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The traditional American Dream of homeownership slipped further out of reach across the country over the last decade, even as Washington spent hundreds of billions of dollars on housing programs, according to a new government watchdog analysis.

Open The Books, a conservative watchdog that tracks government spending, analyzed a decade of home-price and household-income data across all 50 states and compared it with federal housing spending, finding virtually no relationship between greater investment from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and narrower affordability gaps. The watchdog found home prices grew faster than median household incomes in every state during the 10 years they looked at.

“The further you get from a prospective homesite, the less effective or efficient any spending or regulatory tweak is likely to be,” Christopher Neefus, vice president of communications for Open The Books, told Fox News Digital. “A single agency in Washington is likely the least equipped to offer some uniform solution.”

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To measure that disparity, Open The Books calculated the percentage growth in each state’s Federal Housing Finance Agency home-price index over the decade and subtracted the percentage growth in median household income over the same period, calling the difference the “Affordability Gap.”

Effectively, the metric measures how much faster home prices rose than median household incomes in each state.

The watchdog found home prices grew faster than median household incomes in every state between 2015 and 2024, creating what the group dubbed an “Affordability Gap.” The wider the gap, the further the traditional dream of homeownership slipped from what household incomes could keep pace with.

In 48 states, that gap reached double digits, while 17 states saw home-price growth outpace income growth by more than 50 percentage points, according to Open The Books’ analysis.

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“In this case, nearly half a trillion dollars was shoveled into the states over a decade, but it offered no meaningful effect for Americans whose incomes were outrun by prices in every state,” Neefus said. “The answer, then, has to be in addressing regulatory hurdles, zoning restrictions, and investments at the local level.”

To test whether greater federal spending corresponded with better affordability outcomes, Open The Books tallied roughly $460 billion in HUD spending across 18 programs related to housing affordability, availability, rent control and homelessness from 2015 through 2024, then compared each state’s spending with its “Affordability Gap.” 

The analysis found virtually no linear relationship between the amount of HUD funding a state received and the size of its affordability gap, according to the watchdog.

In response to the report, HUD pointed to the Trump administration’s efforts to cut regulations, combat fraud and shift more housing policy decisions to state and local governments.

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“Under President Trump’s leadership, HUD is focused on delivering results and making housing more affordable for every American willing to work for it,” a HUD spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “We’ve uncovered nearly $495 million in fraud, rolled back burdensome Biden-era policies, and helped more than one million Americans achieve homeownership.”

“Washington doesn’t have all the answers, which is why we’re empowering state and local leaders to advance proven solutions, cut barriers, and increase housing supply,” the spokesperson added.

The report comes amid broader concern that younger Americans are being priced out of milestones that previous generations associated with the American Dream.

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Fox News Digital previously reported that median household income nationally increased 99.7% between 2000 and 2024, while the median sale price of a single-family home increased 150.1% over the same period, according to a housing policy blueprint released earlier this year. The median age of a first-time homebuyer has also climbed to 40.

For Neefus, those trends help explain why younger generations may increasingly view homeownership as something less attainable than it was for their parents and grandparents.

“If you look at how long it would take a median income household to save up for a strong down payment, it’s really no wonder that younger generations might be redefining what the American dream means for them,” Neefus said. “If there’s hope of restoring that dream of homeownership, this analysis demonstrates that top-down spending won’t be the way.”

A federal judge on Tuesday cleared the way for the Trump administration to end deportation protections for Ethiopian immigrants, putting into effect all of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) terminations the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has pursued for select countries.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston lifted a temporary hold on the decades-old TPS program, which allowed Ethiopian nationals to live and work legally in the U.S. as their home country was considered unsafe. Last year, DHS determined that Ethiopia no longer met the conditions for TPS, asserting that conditions in the country had improved.

The decision removes the final legal hurdle facing DHS after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the administration could terminate similar protections for thousands of people from Haiti and Syria.

“ALL TPS terminations are now IN EFFECT,” the DHS said in a post on X. “Those with terminated TPS should leave NOW. If they don’t, we will DEPORT them.”

TRUMP SCORES MAJOR IMMIGRATION VICTORY AS JUDGE CLEARS WAY TO END TPS PROTECTIONS FOR THOUSANDS OF SOMALIS

The decision to terminate the deportation protections was part of a split ruling by Murphy, who had previously issued an administrative stay in African Communities Together v. Markwayne Mullin. In the civil case, plaintiffs argued that DHS terminated the protections due to racial and national-origin discrimination.

In the ruling, Murphy found that DHS has the authority to terminate TPS designations and that individuals were not entitled to individual hearings before the nationwide program was terminated.

SUPREME COURT’S LATEST IMMIGRATION RULING WILL CAUSE AMERICANS TO ‘DIE AND SUFFER’ ATTORNEY WARNS

Concurrently, Murphy allowed the plaintiffs’ primary claim to move forward, finding that they had presented a plausible case that the government ended the protections due to discrimination, allegedly violating the Fifth Amendment Equal Protection Clause.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a humanitarian program established by Congress in 1990 that grants temporary work authorization and protection from deportation to noncitizens whose home countries are deemed unsafe due to ongoing armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions.

Ethiopia was first designated for the program on Dec. 12, 2022, following ongoing armed conflict and severe climatic shocks.

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Last December, the Secretary of Homeland Security terminated Ethiopia’s TPS designation, setting an effective end date of Feb. 13, 2026. The termination sparked immediate legal challenges, resulting in a series of temporary court-ordered pauses that have now been dissolved by the latest ruling.

EXCLUSIVE: AUBURN, Maine — House Speaker Mike Johnson decisively insisted Republicans will buck long-standing, cyclical election trends and hold their congressional majority in November’s midterms.

“I’m absolutely convinced we’re going to defy the historic trend and keep and grow the House majority for Republicans,” the five-term GOP lawmaker from Louisiana said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital this week as he stopped in a crucial House district the GOP aims to flip.

The party in power in Washington, D.C., traditionally faces political headwinds in the midterms and loses congressional seats. This year, that could be the downfall of the GOP, which has slim majorities in both the House and Senate. Meanwhile, Republicans are also facing a rough political climate thanks to persistent inflation, what polls indicate is an unpopular war in Iran and President Donald Trump’s underwater approval ratings.

But Johnson says the high-profile primary battle between the far-left and the Democratic establishment, for a party already suffering from all-time low favorable ratings, is political ammunition for Republicans.

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“The Democrats are in almost an open civil war right now,” Johnson emphasized to Fox News Digital. “You see communists actually running for Congress, Marxists are inside the gate.”

Johnson, who is crisscrossing the country on a barnstorming tour, argued that the midterms will be a choice election rather than a referendum on Trump’s second term and congressional Republicans.

“America is not down for that,” Johnson said in reference to left-wing Democrats. “I’m so grateful we have common sense on the ballot. This really is a contrast election between commonsense candidates… and crazy, and that’s what the other side represents.”

FIRST ON FOX: JOHNSON TURNS DEMOCRATS’ CIVIL WAR INTO MIDTERM WEAPON

Last week, as first reported by Fox News Digital, Johnson launched a new website highlighting the contrast between Democrats and Republicans.

The name for the initiative is “Contrast for America,” a play on the Newt Gingrich-led “Contract with America” GOP policy platform used during the 1994 midterm election, when Republicans recaptured the House thanks to a massive red wave.

Johnson was interviewed as he teamed up in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District with former two-term GOP Gov. Paul LePage, the party’s congressional nominee for the open seat Democrats currently hold.

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The mostly rural district, the largest in the eastern U.S., was carried by LePage in his statewide races, and by Trump in his three presidential campaigns. And with four-term moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Golden passing on a re-election run, Republicans see the seat as a top pickup opportunity.

“We’re going to flip a blue seat red here,” Johnson predicted. “This district matters very much to us, and that’s why I’m here.”

The speaker touted that LePage is “one of the greatest candidates that’s been recruited nationwide. Everyone in the state knows him and respects him. He’s a two-term governor with a great life story…He brings a great skill set, a great life story, a great set of experiences to Congress.”

LePage will face off in the general election against Democratic nominee Matt Dunlap, the current state auditor and former longtime Maine secretary of state.

The former governor called Dunlap, who enjoys support from progressive leaders and groups, “too, too far to the left.”

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Dunlap doesn’t think the strategy to paint him as a radical will work because such “associations” don’t matter to voters.

“My priorities actually resonate with everyone. It’s not necessarily progressive or conservative or moderate,” Dunlap recently told Fox News Digital.

Johnson’s stops in Maine, at Auburn Concrete and later at a nearby fundraiser, are part of a coast-to-coast swing taking him to crucial House races in 18 states.

Highlighting the “highest quality candidates I think that we’ve had in a long, long time,” Johnson said he was “very, very bullish about our prospects.”

Democrats don’t see it that way, and they spotlight the continued high prices facing Americans.

“Everything is too damn expensive because of House Republicans, and the American people are eager to vote them out of office over their broken promises,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Viet Shelton told Fox News Digital.

Shelton argued, “While Democrats are running on a platform to lower costs, Mike Johnson’s decision to double down behind a class of awful, scandal-plagued, weak candidates running lackluster campaigns who cheerlead his price-hiking agendas highlights how bleak their midterm chances are.”

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But Johnson stands by his prediction, reiterating, “We’re going to grow the majority.”

“I’m not going to give a specific number, but I am very bullish about the outcome on election night,” he said.

FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., unleashed a profanity-laden demand on New York Attorney General Letitia James for what he characterized as a failure to prosecute rising antisemitic hate crimes in the state.

“The Attorney General of the State of New York, Letitia James, needs to actually do her f- – -ing job,” Lawler said in response to the recent attack on a Jewish synagogue. “Which means prosecute antisemitic hate crimes.”

Lawler was questioned on the rise of antisemitism in New York during a campaign endorsement event with local law enforcement leaders.

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“Rather than running around doing whatever the hell she does, where she plays politics every day, maybe she can actually focus on what her job is,” the Republican lawmaker continued. “Which is to ensure the safety and well-being of New Yorkers as the chief law enforcement officer in the state of New York.”

The comments come just days after a Bronx man burst into a Manhattan synagogue last week during Shabbat services, assaulting a congregant and a member of the synagogue’s security team.

In a statement to Fox News Digital on Lawler’s comment, a spokesperson for James’ campaign insisted: “Keeping New York families safe is the Attorney General’s top priority and has been since day one.” 

“Since taking office in 2019, New York Attorney General Letitia James has removed nearly 10,000 firearms from New York streets through community gun buyback programs, dismantled dozens of gun and drug trafficking rings, and seized hundreds of kilograms of narcotics before they could flood New York neighborhoods.”

“The congressman should focus on his own campaign instead of political theater,” they added, pushing back on Lawler.

James is Trump’s biggest legal foe, she targeted him in New York during the time between his first and second terms, which the president and his supporters repeatedly denounced as politically motivated prosecutions. 

TRUMP BACKS REPUBLICAN CHALLENGER TO OUST LETITIA JAMES AMID ONGOING MORTGAGE FRAUD FEUD

Earlier, James released a statement condemning the assault as “appalling and unacceptable.”

“I saw her statement she put out the other day, decrying what happened. Great,” Lawler brushed-off. 

“Prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” Lawler continued. “Stop releasing these people on cashless bail. Start going after criminals who jeopardize the safety and well being of law-abiding New Yorkers. That’s what needs to happen here.”

The suspect Larry Montes, 46, was arraigned Saturday night with his bail set at $10,000 cash and $30,000 in bonds. He was charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of criminal mischief as a hate crime.

Anti-Jewish attacks made up more than half of all hate crimes committed in New York City, an 8.5% increase on antisemitic hate crimes in the city since last year, according to New York Police Department (NYPD) officials.

“We have seen a rapid rise in attacks on places of worship,” Lawler said. “We have seen a rise in antisemitic hate crimes — people being attacked for practicing their faith.”

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Lawler also claimed during the event that over 90% of antisemitic hate crimes are not prosecuted in the state of New York.

Both Lawler and James are up for re-election, seeking another term in their respective roles serving New York.

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The groups endorsing Lawler at the campaign event include the Police Conference of New York, Port Authority PBA, Rockland County PBA, New York State Fraternal Order of Police and other law enforcement groups.

A biological male who identifies as a woman was sentenced to 63 months (6 years and 1 month) Tuesday for a plot to “kill” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Prosecutors sought at least 10 years in prison for Riley Jane English, who was identified by the Justice Department as Ryan Michael English.

U.S. District Judge Rudolf Contreras, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, sentenced English after a guilty plea to two counts related to the attempt to kill Bessent and carrying a dangerous weapon on the grounds of the Capitol on Jan. 27, 2025.

“The offense is very serious,” said Contreras, adding that “Miss English” was concerned with “trans rights” and came to the Capitol with a folding knife and two small Molotov cocktails, “which probably would not have ignited.” 

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Contreras said English is a 26-year-old trans woman who has many physical and mental health issues which were exacerbated by drug usage.

The calculation for the sentencing range was 97 to 121 months, and Department of Justice prosecutor Brendan Horan asked for a sentence at the top end of the suggested range, but Contreras said he believed the range was too high. 

“No one was harmed,” the judge said Tuesday. “The plan was basically impossible to succeed, and she turned herself in before it came anywhere near fruition.” 

Contreras also noted that the probation department recommended a sentence of 60 months. English has served roughly 20 months in prison already and will get credit for that time served, as well as three years of probation after the sentence. 

“You’ve had a very difficult life with a lot of challenges,” Contreras told English. “You’re young, you still have a significant portion of your life. Good luck to you.”

The defense team requested that English be placed in a female prison. Contreras said he would pass the request to the Bureau of Prisons.

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“My office will not tolerate attempts to intimidate or harm public officials that strike at the heart of our democratic process and are antithetical to the values we all depend on,” U.S. Attorney Pirro wrote in a statement. “The defendant is now a convicted felon and is headed where he belongs: prison.”

English wore an orange jumpsuit and glasses, with mid-length blonde hair. 

“I love my country, I love my family, and I live my life; I never wanted to hurt anyone,” English told Judge Contreras before the sentence was delivered. “At times I can’t explain the mental state that I’m in.

“I’m sorry for the fear I caused the country and my family,” English added. “I have a lot on my plate with an upcoming surgery. I want a chance to work and start a family of my own. I’m grateful for the opportunity to get sober and get right in my mind.”

English pleaded guilty March 26 to unlawful receipt, possession or transfer of a firearm and carrying a firearm, dangerous weapon, explosive or incendiary device on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.

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“I was going to kill Scott Bessent,” English told police, who repeated the question back, asking, “Kill Scott Bessent?”

“Yes, sir,” English confirmed.

English, of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, “had been thinking about this for a while because of Luigi Mangione,” according to a statement to police, prosecutors said.

The Justice Department said English traveled from Massachusetts to the Washington area Jan. 27, 2025, intending to kill a government official or burn down a Washington think tank. English ultimately focused on Bessent, who was being confirmed by the Senate that day as President Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary.

“Our system of justice depends on public officials being able to carry out their duties free from intimidation and fear,” Pirro wrote in a statement announcing English’s guilty plea in March. 

“This defendant’s threats crossed a clear legal line, and today’s guilty plea reflects our commitment to protecting those who serve. Anyone who threatens violence against government officials will be identified, charged, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” 

At about 3:12 p.m. ET on Jan. 27, 2025, English approached a U.S. Capitol Police officer near the South Door of the Capitol and said, “I’d like to turn myself in.”

English told the officer about a knife and two Molotov cocktails. Police found a folding knife, two 50-milliliter Absolut vodka bottles with gray cloth attached to the tops and a lighter, according to court records. Investigators later found additional vodka and material matching the cloth used in the incendiary devices inside English’s vehicle.

English told investigators that the original targets included House Speaker Mike Johnson and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and that English had also considered burning down the Heritage Foundation, according to court filings. The target shifted to Bessent after English saw him on television while stopping at a library in the Washington area.

English told police that a clip of Bessent discussing the federal minimum wage had sparked anger.

“He said it with a smile on his face and that got under my skin,” English told investigators, according to court records.

English allegedly admitted to going to the Capitol intending to wait for Bessent but abandoned the plan after seeing the security presence and realizing other people could be harmed.

Police also recovered a handwritten note in which they said English had written, in part, “This is terrible but I cant do nothing while nazis kill my sisters,” according to the Justice Department. “Im so sorry for lying and plotting and lying.” 

English had second thoughts because of Mangione’s own experience facing the law.

“I pushed that away because I was thinking like that is so stupid, that accomplishes nothing, that poor kid just threw his life away for like a minute of vengeance,” English said, according to prosecutors.

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“If all else fails, I was going to slit my wrists on the White House steps,” English admitted to police, according to court filings, showing a serious mental health issue.

“Just because that’s all you can do if you can’t hurt anyone else and you’re out of options and you’re out of time and you need to have an outlet and you need to show people how serious it is and you need to make one big dramatic f–––king thing.”

Fox News’ Ashley DiMella and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. — the candidate going head-to-head against Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., in the South Carolina special Republican U.S. Senate primary runoff — suggested in a campaign ad that his rival is the establishment’s candidate.

“The establishment has already” selected “their candidate,” he declared in the video, without naming Graham, his lone rival in the contest. “Same old playbook, same old insiders. I’m not their choice.”

“South Carolina needs a proven conservative with a record of fighting for you. You shouldn’t have to guess where your next senator stands: With me, you already know,” Norman said in the ad.

HOUSE REPUBLICAN SUGGESTS SEN DARLINE GRAHAM IS AN ‘ALLY’ FOR THE ‘SWAMP’

Graham and Norman, who finished first and second respectively in the Aug. 11 special GOP U.S. Senate primary, will now face off in the Aug. 25 runoff.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Graham last month to fill the Senate vacancy caused by the death of her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.

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

The new senator is backed by President Donald Trump.

“To suggest Donald Trump is part of the establishment is a joke. Senator Darline Graham has built a broad coalition of conservatives across South Carolina. Ralph is a party of one: himself,” Graham campaign spokesperson Abby Zilch said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

“Ralph is a fiscal conservative when it is politically convenient. He voted no on a pay raise for our troops and benefits for veterans, but when COVID money benefited Ralph, all bets were off. Darline is a MAGA fighter who will help President Trump deliver. Ralph Norman will stand in the way,” she added.

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

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Norman spokesperson Brittany Yanick said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “Ralph Norman is a businessman and the only proven conservative in this race. He has received wide support from conservatives including Senators Rick Scott and Mike Lee in Washington, D.C. to leaders across South Carolina, such as [former] Senator Jim DeMint and Former State Rep. Adam Morgan, among many others.”

“South Carolinians shouldn’t have to guess where their Senator stands on important issues; with Ralph, they already know,” Yanick added. “His resume is his record unlike his opponent who is unknown and backed by Democrat donors. Next week, South Carolinians will vote for Ralph Norman to represent the Palmetto State for the next six years.”

FIRST ON FOX: A multibillion-dollar global corporation that House Republicans accused of peddling misleading claims about diversity in the workplace is sticking by its findings.

Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, who leads a House Oversight Committee task force on “exposing institutional abuses,” targeted consulting firm McKinsey & Company over a series of reports it released that argued diversity in the workplace led to better business and financial outcomes.

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

A spokesperson for the company told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that it agreed with Gill “that race and gender should not guarantee outcomes,” but added, “We stand by our research on the business and economic impact of a diverse workforce.”

SENATE REPUBLICAN PUSHES MERIT-BASED MILITARY PROMOTIONS, TARGETS BIDEN-ERA DEI POLICIES

“We also recognize that diversity in the workplace encompasses a broad range of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. We have and will continue to follow the law in the U.S. and in the other markets in which we operate,” the spokesperson said.

Gill wrote in his letter that McKinsey’s reports were “highly influential in American corporations” and provided fuel for left-wing groups pushing race and gender-based diversity goals.

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

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

Gill also questioned whether the findings of the reports were legitimate.

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

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

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

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

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

Fox News Digital reached out to Gill for comment on McKinsey’s response to his probe.

Following his bombshell primary defeat in May, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is facing another blow as his longtime aide is crossing the political aisle to work for the Democrat candidate running to replace him in the upper chamber.

Former Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, backed by President Donald Trump, is running against Democrat state Rep. James Talarico in a crucial midterm election race that will decide the future of Cornyn’s seat and could determine control of the Senate.

Jacob Smith, who worked for Cornyn for five years as a deputy legislative director and policy advisor, signed up to work on the Senate campaign for Talarico. The news was first reported by NOTUS and confirmed by Fox News Digital.

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Cornyn lost his reelection bid in an expensive and bitter prumary runoff against Paxton earlier this year. The clash between the two Texas titans shaped up as a fight between the Republican establishment versus Trump’s MAGA and America First supporters.

The general election face-off in red-leaning Texas between Talarico and Paxton is one of roughly a dozen that will likely decide if Republicans hold the Senate majority or if Democrats win back control of the chamber.

Instead of Smith opting to join the replacement Republican for Cornyn, he defected to back the Democrat running for the seat.

“I’ve worked for Republicans like Senator Cornyn my entire career, but this year I’m proud to be joining James Talarico’s campaign,” Smith wrote in a statement. “Instead of playing partisan politics, Talarico speaks to the needs of everyday people who day in and day out work too hard for too little.”

Democrats haven’t won a Senate election in Texas in nearly four decades, but they view Paxton as vulnerable, because of the slew of scandals and legal problems that have battered him over the past decade. And Paxton is dealing with a messy divorce, with his wife citing “biblical grounds” based on “recent discoveries” in filing last year to end their marriage.

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And Smith took aim at Paxton in his decision to bolster Talarico’s campaign, charging that the former AG “is the most corrupt, self-dealing politician in Texas who would sell their futures to the highest contributor just to hold onto power.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Paxton campaign for comment, but didn’t receive a response at time of publication.

Cornyn has repeatedly noted since his runoff defeat that he would support the party’s nominee, saying “I’ve always supported the Republican ticket, and I intend to do so again in this general election.”

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The cross-party switch by Smith is considered rare, and his addition on Talarico’s team may potentially help the Democratic nominee as he reaches out to Republicans who may not be thrilled with Paxton as their party’s nominee.

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The most recent Fox News poll in the Texas Senate showdown, conducted late last month, indicated Talarico holding a slight 51%-48% edge over Paxton among registered voters.

The survey suggested that Paxton had yet to fully unite Republicans. While virtually all Democrats supported Talarico (98%), fewer Republicans were unified behind Paxton (89%).

Meanwhile, the latest Fox News Power Rankings, released on Tuesday, shifted the Senate race in Texas from Lean Republican to toss-up.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FOX NEWS POLL: A SENATE BATTLE LOOMS IN MICHIGAN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TRUMP WARNS IRAN FIGHTING ISN’T OVER AS HE VOWS US WILL ‘WIN’ AS TALKS FADE

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

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

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

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

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

GULF COUNTRIES STRONGLY CONDEMN IRAN’S DRONE ATTACK ON BAHRAIN AS RISING TENSIONS THREATEN MOU

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ILHAN OMAR ON TRACK FOR FIFTH TERM AS MINNESOTA VOTERS MAINTAIN FAR-LEFT STREAK

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

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

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

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

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

MILLION-DOLLAR SNAP FOOD STAMP FRAUD SCHEME IN WALZ’S BACKYARD SPARKS OUTRAGE: ‘CRUEL JOKE’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Balkcom thanked the president in a post on X.

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

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

GOP REP CHUCK EDWARDS DROPS RE-ELECTION BID AFTER HOUSE ETHICS REPORT RECOMMENDS CENSURE

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

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

GOP LAWMAKER’S GIFTS, ‘EFFUSIVE AFFECTION’ TOWARD YOUNG STAFFERS DETAILED IN EXPLOSIVE ETHICS REPORT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reuters contributed to this report.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

President Trump continued.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s all.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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