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The owners of a multigenerational cattle ranch say they are facing an “existential threat” after the Washington State Department of Ecology fined them hundreds of thousands of dollars over their stockwater ponds, and they are warning the case could have substantial implications nationwide.

The department fined Wade and Teresa King, owners of King Ranch in Grant and Douglas counties, $267,540 in 2023 for allegedly damaging regulated wetlands by digging ponds to provide water for their ranching operations. The Kings argue the areas, which they were ordered to restore, are longstanding stockwater ponds for their livestock, not regulated wetlands.

The Kings, who have been trying to get their case in front of a jury, told Fox News Digital that, not only is their financial stability at stake, so are the rights of other ranchers.

“Losing this fight would be an existential threat,” Wade said. “I don’t know how we would recover from that, to be honest with you.”

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When the Kings were first hit with the fines and restoration orders, they immediately set out to challenge them. However, the department’s required process directed them to bring their case before the Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB), an administrative panel that does not provide jury trials.

In March, the Kings filed a separate lawsuit in Grant County Superior Court, arguing the case should not be decided by the PCHB and that doing so would violate their right to a jury trial. Months later, a judge dismissed the lawsuit, ruling the Kings first had to complete the administrative process.

The Kings appealed the decision, and a Washington Court of Appeals commissioner paused the PCHB proceedings in September while the court considers whether they are entitled to a jury trial.

“It’s all under the executive branch, and they very rarely go with the property owner,” Wade said, adding that Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, who was attorney general when the fight began, now has appointment authority over the board alongside the state Senate.

“They almost always side with the agencies and it’s just not a fair trial for appellants like us.”

The PCHB declined to comment due to the pending case.

Oliver Dunford, a senior attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation representing the Kings, told Fox News Digital they are prepared to petition the U.S. Supreme Court if they are unsuccessful in Washington.

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“We have to ask them one question: to rule that the Seventh Amendment does apply against the states, and then to argue that the Kings should have had a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment,” Dunford said.

He said if the case reaches the Supreme Court, a ruling could have ripple effects across other states.

“If we prevail, it would have an enormous effect, certainly across the state of Washington, but hopefully across the country, and prevent these agencies from just issuing these fines and then essentially putting the burden on you to prove your innocence and take the case all the way to the Supreme Court just to get a chance at a jury trial,” he said.

The Kings’ attorneys estimate the cost of complying with the department’s orders could exceed $3.7 million. But beyond the financial toll, Teresa said the orders would be “unachievable” because the areas were never wetlands in the first place.

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“How do we as ranchers turn these into wetlands and comply with everything that Ecology wants us to?” she said. “It’ll be unachievable and it would just spin us in the ground financially.”

“How are we supposed to make wetlands from non-wetlands?” Wade added.

Wade said the department has failed to give them any details on how to fix the alleged damage. He said the wetlands designation gives the department greater authority over the areas than it would if they were considered stockwater ponds.

“That’s the big reason why they want to call them wetlands when they’re not wetlands,” Wade said.

Wade and Teresa described how the fight could also hurt their children and their children’s children. The Kings have ranched in Grant and Douglas counties since the 1950s, where Teresa said multiple generations now live and work.

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“It’s fourth generation, then we have fifth and sixth living and working on this ranch and we want to continue with this,” she said. “We just want to be left alone.”

The department said its investigation found no evidence the areas were previously stockwater ponds and accused the Kings of “damaging 23 naturally occurring wetlands” in Grant County.

“Ecology inspectors made site visits to these damaged areas where possible, but also used satellite imagery, aerial images dating from as far back as 1949, and other records to determine that the Kings had damaged 6.37 acres of naturally occurring wetlands by excavating, recontouring, and putting fill in them,” the department said.

The department added it “repeatedly sought to resolve concerns about the damage” but the Kings “refused to cooperate with these efforts.” They said they ordered the Kings to restore 11 more areas in Douglas County last year, bringing the total to 34, and most were on state land.

Wade said they have always protected and cared for the land that the department is now accusing them of damaging.

“We want clean water,” Wade said. “Why would we pollute or cause damage to the land or the water that we rely on in our livelihood? We’re generational. Why would we do something to harm ourselves that way and harm the environment?”

The Kings said the fight is far from over, with Teresa arguing the case could jeopardize exemptions other ranchers rely on to provide water for livestock.

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“It’s not just us,” Teresa said. “We are defending every rancher in the state of Washington’s exempt livestock water rights.”

BATON ROUGE, La. — First lady Melania Trump announced a $7.2 million scholarship endowment at Louisiana State University (LSU) on Saturday, delivering a message of hope to young Americans who have experienced foster care before receiving a special football tribute ahead of the Tigers’ rivalry showdown against Alabama.

Trump wore a Dalma suede bomber jacket by Nour Hammour, paired with an Adam Lippes skirt and Manolo Blahnik BB pumps for the occasion, blending her signature polished style with a more relaxed look suited to a college football weekend.

The first lady’s visit unfolded against a distinctly LSU backdrop, with purple-and-gold tailgating crowds lining the motorcade route and a massive American flag hanging above the stage inside Patrick F. Taylor Hall. 

LSU cheerleaders flanked Trump during her remarks, and the Tiger mascot presented her with both scholarship checks while wearing a signature “Be Best” T-shirt.

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There, university officials, donors and students gathered for an announcement supporting young Americans who have experienced foster care through Trump’s “Fostering the Future” initiative.

“This achievement will give young people from foster care an anchor of stability, a strong educational foundation, and a chance to build a wonderful life,” Trump told attendees.

The permanent endowment includes a $5 million commitment from MMR Group, led by LSU alumnus James B. “Pepper” Rutland, and an additional $2.2 million raised from 75 LSU Foundation donors.

LSU Foundation President and CEO Krista Raney said the contributions had brought the scholarship fund to “more than $7.2 million and growing.”

LSU President Wade Rousse said the $5 million leadership gift is expected to generate approximately $200,000 annually, helping students cover tuition, fees, books and room and board.

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“At LSU, we believe talent is everywhere, but we understand that opportunity is not,” Rousse said.

The university also embraced the occasion with several football-themed gifts for the first lady.

Trump received a custom purple-and-gold LSU jersey bearing the name “MELANIA” and the number 14, along with a Tigers helmet featuring her BE BEST Fostering the Future logo.

Former LSU coach Ed Orgeron, known to fans as Coach O, joined the presentation with a specially designed commemorative football created by Big Game USA, a company owned by LSU alumnus Chris Calandra.

The initiative extended beyond the ceremony, with special patches on LSU players’ jerseys, helmet decals, cheerleader uniforms, mascot attire and commemorative fan towels, according to the White House.

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Southeastern Conference officials also agreed to use a special Melania Trump challenge coin for the game’s official coin toss.

The legendary LSU-Alabama rivalry even found its way into the scholarship announcement.

After Trump revealed that LSU has 14 Fostering the Future scholars compared with Alabama’s nine, Raney offered a lighthearted observation.

“Mrs. Trump, what I heard you say is that LSU has 14 scholarship recipients and Alabama has nine,” Raney said. “So I think that means we’ve already won the first point.”

Trump told attendees that 26 universities nationwide are supporting 100 Fostering the Future scholars this semester.

“While most eyes will be on the athletes today, I encourage you to recognize LSU’s Fostering the Future scholars, who are just as remarkable,” she said.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, Louisiana first lady Sharon Landry and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., were among those in attendance.

Trump also received a handcrafted wooden bowl made from a fallen limb of one of LSU’s historic oak trees, a gift symbolizing the lasting impact of the scholarship initiative.

Fostering the Future, launched in 2021 as part of Trump’s BE BEST initiative, seeks to expand educational opportunities for young people who have experienced foster care.

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“A great education does more than prepare someone for work life,” Trump said. “It gives something no one can ever take away.”

She closed with an encouraging message to scholarship recipients.

“To the Fostering the Future scholars here today, and throughout America: I see you. I believe in you. And I will keep working to create new opportunities with you,” she said.

A Biden-appointed federal judge ordered ICE’s Denver field office director to appear in court Monday amid concerns that immigration authorities violated judicial release orders by immediately re-arresting detainees, including at least one instance outside a detention facility.

Nathan Rasper has been summoned as part of an inquiry involving 14 people who were re-arrested after being released from immigration detention. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) maintains that ICE complied with lawful court orders and that a judicial release order does not permanently shield individuals from immigration enforcement.

“When an illegal alien is ordered released by a judge, that does not immunize the alien from immigration enforcement for all time,” DHS said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “ICE may seek to re-arrest the alien in a way that complies with the judicial decision. To suggest that ICE cannot do this is nothing short of sabotage.”

The Nov. 5 order issued by U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney followed an earlier ruling requiring the government to identify every case in Colorado since Oct. 27 in which ICE re-detained someone within 12 hours of a court-ordered release. Federal officials subsequently identified 14 petitioners who had been re-arrested after being released, but the filing did not provide the precise timing of when the re-arrests occurred. She directed officials to provide the exact dates and times of those releases and re-arrests and identify any additional individuals immediately detained following court-ordered releases.

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The additional reporting requirements followed a Nov. 4 hearing in which Sweeney questioned whether ICE was circumventing judicial orders by briefly releasing detainees before immediately taking them back into custody. At that hearing, she ordered Rasper to appear at a follow-up hearing Monday to address the agency’s practices.

The inquiry stems in part from the case of Ramon Quintero Alvarez, who was released from immigration detention on Oct. 27 before ICE immediately took him back into custody, according to a government court filing.

In a Nov. 3 court filing, federal government attorneys said they would not submit a legal brief defending the lawfulness of Alvarez’s continued detention.

The filing prompted Sweeney to convene the Nov. 4 hearing at which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Soler and Kevin Traskos appeared alongside ICE Assistant Field Office Director Nichole Black, who testified under oath about the circumstances surrounding Alvarez’s re-arrest.

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At a Nov. 4 hearing, Sweeney ordered Alvarez be released and barred immigration authorities from detaining him again unless the government demonstrated, by clear and convincing evidence at a bond hearing, that he posed a flight risk or danger to the community.

The government must submit the additional information requested by Sweeney by 8 a.m. Monday, ahead of Rasper’s scheduled court appearance later that morning. The proceedings could shed light on ICE’s compliance with judicial release orders, but Sweeney has not indicated whether she intends to pursue contempt proceedings.

The dispute comes as ICE faces similar legal challenges across Colorado, where other Biden-appointed federal judges, including U.S. District Judges Nina Wang and S. Kato Crews, have presided over cases involving disputes over immigration detention and court-ordered releases.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado for comment.

President Donald Trump said he has ordered the Department of Justice to open an investigation into instances of Democratic lawmakers “threatening” to impeach Attorney General Todd Blanche, among others.

The announcement, which was made via a Truth Social post Saturday afternoon, came after the Democrats retook control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections, winning strong majorities in both chambers of Congress.

“The Democrats are going around threatening a lot of people, including the Attorney General of the United States, and others, with Impeachment and many other forms of punishment, even though they admit they have no reason to do so,” Trump wrote.

Since Election Day, two House Democrats — Reps. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., and Deborah Ross, D-N.C. — have publicly said they would support impeaching Blanche.

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“I personally believe that the offenses of Todd Blanche demand that he be impeached and convicted and removed from office,” Johnson said Thursday in an interview on SiriusXM’s “The Dan Abrams Show.”

Ross went on host Dan Abrams’ radio show shortly after Johnson and said she supported impeaching Blanche as well, but thought Democrats “should start with Hegseth.”

In his post, Trump denied that any “impeachable acts” had been committed by Blanche or any other administration officials. He didn’t mention Johnson or Ross by name, nor did he mention the fact that Thomas Massie, R-Ky., will likely reintroduce impeachment articles against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Monday.

Trump named only one Democratic politician, Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, in his post. He accused her of saying she would “go after all young people that believe in Republican Values.”

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Trump appears to have been referring to comments Slotkin made on Oct. 13 at the University of Chicago about wanting to pursue “signature cases” against people who “enabled” Trump.

“I want young people coming out of school to say, ‘Should I go work for the Trump administration? Like, that sounds fun, I might get an opportunity.’ I want them to be like, ‘Lord, that might be buying myself a ton of problems that I don’t want, and so let me avoid participating in that,'” Slotkin said. “I want that deterrence message sent.”

Trump also said that Democrats have been threatening Republican donors “with imprisonment” because of their views.

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The president did not identify the donors that have allegedly been threatened. Democrats have, however, signaled they plan to investigate some major Republican donors and corporations when they assume control of Congress, Reuters reported this week. This could include donors to the White House ballroom.

Trump concluded his post by saying “these EXTORTIONISTS” should be imprisoned and that he wanted the DOJ to investigate the alleged actions as a “criminal act.”

Two socialist mayors were elected in the United States on Tuesday in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. which now means that four of the top 20 largest cities in the country have socialist leaders at the helm.

Los Angeles Councilwoman Nithya Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) defeated incumbent mayor Karen Bass and will take office in December as mayor for the roughly 4 million residents of Los Angeles proper.

Also victorious on Tuesday was DSA member Janeese Lewis George who coasted to victory to become mayor-elect of Washington, D.C., a city of roughly 700,000 residents.

The list of socialist mayors in the top 20 most populous U.S. cities stands at 4, as George and Raman join Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

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In total, the four cities are home to roughly 14 million people. That figure does not include neighboring suburbs, which could still feel the effects of policies enacted within city limits through crime, real estate values and the broader business climate. Problems in a city can spill over into surrounding communities, while suburban residents who work in the city may also be directly affected.

Counting the population in the metro areas of those four cities, roughly 44 million people could be affected either positively and negatively by the socialist policies enacted by the four mayors.

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“This makes LA the fourth large city that will now have a socialist mayor, joining New York, Washington DC and Seattle,” Heritage Foundation fellow Mike Gonzalez posted on X Thursday. “Chicago’s mayor is a buffoon, but he doesn’t identify as DSA. America used to be an impregnable fortress against Marxism, then Marxists took over universities.”

The socialist victories were not limited to city halls. Voters also elected seven DSA-backed or affiliated candidates to the House: Claire Valdez, Brand Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier of New York, Chris Rabb of Pennsylvania, Melat Kiros of Colorado, Donavan McKinney of Michigan and Angela Gonzales-Torres of California.

Several other candidates associated with socialist policies also entered Congress or were re-elected on Tuesday.

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A recent Fox News national poll indicated 32% of voters have a favorable view of socialism, with 64% seeing it in an unfavorable way. But the favorable rating matches an all-time high, first reached five years ago, since Fox News first began asking the question in 2019. And a September Gallup poll found that 43% of Americans had a positive image of socialism, the highest level since the polling organization began tracking the question in 2010.

The Fox News poll found that 51% of voters had a favorable view of capitalism, compared with 32% who viewed socialism favorably. Another 46% had an unfavorable view of capitalism.

Some troops have gone a year without hot water. Others are sleeping in their cars to escape barracks without air conditioning. And some are asking for little more than drywall, spackle and paint so they can make repairs themselves.

Those are among the conditions Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer says he has encountered while touring military installations on a mission from War Secretary Pete Hegseth: Fix a barracks system plagued by decades of neglect.

“I would tell you that there’s only a couple that I’ve seen that are good,” Meyer told Fox News Digital in an interview Thursday.

Meyer, who serves as senior adviser to the Pentagon’s Barracks Task Force, has visited more than eight installations across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps since taking on the assignment and plans to visit 30 before the end of the year.

“What I thought was gonna be a professional job very quickly turned into personal,” Meyer said.

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At one installation, Meyer recalled asking a 19-year-old service member what she would change about her living conditions if she could “wave a magic wand.”

“If she could just have a hot shower,” Meyer recalled. “It’s absolutely heartbreaking.”

The Pentagon’s barracks problems long predate Hegseth and have survived repeated attempts at reform. 

A sweeping 2023 Government Accountability Office investigation documented serious health and safety hazards and found that the department lacked reliable information about the condition of its own barracks, could not determine how much of its facilities spending went toward them and provided insufficient oversight.

Congress and the military services have since committed billions toward improvements, including initiatives ranging from the Marine Corps’ “Barracks 2030” to a Navy overhaul of unaccompanied housing. Yet serious problems persist. As of this year, 12 of GAO’s 31 recommendations remained outstanding.

Hegseth has sought to centralize the effort under a department-wide task force and accelerate improvements, with Meyer saying the secretary has made clear that identifying problems is no longer enough.

“The secretary has made it clear to me he doesn’t expect me to observe this, study it, or to make it better. He expects me to fix it,” Meyer said. “And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Meyer, the only Medal of Honor hero to reenlist after receiving the award, said one of his first requests was for Hegseth to give the task force an “authoritative role,” rather than simply create another layer of oversight.

The goal, he said, was to give the team the ability “to go out and make decisions, to be able to have impact, to be able to make change, and to be able to direct where that funding goes and how fast it gets to our service members.”

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Meyer argued the problem is not simply a lack of money. Funding shortfalls, continuing resolutions and years of deferred maintenance have all contributed, he said, but so have layers of contracting rules and bureaucracy that can slow even relatively basic repairs.

A separate watchdog review found the Pentagon facing a $285 billion maintenance backlog across its broader military facilities’ portfolio, underscoring the scale of the department’s infrastructure challenges.

“When you look at the contracting aspect, it’s easier for people to say no,” Meyer said.

Funding is also part of the problem, according to Meyer, who pointed to Congress’ failure to enact full-year defense appropriations for fiscal 2027. The Pentagon is currently operating under a continuing resolution through Dec. 11, which generally funds ongoing programs at prior-year rates while lawmakers negotiate a broader spending package.

“When you can’t get a budget, when you’re waiting on Congress to pass a budget, to be able to get the funding there, I mean, that is a huge issue,” Meyer said.

But he also argued that the Pentagon has too often measured progress by how much money has been obligated or put under contract, rather than whether troops actually see improvements in their living conditions.

“Our service members don’t, they don’t live in our budget lines,” Meyer said. “They live in the rooms that those budget lines are there to impact.”

For Meyer, that has meant getting out of Washington and hearing directly from the troops living with the consequences.

“You can’t fix these problems or understand these problems by standing on the carpet of the Pentagon,” he said. “You’ve got to go out there and talk to these service members.”

What he has heard, Meyer said, is striking partly because of how little troops are asking for.

“They’re asking for a hot shower. They’re asking for a place to wash their clothes. They’re asking for a door that locks. They’re asking to be able to go to sleep in a place that doesn’t have mold. I mean, they’re asking for light bulbs.”

“They’re willing to be part of the solution,” he added.

Meyer stopped short of placing the blame solely on installation commanders, saying many want to improve conditions but have been constrained by a system that has normalized poor barracks for years.

“I think this is a multidimensional problem, and it’s complex,” he said. “I think that you have commanders out there that want to take care of their service members. I’ve seen that across the board. But … they still have to have the ability to do that.”

Meyer was far less forgiving of previous Pentagon leadership, arguing that years of investments and reform initiatives had failed to translate into adequate living conditions for troops.

“Don’t kid yourself,” Meyer said. “In the past … it wasn’t a priority to the leadership.”

Previous administrations and military leaders did launch barracks improvement efforts and devoted billions of dollars to construction, renovation and maintenance, even as government watchdogs continued to document serious deficiencies.

Meyer said Hegseth has made the issue a personal priority.

“We have the Secretary of War who is putting people first, and he’s not just saying that, he’s doing it through his actions,” Meyer said.

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Meyer has put his own name on whether the latest effort succeeds, saying previously that if the barracks aren’t fixed, there is “only one person to blame” — himself.

Asked what “fixed” would actually look like, Meyer offered a simpler standard than any Pentagon metric.

“People are living in places that I would be okay for my daughters living in,” he said.

Several Republican lawmakers are fuming over President Donald Trump’s elevation of Stephen Miller to be his chief of staff.

“Horrible decision,” Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital on Friday after Trump announced his decision.

A Republican lawmaker who was granted anonymity to speak candidly said they were in “utter disbelief.”

Tensions were rising against Miller in the wake of Republicans’ terrible performance in Tuesday’s midterm elections. Multiple House Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital just moments before his promotion said Miller, who spearheads Trump’s immigration policy, should be fired.

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When later asked about his promotion, one House Republican who said Miller should be fired replied simply with a facepalm emoji.

Republicans suffered historic losses that saw both the House and Senate fall into Democrats’ hands in the new Congress. Democrats are on pace to win more than 250 seats in the House and at least 54 in the Senate.

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And while voter analyses have shown that Trump’s war in Iran and tariffs played the biggest roles in turning people away from the GOP, his handling of illegal immigration served to alienate voters in key areas. That’s in no small part due to Hispanic and Latino voters turning their backs on Republicans in places like Texas that shifted massively toward Democrats in this election cycle.

“Because of his immigration positions, I just think we ruined a lot of our goodwill with Latino voters,” Stutzman said.

The second GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital that Miller ignored multiple warnings from House Republicans in the past, arguing that Trump’s immigration crackdown is what voters asked for.

“I’ve been in several group meetings where a lot of us have told him, ‘Your immigration enforcement policies are backfiring back home, our people are mad, our businesses are mad — even in deep red districts — and it is impacting not just the voters, but the donors, and everybody top to bottom,” that GOP lawmaker said. “But it looked to me like Stephen Miller was only after numbers … he would not listen to us.”

Other Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital also criticized Miller but did not go as far as to say he should be fired.

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“I think he’s greatly hurt the administration and cost us many seats on Tuesday,” retiring Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told Fox News Digital before news of Miller’s promotion broke. “He took an immigration policy that favored the president 2:1 in the public, over-reached and made it 2:1 unfavorable.”

“Many Republicans don’t like him,” Bacon added when asked about his promotion.

Miller is widely known as Trump’s right hand on immigration policy, including earlier this year when the administration faced bipartisan backlash over its handling of anti-immigration enforcement protests in places like Minneapolis.

Several Republicans, particularly those running in battleground districts, had called for Trump to limit deportations to illegal immigrants who have committed crimes while in the United States.

A fourth GOP lawmaker said, “Stephen is a megalomaniac who should have never been given the keys to the Ferrari. That being said, he’s not the reason why we lost…no one knows who Stephen Miller is in our districts.”

Various other administration officials also got their share of blame in the fallout from Tuesday’s midterm massacre, including Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Trump himself.

But the president and people in his orbit have blamed candidate quality, arguing that in many cases the president campaigned harder than some of the people he supported did for themselves.

And in his Truth Social post announcing Miller’s promotion, Trump called him one of his “most trusted advisors.” He later told reporters Miller would “do a great job.”

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When Fox News Digital reached the White House for comment, spokeswoman Lauren Bis said Miller “has been a key player in delivering on President Trump’s America First agenda since day one.”

“He has spearheaded the administration’s crime crackdown including in D.C. and Memphis, record setting deregulation, unleashed American energy, dismantled drug cartels, and secured our border. In his new role, he will continue to deliver historic successes for the American people,” Bis said.

Bis also pointed to a list of positive comments about Miller by administration officials and members of Congress.

“Very grateful to Susie for her friendship and service to the president and our country. Stephen Miller is an amazing patriot and will do great things. Congrats to him on a well deserved promotion!” Vice President JD Vance said.

“Stephen Miller has built a proven record focused on securing our border, combating crime, and advancing a now much-needed common-sense conservative agenda for our country,” House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris said.

A White House official told Fox News Digital Miller had experience working with Democrats on the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force and that he has been a “valuable, trusted aide” since 2016.

Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic senator-elect from Michigan, leaned into accusations of acting cocky on the path to victory over Republican candidate Mike Rogers, citing a need to push back on President Donald Trump’s manner of communication during an appearance on Pod Save America.

“Long ago, you predicted that you would win this race by seven points, which at the time seemed like a pretty cocky and ill-considered thing to say. Then you won the race by seven points. People are still calling you cocky,” podcast host Jon Favreau said during his interview with El-Sayed.

“How do you see yourself?”

“I think there is a responsibility that we have to engage with [Trump] as the unserious fool that he is,” El-Sayed replied.

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El-Sayed’s response sheds light on his view of his own campaign and the tone that he believes Democrats need to adopt to counter Trump’s presence in American politics. It also raises questions of whether El-Sayed’s campaign strategies will yield results in Congress.

In his view, Trump has changed the style of acceptable communication. In turn, he accused Democrats of being hesitant to abandon a kind of decorum to fight fire with fire.

“I just think there’s a responsibility for us to walk out of ‘The West Wing’ episode that our politics used to feel like and into the reality of where we are,” El-Sayed said, referring to a a television drama known for its idealistic portrayal of American politics.

“I say that because if you’ve ever watched a bully in a room, if you don’t stand up to the bully, it’s not like the bully will just go away. The bully just gets stronger,” El-Sayed said.

During his campaign, El-Sayed repeatedly pointed a finger at Trump for, in his view, ushering in a new age of political rhetoric. But that view also preceded his Senate bid.

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He once accused President Donald Trump of inciting terrorism in a 2020 interview, citing a foiled plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

“These are terrorists; we have to call them that. We have to recognize that that is what the face of terrorism looks like right now. We have to step up against it,” El-Sayed said.

“We gotta ask: why are these people getting radicalized? Well, there must be some radical, extremist cleric out there who may be tweeting up a storm about all the things that they think need to be done, like liberating Michigan.”

Although President Donald Trump did not call for any kind of violence against Whitmer, El-Sayed said he believed the president was at least partially responsible, pointing to a tweet Trump had made six months before the discovered plot.

“LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” Trump wrote in a post on Twitter, the social media platform now known as X. The post was one of a series calling to “liberate” Virginia and Minnesota from COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Democratic governors.

According to FBI comments to local media, the plot originated before Trump’s post.

Even so, El-Sayed called the posts emblematic of a cultural toxicity that had made violence more likely.

“The idea that people would threaten her safety because she was willing to stand up to keep us all healthy is, to me, the example of what the kind of toxicity that we see out of Donald Trump creates,” El-Sayed said.

MAJORITY LEADER THUNE SAYS SENATE GOP WON’T ‘STAND IDLY BY’ AS DEMOCRATS TAKE CONTROL OF CONGRESS

A spokesperson for El-Sayed did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether he believed in a red line for what kind of rhetoric Democrats should refrain from using.

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Having won his U.S. Senate election, El-Sayed will be sworn into office on Jan. 3, 2027, the start of the 120th Congress.

Republican control of the Senate could return as soon as the 2028 general election, but only if the party can pull off a series of crucial victories in competitive races, a possibility that seems distant following Tuesday night’s devastating Democratic sweep.

As of publication, Democrats and independents who caucus with them have secured 54 Senate seats, a total that could grow to as many as 56 pending election calls in Mississippi and Alaska. Assuming Republicans hold the vice presidency in 2028, far from a guarantee, they would need to flip at least four seats during that election cycle to win the Senate back.

While there are ample pick-up opportunities for Republicans in 2028 if the party can return to its typical national performance benchmarks, several vulnerable GOP-held seats could complicate their efforts to retake the upper chamber.

DEMS FLIPS YET ANOTHER SENATE SEAT IN TRUMP COUNTRY AMID SWEEPING GOP UPSETS

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, for instance, turned 93 in September and faces a decision about whether to seek another term in 2028, when Republicans will be defending his seat in a state where Democrat Josh Turek just defeated Republican Ashley Hinson by roughly four percentage points. His departure before then could also give Iowa’s incoming Democratic governor the opportunity to appoint a temporary replacement.

Another possibility that could make the GOP’s path back to a majority even more uncertain is the admission of Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., to the union as full states. Such a move would likely require the Democratic-led Senate to abolish or overcome the legislative filibuster, something lawmakers representing more moderate or competitive states may balk at, as well as support in the House and either presidential approval or enough votes to override a veto.

CHUCK SCHUMER AFTER SWEEPING DEMOCRATIC MIDTERM VICTORIES: ‘I’LL BE RE-ELECTED AS MAJORITY LEADER’

Even if the filibuster is done away with, President Donald Trump could veto admittance bills. Democrats currently lack the numbers to override such a veto.

If Republicans lose the White House in 2028, however, Democrats could have a clearer path to advancing statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., a move that would add four Senate seats and potentially complicate Republican efforts to win back the chamber, though significant political and legal obstacles would remain.

Assuming none of that happens, Democrats will be defending six Senate seats that could offer Republicans potential pick-up opportunities in 2028.

Republicans will have pick-up opportunities in New Hampshire, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Ohio that year. They will, however, be forced to defend vulnerable Senate seats in Wisconsin, Iowa and North Carolina. Indiana, which saw a significant blue shift, also has a Senate seat up for contention in 2028, while Nebraska, where independent Dan Osborn mounted a competitive but unsuccessful challenge to Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts on Tuesday, will not hold another regularly scheduled Senate election until 2030.

While 2028 could deliver Republicans a majority if they play their cards right, another defeat on the scale of 2026 could put the Democratic Party dangerously close to the 60-vote threshold necessary to invoke cloture and counter a filibuster.

“It may be unlikely, but I do think it’s feasible,” Heritage Action government relations director Chip Wyatt told Fox News Digital. “We’re just as capable of having a night like the Democrats had on Tuesday in 2028. If anything, that election, the election we had on Tuesday has shown us that two years is a very, very long time in politics. think if you had told anybody in 2024 that this is what happened in 2028, they probably wouldn’t believe you.”

For Republicans to have a good night in 2028, Wyatt argued that conservatives would have to focus on affordability issues while Democrats overstep their mandate by allowing the fringes of their party to dictate its policy agenda.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took a similar line in reacting to Tuesday night’s election results.

“We will rebuild as a true blue-collar party, not by embracing socialism, but by being real free-market conservatives. The way we built the Texas economic miracle in the first place, and we will build and rebuild America as well,” he said. “When the zealots overreach, and they will, we will stand ready to lead in the direction of freedom, of prosperity, of safety and security and common sense. We will return to a new dawn of freedom in America.”

2030 features slightly fewer pick-ups for the GOP with a comparable number of states to defend. While Republicans will have pick-up opportunities in Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin and Michigan, they will also be forced to defend seats in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

MAJORITY LEADER THUNE SAYS SENATE GOP WON’T ‘STAND IDLY BY’ AS DEMOCRATS TAKE CONTROL OF CONGRESS

The 2032 election will feature the same regularly scheduled Senate seats contested in 2026, giving Republicans another opportunity to retake deep-red states they blundered this year, such as Kansas and South Carolina. Historically, however, some moderate Democrats have managed to hang on to state-wide offices in typically red states, making a reversion far from a certainty.

Former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, for instance, managed to survive multiple GOP challenges in the deep-red state. Kansas and Kentucky, similarly, have Democratic governors that survived Republican challenges in races that received national attention.

While many Republicans, and even some Democrats, have suggested liberal pick-ups in deep red states could be one-cycle wonders, Wyatt cautioned against complacency.

“We should always assume the politicians want to get re-elected and so the senators in the deep red states that have been recently elected as Democrats are going to want to keep their seats and so they’re going to be very strategic in how they vote and in what kind of bills they’re introducing,” Wyatt said. “In some of these deep red states, it’s going to be difficult for [Democrats] to hold on to these seats … Now granted, I’ve already said two years is a long time, six years is an even longer time. So who knows what kind of political landscape we’re looking at in 2032 but Republicans should definitely start off with a strong advantage in many of these states … But it’s never wise to counter chickens before they hatch.”

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Electoral politics is famously unpredictable. Nobody in 2024, for instance, envisioned South Carolina or Kansas sending Democrats to the Senate in 2026. It is possible that the Republican path to a Senate majority, or lack thereof, will be comparably surprising.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Ill., are calling for an investigation into the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), previously led by Elon Musk, as talks have heated up among Democrats to launch a probe into the multibillionaire.

“I had no specific plan,” Raskin told Fox News Digital about the potential investigations. “Look…DOGE was a catastrophe for America, and at least one committee, I feel pretty certain, will investigate it. It needs to investigate it.”

Musk has emerged as a potential target of Democratic oversight, with some lawmakers calling for scrutiny of his time as head of the DOGE.

The calls for an investigation come as Democrats have started rallying the party to look into corruption under the Trump administration after coming out victorious in midterms.

SCHUMER, JEFFRIES SIDESTEP QUESTIONS ON NUKING FILIBUSTER, LAUNCHING ELON MUSK PROBE AFTER BLUE WAVE

The tech CEO helped launch DOGE at the start of President Donald Trump‘s second term to root out waste and be more transparent about the federal government’s spending.

DOGE’s efforts included deferred resignations and buyouts of employees at federal agencies and contributed to a significant downsizing of the federal workforce, which contracted by about 250,000 employees during 2025, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Calls for investigations into DOGE also started over concerns about the department allegedly having access to Americans’ sensitive information.

“I mean the whole thing was premised on a lie, and our private information was completely compromised by it,” Raskin said.

Despite Pritzker saying he had never “heard anything like that” about a potential probe of Musk and DOGE, he agreed that DOGE is worthy of an investigation.

PROGRESSIVE GROUP’S 182-PAGE BLUEPRINT MAPS OUT POTENTIAL DEM INVESTIGATIONS INTO TRUMP, CORPORATE ALLIES

“I think there should be a lot of inspection of what DOGE did,” Pritzker told Fox News Digital. “I think that was pretty awful. “

But Pritzker didn’t seem so sure that needing an investigation into DOGE also warranted an investigation into Musk himself.

“I don’t know about focusing on one person,” Pritzker said when asked about investigating Musk.

ELON MUSK BLAMES TRUMP, US MILITARY FOR SPACEX RESTRICTIONS UKRAINE WARNS COULD HAVE DEADLY CONSEQUENCES

Democratic lawmakers have also suggested looking into Musk’s companies’ multibillion-dollar contracts with the federal government and, more recently, his role in cutting internet access to the Ukrainian military.

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After the midterm elections resulted in a sweeping blue wave, Democrats in both chambers of Congress have vowed to use investigative committees and subpoena powers to probe not only Musk, but Trump and much of his administration — including trying to impeach Trump.

Fox News Digital’s Eric Revell contributed to this report.

AUSTIN, Texas — As the Democrats’ blue wave began to slam into Texas, Richard Torres, a Texan who has voted blue his entire life, kept peering at the results pouring in on reporters’ screens all around him.

And when it was announced Texas state Rep. James Talarico had toppled Ken Paxton, he sat down to take it in. Torres was the former chair of the Williamson County Democratic Party, where Talarico grew up and attended high school in Round Rock, Texas.

He never thought that Texas Republicans would be swept away by the oncoming blue wave.

TEXAS’ RED WALL FACING ITS BIGGEST THREAT IN DECADES AS REPUBLICANS SCRAMBLE TO DEFEND IT

“We started seeing some changes, but not what we expected tonight,” Torres told Fox News Digital. “We didn’t expect this tonight.”

When asked why a deep-red stronghold like the Lone Star State had become so rapidly blue, Torres said that it started at the top with President Donald Trump and should serve as a message to GOP candidates and officials across the state.

“I think it sends a message that they’re on the wrong track, and they’ve been for a while, but they won’t accept the problems we have with the president,” Torres said. “They’re totally supporting him. I don’t know why.”

“But they don’t see the problems that we’re having in this country with all the things that have happened with the war going on and things of this type,” he continued. “And they just seem to support him on it. This is a referendum against Trump.”

STATE OF PLAY: BLUE WAVE SWEEPS DEMOCRATS INTO POWER, WITH KEY RACES STILL HANGING IN BALANCE

Talarico and several other Democratic candidates, including Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa, shattered the GOP’s grip on Texas, serving Republicans in Congress a stiff blow as their majorities in both chambers rapidly evaporated Tuesday night.

And the incoming lawmaker didn’t just squeak by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. He beat the Trump-backed candidate, who was not the first choice of Republicans in Washington, by over 12 percentage points, or well over 1 million votes, in a state that Trump won in 2024 by nearly 14 points.

To secure that win, Talarico needed to capture Republicans and Democrats in Texas. One of those Republicans, James, told Fox News Digital that he had always voted for the GOP until this election.

TEXAS SENATE VICTOR JAMES TALARICO LAYS OUT COMMON GROUND WITH TRUMP, VOWS TO ‘WORK TOGETHER’

“I’ve been a Republican my whole life, but I’m voting Democratic this year because I think we need to,” James said. “The Republicans have lost their way, I believe.”

While the optimism at the watch party was palpable, be it through the pumping music or over half a dozen mobile bars with lines dozens of people deep, there was still a cautious anxiety among some voters.

Particularly after Democrats had gotten so close to flipping the Senate seat before in 2018, when former Texas state Rep. Beto O’Rourke gave Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a run for his money. O’Rourke would end up losing by roughly two points, but the exuberance that turned to heartbreak wasn’t soon forgotten by the Lone Star State’s Democratic voters.

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As results began to roll in and the crowd’s energy began to explode, Beverly, another longtime Texas resident and voter, said Tuesday night was bigger than Texas.

“This feels like a now or never moment in the entire United States,” she said. “We either turn things around or we might as well kiss it all goodbye.”

DALLAS — Red states have quietly outpaced their blue-state counterparts in commercial real estate investment returns for years, according to a new study highlighting stark differences in state economic policies.

But sweeping Democratic gains in Tuesday’s midterm elections — even in traditionally deep-red strongholds — are raising questions about whether those states can maintain their economic advantages as the political landscape shifts in the new year.

Mitch Flax, founder and chief investment officer of Net Equity Capital, told Fox News Digital his research was sparked by the observation that commercial real estate investors based in blue states were reluctant to invest in their own markets.

The findings underscore a broader economic battle playing out across the country as businesses and wealthy Americans relocate across state lines, bringing jobs, investment dollars and tax revenue with them while potentially leaving financial holes in the states they abandon.

CEO SAYS DOING BUSINESS IN STATE ‘SUCKS’ AS COMPANY HEADS TO TEXAS AMID CALIFORNIA EXODUS

“I had a large family office based out of Chicago who lives in California who said, we don’t invest in real estate in blue states,” Flax recalled.

Coming on the heels of the 2026 midterms, the study also raises questions about whether the state-level tax and business policies that have helped fuel growth in red states will remain intact as Democrats make political gains and begin to enact their agenda.

The encounter prompted Flax to examine nearly 24,000 commercial real estate transactions to determine whether political differences between states were associated with investment performance. Researchers used a proxy to estimate returns and classified states as red or blue based on their votes in the 2024 presidential election.

Flax attributed the performance gap identified in his analysis largely to differences in state-level business policies, arguing that those policies influence where companies relocate, jobs are created and, ultimately, where capital flows.

AMERICA’S NEXT ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE MAY BE RISING IN RED-STATE TERRITORY

The findings come as corporate migration toward lower-tax states rose in recent years, with Texas emerging as a major destination for companies relocating from costly coastal hubs.

Flax says that Texas is on track to be the next Singapore-style “tax haven” for companies, due to its policies attracting business and industry.

“We’ve all seen the movie ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ — get ready for Crazy Rich Texans, because that movie is coming,” he said.

It’s unclear how Tuesday’s results will impact that prediction after Texas flipped a U.S. Senate seat blue with Senator-elect James Talarico beating Ken Paxton, who was backed by President Donald Trump, and Democrat Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa beating Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

As Fox News Digital previously reported, a CBRE analysis found that 725 companies relocated their headquarters between 2018 and 2025. Dallas-Fort Worth led the nation with 111 relocations, followed by Austin with 88 and Houston with 31.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco Bay Area, a deep blue enclave, recorded a net loss of 163 corporate headquarters during the same period, as companies cited taxes, labor regulations and rising living costs among their reasons for leaving.

THIS STATE ISN’T JUST GROWING — ITS ECONOMY IS GETTING RICHER PER RESIDENT

Flax, however, also argued that population shifts and corporate relocations are symptoms of a deeper economic divide, with underlying business policies shaping investment decisions and determining where capital flows.

“Most of the large asset managers out there are underwriting population in this migration flow. But the reality is that’s a symptom,” Flax told Fox News Digital. “When you look at exactly what’s causing it, it’s pure structural business policy,” he added.

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Flax said those policies can trigger a ripple effect across the commercial real estate market as businesses relocate, workers follow and demand grows for housing, retail and office space.

“Migration is the symptom, but it’s a cascade, right? So policy draws people and companies and then every kind of commercial real estate follows,” Flax said. “Apartments follow migration, retail follows rooftops, office follows jobs, warehouse follows logistics.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis fired back Friday at a report that he is preparing another White House bid in 2028, accusing The Washington Post of fabricating claims that he has started reaching out to political consultants about a potential campaign.

“The Washington Post is fabricating this out of whole cloth,” DeSantis wrote on X. “I have not reached out to anybody about running for anything.”

“Just another pathetic attempt to garner clicks. Using anonymous sources of course!” he added.

The Post reported Friday, citing three people briefed on his plans, that DeSantis was preparing to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2028.

VANCE, CRUZ AND DESANTIS DIAGNOSE GOP’S MIDTERM DISASTER AS BATTLE OVER PARTY’S FUTURE BEGINS

The newspaper reported that DeSantis, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2024 and is term-limited after 2026, had already reached out to at least one national political consultant about working on a prospective campaign.

A federal super PAC tied to DeSantis also sent out a fundraising text earlier this week, The Post reported.

DeSantis continued pushing back against the report in exchanges with social media users.

When one user expressed hope that The Post’s reporting was accurate, the governor replied that he was “sorry to disappoint.”

DeSantis also responded to another user who suggested political consultants may have been using his name to attract attention.

“Probably the case. But maybe just made up by WaPo,” he wrote.

FIRST MUSLIM SENATOR, FIRST BLACK FEMALE GOVERNOR: 2026 MIDTERM ELECTION RESULTS MAKE HISTORY

Speculation surrounding DeSantis’ political future comes just days after Republicans suffered sweeping defeats in the midterm elections, losing control of both chambers of Congress and several traditionally Republican strongholds.

The Sunshine State, however, remained a bright spot for the GOP, with Republican Byron Donalds winning the governor’s race.

“This is close to an extinction-level event for Republicans,” DeSantis said Wednesday, warning that among the nation’s 10 most populous states, Florida would be the only one with Republican control of its government.

DESANTIS CALLS GOP MIDTERM LOSSES ‘EXTINCTION-LEVEL EVENT’ — AND EXPLAINS WHY FLORIDA SURVIVED

DeSantis previously sought the 2024 Republican presidential nomination but suspended his campaign in January 2024 after the Iowa caucuses and endorsed Donald Trump.

The governor, who will leave office in January, has previously left open the possibility of another presidential campaign.

Fox News Digital has reached out to DeSantis’ office and The Washington Post for comment.

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Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., plans to reintroduce articles of impeachment for Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth next week. The chances are increasingly high that the House could in fact impeach Hegseth.

Why?

Massie tried to impeach Hegseth before the midterms. But the House adjourned a day early in September, nixing Massie’s effort. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., condemned the effort by Massie. But insisted that he didn’t send members home early because of fear that the House had the votes to impeach Hegseth.

So Massie’s articles of impeachment expired. But he will reintroduce them next week. Under the rules, the House must consider them within two days.

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO MASSIE SAYING JOHNSON IS SENDING THE HOUSE HOME EARLY TO PREVENT HEGSETH IMPEACHMENT

It’s possible the House could move to table the articles, or send them to committee, euthanizing the effort. But a growing number of House Republicans have grumbled about Hegseth. Any effort to dismiss the articles in the House might not work.

It’s about the math.

All Democrats are likely to vote to impeach. There are some Republicans who have said privately they’d like to impeach. Now, after the midterms, you have more Republicans hoping to build distance between themselves and President Trump. Moreover, the war in Iran contributed directly to the GOP’s thumping. So even more Republicans may be willing to impeach. Finally, the GOP may have attendance problems. Members who lost — or were shocked that they lost — might not show up. In other words, there may be more Democrats in the House next week than Republicans.

Don’t forget that some Republicans are now looking for a scapegoat after the election.

DEMS SEIZE THE SENATE AS BLUE TIDAL WAVE CRASHES DEEP INTO TRUMP COUNTRY, TOPPLES GOP STRONGHOLDS

A simple majority is necessary to impeach.

Then the House would send the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

Under Senate rules of impeachment, the Senate must at least receive and consider the articles. But it could move quickly to dismiss. That’s what happened when the Senate considered articles of impeachment for former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas a few years ago. The bona fide “trial” part of the process never happened where the Senate heard arguments, listened to witnesses and took evidence.

It takes a simple majority to dismiss such articles. Again, this could happen under a Republican-controlled Senate. But how might outgoing Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., vote? 

That’s to say nothing of Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, John Curtis, R-Alaska, Todd Young ,R-Ind., and others.

STATE OF PLAY: BLUE WAVE SWEEPS DEMOCRATS INTO POWER, WITH KEY RACES STILL HANGING IN BALANCE

It takes a two-thirds vote to convict and remove in a Senate impeachment trial.

In addition, unlikely legislation, articles of impeachment carry over into the new Congress. Would a new Democratically-controlled Senate want to get bogged down in an impeachment trial from the start? Especially when new Democrats want to vote on affordability and health care?

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Or, would a Democratic Senate embrace the idea of a full-blown impeachment trial for Hegseth – especially since the execution of the war in Iran seems to be one of the main reasons for this week’s electoral shellacking?

John Eisenberg, the head of the National Security Division at the Department of Justice, is stepping down from his post, becoming the third senior DOJ official to resign since the midterm elections.

Shortly after Fox News learned of Eisenberg’s resignation, Attorney General Todd Blanche announced it on social media.

“He has served with distinction, strengthening our nation’s ability to address threats, both foreign and domestic,” Blanche said. “Under his leadership, the Division advanced President Trump’s mission to make America safe by prosecuting terrorists and working with our law enforcement partners to disrupt planned attacks on the American people.”

This was Eisenberg’s second stint serving under President Donald Trump. In Trump’s first term, Eisenberg was an assistant and deputy counsel to the president, as well as a legal advisor to the National Security Council, which advises presidents on foreign policy matters.

DOJ CIVIL RIGHTS CHIEF HARMEET DHILLON RESIGNS, SAYS WHITE HOUSE ASKED HER TO WAIT UNTIL AFTER MIDTERMS

Less than an hour before Eisenberg’s departure was made public, Blanche announced the resignation of Jason Reding Quiñones, the U.S. Attorney for Florida’s Southern District.

Quiñones was perhaps best known for securing an indictment against Raúl Castro, the former president of Cuba who took over after his brother Fidel Castro’s nearly 50-year reign.

Raúl Castro, now 95, was indicted for his alleged role in the 1996 shoot-down of two unarmed civilian aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based humanitarian group that searched the Florida Straits for Cuban migrants in distress. The four U.S. nationals aboard the two planes were killed.

“We are grateful for Jason’s leadership in combatting violent crime, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and transnational crime,” Blanche said. “Jason has served the Department multiple times over his distinguished career, and we thank him for his service to this country.”

DOJ LAUNCHES CRIMINAL PROBE INTO SUPREME COURT LEAK THAT EXPOSED RULING OVERTURNING ROE V WADE

The departure of Eisenberg and Quiñones came just a day after Harmeet Dhillon, who headed up the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, announced she’d be leaving as well.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Dhillon said she attempted to resign three weeks ago but was asked by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to stay until after the midterms.

Dhillon moved to Washington following the deaths of her husband and father to “serve my country,” but after roughly two years in the administration, she said it was time for her to leave.

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Dhillon shifted her office’s priorities toward issues including DEI and race-conscious policies, religious discrimination, transgender participation in women’s sports, Second Amendment rights and election integrity.

In the lead-up to the midterms, Dhillon defended the Trump administration’s investigation into noncitizen voters. She was also in charge of the DOJ’s effort to send more than 1,000 election monitors to all 50 states.

The U.S. is offering up to $20 million to anyone with information on Iran’s nuclear program.

“If you have information on Iran’s nuclear program, assets, or associated individuals, send it to us via Signal or our Tor-based tip line. You may be eligible for a reward and relocation,” the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program said in an announcement posted to X.

The State Department said it was seeking information on “nuclear scientists and staff, nuclear program-related technologies, and capabilities, associated organizations and personnel.”

EXPERTS ‘DEEPLY’ CONCERNED OVER IRAN’S WORK AT UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR SITE

“The U.S. government remains committed to countering any attempt by Iran to develop a nuclear weapons program,” the agency added.

The announcement comes as President Donald Trump considers renewed military strikes against Iran while Washington and Tehran continue negotiations over the country’s nuclear program.

IRANIAN NEGOTIATORS KICKED OUT OF US AS TALKS STALL; TRUMP LAYS OUT ‘POSSIBLE’ TIMELINE FOR MORE STRIKES

Trump reiterated Friday that Iran would never be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon, pointing to previous U.S. military operations targeting Tehran’s nuclear facilities.

The president met with his national security team Thursday to consider renewing military strikes against Iran after Trump promised to wait until after the midterms.

TRUMP ADMIN THREATENS IRAN WITH ‘CONSEQUENCES’ AS ALLIES CONVENE AMID THREATS OF POST-ELECTION ESCALATION

Nov. 9 marks a new moon in the Middle East, meaning little to no moonlight, a condition favorable for military operations, senior U.S. officials told Fox News.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office earlier Thursday that Washington would “make a decision” on resuming the war.

TRUMP’S MOAB THREAT COULD PUT IRAN’S DEEPEST BUNKERS IN AMERICA’S CROSSHAIRS

“Do we want to go further” with strikes to ensure Iran’s nuclear program is dead and that “it will never happen again?” he added.

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

“I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I will have to. You’ll know soon enough.”

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U.S. Central Command is finalizing preparations for a potential resumption of major operations in Iran but has not received a new directive from Washington, according to reports citing a U.S. official.

Fox News’ Emma Bussey and Brittany Miller contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump highlighted NASA’s ambitious plans to launch its first nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars within the next two years, reaffirming his administration’s push to expand American space exploration and eventually send astronauts to the Red Planet.

Speaking at the UP Summit at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Trump touted the mission as part of his administration’s broader ambitions to expand America’s presence beyond Earth.

“Within the next two years, NASA will launch the first ever nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars,” Trump said.

The president described the mission as a step toward eventually sending American astronauts to the planet.

TRUMP CALLS ISS CREW FROM HOUSTON TO PRAISE SPACE PIONEERS AND OFFER ‘OVAL OFFICE TIME’

“We’re going to be paving the way for astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the Red planet,” he said.

The planned mission comes as NASA’s Artemis program aims to establish a long-term human presence on the moon before eventually sending astronauts to Mars.

Earlier this year, astronauts completed a lunar flyby during the Artemis II mission. Artemis III is scheduled to test spacecraft and landing systems in Earth orbit in 2027, while Artemis IV is expected to attempt a lunar landing in early 2028, before the end of Trump’s presidential term.

PETER NAVARRO: TRUMP’S ARTEMIS VISION IS NOW FLYING — AND CHINA IS PAYING ATTENTION

Trump also outlined his administration’s plans to accelerate space exploration and establish a lasting American presence beyond Earth, saying the U.S. “will establish a permanent presence on lunar soil.”

The president pointed to his recently issued “American Declaration of Freedom in Space,” which asserts the right of Americans to explore and settle beyond Earth under U.S. law.

“Just this week, I issued the American Declaration of Freedom in Space, proclaiming all of space opened for American settlement, American civilization, and American freedom,” Trump said.

Before introducing the president, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman also discussed the space agency’s Mars ambitions and long-term goals.

CHINA IS RACING TO THE MOON, AND AMERICA MUST CLEAR THE PATH FOR SPACE INNOVATION

“We are going to venture farther into the solar system and move closer to that next giant leap,” Isaacman said.

He described the administration’s ultimate goal as the day “American astronauts plant the Stars and Stripes on Mars.”

The administration has previously outlined broader space ambitions, including plans for a U.S. Space Academy, which Trump announced in August. The proposed institution would train students for careers in the Space Force, NASA and the civilian spaceflight industry.

Trump also emphasized his broader vision for American space exploration.

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“Our calling is to explore. Our purpose is to build, and our aim is always to win,” he said.

Just one week after pulling off a surprise victory over incumbent Republican Rep. Tim Moore in North Carolina’s 14th Congressional District race, Democrat LaKesha Womack is set to appear in court on a pending felony charge.

Womack secured 51.1% of the vote in the House race, while Moore received 48.9%, according to election results reported by The Associated Press.

The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office previously confirmed to Fox News Digital that Womack had been served a criminal summons on Oct. 11 by a deputy with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office on a pending felony charge alleging she failed to return a rental vehicle valued at $20,000 in 2019.

The criminal summons was issued in January 2020 but not served until 2026, according to WBTV. Womack is set to appear in court on Nov. 10, The New York Post reported Thursday.

REDISTRICTING EFFORTS BLOW UP IN REPUBLICANS’ FACES AMID HISTORIC HOUSE LOSSES

Womack previously acknowledged failing to return the rental car on time, saying she was experiencing homelessness at the time and was unaware that a criminal case had been filed against her.

“This historic victory is bigger than me. It is a testament to the power of ordinary people who believe that their voices matter and that leadership should be rooted in service, accountability, and opportunity for all,” Womack told Fox News Digital in a statement on Friday. “As a Black woman, a single mother, an entrepreneur, and someone who has spent more than two decades helping communities grow, I understand both the challenges people face and the possibilities we can create together.”

DEMOCRATS SEIZE HOUSE CONTROL IN STUNNING BLUE TSUNAMI, VOW RETRIBUTION AGAINST TRUMP ADMIN

“We didn’t just make history in North Carolina’s 14th Congressional District; we opened the door for a new generation of leaders who listen, learn, and lead for the people,” she continued.

When asked about facing the felony charge on Friday, Womack declined to comment to Fox News Digital.

Under North Carolina law, the charge is a Class H felony that can carry a prison sentence exceeding two years, depending on the defendant’s criminal history and other sentencing factors.

Under House rules, members formally charged with a felony punishable by two or more years in prison are expected to step aside from committee assignments and party leadership positions while the charges remain pending, a provision that could become relevant to Womack once she takes office in January.

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Moore’s campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

“My opponent needs to explain these pending felony charges to the voters of North Carolina District 14,” Moore wrote in an Oct. 28 post on X. “With a court date literally the week after the election this is a big deal.”

President Donald Trump named Stephen Miller his new White House chief of staff, calling him one of his “most trusted advisors” on Friday. 

Miller will ascend to the role on Monday, officially replacing Susie Wiles, who Trump said will be moving to his political operation.

“I want to thank her for her service as Chief of Staff — She has done a great job!” Trump wrote.

Moments after Trump’s announcement, Wiles issued a statement of her own. 

“Today is my last day as White House Chief of Staff,” Wiles said.

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“Serving President Trump in the White House has been the honor of a lifetime. I’m so proud to have been a part of what we’ve accomplished together from securing our border and cutting taxes to strengthening our economy and putting America First,” she added. “More than anything, I’m grateful for the extraordinary people I’ve had the privilege of working alongside. While my role may be changing, my commitment to the President and the mission never will.”

Trump told reporters Friday, before departing on Marine One. that Wiles did a “great job.” 

“I think [she’s] done a very good job. Great job. But I just wanted to make this even been great.  We got to make. We’ve got to make those. So sometimes in life, we have to make [moves],” said Trump.

In March, Wiles announced she had been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer upon early detection and received a strong prognosis. Six months later, in September, she shared that she was cancer free.

“With grit, determination, faith and the support of extraordinary people, it is possible to fight this disease while continuing to embrace the work, relationships and sense of purpose that make you who you are,” Wile wrote in a USA Today op-ed in September. “For me, that means serving my president and my country. I will always be grateful to President Donald Trump for the kindness and compassion while I was undergoing treatment.”

TRUMP PLEDGES TO VETO ‘INSANE’ DEM BILLS, PINPOINTS ISSUE PARTIALLY TO BLAME FOR REPUBLICAN LOSSES

The Friday announcement came after Republicans lost control of both the House and Senate in the midterm elections, dealing a major blow to President Donald Trump after the war with Iran and persistent affordability concerns loomed large over elections, as voters weighed the economic toll of the conflict.

A White House official told Fox News Digital the decision was “very amicable” and Wiles handed her resignation on Thursday night. 

“A great pick. He has the trust of millions of Americans who understand that reversing mass migration is the crisis of our time,” an administration official told Fox News Digital.

Wiles worked on Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns, making history as the first woman to serve as chief of staff. She is a longtime Trump ally, first throwing her support behind him in 2015 when she became the Trump campaign’s co-chairwoman in Florida.

“As a card-carrying member of the G.O.P. establishment, many thought my full-throated endorsement of the Trump candidacy was ill-advised — even crazy,” Wiles told the New York Times in a rare public statement back in 2016.

Wiles has served in her role for 21 months, making her Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff across both of his terms. Trump cycled through four chiefs of staff during his first term, with John Kelly serving the longest—about 17 months.

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She has been dubbed the “Ice Maiden” by Trump, which he noted in his 2024 victory speech, for her hard-nosed approach to handling business.

Wiles was seen as Trump’s behind-the-scenes enforcer, sitting in on high-level meetings and standing by his side at events, while Wiles rarely spoke directly to the public.

Current and former Trump administration officials posted on social media to thank Wiles and congratulate Miller.

“Very grateful to Susie for her friendship and service to the president and our country. Stephen Miller is an amazing patriot and will do great things. Congrats to him on a well deserved promotion,” wrote Vice President Vance.

“Stephen Miller is a Trump OG, someone who has been with the President since the very beginning. There is no bigger advocate for the Trump agenda than Stephen, and he will help the Administration deliver on monumental victories for the rest of this historic second term,” wrote White House communication director Steven Cheung.

“A huge thank you to Susie Wiles for her incredible service to our nation! She’s a rockstar and will no doubt continue working to make our country great. Looking forward to continuing our work with my good friend Stephen Miller as Chief. Together we’ve reduced crime to historic levels, enhanced public safety throughout our communities, and continue to root out the massive fraud that has taken advantage of American taxpayers. We’re not slowing down,” wrote Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Wiles played a central role in engineering Trump’s return to the White House, earning a reputation as one of his most trusted political strategists. But her transition from campaign mastermind to White House chief of staff has also brought its share of challenges, with a few high-profile controversies drawing scrutiny during her tenure.

Wiles faced scrutiny during her tenure over several controversies, including her involvement in a Signal group chat in which Secretary of War Pete Hegseth shared sensitive details about impending U.S. military strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen. The chat inadvertently included the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, who later exposed the discussions. The administration denied that classified information had been shared.

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Wiles also drew attention in December 2025 after Vanity Fair published a series of candid interviews in which she offered blunt assessments of Trump and senior administration officials.

President Donald Trump tapped Stephen Miller to succeed Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, elevating an adviser who reportedly helped develop plans to advance his agenda without congressional approval as Democrats prepare to take control of Congress in January.

Miller, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and White House lawyers have worked since April to identify executive actions Trump could take without new legislation, including measures on immigration, tariffs, housing costs and federal spending, Reuters reported Sunday, citing three people familiar with the planning.

With Democrats set to control Congress in January, Trump will face greater obstacles to passing legislation, while Democratic lawmakers will gain the power to launch investigations into his administration.

“If crazed Democrats want to abuse their power and politicize their process of investigations, subpoenas, and destroying lives, they should be reminded that we still control the federal government and all of its powers,” a White House official told Fox News Digital Friday afternoon.

‘LAWYER UP’: DEMS IMMEDIATELY PUT TRUMP ON NOTICE AMID REPUBLICANS’ MIDTERM BLOODBATH

Asked by CBS on Tuesday how he would advance his agenda if Democrats took control of Congress, Trump cited the Supreme Court’s June ruling in Trump v. Slaughter, which expanded his authority to remove certain federal officials.

“We won the Slaughter case and the Slaughter case gives the president tremendous powers that it never had before,” Trump told CBS in the interview.

TRUMP TOUTS ‘ULTIMATE POWER’ OF VETO IF DEMOCRATS WIN CONTROL OF HOUSE AND SENATE

In Trump v. Slaughter, the Supreme Court handed Trump a significant victory on presidential authority in June, ruling that he had the constitutional power to remove former Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter despite a federal law restricting the president’s ability to fire FTC commissioners.

Trump said the ruling will be a cornerstone for how he intends to govern by executive action. He also discussed vetoing bills passed by the Democratic Congress until they’re willing to come to the bargaining table. 

On numerous occasions, he has already referred to himself as “Mr. Veto.”

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“As the President has said, he’s willing to work with anyone to continue delivering victories for hardworking Americans,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital. “If Democrats choose to pursue sham investigations and radical left policies, they are choosing to work against the American people.”

Republicans on the Hill expressed concerns about what Miller’s appointment could mean for the final two years of his presidency.

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Asked whether Miller’s promotion could lead Trump to rely more heavily on executive action, one House Republican told Fox News Digital: “I’ve been concerned about that for two years.”

“I’m also concerned [Trump] will embrace his populist roots that are not conservative to pass things with the Dems,” the lawmaker said.

TRUMP CONGRATULATES DEMOCRATS AFTER DOMINANT MIDTERMS, SAYS HE LOOKS FORWARD TO WORKING WITH THEM

Another said the Trump administration will continue governing “without Congress, as they’ve been doing.”

STEPHEN MILLER SAYS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS PURSUING POLICY TO DEBANK ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

A Trump administration official praised Miller’s appointment, particularly given Miller’s immigration bona fides.

“A great pick,” the official told Fox News Digital. “He has the trust of millions of Americans who understand that reversing mass migration is the crisis of our time.”

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Miller will begin his new role Monday, and Wiles will move to Trump’s political operation.