine earlier this year that he would “love to see Pete Hegseth fired because he’s incompetent and doing a horrible job.”

The War Department declined to provide comment on Thursday.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “After Joe Biden’s Pentagon prioritized DEI and woke ideology, President Trump and Secretary Hegseth quickly reversed course and restored a Department of War that is focused on readiness, lethality, and supporting our warfighters. The President has complete trust in Secretary Hegseth, who is doing an incredible job leading the Pentagon. The results of Operations Midnight Hammer, Absolute Resolve, Southern Spear, and Epic Fury speak for themselves.”

TRUMP’S ARMY SECRETARY HUNT TAKES SHAPE AS INSIDERS FLOAT POTENTIAL PICKS

Driscoll, in a Tuesday statement issued on the official Secretary of the Army X account, noted that Wednesday would be his final full day in the position.

“As a third-generation Army veteran, it has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as the Secretary of the Army under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth. Tomorrow is my last full day in the role,” Driscoll said in the statement.

“I had the privilege of working with them to modernize and accelerate how the Army mans, trains, and equips the most lethal fighting force on the face of the earth. We could not have made the progress we did without the support of Secretary Hegseth. I am forever grateful to President Trump for the opportunity to once again serve my country,” he noted.

ARMY SECRETARY DAN DRISCOLL SUBMITS RESIGNATION TO TRUMP

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A source familiar with Driscoll’s resignation indicated to Fox News that “Driscoll brought up concerns with the administration surrounding Army transformation and readiness and Hegseth’s blocking those efforts specifically by firing the Generals who were responsible.”

Fox News Digital’s Sophia Compton and Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin and Liz Friden contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE – The U.S. military provided rare insight into its operations at the southern border Thursday, revealing that it took down “approximately 100” suspected cartel drones in August alone, a senior War Department official confirmed to Fox News.

The disclosure marks the first time the Pentagon has revealed how frequently counter-drone technology, including sophisticated laser systems, is being used at the southern border to stop suspected cartel drones from entering the U.S.

According to a senior War Department official, Task Force–Southern Border carried out the drone takedowns using specialized counter-drone equipment provided and integrated by other military units.

Each operation was planned and closely coordinated with the Mexican military and border authorities to prevent interference or unintended conflicts between forces operating on either side of the border, the official said.

INSIDE AMERICA’S LASER REVOLUTION AS THE MILITARY NEARS BIG BATTLEFIELD BREAKTHROUGH

The operations are part of a broader effort to rapidly deploy defenses against drones, combining multiple technologies with trained personnel and updated military authorities. The official emphasized that the military is not relying on a single “silver bullet” system to counter the threat.

The Pentagon told Fox News that the U.S. has been using counter-drone technology to assist with security operations at the border.

“The United States is employing defensive counter-drone technology to protect our personnel and border security operations from cartel-linked drone threats,” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said.

TRUMP ADMIN MARKS 15 STRAIGHT MONTHS WITH ZERO BORDER RELEASES AS APPREHENSIONS PLUNGE 94%

“These actions are closely coordinated with Mexican military and border authorities to ensure safety and deconfliction on both sides of the border,” Wilson added.

The revelation comes as the Trump administration continues to use military force against cartels across the Western Hemisphere, including lethal strikes against alleged drug traffickers.

Earlier this week, senior administration officials touted President Donald Trump’s use of military force during a press call.

“So, the president directed, the Department of War executed, the first ever plan and strategy to use direct military force to defend the homeland from this threat,” one official said.

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“The effects have been spectacular, and we’ve seen the largest and steepest reduction in U.S. casualties inflicted by the cartels in American history,” the official added.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

Colorado’s Republican gubernatorial nominee claimed in a resurfaced podcast episode that he “met Satan in person” through another person.

Talking Points Memo first reported that Colorado GOP gubernatorial nominee Victor Marx, a Marine veteran and Christian ministry leader, claimed in a 2020 episode of his podcast, “I’ve met the devil” and “I’ve met Satan in person, through a person.”

According to Marx’s account on his podcast, the encounter occurred when he was praying for a girl in a high-security youth prison in Texas. He said, “This girl started manifesting a demon” and emphasized, “it was so real that all the other locked up girls, all the other gang members, man, they all kind of huddled in a corner.”

Marx described the encounter as “horrible,” saying, “This demon… just really manifested pretty nasty.” He said that when he asked the demon its name, it responded, “I am Satan.” He added, “If you think I’m joking, I’m not.”

TRUMP-APPOINTED JUDGE BLOCKS BLUE STATE’S CRACKDOWN ON ICE DETENTION CENTER

Though Marx described the little girl as “just adorable,” he said he could tell “she had a demon in her.”

“All of a sudden, this demon goes, ‘I guess you’re going to say I’m possessed.’ And I just — I just started laughing,” said Marx, adding, “I was like, ‘I don’t think I have to. It’s kind of obvious.’ I mean, really, that’s — I just snickered, which makes the devil mad.”

Marx is the founder of All Things Possible Ministries, a Christian ministry whose website says it is devoted to “setting captives free spiritually, emotionally and physically.”

‘GHOST TOWN?’ COLORADO BUSINESS LEADERS WEIGH ALL OPTIONS AS DSA GAINS GROUND

After winning the GOP gubernatorial nomination earlier this summer, Marx made headlines for assembling an all-Marine ticket that he said can bring the “steely spines” needed to combat a democratic socialist movement gaining ground in races around the country. He is pitching himself and his running mate, retired Marine Col. George Markert, as political outsiders, arguing that they have the discipline and accountability needed to take on the movement.

SOCIALISTS RISING IN COLORADO? SEND IN THE MARINES, GOP NOMINEE SAYS

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He has built his long-shot campaign around public safety, social conservatism and the cost of living. The campaign comes as the Democratic Party’s left flank scored a series of primary wins nationally, including in Colorado, where democratic socialist Melat Kiros upset longtime incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette.

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Marx is running against Democrat Phil Weiser, the attorney general of Colorado who is favored to win the race to succeed Gov. Jared Polis, another Democrat who is term-limited.

Fox News Digital’s Ashley J. DiMella contributed to this report.

The Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously blocked newly enacted Republican-backed congressional districts from being used in November’s midterm elections, ruling that voters must first approve the map in a statewide referendum.

The ruling marks a rare setback for Republicans in a national redistricting battle. 

The GOP had aimed to use Missouri’s new congressional map to help them win an additional seat and hold onto its slim House majority.

The court ruled that the referendum petition, filed in December after opponents submitted more than 300,000 signatures, prevented the new districts from taking effect unless approved by voters. 

DEMS DERIDED TRUMP’S MIDTERM GAMBLE — UNTIL HE ENDED UP WINNING BIG

Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins waited until primary Election Day last month to reject the petition, arguing that the referendum process cannot be used for congressional redistricting. A lower court sided with Hoskins, but the state Supreme Court overturned his decision.

“The referendum petition was legal, sufficient, and timely, and the secretary incorrectly concluded otherwise,” the court said in its ruling. The measure with the new districts “did not go into effect and will not go into effect unless and until approved by the voters.”

Now, the congressional map adopted after the 2020 census “remains in full force and effect for the November 2026 general election,” the court said.

Once considered a swing state, Missouri has dramatically shifted to the right over the past two decades.

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, a Republican, plans to immediately appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Never before in American history has a court overturned a congressional map after a primary and before a general election. This unprecedented decision clearly violates federal law and has thrust our state into a full‑fledged constitutional crisis,” Hanaway said in a statement. 

“We are confident that the federal courts will not allow every Missouri voter to be disenfranchised, which is what today’s decision does.”

President Donald Trump called Thursday’s ruling “ridiculous” and argued it was unconstitutional, saying there will not be enough time to change the map before November’s elections.

“The Missouri Supreme Court just ridiculously ruled in favor of changing the maps back to what they were a long time ago,” he wrote on Truth Social. “It’s called, Ancient History! The problem is, according to Legal Scholars, that not only was the ruling horrible, ridiculous, and unConstitutional, but there won’t be enough time to change the map back with the Election coming up in a very short period of time. 

“The Election Process, as usual, is being disturbed in America! Missouri must be able to use the map that was in effect just a couple of months ago, in the Primary. This is a Dark Day for ‘Justice’ in Missouri!”

Missouri’s new districts were used in the primaries last month, but the state Supreme Court said they cannot be used again unless voters first uphold the new districts passed by the GOP-controlled legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe last September.

Kehoe said he is “extremely disappointed in today’s decision by unelected judges and their lack of respect for the legislative process.”

“Holding a primary election under one congressional map and a general election under another is unprecedented and creates uncertainty for Missouri voters,” he said on X. “Today’s ruling does not change our belief in the Missouri First Map or the principles behind it, and we will continue to stand behind it as the legal process moves forward.”

Five of the seven current justices on the Missouri Supreme Court, including the chief justice, were appointed by Republican governors.

The new map targeted longtime Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City-area district by shifting it eastward to include rural right-leaning voters. The map was intended to make Cleaver’s district more favorable to Republicans, who hoped it would produce a 7-1 advantage in the state’s congressional delegation.

SUPREME COURT ALLOWS ALABAMA GOP-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL MAP FOR MIDTERMS

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Cleaver responded to the ruling by saying, “The people fought back and won.”

“More than 305,000 Missourians demanded a say in who will represent them in the halls of Congress,” he wrote on X. “Despite the cynical and deeply shameful attempt to silence many of our neighbors, the people fought back and won. This reaffirms that the people should choose their politicians, not the other way around. Democracy prevails.”

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin also called it a “big win for democracy and the people of Missouri.”

“Democrats will continue fighting to end the Republican gerrymandering sham and ensure all voters can make their voices heard,” he wrote on X.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday he will not put an “artificial timeline” on the war with Iran, warning that the conflict will continue on as long as Iran keeps shooting at ships.

“You’re asking me a question like, when will the Iranians stop shooting at ships? I think the reality is, I don’t know the answer to that question. You would have to ask the Iranians, when will the Iranians shooting at ships stop having an effect on world energy markets? And the answer is it has less effect day by day,” Vance said while hosting the first White House press briefing after former press secretary Karoline Leavitt exited in August.

Vance said the U.S. will not depend on the Iranians “behaving responsibly” or “negotiating in good faith,” pointing to recent attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The Trump administration has taken negotiations off the table after June’s failed Memorandum of Understanding agreement and has pivoted back to economic and military pressure.

IRAN DEAL CLOCK HITS ZERO AS TRUMP DEMANDS ‘WHITE FLAG’ WITH NEW PRESSURE CAMPAIGN LOOMING

“What we’re going to do is use the tools that we have at our disposal to ensure that the American people, one, never have to deal with the threat of an Iranian nuclear program and, two, the world, energy markets are properly supplied,” said Vance.

The conflict began on Feb. 28, 2026, when the U.S. and its partners launched Operation Epic Fury, striking targets across Iran at President Trump’s direction.

U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that American forces completed a wave of strikes against targets inside Iran, including air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites.

US EMBASSIES IN MIDDLE EAST WARN AMERICANS OF ‘UNFORESEEN ESCALATION’ AS LATEST STRIKES HIT IRAN

Vance said the conflict with Iran is not a war, citing that there are no active shootings but “places where this is flared up” and acknowledged major combat operations that lasted under six weeks.

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“Since then, we destroyed, of course, their nuclear facilities with Midnight Hammer. With Epic Fury, we destroyed their defense industrial base for producing weapons and also a lot of their conventional military and then we made it harder for them to rebuild that nuclear program,” Vance added.

Excavation work will begin over the next two weeks on a site where the Trump administration plans to build a tall memorial arch in Washington, D.C., a project that currently faces a lawsuit from opponents who argue the project will disrupt nearby historic sight lines.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Thursday announced that work would start on the Great Triumphal Arch and Military Observation Deck, which will be located on Columbia Island, standing between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

“This will be one of the Great Pieces of American Architecture, honoring the history and significance of Arlington Cemetery and befitting the most powerful Capital in the World,” Burgum wrote on X, along with mock-ups of the towering 250-foot-tall arch.

LEAVITT SHOWS OFF US TRIUMPHAL ARCH, WITH PLANS TO BE RELEASED THURSDAY

The images showed a white arch with gold detail, with “ONE NATION UNDER GOD” written on top. A gold Lady Liberty-like figure with wings and a torch stands above, as well as gold eagles with their wings spread outward.

The project faces opposition from three veterans and an architectural historian who argued that “congressional authorization is necessary and lacking for this project,” said Nicolas Sansone, an attorney with the Public Citizen Litigation Group representing the plaintiffs.

WHITE HOUSE TOUTS TRUMP’S ‘BOLD VISION’ FOR TOWERING INDEPENDENCE ARCH FOR AMERICA 250

“We believe that construction cannot and should not proceed apace, and we are prepared to inform the court that it needs to, at this juncture, step in,” Sansone told The Associated Press.

A 24-page report released last month by the National Park Service backs the idea for the arch.

However, the report noted that the project would have “direct and indirect adverse effects on the sight lines of historic properties.”

TRUMP’S PLAN FOR TRIUMPHAL ARCH MOVES STEP CLOSER TO REALITY

In a series of posts on X, Burgum defended the project, saying the idea for a monument goes back decades. He cited attempts by past Congresses and old reports about discussions of the construction of a memorial.

The secretary noted that more than 70 cities, including Athens, London, Madrid, New Delhi, Paris and Rome, showcase arches.

“Interestingly, Washington, DC, is the only major Western capital without an arch,” he wrote. “Now after 125 years of waiting, the most powerful capital in the world will be the home of the most spectacular and beautiful arch of them all!”

TRUMP’S DC BEAUTIFICATION PUSH WINS RARE DEM PRAISE AS PRESIDENT SNAPS LANDMARKS BACK TO LIFE

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Interior Department and the Public Citizen Litigation Group.

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The arch is one of several projects undertaken by the Trump administration, including the renaming of the Kennedy Center, a new White House ballroom and the refurbishing of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: The White House is rolling out a new website Thursday that will feature classic arcade-style games with a MAGA twist.

A promotional video for the site obtained by Fox News Digital shows MAGA remakes of old favorites, including Snake, Flappy Bird, Duck Hunt and a couple of originals. Each one is uniquely Trumpian.

The MAGA version of Snake, for example, features border czar Tom Homan leading a line of illegal aliens in orange jumpsuits while he chases others on the grid. In another game, reminiscent of Duck Hunt, the user employs a net to catch gold bars and money, illustrative of putting money into a Trump Account. The Washington Monument is depicted in the background of that game.

SEN DAVE MCCORMICK: TRUMP ACCOUNTS GIVE ALL AMERICANS A STAKE IN PROSPERITY

The White House says the new site is a fun way to highlight Trump’s successes in his second term.

“This administration is laser focused on ways to innovate and tell the story of the president’s many accomplishments in a way that resonates with every American,” a White House official told Fox News Digital.

BIG TECH JOINS FORCES WITH TRUMP ADMIN TO UNLEASH PATRIOTIC BIRTHDAY PUSH INTO HOMES NATIONWIDE

Visitors to the new site can also play the administration’s version of Flappy Bird, flying a bald eagle through obstacles on the National Mall.

In the fourth game, the user is a boxer, punching unhealthy foods like candy away. The game features a graphic with the words “Seed Oils” with a red line through it in a nod to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again initiative.

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Another resembles Tetris, set at the southern border, where the user’s goal is to build a wall to stop the flow of illegal immigration into the U.S.

The site is also a jab at Democrat policies and what the White House describes as the political left’s “dark” vision for the future of the country.

“The president continues to rack up victory after victory on behalf of the American public, while opponents of his agenda are defending their record of raising taxes and empowering criminal illegal aliens,” the official told Fox News Digital. 

“This is an effort to further contrast between a culture of fun and winning and the dark socialist vision Democrats have for America.”

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Millions of foreigners have left the United States, either by voluntary self-deportation or by being arrested and removed, during Trump’s second term.

Those numbers are on the rise. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently broke its own monthly record for illegal alien arrests, topping 50,000 in July.

Parents are eligible to open Trump Accounts for their children this year, in which the federal government automatically deposits $1,000. Family members and friends can contribute up to $5,000 per year to a child’s account, which will appreciate in value until the child turns 18. The program will continue next year.

A Biden-appointed judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump‘s latest executive order seeking to limit birthright citizenship, setting up another high-profile legal battle over the scope of the 14th Amendment.

In a 35-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman issued a preliminary injunction against the Oval Office’s Aug. 6 executive order, which was issued a month after the Supreme Court affirmed birthright citizenship in its ruling in Barbara v. Trump. The injunction is the first to halt Trump’s revised birthright citizenship order since the Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship in June.

Boardman previously blocked Trump’s original birthright citizenship executive order before the Supreme Court weighed in on the issue.

Trump’s order sought to limit birthright citizenship for children whose parents are deemed alien enemies, including members of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and children whose foreign parents paid a surrogate in the U.S. to give birth, among several other restrictions. The executive order prompted Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration.

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“The 2026 Executive Order is almost certainly unconstitutional as applied to the certified class for the simple reason that the Supreme Court in Barbara already decided that the children in the class are citizens at birth,” Boardman wrote in her ruling. “This Court must, once again, preliminarily enjoin enforcement of the President’s most recent attempt to strip the right to citizenship from them.”

The White House rejected Boardman’s ruling as the work of an “activist judge appointed by Biden attempting to thwart President Trump’s commonsense agenda.”

“The birthright citizenship executive order is consistent with the holdings and analysis set forth by the Supreme Court,” Lauren Bis, White House spokeswoman, said in a statement.

In a 5-4 decision on the constitutional question of birthright citizenship, the high court held that children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present in the country are “citizens at birth” under the 14th Amendment in Barbara v. Trump.

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While the Supreme Court has acknowledged exceptions to birthright citizenship, such as children of foreign diplomats or children born during an enemy’s hostile occupation of U.S. soil, Boardman rejected Trump’s latest executive order targeting children born to alleged alien enemies. She agreed with the plaintiffs’ concerns over the Trump administration’s “broad view of who qualifies as an enemy.” The plaintiffs alleged that the Trump administration had “sometimes resting its conclusions on false or speculative allegations, or even tenuous markers like tattoos or family affiliations.”

Boardman pointed to two plaintiffs — Andrea, who fled an area of Mexico where a designated cartel operates and whose child’s father has a relative in the group, and Monica, a Venezuelan woman who fears her family could be wrongly linked to Tren de Aragua.

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDERS TARGETING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP, BIRTH TOURISM AFTER SUPREME COURT SETBACK

“Children whose parents may ‘rightly or wrongfully’ be deemed by the government to be alien enemies face a credible threat of “being denied or stripped of their birthright citizenship … even though they do not fall within a recognized exception to birthright citizenship,” Boardman wrote.

However, Abhi Kambli, a former Justice Department official, said Boardman was speculating on how the Trump administration could incorrectly bar someone from citizenship based upon being part of a foreign terrorist organization.

“Legally, where that falls short is that it’s a facial challenge to the entire executive order,” Kambli told Fox News Digital. “So, in legal terms, when something’s a facial challenge, you have to demonstrate that it’s unlawful in all of its applications, and not just the edge, the borderline cases.”

“She didn’t want to wade into the territory of whether that fits as an exception generally within Trump v. Barbara, but she said that based on how they’ve interpreted it in the past and in terms of what happened with Tren de Aragua and other organizations, she bought into plaintiff speculation that maybe they’ll get it wrong this time, and then that’ll affect their kids, and then that’s why it should get barred,” Kambli continued.

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Boardman used the First Circuit’s language to find that denying citizenship under the new executive order would cause irreparable harm — one of the requirements for issuing a preliminary injunction.

“The loss of birthright citizenship — even if temporary and later restored at the conclusion of litigation has cascading effects’ that will ‘very likely leave permanent scars’ on the child and their family,” the ruling stated.

Monica celebrated the preliminary injunction.

“During my pregnancy, I felt so much anxiety over the fact that my child could be born stateless,” Monica, said in a statement. “For now, my child and children like mine are protected and guaranteed U.S. citizenship. But I know this isn’t over. The threat to birthright citizenship is still out there. I’ll keep fighting for permanent protection for my child, and for every child born in this country.”

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“When it comes to attacking birthright citizenship, the Trump administration has lost before this court, lost before the Supreme Court, and lost again today,” Shana Khader, legal director at We Are CASA, said in a statement. “The White House must recognize it will not succeed in stripping children of their right to citizenship, evading binding court decisions or placing the president’s anti-immigrant agenda above the Constitution. We are very proud to continue this fight alongside the families who have endured more than a year of fear and uncertainty and still refuse to surrender their children’s constitutional rights.”

The Trump administration says it has uncovered evidence that the Smithsonian Institution violated federal nondiscrimination laws and is threatening to withdraw support from its museums unless it corrects course, according to a letter recently made public by the Department of the Interior.

“The administration has recently uncovered evidence that the Smithsonian leadership’s institutional culture may have resulted in significant violations of Federal antidiscrimination law, including creating a hostile work environment and engaging in practices that classify individuals and allocate opportunities, funding and other benefits on the basis of race, ethnicity and other protected characteristics,” a letter sent jointly to the Smithsonian by the DOI and White House reads.

Specific evidence of illegal activity on the part of the Smithsonian was not included in the letter, and the DOI did not provide further information when reached for comment. A recent Fox News Digital investigation found that many leading figures at the Smithsonian, including those involved in hiring, have been strong proponents of diversity, equity and inclusion — something the Trump administration has previously framed as racially discriminatory.

TRUMP’S SMITHSONIAN CLASH EXPOSES STRIKING PATTERN AMONG MUSEUM CURATORS

Conservative political leaders, led by President Donald Trump, have accused the Smithsonian of allowing progressive ideology to shape its presentation of American history. An executive order signed in 2025 directed officials to remove what it called “improper ideology,” from the museum.

“The Executive Order signed by the President of the United States clearly states ‘the Secretary of the Interior, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Administrator of General Services, and the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy shall identify and utilize any and all available authorities to promote the policy of this order and to restore trust in the Smithsonian Institution,” a DOI spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

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Liberals, meanwhile, have framed conservative criticism of the Smithsonian as a partisan attempt to influence the public presentation of history.

Unless the Smithsonian remedies the issues outlined in the DOI’s recent letter, as well as the general bias which conservatives allege exists at the institution, the administration says it will consider pulling support from it. The threats this time around, however, differ from the ongoing fight over the roughly $1 billion a year in federal funding the Smithsonian receives.

SMITHSONIAN’S TAXPAYER FUNDS FACE CHOPPING BLOCK AS GOP DEMANDS ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ‘WOKE’ HISTORY

“Those executive departments and agencies cannot in good conscience continue to support the Smithsonian under current leadership by, for example, loaning artifacts for exhibits, enabling procurement processes and making discretionary grants,” the letter reads.

While the letter does not provide specific changes that the administration would like to see from the Smithsonian, it does note that an “appropriate response” from the organization “must likewise address executive leadership and institutional ideology.”

That wording could be significant as the institution operates independently but is overseen by board members appointed by congressional resolutions that the president must sign into law. By October, there will be four openings on the institution’s board of regents, a fact the administration may leverage to increase its influence over the Smithsonian.

“Very few Americans want the Smithsonian National Museum of American History to be used, in the words of its director, as a ‘prime tool of social justice’ and as an instrument of ideological activism and advocacy,”  Vince Haley, the director of the White House’s Domestic Policy Council told Fox News Digital when asked about the letter. “Unfortunately, the Saving America’s Story report demonstrates, using the statements of Museum leadership and the interpretive guidelines adopted by the Museum, that this is exactly what the Smithsonian’s flagship museum has become.”

“During this 250th anniversary year of our heroic founding, the least our citizens are owed is an honest and inspiring account of American history. It should begin by telling the story of our Founding Fathers — who they were, what they did, and what they built. It is our hope and expectation that the Smithsonian will eventually rise once again to that noble obligation — to tell America’s story for our children, the world and future generations of Americans,” he added.

WATCH: SMITHSONIAN HISTORY MUSEUM DIRECTOR STUMBLES OVER BASIC QUESTIONS ON SEX: ‘I’M NOT SURE’

DOI requests that representatives from the Smithsonian meet with administration officials “at [their] earliest convenience” to discuss the alleged bias and civil rights violations present at the institution.

“The museum does not take sides in America’s political debates. We preserve and document the evidence of American life in all of its breadth, so that the public can encounter the past and draw their own conclusions,” National Museum of American History’s director Anthea Hartig said at a July congressional hearing.

The Smithsonian declined to comment on the letter when reached by Fox News Digital on Thursday.

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Recent reporting has found that the museum’s leadership and many of its curators have backgrounds in liberal advocacy or Democratic politics. In addition to exhibits at the National Museum of American History, which the Trump administration characterized as demonizing America, even the Smithsonian-run National Zoo is inundated with information about DEI and gender equity.

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday he is “looking forward” to meeting with former President Joe Biden while in New York City next week for the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

“I’m really looking forward to hanging out with Joe Biden. I’m sure that we’ll have many, many intense intellectual conversations and, you know, it’ll be great. We’ll have a great time with Joe Biden and the other presidents,” Vance said while hosting the first White House press briefing after former press secretary Karoline Leavitt exited in August.

Vice President JD Vance will travel to Ground Zero on 9/11, joining former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and former first ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush for a remembrance ceremony.

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The last known time Vance and Biden were in the same room was at President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

“We just decided as a team that I would go to New York for 9/11 and the president would stay here in D.C., of course, to commemorate what happened at the Pentagon, because that was a critical part of the tragedy of 9/11 as well,” said Vance.

FIRST ON FOX: TRUMP’S 9/11 TRIBUTE TO FEATURE MASSIVE PIECE OF GROUND ZERO HISTORY AT WHITE HOUSE

Trump is expected to attend a ceremony at the Pentagon, and other administration officials will represent the White House in Shanksville, Pennsylvania — marking all three locations targeted or affected by the attacks. Vance said during the press conference that there was no indication Trump was staying in the nation’s capital due to security concerns in New York City. 

9/11 IS BECOMING HISTORY. MY GENERATION MUST MAKE SURE AMERICA NEVER FORGETS

“I will say that as much as it’s tragic and it was a terrible day, I am looking forward to it because it’s such an amazing honor to be able to get to go to New York and to share in that moment,” said Vance.

Vance said it is especially meaningful for parents to show their children the names of those who were killed, recalling that he did so with his own family during the 2024 campaign.

“It’s one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and I encourage every American, particularly the people who are young enough to not really remember that day, just to tune in for a couple of hours and see what it meant,” Vance added.

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Vance said the tragic day brings a “sense of commonality and common purpose” for Americans to unite.

A prominent LGBT podcaster who formerly hosted a Christian reality television show was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles Thursday for allegedly threatening to kill President Donald Trump.

Benjamin Azariah Southworth, 40, was indicted by a grand jury on federal charges for cyberstalking, making harassing interstate calls and threatening to kill President Trump, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli announced on X.

He said that Southworth led a harassment campaign against the family of one of Trump’s personal attorneys.

TRUMP’S DECADE OF ASSASSINATION THREATS RUNS FROM BUTLER SHOOTING TO LATEST GOLF CLUB BREACH

“Southworth is charged with posting videos calling for President Trump’s assassination, then targeted the family of the President’s personal attorney by publishing their home address and phone numbers, and leaving voicemails threatening ‘justice comes to your door,” Essayli said.

The act of publicly revealing personal information of public officials and celebrities without their consent is known as “doxxing” and is usually done with the intent to harass, shame or cause harm.

“Threats against the President of the United States are federal crimes. We will not tolerate threats of political violence in the United States. My office will prosecute anyone who crosses that line to the fullest extent of the law,” the U.S. attorney wrote in a statement on X.

On Southworth’s website “Holy Menace,” which is still live at time of publication, the podcaster sells $5 stickers that say “Kill Trump.”

While being taken into custody by agents, Southworth yelled, “Donald Trump is a pedophile. The country has fallen!” according to the New York Post, which had a photographer present at the time of his arrest.

Court documents obtained by the publication allegedly state that on April 7, 2026, Southworth posted a video on his Instagram account that contained a series of threats against Trump.

“I have been vocal in calling for the execution of Donald Trump,” he allegedly said. “This government is illegitimate and out of control. It’s time for course correction. Kill Donald Trump.”

The documents allegedly include a myriad of other examples of Southworth making threatening comments against the president, but the papers are not publicly available.

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“Anyone who engages in or endorses political violence or assassination culture must be condemned in the harshest terms possible,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital.

“They should also immediately seek psychiatric help to treat their severe and debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has warped their brains and made them sick in the head.”

In the late 2000s, Southworth hosted the Christian reality TV show “The Remix,” which aired on some of the largest Christian networks in the country, including National Religious Broadcasters TV. The show featured Christian musicians and bands.

In 2008, Southworth came out as gay. He was subsequently the opening act for gay Christian singer Ray Boltz on the singer’s nationwide tour in 2010.

In 2020, he started a podcast called “Yass, Jesus!'” which is described as “an interfaith and sexuality affirming comedy podcast that believes you don’t have to pick between gay and God.” He cohosts the show with “Mean Girls” actor Daniel Franzese, who is also gay.

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Southworth could not be immediately reached for comment.

FIRST ON FOX — The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is requesting a briefing from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on the agency’s implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), a law designed to combat the import of Chinese goods made with slave labor, according to a letter shared exclusively with Fox News Digital.

The UFLPA, passed in 2021, directed DHS’ Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force to develop a strategy for quelling the importation of goods into the United States that are “manufactured wholly or in part with forced labor in the People’s Republic of China.”

Human rights groups began shining a spotlight on the alleged oppression and forced labor the CCP was imposing on Uyghurs, a Muslim ethnic minority in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), a sparsely populated Chinese territory in the country’s far west.

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“The Uyghurs are being politically persecuted in Xinjiang, China. They are being forced to give up their religion. They’re being forced to assimilate into Chinese culture. And many of them are being forced to do labor, to work for low wages or no wages and long hours,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., the ranking member on the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.

Khanna argued that enforcement of the UFLPA is not just a moral issue, but one of economic and national security for Americans.

KHANNA DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM CCP-LINKED COMPANY ACCUSED OF UNDERCUTTING US MANUFACTURERS

“This is a human rights violation, but the broader problem also for Americans is that they’re making steel, they’re making aluminum, they’re making textiles, and then they’re dumping it into the U.S. market. How could U.S. Steel or Cleveland Cliffs or our aluminum manufacturers compete with slave labor? Of course we can’t. So what our letter does is it says that we need more of these companies that are using forced Uyghur labor to be designated by the Department of Homeland Security,” Khanna continued.

The bipartisan letter, addressed to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, asks the agency to address 10 concerns the committee has, including what work DHS and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are doing to update the list of companies and entities on the UFLPA Entity List.

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DHS added an additional 43 companies to the list in July, an action that Khanna applauded.

“I think the administration may have gotten wind that we were doing this letter and that precipitated action. You know, for a year, they hadn’t done anything. Now, I give them some credit for having 44 of these companies on the list. But hopefully, once the letter goes out, we’ll see more action,” he said.

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The committee’s letter highlights concerns that products produced by companies on the list and that are coming from the XUAR are still making their way to U.S. customers. Those products, the letter alleges, cover supply chains ranging from steel and aluminum to silicon-carbon materials critical to technology production.

The letter highlights a New York Times report that suggests the cotton contained in popular “Labubu” dolls comes from slave labor.

THE CCP’S NEW ‘UNITY’ LAW TURNS CHINA’S REPRESSION INTO A GLOBAL THREAT

“A lot of the textiles are coming, they come from China, are coming from Uyghurs. It’s one of the easiest places to force people into labor, and that’s why we included it, because of the reports that Uyghurs are involved in textile production,” Khanna added.

Khanna also explained how China circumvents the import bans by outsourcing manufacturing.

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“It’s very challenging. I mean, obviously, conventionally, China has been evading some of the tariffs and protections by having their companies open up in Malaysia or Vietnam. Here, of course, you’ve got actual slave labor. And so what we’re saying is identify these products back to the source. And if the source of the textile or steel or aluminum is forced Uyghur labor, then that should not be in the United States,” he told Fox News Digital.

Ultimately, Khanna stressed, the problem of forced labor in China is a bipartisan issue, a statement seemingly reflected by the fact that the letter was signed by eight lawmakers, four Republicans and four Democrats.

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“This is about fair trade and human rights. Americans aren’t concerned about fair competition. If China had laborers that were being paid a fair wage and they were making something and we wanted to buy from them and they weren’t dumping, and if China were buying from us, that would be fine. But what can’t happen is them using slave labor, undercutting our market and our companies, and then not allowing our companies to sell to them. That’s just not fair,” he told Fox News Digital.

“Most Americans believe in trade, but they want fair trade and they don’t want to be competing with slave labor,” Khanna concluded.

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Fox News Digital contacted the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., and Pop Mart, the maker of Labubu, for further comment.

A Democrat running for the Senate in ruby-red Arkansas once called to defund immigration enforcement, but has since changed her tune.

Arkansas Senate Democratic nominee Hallie Shoffner, a farmer and political newcomer whose first time in the political arena is this midterm cycle, is running to unseat Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., in November.

As Election Day creeps closer, Cotton has gone on the offensive against her, attacking an apparent flip-flop in her position on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the immigration enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security that became a political lightning rod in Congress earlier this year.

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Shoffner, during an appearance in June at the Immigrant Heritage Month Business Expo in Springdale, Ark., was asked whether she would defund ICE — a position several Democrats running for office have taken this cycle, including progressives Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota.

“I would vote to defund ICE as it exists right now,” Shoffner said. “Immigration and Customs Enforcement was created not that long ago, and it no longer serves the purpose it was originally created for.” 

“I would not spend one more dime on ICE, because — not just because of the human dignity issue — but also the fact that it is now the largest law enforcement agency in the country,” she continued. “It has 10 times the budget of the organization that fights child sex trafficking.”

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ICE became a political third rail earlier this year after fatal shootings in Minnesota and was at the center of the longest government shutdown in history, when Senate Democrats refused to fund the agency absent stringent reforms.

That prompted Senate Republicans to front-load $70 billion in funding for ICE and Border Patrol earlier this year.

Cotton’s campaign cut Shoffner’s comments into attack ads and accused her of donating to former Vice President Kamala Harris 25 times, which prompted Shoffner to further define her position.

In a Facebook post from Tuesday in which Cotton was asked by a voter about Shoffner’s ICE position, she jumped into the comment section to argue, “I don’t want to defund ICE, I want to reform it.”

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“My opponent wants to defund ICE, just like Democrat socialists Alexandra Ocasio Cortez and Abdul El-Sayed,” Cotton told Fox News Digital. “Doing so would protect criminals from deportation, like the illegal alien gang member who was arrested in Carroll County just days ago. Defunding ICE would make Arkansas more dangerous.”

Shoffner’s bid to unseat Cotton, who is running for a third term in the upper chamber, is one of the tougher battles during this midterm cycle for Democrats.

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Arkansas hasn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate since former Sen. Mark Pryor, who Cotton defeated in 2014. Shoffner also doesn’t have the backing of the Democratic establishment, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in Washington, D.C.

Shoffner has put distance between herself and Schumer, too, telling Politico in March that while Democrats had found the issue of affordability to be a “magic bullet” at the national level, Arkansans were going to give Schumer “the side eye, because what does he know about affordability?”

Elon Musk’s super PAC made its first major publicly disclosed burst of midterm spending, dumping significant amounts of cash over a very short period of time into races Republicans virtually must win to retain control of Congress.

Between Aug. 19 and Aug. 31, Musk’s America PAC reported just over $800,000 in expenditures supporting Republican candidates and opposing their Democratic rivals — an average of roughly $70,000 per day. By far the largest concentration of Musk’s spending was in the Texas Senate race, where America PAC spent nearly $248,000 supporting Paxton and opposing Talarico.

Republicans are heading into the midterms with a massive cash advantage, but are struggling to secure advantageous positions in even traditionally Republican states such as Alaska, Iowa, Texas and Ohio, according to Fox News’ Power Rankings. Musk opening his pocketbook for the GOP, an eventuality that was once in doubt given his prior split with the president, could provide Republicans with a much-needed lifeline as November approaches.

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The bulk of the spending went toward “printing” expenses paid out to Storytellers Group, a political vendor that specializes in direct-mail work.

Over his 12-day expenditure period, Musk spent $123,000 opposing Talarico’s candidacy and about $125,000 supporting Paxton, according to a campaign finance filing released Wednesday.

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The spending, while helpful to Republicans, gives Democrats a new angle of attack to use in the districts where Musk’s PAC is deploying resources. Musk has suffered from low favorability ratings among Americans, and his efforts with the Department of Government Efficiency, likewise, proved unpopular.

Democrats running in the competitive races where Musk is spending can now credibly tie their opponents to the billionaire. Talarico, for instance, has made running against billionaire interests a focal point of his campaign, a plank that increases in relevance now that Musk has waded into his race.

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Musk’s PAC also spent a considerable amount in Maine’s Senate race, deploying roughly $135,000 against Democratic nominee Troy Jackson and about $35,000 to assist incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins. Collins has worked to distance herself from the Trump administration and national Republicans as she seeks re-election in a left-leaning state, an effort Musk’s spending could complicate.

Other races Musk’s PAC spent in include the Senate races in Michigan, Ohio and New Hampshire as well as a handful of competitive House races in states like New York, Florida and Wisconsin.

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GOP donors, fundraisers and lawmakers are worried that their current cash advantage may not be enough to deliver victory in November. They worry that President Donald Trump may not deploy his $400 million political war chest aggressively enough.

Former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores asked a federal judge Wednesday to dismiss the drug trafficking charges against them, arguing, among other things, that the pair have sovereign immunity, according to court documents.

“No American court has ever presided over the criminal trial of a foreign leader who was recognized by their own country as the sitting head of state at the time the charges were brought. That is not an accident of history. It reflects a rule older than the common law: heads of state are exempt from the criminal process of any national court but their own,” a memorandum Maduro’s lawyers filed in support of their motion to dismiss read.

“That immunity flows not from goodwill that can be withdrawn on a whim, but from the perfect equality and absolute independence of sovereigns. Thus, this Court lacks jurisdiction with respect to Mr. Maduro, who is recognized by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela as its head of state,” the document continued.

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In January 2026, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed a fourth superseding indictment against Maduro and Flores. The indictment charged Maduro with narco-terrorism conspiracy, and both Flores and Maduro with cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

The indictment alleged that for decades, Maduro used his position — first as a deputy in Venezuela’s National Assembly and then as the country’s president — to conspire with narco-terrorists from some of the world’s largest cartels to import cocaine into the United States.

Maduro’s lawyers, however, claim that sovereign immunity prevents the U.S. from taking action against Maduro.

“The official character of these acts — such as issuing diplomatic passports, deploying the military, and announcing Venezuelan foreign policy — is apparent from the face of the Indictment. Because these actions were undertaken in his official capacity on behalf of a foreign sovereign, he may not be required to respond in this Court to the Indictment’s characterizations of his motives and intent in taking these actions,” the document reads.

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The U.S. government officially declared Maduro to be an illegitimate president in 2019 after Maduro declared victory in the disputed 2018 presidential election.

Maduro’s lawyers also argue that the indictment violates his and Flores’ due process, according to court documents.

The document asserts that Maduro “vehemently denies that he had anything to do with drug trafficking or intended to benefit anyone engaged in terrorism.”

The motion to dismiss then argues that the charges against Maduro fail to establish that his alleged crimes took place in or were aimed at the United States, and therefore do not meet the standards of due process.

ARMY SOLDIER INVOLVED IN MADURO CAPTURE ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY USING CLASSIFIED INTEL TO WIN $410K IN BETS

“The narcoterrorism statute, which was enacted in 2006 in connection with the reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT ACT, was intended to target foreign conduct. Recognizing that its power to police the rest of the world is not unlimited, Congress included a jurisdictional element that authorizes the use of the statute to prosecute foreign conduct under only five enumerated scenarios in which the foreign conduct is connected to the United States. Ignoring those parameters set by Congress, the Indictment fails — even by tracking the statutory language — to allege any basis for jurisdiction over the solely foreign conduct it alleges,” the motion to dismiss reads.

The U.S. apprehended Maduro and Flores during a January military operation, titled Operation Absolute Resolve, in which U.S. forces captured the couple in Venezuela’s capital of Caracas and extradited them back to the United States to be prosecuted in New York federal court.

TRUMP PICKS JAMES MCDONALD TO LEAD POWERFUL SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK AFTER JAY CLAYTON’S DEPARTURE

Maduro is set to appear in court in November to begin oral arguments in support of his motion to dismiss.

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Fox News Digital contacted Maduro and Flores’ legal team and the SDNY for further comment.

FIRST ON FOX: One of the top union leaders in the country has waded into a key Senate contest, backing the Republican incumbent in a race that could determine the balance of power in the upper chamber.

Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien is backing Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., in his bid for reelection as Republicans look to solidify their grip in the upper chamber, and push back against the headwinds that browbeat the party in power during a midterm election cycle.

“Sen. Marshall has proven time and time again that he is a friend of labor,” O’Brien said in a statement first obtained by Fox News Digital. “As a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Sen. Marshall has been eager to partner with us on legislation that protects workers, even when it requires breaking rank with his own party.”

EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP-BACKED CHALLENGER GAINS LABOR UNION SUPPORT IN KEY RACE FOR HOUSE CONTROL

“We look forward to continuing to work together with Sen. Marshall to fight for the rights of hardworking Americans,” he continued.

O’Brien’s green light to Marshall comes as Teamsters Local 696, the Topeka, Kansas-based chapter of the Teamsters also threw its support behind the lawmaker, who is seeking a second term in the Senate.

“We are proud to endorse the candidate in this race who continues to be a voice for the middle-class workers of our great state, and that candidate is Sen. Marshall,” Local 696 President Mike Scribner said in a statement.

“Kansas Teamsters need someone in Washington who is willing to fight on their behalf,” he continued. “Throughout his tenure, Sen. Marshall has shown that he is the person for the job.”

O’Brien has morphed into a notable figure in the GOP after his appearance as one of the opening speakers at the Republican National Convention in 2024.

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He also formed a political alliance and friendship with one of President Donald Trump’s top allies, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and even backed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s nomination to the job after nearly coming to blows with the Trump official two years prior.

It’s Marshall’s backing of pro-labor bills, like Hawley’s Faster Labor Contracts Act, and Sen. Ed Markey’s, D-Mass., Warehouse Worker Protection Act and his own Railway Safety Act that scored him the backing of the Teamsters. He also led the Overtime Wages Relief Act, which eliminated federal income tax on up to $10,000 of overtime wages for individuals and $20,000 for married filers as part of Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.”

Marshall is running against Kansas Senate Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton, the lead pastor of the state’s largest Methodist megachurch. Kansas is a ruby-red stronghold, meaning national Republicans aren’t rushing to aid the incumbent in warding off Hamilton.

FOUR MONTHS TO MIDTERMS: 12 RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE MAJORITY

Still, Hamilton has already proven a deft fundraiser, nearly matching Marshall’s war chest in a fraction of the time.

Hamilton has so far raised just north of $4.1 million, while Marshall has brought in just over $6.2 million in a race that Cook Political Report has rated as “likely Republican.”

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But Hamilton will have to battle both a strong incumbent and history to have a chance at the seat. That’s because Kansas has not sent a Democrat to the Senate in nearly a century. The last time was in the 1930s, when Kansans elected former Sen. George McGill. He only served one term before being ousted by a Republican.

Republicans are warning President Donald Trump that his decision to flood supermarkets with foreign ground beef is hurting a key group in his base as the midterm elections near their climax.

Voters in beef-industry-heavy states, like South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas, supported Trump in his bid for a second term. Now, lawmakers from those states say his decision to lift tariffs on hundreds of thousands of tons of foreign beef is putting the very people who elected him in a bind.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., who is running for re-election, said his voters in South Dakota “love the president,” and view him like a member of the family, but the beef import order feels like the administration “pulled the rug right out from underneath” them.

TRUMP WANTS CHEAPER BEEF. REPUBLICANS IN KEY RACES WARN HIS PLAN GOES TOO FAR

“They’re hurt. I mean, they feel like they’ve been let down,” Rounds said.

“Like, how could, you know, our friend, this guy that’s as close to us as they’ve ever been to a president, how could he do this to them? I mean, that’s the way they feel,” he continued. “And that’s the expression they’re giving me is, ‘Why would he do this to us? Doesn’t he understand ag?’”

Republicans are searching for an economic message to bring to voters as grocery bills, gas prices and other day-to-day necessities grow more expensive. Some argue that kneecapping ranchers and farmers, some of Trump’s most loyal supporters, in the name of affordability runs counter to that.

“I think people want an explanation,” a House Republican granted anonymity to speak freely told Fox News Digital. “We want to be able to go to the ranchers, who are big Trump supporters, right, to be able to go to them and say, this administration is fighting for you.”

THE UNEXPECTED FORCE KEEPING BEEF PRICES HIGH AND WHY THE PRESSURE COULD LAST FOR YEARS

Trump signed the order last week with the intent of flooding the market with 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef, with the idea being that it would lower costs for consumers thanks to a commitment that the product would be sold at 25% below current market prices over a 90-day span.

He also contended that it would allow ranchers to regrow the nation’s herds, which, thanks to a combination of drought and the invasive New World screwworm, has dwindled to historic lows not seen since the 1950s, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“I’m sympathetic to what he’s trying to get done,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Keloland. “He’s trying to lower beef prices, which I think we’re all supportive of. I just don’t think this is the way to do it. And so, we have a lot of beef producers here in South Dakota; they produce the highest-quality beef in the world, and we’re trying to build our herds back up.”

As the blowback mounts, the administration has acknowledged that ranchers are bearing the brunt of the blow. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer huddled privately with House Republicans on Wednesday afternoon, where several lawmakers pressed him on the subject of Trump’s beef imports.

NEBRASKA RANCHERS STRUGGLE TO RECOVER FROM HISTORIC WILDFIRES AS DROUGHT WORSENS CRISIS

Sources inside the room told Fox News Digital that Greer acknowledged ranchers were frustrated but maintained the import strategy was temporary. He argued it was the administration’s way of easing high prices on the market in the short term, the sources said.

But multiple House GOP lawmakers still said they were concerned as they exited the meeting.

“This is not just a one-year issue on the affordability of beef. We’ve got to make sure that we’ve got a Made-in-America-first beef program. That means standing with our cattlemen on that,” Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital. “We’ve said the same thing to [Greer] in there.”

Nunn, who is a top target for Democrats in November, said he planned to raise the issue again during dinner with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday evening.

Rep. Troy Downing, R-Mont., pointed out that it was a relatively small amount of beef for just a 90-day period but said he was worried about its timing overlapping with the time of year that farmers bring their cattle to market.

“If a rancher is expecting to get a price at market that suddenly drops out from underneath them, they’re faced with two things — they don’t have a stable market, so do I invest in heifers for next year? Or do I have to sell more calves to make up for that deficit for my operating costs? Which, neither one is helping rebuild the herd,” Downing told Fox News Digital.

House Main Street Caucus Chairman Mike Flood, R-Neb., said he was opposed to a “tariff regime that undercuts American ranchers,” but said Trump’s policies were helping in the “big picture.”

Compounding people’s anxiety in the meeting was Trump’s trade war with Canada, which that House Republican said made northern-border-state GOP lawmakers “nervous.”

Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital there would likely be “quite a few” follow-up meetings.

“It was absolutely outstanding, we had a tremendous amount of participation and people that were really excited to ask good questions,” he said of the meeting in general.

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And U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said at an event in Iowa on Tuesday that the administration understood that “ranchers felt like that was a gut punch.”

The White House argued that Trump has “has done more for American agriculture than anyone” with trade deals, foreign market access expansion, lowering input costs, bolstering the farm safety net, doubling the death tax exemption, ending taxes on rural property loan interest, and creating rural opportunity zones.”

At the same time, he is delivering on his promise to consumers by reducing beef prices while allowing our American beef herd to grow,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital. The President will continue taking actions to support our great farmers while driving economic prosperity for all Americans.”

Republican critics of the move are urging the administration to look at other methods to expand the nation’s cattle herds.

Several Republicans, led by Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., wrote to Rollins and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to lift Biden-era rules and ease federal guardrails to allow for more access to grazing land for cattle.

“The Federal government must remain laser-focused on partnering with the industry and state efforts for ranchers, expand grazing on public and private lands, and improve protein processing capacity,” they wrote in a letter to the top Trump officials on Tuesday.