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The Biden administration on Monday rejected claims from Congress and homebuilder groups that new energy efficiency standards for home construction will make a bad economic situation even worse.

In late May, the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Agriculture enacted updated energy efficiency standards for new home construction that reflect 2021 International Energy Efficiency Conservation Code (IECC) parameters for federally-financed homes.

The pushback comes after nearly 20 lawmakers sent a recent letter demanding the president halt adoption of the new efficiency standards, set to be enforced, citing affordability and inflationary concerns. 

In comments to Fox News Digital, a Biden-Harris administration official rejected claims the new standards will further burden first-time homebuyers and families already facing record high prices.

STATE DEM LEADERS RALLY BEHIND BIDEN AFTER DEBATE

Single-family homes in a residential neighborhood in Aldie, Virginia. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“As a result of this rule, energy efficiency improvements will cut costs by hundreds of dollars per year, saving homeowners tens-of-thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the home,” the official said.

“[HUD, USDA] and the Department of Energy are providing billions of dollars in resources and support to builders to ensure these standards help homebuyers see lower energy bills, ensure their homes are more resilient to extreme heat and cold, and even see benefits to their health.”

In a separate statement, HUD officials wrote that the adoption of the 2021-IECC will yield “significant annual and lifetime cost savings to homeowners and renters, improves resident health and comfort, and increases the climate resilience of both single family and multifamily covered housing.”

According to a HUD fact sheet, the agency calculated an $80 per month energy bill savings for houses built under 2021-IECC versus the prior standards. Current IECC standards were drafted in 2009 and put into effect in 2015.

In their letter, more than a dozen House lawmakers led by Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., warned Biden the adoption of 2021-IECC standards would exacerbate the housing affordability crisis and price some households out of the market altogether.

Cline’s letter, co-signed by Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, Dan Meuser, R-Pa., and 15 other lawmakers, said 44 states thus far declined to adopt the 2021-IECC standards themselves because they understand the market ramifications.

BIDEN’S SCOTUS CRITIQUES LARGELY UNPRECEDENTED, EXPERTS SAY, CONTRASTING WITH CLINTON’S 2000 DEFERENCE

“In fact, HUD estimates that applying the 2021-IECC standards would cause new home prices to rise by an average of $7,200 per single-family home. Additionally, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) data shows that around 107 million households are already unable to afford the median price of a new home,” the lawmakers wrote.

“The adoption of this new standard will price an additional 724,525 households out of the market,” it went on. The letter also claimed the new standards will disproportionately hurt underserved communities and first-time homebuyers.

A spokesman for Meuser said although the 2021-IECC standards went into effect May 28, there is still time for Biden to pull back on any enforcement.

The spokesman cited the federal register, which stipulated compliance dates for FHA-insured single family new-construction 18 months after the May date, one year for multifamily projects and two years for projects in rural or “persistent poverty” areas.

In a statement, Cline said Biden-era regulations have already had a negative impact on the Shenandoah Valley, which he represents, adding the adoption of 2021-IECC will “only exacerbate the housing crisis.”

Another co-signer, Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., quipped, “first inflation, now this.”

Bean said Biden’s energy policies are “killing the American Dream of home ownership.”

Bean went on to cite data mirroring that from Kansas City, Mo.’s Home Builders Association that calculated an increase of more than $31,000 in the price of a home.

“It’s clear Biden stands with Wall Street billionaires and green radicals, not hardworking Americans,” Bean said.

Self said in a statement the new regulations will deliver only “minimal” energy-saving returns while burdening new homebuyers with higher prices.

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A spokesperson for NAHB pointed Fox News Digital to recent congressional testimony by Shawn Woods, a Missouri homebuilder who appeared on the organization’s behalf.

“Without adequate review or consideration of how it will affect home buyers or renters, HUD and USDA have rammed through a mandate that will require new, single-family construction financed through both agencies to be built to the 2021 IECC,” he said.

Woods also echoed lawmakers’ concerns about the potential inflationary effects on the housing affordability crisis during his prior testimony.

Meanwhile, Craig Toalson, CEO of the Home Builders Association of Virginia, praised Cline’s action, predicting mandatory adoption of the standards by HUD and USDA would bring little in the way of “meaningful” energy savings to homebuyers.

“[T]his ill-conceived codes policy will deter new construction at a time when increasing the housing supply is crucial to lowering shelter inflation costs,” Toalson said.

The present and former standards were drafted by the International Code Council, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. It formulates building safety codes and provides accreditations and technologies, according to its website.

White House officials defended President Biden’s health and denied he was ever treated for Parkinson’s disease, despite a meeting between an expert on the disease and the president’s physician earlier this year.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre fielded a barrage of questions when it came to the president’s health, particularly when it came to recent reports that a top neurologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center met with Biden’s physician at the White House in January.

Reports of the Jan. 17 meeting surfaced as the 81-year-old president faces increased scrutiny over his age and mental acuity in the wake of a poor debate performance on June 27 in Atlanta.

When asked about the physician’s meeting, Jean-Pierre said the White House has publicly shared that over the past three years, Biden has undergone a comprehensive exam, which included a meeting with a neurologist.

PARKINSON’S DISEASE SPECIALIST MET WITH PRESIDENT BIDEN PHYSICIAN IN WHITE HOUSE

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denied that President Biden is being treated for Parkinson’s disease. (Getty Images)

Jean-Pierre said the most recent report from February stated that an “extremely” detailed neurological exam was given, assuring there were no findings which would be consistent with any central neurological disorder, like stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s.

“Has the president been treated for Parkinson’s? No,” she told reporters after being pressed further on the matter. “Is he being treated for Parkinsons? No, he’s not. Is he taking medication for Parkinson’s? No. So, those are the things that I can give you full-blown answers on.”

Dr. Kevin Cannard, a Parkinson’s disease expert, met with Dr. Kevin O’Connor and two others at the White House residence clinic on Jan. 17, records first reported by the New York Post show. 

Dr. John E. Atwood, a cardiologist at Walter Reed, also attended the 5 p.m. meeting, according to White House visitor logs. The fourth person in attendance has not been identified. 

BIDEN REPEATEDLY DODGES QUESTIONS ABOUT WHETHER HE’D TAKE NEUROLOGICAL TEST: ‘NO ONE SAID I HAD TO’

A report from “The Atlantic” declared that President Biden “must resign” from office following his debate performance last week. (Getty Images)

The New York Times reported that Cannard visited the White House eight times in eight months over the last year. In its reporting, The Times said Cannard is a neurologist who published a paper on Parkinson’s recently.

White House logs show Cannard visited from July 2023 through March 2024, and anything more recent would not be released until later because of the White House’s voluntary disclosure policy.

The Times also reported that records dating back to when Biden was vice president under the Obama administration, that Cannard visited 10 times and took a family tour in 2012, four times in 2013, one time in 2014, four times in 2015 and eight times in 2016.

Early during the press briefing on Monday, Biden’s national security spokesperson John Kirby was asked if he had seen the president appear similar to the way he did during the debate.

PRESIDENT BIDEN FACES THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL WEEKEND OF HIS POLITICAL CAREER

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, May 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Kirby told the reporter the last thing he was going to do was talk about every meeting he has ever had with the president, adding that he is the president’s spokesperson.

“What I can tell you is, what I saw in that debate is not reflective of the man and the leader and the commander in chief that I have spent many, many hours with over the last two and a half years in terms of the specificity of the way he probes the questions he asks,” Kirby said. “Just this morning, he was asking me questions about the situation on the European continent that I couldn’t answer, and I told him I had to get back to him.”

As the meeting progressed, reporters continued to show frustration with White House officials for not being straight forward, even accusing the president’s communications team of answering questions then coming back and clearing up what they said previously.

BIDEN TAKES BLAME FOR ‘BAD NIGHT’ IN DEBATE AGAINST TRUMP: ‘MY FAULT, NO ONE ELSE’S FAULT’

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Still, after taking an onslaught of questions from reporters trying to get every single detail about the president’s health and whether he was still fit to serve as president, with some members of the press questioning her credibility, Jean Pierre expressed frustration.

Jean-Pierre told members of the press she takes offense to the demeanor of the reporters, as every day she and her team meet with them during a press briefing, and they do their best to provide the information they have at that time.

“That’s what we do, and we understand that freedom of the press. We respect the freedom of the press,” Jean-Pierre said. “To say that I’m holding information or allude to anything else is unfair, it is really, really unfair. I think people who are watching and have been watching this briefing for the past week, could say that we are doing our best in this briefing to provide the information that we have.

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“I will be the first one to admit, sometimes I get it wrong. At least I admit that,” she said. “And sometimes I don’t have the information. And I will always, always admit that. But I do take offense to what was just happening at the beginning of this briefing. It’s not OK.”

Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo and Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.

The Democratic Party is in the midst of coping with echoing calls for President Biden to bow out of the presidential race over concerns his mental acuity has slipped, and that he’s unable to serve as president for another four years if he wins re-election. 

As the party looks for potential replacements if Biden does in fact decide to conclude his political career, Vice President Kamala Harris sits atop the list of likely successors. Harris’ has a long history as a California liberal stalwart, serving as San Francisco’s district attorney in the early 2000s, before serving as the state’s attorney general under former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, and as U.S. senator from the Golden State before her 2020 election as vice president. 

If Harris does take up the party’s 2024’s presidential election mantle, it is unlikely Harris’ policies would drastically differ from Biden’s platforms, though she could swing harder to the left on issues such as immigration, abortion and foreign policy. A potential Harris administration is a murky topic, however, as she’s not shown a “core set of beliefs on anything,” according to Democratic strategist Julian Epstein. 

“[It’s] not clear what a Harris administration would look like as she has never exhibited a core set of beliefs on anything as far as I can see, and her pre-VP federal experience is relatively limited. For the most part, she has been, like many politicians, opportunist. She jailed lots of people for marijuana possession and then tweets about her support for legalization. She was a centrist prosecutor, then a social justice warrior,” Epstein told Fox News Digital. 

BIDEN VOWS TO KEEP WHITE HOUSE, UNDETERRED BY DEMOCRATIC PANIC AFTER DEBATE DISASTER

Vice President Kamala Harris gave a speech at the annual Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies Legislative Leadership summit. (C-Span)

Epstein said that he would expect a hypothetical Harris administration to be a continuation of the Biden administration, while adding that the “creep of the intersectional far left would continue” under such an administration, as Democrats need “a lot of spine, guile and moxie to stand up to the intersectional left,” which Harris has not exhibited on a regular basis. 

IMMIGRATION POLICIES 

Immigration woes have spiraled under the Biden administration to crisis levels, with a recent study finding there are 16.8 million illegal immigrants currently in the U.S. Out of that figure, more than 7 million people are not under supervision or detained, and more than 9 million are considered getaways or visa overstays, according to a study published by the National Immigration Center for Enforcement. The study found that less than 2% of illegal immigrants are in detention or enrolled in ICE’s Alternatives to Detention programs. 

HOW WOULD A PRESIDENT HARRIS HANDLE IMMIGRATION, BORDER CRISIS?

Migrants walk across the Rio Grande to surrender to US Border Patrol agents in El Paso, Texas, Dec. 13, 2022. (Photo by Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images)

“Immigration has been a flop for her and the Democrats. Upwards of 80% of the public disapproves of the Biden record on immigration and I still see no signs that the Democrats get this, or even if they do, have the gumption to stand up for what’s right here,” Epstein said, while noting that Harris has also flopped with voters when delivering “word salads and odd non-sequitur profundities.” 

Harris’ immigration policies, if she runs for president this year, would likely overwhelmingly follow that of Biden’s. Harris has also served as a point-person for the administration on immigration, with the media frequently dubbing her the “Border Czar” – a title the White House spurned – after she was tasked in 2021 with identifying the “root causes” of migration in the Northern Triangle countries. 

When she ran for president in 2020, however, she established a more liberal immigration platform than her eventual presidential running mate, placing emphasis on offering citizenship and protections to children arriving in the U.S. 

OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AREN’T UNDER FEDERAL SUPERVISION: ANALYSIS

“As president, Kamala will fight to pass immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million people living in our communities and contributing to our economy. While she wages that fight, she will immediately reinstate DACA and implement DAPA to protect DREAMers and their parents from deportation. She will also restore and expand Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants who would face war or catastrophe if forced to return home,” her 2020 campaign website stated. 

A group of over 100 migrants attempting to enter the US illegally rush a border wall Thursday, March 21, 2024. In the process the migrants knock down Texas National Guardsmen before they are halted  by the border wall. (James Breeden for New York Post / Mega)

She additionally called for the “overhaul” of “our immigration enforcement policies” arguing they were “cruel and out of control.” 

“As president, she’ll close private immigrant detention centers, increase oversight of agencies like Customs and Border Protection, and focus enforcement on increasing public safety, not on tearing apart immigrant families. For Kamala, this is about making America a place that welcomes immigrants searching for a better life,” her 2020 campaign states. 

Biden’s immigration platform during the 2020 election focused more on reversing Trump-era immigration policies in his first 100 days in office, which also included a line vowing to protect “Dreamers and their families.” 

“Immediately reverse the Trump Administration’s cruel and senseless policies that separate parents from their children at our border. End Trump’s detrimental asylum policies. End the mismanagement of the asylum system, which fuels violence and chaos at the border. Surge humanitarian resources to the border and foster public-private initiatives,” Biden’s 2020 campaign platform read in-part. 

ABORTION 

Harris has been lauded by progressives for her vow to protect abortion access, immediately lambasting the leaked Supreme Court decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade, and effectively ended recognition of a constitutional right to abortion. 

“How dare they?” Harris declared at speech for left-wing PAC focused on electing pro-choice Democrats, EMILYs List, in May of 2022, after the decision was leaked to Politico. 

“How dare they tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her own body?” Harris asked. “How dare they try to stop her from determining her own future? How dare they try to deny women their rights and their freedoms?”

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally on June 28, 2024, in Las Vegas.  (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Biden has also become a staunch supporter of abortion access, after shifting his stance when he served as a Delaware senator in the 1970s, when the Supreme Court issued its landmark Roe v. Wade decision protecting abortion rights. 

“When it comes to issues like abortion, amnesty, and acid, I’m about as liberal as your grandmother,” Biden declared in a June 1974 article. “I don’t like the Supreme Court decision on abortion. I think it went too far. I don’t think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body.”

Biden has since made a 180-degree turn on his abortion policies, vowing in his State of the Union address this year to “restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again.” 

Biden, however, came under scrutiny from abortion activists following his disastrous debate against former President Donald Trump, who said Biden’s nonsensical answer regarding whether he supports some restrictions on abortion “failed” the pro-choice movement. 

“Look, no one who cares about abortion access felt good about Biden’s comments or his performance last night,” Kellie Copeland, the director of Abortion Forward, an advocacy group in Ohio, said following the debate according the Associated Press. “We need better — we need a lot better.”

Biden is also notably a Catholic, putting him at odds with the Church’s condemnation of abortion as murder. 

Harris, meanwhile, has taken the lead for the Biden campaign advocating for abortion access, and became the first sitting president or vice president to visit an abortion provider in March. 

Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off her “Fight for Our Freedoms” tour through colleges across the United States.

“The reason I’m here is because this is a health care crisis,” Harris said when visiting the Planned Parenthood in Minnesota. “Part of this health care crisis is the clinics like this that have had to shut down and what that has meant to leave no options with any reasonable geographic area for so many women who need this essential care.”

BIDEN’S FORMER PRESS SECRETARY JEN PSAKI ADMITS ABC INTERVIEW WAS ‘JUST OKAY’

As Harris makes abortion access a central issue in her run for re-election as vice president, if Biden drops out of the race, Harris would likely be more aggressive on her abortion stance.

“Abortion is her sweet spot,” Epstein argued. “But that could go south if Dems” focus on “abortion on demand in third trimester territory.”

“My guess is she has the compass to steer clear of those minefields,” he noted. 

FOREIGN POLICY

Heading into the 2020 primary election, Biden and Harris did not differ on top foreign policy issues, such as returning to the Iran nuclear deal, strengthening NATO, and pledging support to Israel. Harris, notably, was green on foreign policy upon her election as vice president, mostly focusing her political career on domestic issues such as law enforcement policies, while Biden had years of foreign policy experience through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and later as vice president. 

The article noted how Vice President Harris would take Biden’s place as president if the 25th Amendment was invoked against him.  (Getty Images)

The pair would likely not differ greatly on foreign policy and relations if Harris were to take on the 2024 election as the Democratic nominee. However, Harris was credited by the media and White House sources this year as pushing the White House to be more sympathetic toward Palestine as war raged – and continues raging – in Israel and the Gaza Strip. 

The vice president reportedly urged Biden and the White House to be “tougher” on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Politico reported in December, citing anonymous sources familiar with the conversations. While Harris’ press secretary pushed back at the time that “there is no daylight between the president and the vice president, nor has there been.”

THE EYEBROW-RAISING MOMENTS FROM BIDEN’S ABC INTERVIEW: DOING THE ‘GOODEST’ JOB HE CAN

IDF forces are seen operating in Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip. (IDF Spokesman’s Office)

“People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane and our common humanity compels us to act,” Harris said during a speech in March, calling for an immediate ceasefire. The comments were viewed as the strongest rebuke of Israel from a senior leader in the U.S. government. 

Epstein said that the Democratic Party overall has a “two-fold” problem with foreign policy, including the “need to pander to any group claims it affiliates with an ‘oppressed’ group,” such as Hamas. 

“Their need to pander to any group [that] claims it affiliates with an ‘oppressed’ group like Hamas. even if all the empirical evidence shows they are in fact affiliating with the most vile, racist, ethnonationalist, Klan-like organization on the planet that promises genocide in its charter.  Rather than telling the country the hard truths – that Israel’s war is just and it has done more to protect civilians than any modern day army – it instead panders to the hard left that shows only a sorrowful moral confusion on the issue.  And that is the mindset that is hurting the Democratic party,” he said. 

He also noted that the Democrat Party’s platform of “appeasement” in foreign policy has compounded the issue. 

“The problem in foreign policy with the Democrats … [is] a wholly naive belief that appeasement works with terrorist states like Iran. [There’s a] breakdown of American deterrence on every continent right now, but Democrats, for all their talk about global order, don’t seem to understand that order requires sticks and not just carrots. Our military is grossly underfunded relative to the threats of China and others. The lifting of sanctions on Iran clearly backfired. Iran, China, Russia, and the lesser revisionist states, all see weakened deterrence as an invitation for mischief.   The old maxim attributed to Churchill – ‘you cannot negotiate with a tiger when your head is in its mouth’ – seems to be lost on Dems,” he said. 

REP. SCHIFF EXPRESSES DOUBTS AS TO WHETHER BIDEN CAN BEAT TRUMP: ‘DEBATE RIGHTFULLY RAISED QUESTIONS’

President Biden and former President Trump debated on Thursday night.  (Getty Images)

Democratic calls for Biden to drop out of the race have mounted since Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Trump on June 27, when he tripped over his words, spoke in subdued, raspy tenor and lost his train of thought at times. Conservatives have long been sounding the alarm that Biden’s mental acuity was on a downward spiral, citing repeated gaffes of the president during public events, with Democrats now joining those calls of concern over the president’s 81 years of age and mental fitness. 

CRITICISMS MOUNT THAT BIDEN IS A ‘SHADOW’ OF HIMSELF AFTER DISASTROUS DEBATE: ‘NOT THE SAME MAN’ FROM VP ERA

Biden has vowed to remain in the race, including during his first sit-down interview with media since his debate performance, where he argued the debate was simply a “bad episode” and that he’s determined to win reelection. The interview, which was conducted by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, was panned as failing to quell concerns over the president’s re-election viability. 

At one point in the interview, Stephanopoulos pressed Biden three times on whether he would take a cognitive test and release the results to the public. Biden dodged the questions. 

President Biden’s disastrous debate performance “changed people’s calculations about how candid they would be” about his cognitive issues, according to Olivia Nuzzi. ((Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) | (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) | Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images))

“Look, I have a cognitive test every single day,” Biden said. “Every day I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but I’m running the world. Sounds like hyperbole, but we are the central nation in the world.”

POLLSTER NATE SILVER URGES BIDEN TO RESIGN AFTER ‘INCOHERENT COMMENTS’ IN ABC INTERVIEW

President Biden raised eyebrows when he expressed uncertainty whether he had watched his debate performance in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.  (Screenshot/ABC)

On Monday, the president sent a letter to congressional Democrats calling on them to end their questions on whether he should end his re-election bid. 

“I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump.”

 “I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024,” he added. 

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At least ten congressional Democrats have called on Biden to drop out, while an additional eight elected Democrats have raised concerns over Biden’s mental fitness and age, including former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Legacy media outlets such as the New York Times and and Chicago Tribune were among the first to call on Biden to end his re-election effort.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. 

Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. 

What’s happening…

-Biden prepped on how to enter, exit, fundraising room

-GOP Rep opens discussion on replacing Biden via the 25th Amendment

-Trump sees approval rating top 50% in new poll

Friendly Fire

President Biden is urging congressional Democrats to stop questioning whether he should end his re-election bid and “move forward as a unified party” in order to defeat former President Trump in their 2024 election rematch.

And the president, in a letter sent to congressional Democrats on Monday as they return from the July 4th holiday recess, reiterated that he’s “firmly committed to staying in this race” and argued that any further questioning of his candidacy “only helps Trump and hurts us.”

Following his extremely rough debate performance a week and a half ago in his first face-to-face showdown with Trump, the president has been attempting to prove that he still has the stamina and acuity to handle the toughest and most demanding job in the world. And he’s trying to prove that he has the fortitude to defeat Trump ...Read more

President Joe Biden speaks during the reproductive freedom campaign rally at George Mason University in Manassas, Virginia, on Jan. 23, 2024. (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu via Getty Images)

White House

BIDEN ‘STAYING IN’: Biden tells congressional Democrats that calling for him to drop out ‘only helps Trump and hurts us’ …Read more

COURT DISORDER: Experts weigh in on precedence for Biden’s SCOTUS slam …Read more

Capitol Hill

FITNESS FOR OFFICE: GOP congressman plans discussion on 25th Amendment regarding Biden …Read more

BORDER BUST: House votes to defund Mayorkas’ salary in DHS spending bill …Read more

‘SELF-DESTRUCTIVE’: House Dems ‘weakening’ Biden with calls to step aside, lawmaker warns …Read more

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 19: Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker speaks during the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting at the Hilton Midtown on September 19, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by John Nacion/WireImage) (John Nacion/WireImage)

Tales from the Campaign Trail

WHAT WOULD HE DO?: Here’s how a President Pritzker may act on border crisis …Read more

STAYS OR GOES: How the printing of ballots could put Democrats on deadline to potentially replace Biden …Read more

TRUMP SURGING: Former pres sees approval rating top 50% in new poll, leading Biden on top 2 issues …Read more

STEP BY STEP: Biden staff prepped him on how to enter, exit fundraiser room: report …Read more

‘STEP ASIDE’: Hollywood megadonors pull support for Biden, offer warning if he remains nominee …Read more

Trials and Tribulations

TRIAL POSTPONED: Federal judge postpones Trump’s classified records trial …Read more

‘BIG WIN’: Trump touts Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling as a ‘big win for our Constitution and for democracy’ …Read more

Across America & Beyond

BALTIMORE BALLOTS: Baltimore ballot measure would offer new parents $1k under ‘baby bonus’ program …Read more

LAW AND DISORDER: Why one blue state county is axing leadership in its juvenile detention system …Read more

FRANCE DIVIDED: French parliament divided among far-left, center, far-right after elections …Read more

PARIS BURNS: Riots erupt after left-wing coalition posed to win stunning upset election …Read more

Subscribe now to get Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

Conservatives on social media blasted Vice President Harris over a video compilation of her defending President Biden’s mental sharpness during several interviews and events.

“WATCH: Over 6 minutes of Kamala Harris covering up Joe Biden’s cognitive decline,” conservative communicator Steve Guest posted on X along with a video that has received almost a million views.

“For years, she said Biden is ‘very bold and vibrant’ and is ‘tireless in terms of working,'” Guest continued. “Kamala claimed Biden ‘is gonna be fine,’ and said he ‘is in good shape, in good health. Kamala LIED.”

“No one has lied more to the American people about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline than Kamala Harris!” Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X in response to the video.

TRUMP TESTS OUT NEW NICKNAME FOR KAMALA HARRIS AMID SPECULATION SHE’LL REPLACE BIDEN

Calls have grown for President Biden to drop out of the presidential race to be replaced by VP Harris. (Getty Images)

“One of MANY reasons a Kamala switch wouldn’t be as simple as some Democrats think – she’s one of the main characters behind this cover-up,” Republican communicator Matt Whitlock posted on X.

“Joe lied. Kamala lied. Jill lied. KJP lied. Democrats lied. CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC lied. WaPo, NYT, LA Times, lied. Online pundits lied,” popular conservative account Fusilli Spock posted on X. “And, they’ll continue to lie, shamelessly, in the pursuit of power.”

KAMALA HARRIS SPENT MONTHS SHOOTING DOWN CONCERNS OVER BIDEN’S MENTAL COMPETENCY AHEAD OF THE DEBATE

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally on June 28, 2024, in Las Vegas.  (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

“Our president is in good shape, in good health, and is ready to lead in our second term,” Harris says in one of the clips from an interview in February 2024. In another clip from March 2024 she says, “I’m ready, if necessary, but it’s not gonna be necessary.”

The video comes as a growing list of pundits and Democrats in Congress have called for Biden to drop out of the presidential race following his widely panned debate performance in late June that failed to quell questions about his age and mental fitness. 

Many have suggested that Harris would be the ideal candidate to replace Biden if he does step down.

Donald Trump arrives to Trump Tower, Thursday, May 30, 2024 after being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

Biden has insisted he is staying in the race and sent a letter to Democrats in Congress on Monday saying he is “firmly committed to staying in this race” and argued that any further questioning of his candidacy “only helps Trump and hurts us.”

He also did a phone interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Monday, where he declared, “The bottom line here is that we’re not going anywhere. I am not going anywhere.”

“I wouldn’t be running if I didn’t absolutely believe that I am the best candidate to beat Donald Trump in 2024,” he added.

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“Joe has made it clear he is all in,” first lady Jill Biden told a crowd in North Carolina on Monday. 

“That’s the decision he’s made. And just as he has always supported my career, I am all in too.”

The White House and VP Harris’s office did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

A new poll has found that Americans are more divided over whether President Trump should face prison time compared to Hunter Biden following their respective convictions in criminal trials. 

The survey of 1,088 U.S. adults conducted by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research from June 20-24 revealed that 48% of adults believe Trump should head to prison after being found guilty in New York of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, while 50% said he should not. 

Of those polled, nearly 8 of every 10 Democrats believe Trump should be placed behind bars, compared to only around 1 of every 10 Republicans. About half, 49%, of independents say he should, and 46% say he should not. 

Trump’s sentencing has been delayed from Thursday, three days before the Republican National Convention opens, to September at the earliest – when early voting in multiple states will already be underway. 

NEW YORK V. TRUMP: MERCHAN DELAYS SENTENCING HEARING UNTIL SEPTEMBER 

Former President Trump participates in the first presidential debate at CNN Studios in Atlanta on June 27. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The poll also found that Americans are less divided over whether Hunter Biden should go to prison after being convicted of three felonies in federal court for lying about drug use when purchasing a gun. 

REPUBLICANS FURIOUS THAT HUNTER BIDEN REPORTEDLY IS SITTING IN ON WHITE HOUSE MEETINGS 

A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds Americans are about evenly split on whether former President Trump should face prison time for his recent felony conviction, compared to Hunter Biden. (AP)

Six in 10 U.S. adults approve of Hunter Biden’s conviction, with much smaller political differences: About 6 in 10 Democrats approve, as do around 7 in 10 Republicans, according to The Associated Press. 

Hunter Biden was found guilty on all counts by a Delaware jury. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

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About 6 in 10 U.S. adults also believe Hunter Biden should be sentenced to serve time in prison because of his conviction in this case, with Republicans slightly more likely than Democrats to agree that prison time is warranted. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Hollywood elites with previous support for President Biden are turning on the Democrat’s re-election efforts after a damaging debate performance triggered concerns over his mental competency.  

Biden’s physical and mental fitness were called into question after the first presidential debate in June, sparking calls from voters, Democratic members of Congress, and donors for the party to select a new nominee to take on former President Trump in November.

Netflix co-founder and megadonor Reed Hastings, who has given millions to Democratic candidates, including Biden, is one of the most recent staunch Hollywood donors to switch gears and call for Biden to drop out of the race.

“Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous,” Hastings told the New York Times in a statement.

MULTIPLE RANKING DEMOCRATS ON HOUSE COMMITTEES WANT BIDEN TO STEP ASIDE

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings speaks during Netflix Slate Event on Oct. 9, 2018, in Bogota, Colombia.

Star Trek screenwriter Damon Lindelof, a self-described “lifelong Democrat,” said Biden’s debate performance was “disappointing, upsetting, terrifying” before calling for the party to select a new nominee.

While he noted previous support for Biden, Lindelof suggested imposing “economic sanctions” on the Democratic Party until the president is replaced on the 2024 ticket.

“When they text you asking for cash, text back that you’re not giving them a penny, and you won’t change your mind until there’s change at the top of the ticket,” Lindelof wrote in a column for Deadline. “I propose a DEMbargo. No checks written. No ActBlue links clicked. For anyone.”

COMER REVEALS WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN WAS INVOLVED IN BIDEN FAMILY BUSINESS DEALS, DEMANDS HE TESTIFY

Lindelof has given hundreds of thousands to the party over the years, with public records showing donations to the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee and candidates such as Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Damon Lindelof attends Peacock’s “Mrs. Davis” Los Angeles premiere at DGA Theater Complex on April 13, 2023. (Unique Nicole)

Disney heiress and film producer Abigail Disney offered a warning to Democrats if Biden is not replaced as the nominee.

“I intend to stop any contributions to the party unless and until they replace Biden at the top of the ticket. This is realism, not disrespect. Biden is a good man and has served his country admirably, but the stakes are far too high,” she told CNBC after the debate. “If Biden does not step down, the Democrats will lose. Of that I am absolutely certain. The consequences for the loss will be genuinely dire.”

Actor and Democrat donor Rob Reiner also joined the chorus of voices on Sunday calling for Biden to withdraw from the race. 

“It’s time to stop f—ing around. If the Convicted Felon wins, we lose our Democracy. Joe Biden has effectively served US with honor, decency, and dignity,” Reiner wrote in a post on X. “It’s time for Joe Biden to step down.”

Rob Reiner attends the 24th Annual Beverly Hills Film Festival on May 3, 2024, in Hollywood, California. (Paul Archuleta)

Hollywood agent Ari Emaunel said he believes that Biden “is not the candidate anymore” and that donors are already moving their money away from his campaign.

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“Well, I’m p—ed off at the Founding Fathers. They had the start date of 35. They just didn’t give us the end date,” Hastings said at the Aspen Institute’s Ideas Festival. “I’ve talked to a bunch of big donors, and they’re moving all their money to Congress and the Senate. I mean, I can’t believe we’re in this situation.”

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban, who said he will still vote for Biden if he remains the Democratic nominee, revealed on X after the debate that he is “open to the discussion to replace Biden and/or Harris.”

Biden has doubled down on his intentions to stay in the race amid calls to suspend his re-election bid, recently telling a 4th of July crowd at the White House that he is “not going anywhere.”

President Biden is urging congressional Democrats to stop questioning whether he should end his re-election bid and “move forward as a unified party” in order to defeat former President Trump in their 2024 election rematch.

And the president, in a letter sent to congressional Democrats on Monday as they return from the July 4th holiday recess, reiterated that he’s “firmly committed to staying in this race” and argued that any further questioning of his candidacy “only helps Trump and hurts us.”

Following his extremely rough debate performance a week and a half ago in his first face-to-face showdown with Trump, the president has been attempting to prove that he still has the stamina and acuity to handle the toughest and most demanding job in the world. And he’s trying to prove that he has the fortitude to defeat Trump.

The debate was a major setback for Biden, who at 81 is the oldest president in the nation’s history. His halting delivery and stumbling answers at the showdown in Atlanta sparked widespread panic in the Democratic Party and a rising tide of public and private calls from within his own party for him to step aside as its 2024 standard-bearer.

SOME TOP HOUSE DEMOCRATS URGE BIDEN TO STEP ASIDE

President Biden and former President Trump debate on June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (Getty Images)

But Biden, in his letter, emphasized, “I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump.”

The president highlighted the “extensive conversations” he’s had in recent days with party leaders, rank-and-file members and Democratic voters, and that he’s “heard the concerns that people have.” 

“I’m not blind to them,” he stressed.

TRUMP GETS BOOST IN POST DEBATE POLLS AFTER BIDEN’S BOTCHED PERFORMANCE

But he spotlighted that “I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.”

He also highlighted his overwhelming victory over a couple of long-shot rivals in the race for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination. 

“Do we now just say this process didn’t matter? That the voters don’t have a say?”

“I decline to do that,” Biden added as he answered his own question.

President Biden speaks at a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

A handful of House Democrats have publicly called on Biden to end his re-election bid. And on Sunday, Fox News and other news organizations reported that four House Democrats who hold top positions on key committees said on a conference call with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., that the president needed to step aside.

Meanwhile, some Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, could meet as early as Tuesday to discuss the president’s political future.

But Biden, in his letter, argued that enough is enough.

TRUMP EYES EXPANDING THE MAP AMID BIDEN POST-DEBATE DEMOCRATIC TURMOIL

“The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it is time for it to end. We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump,” Biden said.

The president argued that “any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us,” Biden wrote. “It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.”

A handful of national polls conducted entirely after the debate and released last week contained plenty of red flags for the president – including Trump widening his single-digit edge over Biden and deepening concerns of Americans about whether Biden was up to the task of running the country.

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But a Bloomberg-Morning Consult poll released over the weekend indicated Biden gaining ground on Trump in some of the key battleground states that will likely determine the outcome of the presidential election.

Biden’s letter to congressional Democrats was sent in conjunction with a memo from his campaign spotlighting the poll, his increasingly busy campaign travel schedule, and a slew of supportive comments from various figures in the Democratic Party.

Separately, Biden has directly called some two dozen congressional Democrats, with more calls to come, a campaign source told Fox News.

Fox News’ Chad Pergram and Tyler Olson contributed to this report

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

President Biden’s staffers reportedly prepare him with meticulous details on how to enter and exit fundraiser event spaces. 

According to a copy obtained by Axios, Biden’s aides created a document that read in bold letters, “Walk to podium.” With the White House insignia, it included photos showing a clear pathway to the podium. 

Axios cited some Democrats who attended or helped set up events for Biden in recent months as wondering whether the meticulous attention to detail is more of a reflection of the 81-year-old president’s limitations. 

“I staffed a simple fundraiser at a private residence, but they treated it like it was a NATO summit with his movements,” one person, who reportedly staffed a Biden event in the past 18 months, told Axios. 

TRUMP APPROVAL RATING TOPS 50% AS HE LEADS BIDEN ON VOTERS’ TOP TWO ISSUES: POLL

Axios obtained a copy of a document used to prepare President Biden ahead of a recent fundraiser. (Obtained by Axios)

Axios obtained a copy of a five-page document template that the White House reportedly sends to staffers to prepare the president. 

The document reportedly also usually included a large picture of the event space on each page. The messages “View from podium,” and “View from audience” are written. 

President Joe Biden speaks at a church service at Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ, Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Philadelphia  (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

BIDEN NOTES ‘WORLD’S LOOKING TO AMERICA’ AS HE FACES SCRUTINY BEFORE HOSTING NATO SUMMIT

Biden’s disastrous debate performance against former President Trump in Atlanta has prompted serious concerns from within the Democratic Party about the president’s viability to run for a second term. The White House insists that these detailed instructions for the 81-year-old president are nothing out of the ordinary.

“High levels of detail and precision are critical to presidential advance work – regardless of who is president – and these are basic approaches that are used by any modern advance team, including the Vice President’s office and agencies,” White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary and Deputy Assistant to the President Andrew Bates said in a statement to Fox News Digital, reacting to the report. “And then-Vice President Biden’s team did the same, as did other principals, during the second term of the Obama-Biden Administration.”

“These documents are standard logistical briefing materials and photos for any principal including the Vice President,” Vice President Harris’ communications director Kirsten Allen added. 

President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wis., Friday, July 5, 2024.  (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

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A White House official who spoke to Axios said that the documents are a customary part of “advance teams work,” which can appear jarring to whomever is not familiar with seeing the intensive, detail-focused materials, “whoever the principal is.” The outlet also cited two former aides who worked with Biden during his vice presidency who argued, however, that his documents were different then and instead centered on site diagrams.

Former President Trump’s approval rating has surpassed 50%, as the presumptive Republican nominee leads President Biden on voters’ top two issues, according to a new poll. 

The poll by USA TODAY/Suffolk University was conducted on a sample of 1,000 registered voters between June 28 and 30, after Biden’s stalled and stumbling debate performance against Trump sent shock waves through the Democratic Party. It shows 51% of respondents said they approve of Trump’s job performance as president from 2017 to 2021, compared to 41% who said they approve of Biden’s current job performance.

Regarding two of the top issues of the 2024 campaign, the economy and immigration, more registered voters said they believed Trump would do a better job than Biden. 

The poll found 53% of registered voters trust Trump to handle immigration compared to 40% who said the same for Biden. 

BIDEN NOTES ‘WORLD’S LOOKING TO AMERICA’ AS HE FACES SCRUTINY BEFORE HOSTING NATO SUMMIT

Former President Donald Trump is leading President Biden 41% to 38%, according to a recent poll by USA TODAY/Suffolk University. (Getty Images)

Respondents also viewed Trump as more capable than Biden of handling national security, 52% to 42%, and on dealing with China, 51% to 41%. 

Biden scored higher than Trump on just two of the six key issues the poll asked about: race relations and healthcare. The poll found 51% of registered voters believed Biden is the better candidate to handle race relations, compared to 41% who said the same for Trump. On healthcare, Biden scored better than Trump, 50% to 40%.

President Biden speaks at a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wis., Friday, July 5, 2024.  (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

RUBIO POINTS OUT PROBLEM WITH POTENTIAL HARRIS-NEWSOM TICKET AS BIDEN REELS

Trump is leading Biden overall 41% to 38%, a three point jump for the Republican since USA TODAY’s previous poll in May, though that’s within the bounds of the poll’s 3.1% margin of error.

The poll found almost 60% of those who responded believe Trump can “who can get things done,” while just 44% said the same about Biden.

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Greenbrier Farms on June 28, 2024, in Chesapeake, Virginia.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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The economy/inflation is the most important issue for 35% of registered voters, the poll found. The second most important, at 21%, is threats to democracy. Immigration ranked third at 19%.

To avoid potential confusion on the general election ballot, Democrats are limited in the time they have left to decide whether to keep President Biden as the party’s nominee or replace him with a new candidate.

Every presidential cycle, both Republicans and Democrats officially choose a candidate to represent their party on the general election ballot based on who receives the most state delegate votes at their national party convention.  

With only one month left until the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in August, Democrats will have to decide whether Biden is their best bet at beating former President Donald Trump in November, or if concerns over his age and veracity outweigh his strength as a candidate.

However, even more concrete than naming Biden as the nominee is the printing of millions of ballots with his name on them.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY: COULD CAMPAIGN FINANCES KEEP BIDEN ON THE BALLOT?

President Joe Biden stands at his podium during the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections between himself and former president Donald Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Kevin D. Liles for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Once a candidate is named the party’s nominee at their affiliated convention, they are required to certify the selected candidates to each state’s Secretary of State or director of election.

Each state has its own specific time frame and process for certifying a party’s presidential and vice presidential candidate’s name on the ballot before printing them.

TRUMP CHALLENGES BIDEN TO SECOND PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE – BUT THERE’S A CATCH

Some states require a party’s candidates to be certified to the director of election no later than the beginning of September, while others allow the candidate to be submitted at a later date.

Signage is displayed during a walkthrough of the Democratic National Convention on May 22, 2024, at the United Center. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

In the event that a candidate cannot continue in the race after being chosen as a nominee, it would be up to the national party to choose a replacement. However, difficulties could arise in the instance that a new nominee was chosen after states already began printing ballots with the previous candidate’s name on them.

Given that some states will begin certifying the names to appear on the 2024 ballots by early September, Democrats will likely need to make a decision on whether Biden is their nominee before this date in order to avoid any potential confusion on the ballot.

According to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), there is variation among states regarding the dates they dispatch ballots to voters. 

Arkansas, Delaware, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin mail ballots to voters more than 45 days before the election.

Chester County, Pa., election workers process mail-in and absentee ballots at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania, November 4, 2020.  (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Wyoming are 45 days prior to the scheduled election day.

Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, South Carolina and Vermont send out ballots 30 to 45 days before the election.

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And Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Utah and Washington allow voters the least amount of time, giving them 30 days before the election.

With ongoing speculation about whether President Biden will remain the Democratic 2024 presidential nominee after a disastrous debate performance last week, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is one of the names being raised as a replacement.

But the ongoing crisis at the southern border remains a top issue for voters across the country, and there are signs of the extent to which Pritzker might take a different approach to the crisis than the current administration.

Illinois has been one of the states hit by the knock-on effects of the immigration crisis, where migrants have moved through the southern border into cities like Chicago by the tens of thousands. 

HOW WOULD A PRESIDENT WHITMER HANDLE IMMIGRATION, BORDER CRISIS? 

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker speaks during the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting at the Hilton Midtown on September 19, 2023, in New York City. (John Nacion/WireImage)

While Pritzker has been broadly supportive of most of President Biden’s efforts at the southern border, he has also been one of a number of Democrats who have been critical of the federal government’s handling of the crisis.

In October, Pritzker sent a letter to Biden stressing that he believes in the right “of every human, especially those facing persecution, to find refuge and live with dignity in this great country of ours.” However, he warned that the crisis is “overwhelming” the states and criticized the federal government.

“Unfortunately, the welcome and aid Illinois has been providing to these asylum seekers has not been matched with support by the federal government. Most critically, the federal government’s lack of intervention and coordination at the border has created an untenable situation for Illinois,” he said.

“There is much more that can and must be done on a federal level to address a national humanitarian crisis that is currently being shouldered by state and local governments without support,” he said.

Specifically, he requested a number of actions, such as the waiving of fees for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and “significant” increases in logistical coordination, including the federal government taking over coordination of routing buses of migrants across the country.

DO THESE POTENTIAL BIDEN REPLACEMENTS HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BEAT TRUMP?

Migrants are processed by the U.S. Border Patrol near the Jacumba Hot Springs after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on June 13, 2024, near San Diego, California.  (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)

Pritzker also called for a “federal coordinator and task force” to be based at the border and solely to be dedicated to migrant resettlement. In addition, he called (as Biden’s administration has done) for more funding to states, local governments and non-governmental organizations and the expediting of work permits.

He also called on Biden to approve requests from Illinois to allow waivers for Medicaid and housing vouchers for migrants.

In January, he, along with a number of other governors, wrote to Biden calling again for more federal action while backing the administration’s supplemental funding request to Congress. It also backed claims by the administration that the immigration system is broken and in need of reform.

“Without serious reform informed by evidence-based solutions, the challenges facing states and localities will only grow,” the letter said.

Pritzker was also supportive of the Biden administration’s move last year to redesignate Venezuela for TPS, meaning that hundreds of thousands more were protected from deportation and given work permits.

ILLINOIS GOVERNOR SAYS DEMOCRATIC VOTERS ARE ‘THROWING AWAY’ THEIR VOTES BY SUPPORTING ANYONE BUT BIDEN

“Reducing wait times for employment approvals and expanding protection status for those coming from Venezuela will get people working and on a path to building a better future for themselves and their families,” he said.

Meanwhile, at home, Pritzker has kept that focus on funding by approving significant amounts of funding to help the state deal with the number of migrants it is seeing.

As he was pushing Biden for more funding last year, he also announced that the state was investing $160 million to address the crisis, including money for shelter and wraparound services.

This year, Pritzker announced another $160 million for assistance, while taking another shot at inaction from Congress.

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“With thousands of asylum seekers continuing to come to Chicago in desperate need of support and with Congress continuing to refuse to act—it is clear the state, county and city will have to do more to keep people safe,” he said.

Get the latest updates on the ongoing border crisis from the Fox News Digital immigration hub.

After the Supreme Court ruled presidents enjoy broad immunity in official acts, President Biden gave a speech lambasting the high court in a manner many observers considered unprecedented.

On Monday, Biden declared “I dissent” during an evening address responding to the court’s 6-3 decision favoring Trump and pro-immunity arguments.

“This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America; each of us is equal before the law,” Biden said, calling the decision a “dangerous precedent, because the power of the office will no longer be constrained by the law…”

In its ruling, the court narrowed Trump’s potential culpability, saying presidents have immunity from prosecution over official acts within their “sphere of constitutional authority.”

STATE DEM LEADERS RALLY BEHIND BIDEN AFTER DEBATE

An analysis of presidential responses to Supreme Court decisions revealed a handful of prior examples, while experts Fox News Digital spoke with suggested Biden’s tack, however, is indeed unprecedented.

Mark Paoletta, who worked with Justice Clarence Thomas during his 1991 confirmation, called Biden’s attacks on the Supreme Court “dangerous.”

“Obama criticized a single case in his State of Union, which is bad enough, but Biden does a nationwide primetime address to trash the court on immunity… though he did not have the courage or perhaps the mental acuity to take any questions,” Paoletta said.

He added the president’s attacks on specific justices, including Thomas — regarding undisclosed trips — are similarly unprecedented.

“The last time Biden attacked Thomas, it did not go well for him,” he said. “After Biden tried to destroy Thomas during his 1991 confirmation hearing, Thomas delivered one of the most epic takedowns in history, calling the attacks led by Biden a ‘high-tech lynching.'”

Kyle Brosnan, chief counsel for the Heritage Foundation’s government accountability-focused Oversight Project, said President Biden’s behavior toward the court is unprecedented insofar as it is part of an overall recent ideological trend.

ECONOMY, BORDER, ABORTION DIVIDE BIDEN’S HOMETOWN AS RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT

“I see President Biden’s statements as another datapoint in a years-long crusade by the left to delegitimize the Supreme Court because they don’t like their rulings,” he said.

“[The Trump immunity decision] is a win for the office of the presidency and President Biden should be celebrating that he’s likely insulated from facing potential charges for weaponizing the Justice Department to go after his political enemies.”

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said last week that Biden “put a political target on the back of the Supreme Court” with his rebuke: “The greatest threat to American democracy today has just become Joe Biden.”

While appearing on Fox News Radio, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley discussed the president’s rebuttal, adding how he previously wrote that Biden is the most anti-free-speech executive since former President John Adams.

“The idea that [Biden] is really the symbol of constitutional fealty is really alarming,” Turley said.

Previously, during the State of the Union, Biden said Roe v. Wade “got it right” and derided Republicans seated before him in asking, “My God, what freedom else would you take away?”

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Clarence Thomas shakes hands with then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., right, prior to a confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate Caucus Room in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 10, 1991. (Arnie Sachs/CNP/Getty)

After the court handed down the Dobbs ruling, Biden publicly declared it part of a “deliberate effort over decades to upset the balance of our law” and a “tragic error” by the court.

He claimed the high court, for the first time in history, had taken away a constitutional right. 

After Biden took aim at Dobbs during a NATO event overseas, critics like Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., called it “unthinkable” for a president to attack another branch of the U.S. government on the world stage.

In 2010, after the Supreme Court sided with conservative advocacy group Citizens United in a case critics said opened the floodgates of corporate political spending, then-President Obama appeared equally incensed.

“With all due deference to the separation of powers, the court last week reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests — including foreign corporations — to spend without limit in our elections,” Obama said during that year’s State of the Union.

In a rare but muted instance of criticism flowing in the reverse, Justice Samuel Alito was seen mouthing “not true” while Obama uttered the sentiment.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told CNN at the time that Obama’s behavior was “a little over the top.”

In 1974, while embroiled in the Watergate scandal, President Nixon invoked the landmark New York Times v. Sullivan decision, which ruled public officials face restrictions in suing news outlets for defamation.

In his White House address, Nixon called out a “constitutional problem,” claiming some attorneys interpreted the case to be a “license to lie” about politicians or their family.

“This is wrong. It is necessary that a change be made so that a candidate who runs for public office knows that he has recourse in case of such an attack which is totally untrue and would otherwise give him a right to sue for libel,” Nixon said, warning the situation dissuaded good men from running for office.

Presidents Bush and Clinton, and outgoing Vice President Al Gore (TIM CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

Outside of Biden, Obama and Nixon, presidents have largely appeared magnanimous while accepting a political defeat brought about by a Supreme Court decision.

The most iconic example is that of former President Clinton, who, while on a trip to North Aylesbury in England, appeared to graciously accept the fact his vice president, Al Gore, would not defeat then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in the 2000 election.

A divided nation, replete with “hanging chads” and the so-called “Brooks Brothers Riot,” could be brought together by the deference shown by the candidates following Bush v. Gore, Clinton said.

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled Florida’s recount should be halted, reversing the Florida Supreme Court’s prior order.

“[T]he essential unity of our nation was reflected in the words and values of those who fought this great contest. I was proud of both [candidates],” Clinton said, pledging support during Bush’s transition.

Gallup polling from December 2000 showed Clinton ultimately gained six points in his approval rating.

The White House declined comment on the overall characterization.

Fox News’ Ryan Rugani contributed to this report.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, plans to bring up options under the 25th Amendment in terms of President Biden’s fitness during a meeting with House Republicans on Tuesday.

Roy told Fox News he believes Republicans need to have a position on where they stand regarding Biden’s competence.

Section 4 of the 25th Amendment provides a series of steps for removing a president from office if he or she becomes incapacitated.

But a resolution on the 25th Amendment cannot just be presented to the House floor immediately.

CRITICS PILE ON BIDEN FOLLOWING ABC INTERVIEW, BLAST HIS REFUSAL TO COMMIT TO COGNITIVE TEST: ‘DISQUALIFYING’

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, plans discuss the 25th amendment.  (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The bill would not be “privileged” and go straight to the front of the legislative line because it deals with the executive branch and not Congress.

Impeachment, on the other hand, could be considered “privileged” because those powers are enumerated in the Constitution as being under the purview of Congress.

PRESIDENT BIDEN FACES THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL WEEKEND OF HIS POLITICAL CAREER

Democratic Party donors in Hollywood are reportedly saying that they will stop donating to the party if Biden isn’t replaced as a presidential candidate. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Any resolution on the 25th Amendment would need to go through committee first, a senior House Republican leadership source told Fox.

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Roy’s plan comes a week-and-a-half after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., spoke about the cabinet weighing in on the 25th Amendment regarding Biden.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s new liberal majority reversed a ruling that banned most ballot drop boxes, opening the door for election officials to reinstate their use in the swing state before November.  

In July 2022, the state Supreme Court, then under a conservative majority, held that absentee ballot drop boxes, which were used widely during the 2020 election, were not authorized under state statute and, therefore, the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) guidance encouraging their use was unlawful. 

That case, known as Teigen v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, centered on a state statute that requires an absentee ballot be returned “to the municipal clerk” by one of two ways: by the elector mailing in the envelope or by the elector delivering the ballot in person to the municipal clerk. It upheld that state statute does not allow offsite, unattended drop boxes, and drop boxes could only be placed in local election clerks’ offices and no one other than the voter could return a ballot in person. 

In a 4-3 ruling on Friday, the state’s high court reversed course. 

ARIZONA ELECTION WORKER CHARGED IN SECURITY-RELATED THEFTS SEEN WITH DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS IN RESURFACED PHOTOS

Poll workers sort out early and absentee ballots at the Kenosha Municipal Building on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

Writing for the majority, Justice Anna Walsh Bradley, one of the court’s four liberal justices, argued that the state statute does not make a distinction between whether ballots can be delivered to inanimate objects, such as drop boxes, whose locations are determined by municipal clerks, or to the municipal clerks themselves.  

“Given this, the question then becomes whether delivery to a drop box constitutes delivery ‘to the municipal clerk’ within the meaning of Wis. Stat. § 6.87(4)(b)1,” the majority wrote. “We conclude that it does. A drop box is set up, maintained, secured, and emptied by the municipal clerk. This is the case even if the drop box is in a location other than the municipal clerk’s office. As analyzed, the statute does not specify a location to which a ballot must be returned and requires only that the ballot be delivered to a location the municipal clerk, within his or her discretion, designates.” 

All three conservative justices dissented Friday, accusing the majority of politically motivated “activism.” 

“Intense partisan politics saturate our nation, exacerbated by a lack of institutional trust,” Justice Rebecca Bradley, who wrote for the minority, said. “The legitimacy of elections continues to be questioned, each side accusing the other of ‘election interference’ and ‘threatening democracy’ or even the very foundation of our constitutional republic. The majority’s decision in this case will only fuel the fires of suspicion.”    

“Whatever can be said of the majority’s decision, it ‘is not the product of neutral, principled judging,’” the dissenters said. “Although the majority attempts to package its disagreements with Teigen as legal, the truth is obvious: The majority disagrees with the decision as a matter of policy and politics, not law.”

Residents drop mail-in ballots in an official ballot box outside the Tippecanoe branch library on Oct. 20, 2020, in Milwaukee. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“The members of the majority believe using drop boxes is good policy, and one they hope will aid their preferred political party,” the minority continued. “Teigen upheld the historical meaning of Wis. Stat. § 6.87(4)(b)1., which bars the use of offsite, unmanned drop boxes. The majority in this case overrules Teigen not because it is legally erroneous, but because the majority finds it politically inconvenient. The majority’s activism marks another triumph of political power over legal principle in this court.” 

ELECTION OFFICIALS IN ALL 50 STATES URGED TO SEEK INFO FROM BIDEN ADMIN TO PREVENT NONCITIZENS FROM VOTING

In April 2023, Democratic-backed candidate Janet Protaswiecz’s victory flipped the Wisconsin state Supreme Court to liberal control under a 4-3 majority. Seeing an opening, Priorities USA, a progressive voter mobilization group, asked the court in February to revisit the July 2022 decision. The justices announced in March they would review the ban on drop boxes but would not consider any other parts of the case. 

The move drew the ire of the court’s conservatives, who accused the liberals of trying to give Democrats an advantage this fall. Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers in April urged the court to again allow drop boxes. Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature also intervened in the case, arguing that the justices should leave the 2022 ruling alone.

Wisconsin again figures to be a crucial swing state after President Biden barely won it in 2020 and Donald Trump narrowly took it in 2016.

An election worker drops a completed ballot into a ballot box inside City Hall on the first day of in-person early voting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Oct. 20, 2020. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump and Republicans have alleged that drop boxes facilitated cheating. Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Whatley weighed in on Friday’s ruling, arguing in a statement that the “new liberal majority on the Supreme Court overturned this recent precedent and opened the floodgates for drop boxes across the state just months before the presidential election.” 

“The Court did this after unnecessarily fast-tracking the case to issue this decision before the election,” Whatley said. “Make no mistake: this partisan decision handed down by a partisan Court gives Democrats a green light to dismantle election security safeguards and invite election fraud. The RNC’s unprecedented election integrity operation will continue fighting to ensure drop box safeguards are adopted and implemented.” 

Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell, who administers elections in Wisconsin’s most Democratic county, argued drop boxes make the election process more convenient and easier for rural and disabled voters and help reduce the number of ballots that arrive after Election Day too late to be counted.

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“Secure drop boxes provide a convenient alternative to mailing absentee ballots or returning them in person to an elections clerk,” McDonell said in a statement. “Drop boxes are a common sense tool that Dane County utilized safely and securely for many years prior to the 2022 ban.”

“Having drop boxes in place for the 2024 elections in August and November will encourage civic participation in our democracy,” he added. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Democrats met behind closed doors Sunday as pressure mounted on President Biden to drop out of the race.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., held a virtual meeting with ranking Democrats on House panels Sunday afternoon.

Fox News learned that multiple Democrats on House committees expressed concerns about the viability of Biden continuing to run for re-election against former President Trump.

Fox is told the consensus among most Democrats on the call who suggested Biden should abandon the race was that the party should focus on Vice President Kamala Harris as a potential successor.

FORMER OBAMA ADVISER LAMENTS BIDEN’S ABC INTERVIEW: ‘DENIAL. DELUSION. DEFIANCE.’

President Biden has faced increasing pressure to step aside in the 2024 race. (Getty Images)

Which Democrats called for Biden to bow out, or what their level of apprehension about the current president continuing his run for a second term remains unclear.

The meeting was proposed after Biden’s 22-minute interview with ABC News on Friday, which the Biden campaign hoped would ease fears that the president doesn’t have what it takes to continue the campaign and defeat former President Donald Trump.

Instead, the interview set off a new round of fears among Democrats who were already concerned by Biden’s disastrous debate performance.

BIDEN PANNED FOR NOT BEING CERTAIN ABOUT WHETHER HE WATCHED THE DEBATE: ‘HE DOESN’T KNOW???’

House Minority Speaker Hakeem Jeffries called a virtual meeting with ranking Democratic House Committee members to discuss President Biden.  (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Look, Biden looked better and certainly more coherent than he looked during the debate, but there’s nothing in this interview that is calming the nerves of jittery Democrats who fear that Joe Biden is on a trajectory to lose this race, to lose to Donald Trump,” ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl said after the interview.

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Biden, however, struck a defiant tone, saying at one point that he would not drop out unless “the Lord Almighty were to come down and say, ‘Joe, get outta the race.'”

Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.

House Democrats launched a united effort to vote against a Republican-backed election bill that would require voters provide proof of citizenship to cast ballots in federal elections. 

Republicans are pushing the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, otherwise known as the SAVE Act, which would amend the National Voter Registration Act, and require states to obtain proof of citizenship from voters for federal elections, as well as purge noncitizens from voter rolls. 

Democratic leadership is urging its House members to vote against the bill in the lead-up to the vote, saying it would place “an extreme burden [on] countless Americans” in order to vote. 

“As we’ve seen a number of times this Congress, House Republicans continue to irresponsibly call into question the credibility of our elections. Despite numerous recounts, challenges in court, and deep-dives by conservative think-tanks, there has been zero evidence of the widespread fraud that this bill purports to target. It is already illegal under current law for noncitizens to register to vote or to vote in federal elections,” the office of House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., wrote in a “whip question,” Axios first reported. The whip vote rounds up this coming weeks’ votes and outlines guidance regarding how Democratic House members should vote. 

‘TRAITORS’: MUSK CALLS FOR ULTIMATE PENALTY FOR THOSE OPPOSED TO REQUIRING VOTERS TO PROVE CITIZENSHIP

Rep. Katherine Clark speaks at the Mother’s Day press conference calling for action on health care and reproductive rights on May 8, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for MomsRising)

“Democrats are urged to VOTE NO on H.R. 8281,” the whip question states. 

Republican House leadership, meanwhile, is urging the bill’s passage, with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., posting on X that “the SAVE Act will safeguard our elections by ensuring only American citizens vote in federal elections.”

He detailed in the X thread that, if passed, the law would: require “state election officials to ask about citizenship before providing voter registration forms”; require “an individual to provide proof of citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections”; allow “state officials to accept a wide variety of documents that will make it easy for CITIZENS to register to vote in federal elections”; provide “states with access to federal agency databases so they can remove noncitizens from voter rolls and confirm citizenship for individuals lacking proof of citizenship,” among other directives. 

Under the legislation, voters would be required to provide proof of citizenship via IDs and documentation such as a passport, a government-issued photo ID showing proof the individual was born in the U.S., military IDs, or a valid photo ID as well as documentation showing proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, the legislation states. 

WE NEED TO SAVE OUR ELECTIONS FROM ABUSE AND HERE’S HOW

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks at a news briefing at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee on June 26, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy introduced the legislation in May, with Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introducing the Senate’s companion bill, and received widespread support from Republican lawmakers who said it would secure elections. Johnson notably unveiled the bill earlier this year alongside former President Trump in a high-profile press conference at Mar-a-Lago. 

“Secure elections are a key cornerstone for any representative government; without them, we won’t have a country. Radical progressive Democrats know this and are using open border policies while also attacking election integrity laws to fundamentally remake America. That’s why I am proud to introduce the SAVE Act with Speaker Johnson and my Republican colleagues, along with the invaluable support of citizens and organizations that recognize we must end the practice of non-citizens voting in our elections,” Roy said on May 8. 

MAJORITY OF HOUSE DEMS VOTE TO ALLOW NONCITIZEN VOTING IN DC

Rep. Chip Roy speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 29, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Johnson circulated a 22-page report late last month urging House members to pass the legislation, contending there is “irrefutable evidence that noncitizens have been illegally registering to vote and have illegally voted in U.S. elections.”

“While falsely claiming the 2016 election was ‘stolen’ due to ‘foreign election interference,’ Democrats ignore the real threat of foreign election interference posed when noncitizens are allowed to register and vote in U.S. elections,” Johnson wrote in the report. “Lax voter registration laws make it possible for noncitizens to register and vote in federal elections while campaign finance loopholes allow noncitizens to fund U.S. election activities – both of which can affect the outcome of our elections.”

HOUSE LEADERS AIM FOR VOTE ON TRUMP-BACKED ELECTIONS BILL NEXT MONTH

Johnson’s X thread championing the legislation last week received support from fellow Republicans, as well as critics of the Democratic Party. Tech billionaire Elon Musk notably sounded off that lawmakers who vote against the bill are “traitors” to the U.S. 

“Those who oppose this are traitors. All Caps: TRAITORS What is the penalty for traitors again?” Elon Musk posted in response to Johnson’s post. 

The Constitution calls on traitors guilty of treason to be sentenced to death or be imprisoned for no less than five years. They are also to be fined no less than $10,000 and be barred from ever holding office in the U.S.

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The bill comes as the immigration crisis continues mounting under the Biden administration, with at least 1.6 million migrants designated as “gotaways” alone between Fiscal Year 2021 to Fiscal Year 2023, Fox previously reported. Gotaways are individuals who evade Border Patrol agents. 

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX – House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is demanding that the White House physician appear before Congress to answer questions on President Biden’s “declining mental state,” while also revealing that the doctor has been involved in the Biden family’s business dealings. 

Fox News Digital obtained the letter Comer, R-Ky., sent to Dr. Kevin O’Connor on Sunday. Comer is seeking to question O’Connor, given his “connections” with the Biden family, on whether he is “in a position to provide accurate and independent reviews of the President’s fitness to serve.”

Comer wants to know whether O’Connor’s medical assessments of the president have been improperly influenced by his work with the Biden family with the company Americore. 

COMER DEMANDS WHITE HOUSE PROVIDE RECORDS TO PROVE $200K PAYMENT TO BIDEN FROM BROTHER WAS A LOAN

“After a concerning debate performance by President Biden against former President Donald Trump on June 27, journalists have rushed to report on what Americans have seen plainly for years: the President appears unwell,” Comer wrote. 

President Biden speaks at a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Comer said that because Americans have been questioning Biden’s “ability to lead the country,” his committee has been investigating circumstances surrounding O’Connor’s February assessment of the president. 

Comer noted that O’Connor determined in February that the president “is a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old-male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.” 

Comer, though, pointed to reports that O’Connor did not recommend that Biden take a cognitive test. 

TOP DEMS PLANNING MEETING ABOUT BIDEN’S FUTURE DESPITE PRESIDENT’S VOWS TO CONTINUE CAMPAIGN

“The Oversight Committee is concerned your medical assessments have been influenced by your private business endeavors with the Biden family,” Comer wrote. 

Comer said the committee has obtained evidence that shows he was involved with Americore Health, LLC, along with the president’s brother, James Biden. 

President Biden speaks with White House physician Kevin O’Connor as he arrives back at the White House on Aug. 28, 2023. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Americore, a company which operates rural hospitals, has been investigated by the committee as part of its impeachment inquiry against the president – specifically related to James Biden’s work, which brought him more than $600,000. 

The committee says James Biden, while serving as a principal at Americore, received payments for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The committee found that James Biden received a $200,000 wire in 2018 from the company that he then used to write a $200,000 check to his brother, President Biden, which he labeled as a “loan repayment.” 

JAMES BIDEN GIVEN LOAN, DIDN’T PROVIDE SERVICES TO AMERICORE DESPITE PROMISES TO USE LAST NAME, TRUSTEE SAYS

James Biden, according to testimony from other Americore employees, did not provide any services to the company, but instead, promised that his “Biden” name could bring funding to the struggling hospital operator from the Middle East. 

That employee, Carol Fox, a Chapter 11 trustee for Americore, testified that the loan was provided to Biden with no documentation in return for the promise of funding from the Middle East that never came. She filed a lawsuit against James Biden, saying he made “representations that his last name, ‘Biden,’ could ‘open doors’ and that he could obtain a large investment from the Middle East based on his political connections.” 

But during James Biden’s interview with the committee earlier this year, he told investigators that O’Connor “provided him counsel in connection with the alleged work he was performing for Americore.” 

James Biden arrives to federal court during Hunter Biden’s trial, June 11, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

“I met with, for example – my brother wasn’t in office at the time. He was a private citizen. And I had gotten through his – as vice president, his personal physician was Colonel Kevin O’Connor,” James Biden testified. “And Kevin O’Connor – there was a very – and still there is an outcry for a solution for post-traumatic stress disorder.” 

James Biden said O’Connor “introduced me to a team” that worked with PTSD and alcoholism amid a “backlog” at the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

COMER RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT $200K ‘DIRECT PAYMENT’ FROM JAMES BIDEN TO JOE BIDEN IN 2018

Comer, in the letter, also notes that O’Connor, along with Hunter Biden, “joined a meeting with Jim Biden and the president of a hospital being acquired by Americore.” 

Hunter Biden was found guilty on all counts by a Delaware jury. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Meanwhile, the White House maintains that Biden has not been examined by a doctor since February. But during a call with Democratic governors last week, the president himself told governors “he was checked out by a doctor and that everything was fine.” 

President Biden speaks at a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

“The statements by the White House Press Secretary and President Biden appear inconsistent, and the Committee seeks to understand the extent of your role at the White House at this time,” Comer wrote. “Given your connections with the Biden family, the Committee also seeks to understand if you are in a position to provide accurate and independent reviews of the President’s fitness to serve.” 

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Comer requested that O’Connor make himself available for a transcribed interview with counsel for the House Oversight Committee by July 14. He is also demanding all documents and communications that O’Connor has regarding Americore and James Biden. 

The request for O’Connor’s cooperation with Congress comes amid calls for Biden to suspend his re-election campaign – even from top Democrats, former staffers and allies. 

But the White House maintains that President Biden is “absolutely not” considering dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.

“I am running. I am the leader of the Democratic Party. No one is pushing me out,” Biden said last week. 

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., pointed to a problem with a potential Kamala Harris-Gavin Newsom ticket on Sunday as President Biden reels from calls to drop out of the race.

Rubio, who is reportedly among the top contenders being considered as former President Trump’s vice presidential pick, was confronted during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on whether he’d move out of Florida or resign his U.S. Senate seat if he does become the running mate. 

CNN host Dana Bash pointed to how the U.S. Constitution says presidential electors cannot vote for a president and a vice president who are both from the same state. Rubio and Trump are both residents of Florida. 

“That’s presumptuous … I have no idea who he’s going to pick,” Rubio said. “But I think it’s comforting for Americans to know that when Kamala Harris becomes their nominee, she can’t pick [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom because I don’t think we can afford, as a country, to have two Californians with their crazy policies become the law of the land.”

NEWSOM STUMPS FOR BIDEN IN PENNSYLVANIA, DEFLECTS ON IF ‘OPEN CONVENTION’ WOULD TEMPT HIM: ‘LEGIT QUESTION’

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is seen in the spin room after the presidential debate between President Biden and former President Trump on June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Rubio said he will be working with the Trump campaign “in some capacity” over the next three or fourth months until Election Day, and he will be working in the Senate as well.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a stop at the Van Buren County Democratic Party Fourth of July reception in South Haven, Michigan, on July 4, 2024. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)

“Either way, all I care about at this point, and what I care about the most, is we can’t afford another four years like the last four, and I’m willing to help in any way I can. But as far as making an announcement, that’s up to him and their campaign, and I don’t have one for you this morning, that’s for sure,” Rubio said.

HARRIS’ RECORD AS PROSECUTOR COULD COMPLICATE EFFORT TO REPLACE BIDEN AS DEM NOMINEE

Newsom, a top Biden campaign surrogate, has been campaigning on behalf of the president in the battleground states of Michigan and Pennsylvania in recent days.

Vice President Harris speaks during the 30th annual Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans on July 6, 2024. (Matthew Perschall/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

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Newsom has repeatedly deflected questions about whether he’d run for president if Biden bows out of the race and allows for an open convention when Democrat delegates convene in Chicago next month.