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Former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Walter “Jay” Clayton was set to face senators at what was expected to be a tense confirmation hearing to become director of national intelligence Wednesday. But President Donald Trump abruptly halted the proceedings, declaring in an early morning Truth Social post that Clayton’s confirmation hearing would not move forward Wednesday. 

While Trump commands a great deal of authority, he can’t cancel a hearing on the Hill on his own. But, sources familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that it’d be “hard to have a hearing without a witness.” 

The presumably postponed hearing had been set against the backdrop of’ Democrats’ weeks-long uproar over President Donald Trump’s temporary pick for the job — homebuilder scion and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte.

Clayton is currently serving as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, which is considered the most prominent of the dozens of national posts – with alumni ranging from Rudy Giuliani to Preet Bharara.

TRUMP NOMINATES JAY CLAYTON, FORMER SEC CHAIRMAN, CURRENT US ATTORNEY, AS INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a top Trump critic, told reporters Tuesday that concerns over Pulte could actually help push Clayton through once he appears before the Intelligence Committee.

“[I] would love to hear some reassurance from the White House that Bill Pulte is not going to take over as DNI, even for a very short period of time, but that I don’t anticipate that coming,” he said.

Kelly said that Pulte looming over the intelligence community might be an “incentive” to move Clayton through “on a faster timeline.”

TRUMP NAMES BILL PULTE ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

“But to do that, we have to have everybody in the committee,” he said.

Democrats have accused Pulte of playing politics with his powers at FHFA and worry that his lack of intel credentials and alleged partisanship endanger the role of DNI.

Trump dismissed such claims, saying “Dumocrats” are inordinately “afraid” of Pulte.

WHY TRUMP PICKED BILL PULTE TO LEAD US INTELLIGENCE AS CRITICS QUESTION HIS QUALIFICATIONS

Clayton, meanwhile, is expected to come before Congress with a resume that may be easier for Democrats to digest in the narrow-GOP-majority upper chamber.

While Clayton also doesn’t come from the intel community, he does have the prosecutorial chops some critics may be assuaged by.

As SDNY’s top federal prosecutor, Clayton has overseen cases involving violent crime, drug trafficking, Wall Street-related enforcement and national security matters, while avoiding public controversy of other Trump picks.

SENATE PUSH TO REAUTHORIZE NATION’S SPY POWERS STUMBLES OVER CONTROVERSIAL TRUMP DECISION

Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said that Clayton’s role as SDNY does crossover into intelligence matters.

“Jay Clayton is an eminently qualified individual to become the new director of national intelligence. And so we are looking forward to processing him this week. [Intelligence Committee] Chairman Cotton will be … [holding] his confirmation hearing tomorrow… and hopefully reporting him out later in the week.”

Returning to concerns over Democrat roadblocks for another Trump pick, Thune noted it would take cooperation of the minority party to fast-track the nomination.

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It remains unclear when Clayton’s confirmation hearing will be rescheduled or whether Democrats will cooperate with efforts to move his nomination quickly.

Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump declared in an early Wednesday morning Truth Social post that a scheduled Senate hearing on Jay Clayton’s nomination to serve as director of national intelligence would not move forward Wednesday.

The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has a hearing on Clayton’s nomination for DNI scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

But the president said the hearing will not take place until Jamie McDonald has been confirmed to fill the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York post.

President Trump tied the move to an ongoing dispute over renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, claiming Democrats backed away from an agreement to support the surveillance authority after Republicans agreed to move away from Bill Pulte as acting DNI. The provision allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect communications of foreign targets located outside the U.S.

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

The president further said he would not support renewal of FISA authorities unless Congress also advances the SAVE AMERICA ACT, a voting-security measure backed by the administration.

Clayton’s hearing had been scheduled amid a broader debate over the future of U.S. intelligence leadership and the reauthorization of key surveillance authorities.

TRUMP NOMINATES JAY CLAYTON, FORMER SEC CHAIRMAN, CURRENT US ATTORNEY, AS INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR

“Regarding the approval of our Great Patriot, Jay Clayton, we are cancelling the Senate Hearing RE: DNI today, and will not be going forward until Jamie McDonald is approved to be U.S. Attorney. In the meantime, Bill Pulte will remain as the Acting Director of National Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.

Pulte “will take over on June 19th,” the president declared in a post last week.

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“The Republicans agreed with Dumocrats to remove very fair, and talented, William Pulte, from serving as Acting DNI in return for getting FISA approved by the Dumocrats. However, the Republicans moved so fast with the hearings of the Great Jay Clayton, current U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, that Pulte would be gone before the Dumocrats would vote on FISA. Now, the Dumocrats are saying they will vote against FISA — So, the Republicans wound up having fulfilled their commitment, but Dumocrats broke the Deal,” Trump said in his post on Wednesday morning.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: LAWMAKERS SCRAMBLE AS FISA FIGHT COMES AT THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME

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“In addition, the newly nominated U.S. Attorney, Jamie McDonald, must be confirmed and blue slipped. Because of the ridiculous views of Republicans on blue slipping (Dumocrats are often willing to nix it), I may not be able to get the extraordinary Sullivan & Cromwell Partner, Jamie, approved, and I don’t want to take Jay Clayton away from the great job he is doing until Jamie is in place. Therefore, to add a slight bit of intrigue but, for the Good of the Nation, and the People of our Country, I will not approve FISA without THE SAVE AMERICA ACT going along with it. Not complicated, actually, the Republicans fell into a trap,” he added.

ATLANTA, Ga. — President Donald Trump’s endorsement wasn’t enough to boost Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to victory Tuesday night in the ballot-box showdown for the southeastern battleground state’s Republican gubernatorial nomination.

Jones was defeated by billionaire businessman Rick Jackson in the GOP runoff election for Georgia governor, the Associated Press reports, in the race to succeed term-limited conservative Gov. Brian Kemp.

Jackson, who shelled out over $100 million of his own money on his bid, will now face former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who served in the Biden administration, in this autumn’s general election. Bottoms avoided a runoff by winning a majority of the vote as she topped six other candidates in last month’s Democratic gubernatorial primary.

“When I announced my campaign, I said the political class protects itself….it’s a cartel and I said I’m coming to break it up. Well, tonight, we shattered it,” said Jackson, who launched his campaign in February, in his victory speech.

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

“I’m the only candidate who doesn’t owe a thing to the political establishment,” Jackson emphasized. “I can’t be bought, and I’m not going to back down…. Tonight we did more than win a runoff. Tonight we proved that the people of Georgia are in charge.”

Jackson was unknown to Georgia voters a few months ago, but thanks to an avalanche of ads, his story of building a business empire despite growing up in foster care and not being able to afford college became well known in the Peach State.

“I know what it’s like to feel like nobody sees you, especially the elite and the powerful,” Jackson said in his speech a hundreds of supporters. “When you grow up the way I did, you never forget where you came from. You never forget the families who are working harder than ever, but still falling behind.”

Jackson was also boosted in the final stretch ahead of the runoff election by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, the conservative firebrand from Texas.

Throughout his campaign, Jackson has said that Trump inspired him to run.

“I just thought, you know, if you had somebody doing business solutions for the state of Georgia, just like Trump is for the United States, I just felt like I would have a major impact on the state of Georgia, and so that was one of the reasons I wanted to get in. I was inspired by President Trump,” Jackson told Fox News Digital last month.

And he repeatedly highlighted that, like Trump, he’s an outsider and businessman. “I’m going to be Trump’s favorite governor because we’re just alike on the way that we handle business and handle problems, and I want to do exactly in Georgia what he’s doing at the federal government,” he reiterated in a Fox News Digital interview Sunday.

And Jackson spotlighted his outsider credentials, saying that voters could “see somebody that’s actually like Trump, not just endorsed. And from that standpoint, I think having an outsider is what our people want.”

Cruz joined Jackson on the campaign trail for a runoff eve rally.

“Rick has an extraordinary record, an extraordinary life story. And I also think he’s positioned to win. And the stakes are too high. This election is a battleground all across the country. We can’t afford to lose Georgia,” Cruz told Fox News Digital.

When Cruz endorsed Jackson on Friday, he also supported South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who is facing off in a week against Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette.

Asked if he’s trying to put some daylight between himself and the president on the campaign trail, Cruz quickly responded, “No. Not remotely….The president and I agree on the vast majority of races. What I try to do in every race is endorse the strongest conservative who can win. And typically I get in races late in the race at a time where my support might be able to make a difference and be helpful.”

Jones, on the eve of the Cruz visit, took aim at Jackson.

“He keeps on bringing in these out-of-state senators, and I would much rather have the president’s endorsement,” he said. “He’s having to go out of state to get his support. We’re keeping all our stuff in state.”

And Jones repeatedly questioned his rival’s support for the president, pointing to Jackson’s past donations to Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans as evidence that he was out of step with the MAGA wing of the party.

“He’s been dishonest about who he is. He’s been dishonest about who he’s supported in the background,” Jones charged. “He’s actually, you know, portraying himself as something that he’s not.”

Jackson pushed back, saying the attacks on him were “just lies.”

Jones and Jackson were the top two finishers in last month’s crowded and competitive GOP gubernatorial primary, which also included state Attorney General Chris Carr and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Because no candidate topped 50%, Jones and Jackson advanced to the runoff.

Jones, a former captain of the University of Georgia football team, an oil executive and heir to the Jones Petroleum Company, served as a state senator before winning election in 2022 as lieutenant governor. A major Trump supporter, he was endorsed by the president last August.

“He and I have a long-standing relationship — friendship — and I’ve always been a big supporter of his, and he’s a very big supporter of mine, as well,” Jones said last month in a Fox News Digital interview as he pointed to Trump.

And he repeatedly showcased the president’s endorsement during the primary and runoff campaigns.

GOP GUBERNATORIAL HOPEFUL BLASTED BY CRITICS FOR ‘LYING’ ON STAGE ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT HIRES

Kemp made a last-minute endorsement on Sunday, backing Jones. And at an event Monday morning, Kemp explained that his mission is “to make sure that we have the best folks at the top of the ticket that can win in November and you know, that’s why I’m supporting Burt Jones for governor.”

“When you think about the direction of the state, the great things that we’ve been able to do, I think he’s best suited to move the state forward,” Kemp said. And he warned of the “consequences of not winning, like we’ll be going the way of Virginia, New York, California, we just cannot afford to do that.”

Jackson, looking to the general election battle with Bottoms, told Fox News Digital that when it comes to his spending, “I’ll put in whatever is necessary. We cannot have somebody that doesn’t know how to run the city that now wants to run the state. So, from that standpoint, I’ll do whatever is necessary to win in November.”

Bottoms, in a statement, took aim at Jackson.

“Rick Jackson is focused on enriching himself as Georgians are losing their health care coverage and are forced to pay soaring costs. Jackson has made more than a billion dollars off of a no-bid state contract for his health care company, but he opposes Medicaid expansion to lower the cost of health care,” Bottoms argued in a statement. “Georgians deserve a governor who is focused on ensuring they have every opportunity to thrive and who will fight for them when Donald Trump’s reckless policies hurt Georgia – that’s what I will do as governor.”

While he wasn’t on the ballot, Trump’s immense clout over the GOP was facing another key test in Georgia.

The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past six weeks, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas that grabbed plenty of national attention.

But Trump’s endorsement streak in statewide and congressional Republican primaries was snapped two weeks ago when his 11th-hour endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to propel the three-term congressman to victory.

Feenstra was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

Trump rebounded last week, as the candidate he endorsed in the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, finished first in a crowded field and clinched one of the two tickets in the race for the nomination.

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Meanwhile, longtime Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham did win a majority of the vote in the Republican Senate primary, and avoided a runoff.

Graham, who was endorsed by Trump, was facing primary challenges from five candidates, including conservative businessman Mark Lynch, who took aim at the senator over his support for the war in Iran. Lynch was backed by some MAGA leaders who have been critical of the president.

ATLANTA, GA. – He wasn’t on the ballot, but President Donald Trump‘s immense clout over the GOP faced more key tests in high-stakes Republican runoffs in Georgia and in neighboring Alabama Tuesday.

While the power of a Trump endorsement in Republican primaries didn’t escape unscathed, Trump-backed candidates won two of the three top races, with the one setback coming against a billionaire businessman who shelled out over $100 million of his own money to boost his campaign.

Rep. Barry Moore, a House Freedom Caucus member and longtime Trump supporter who was endorsed by the president, comfortably defeated rival Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL sniper who was supported by some top names on the right, in solidly red Alabama’s GOP Senate runoff.

TRUMP NOTCHES ANOTHER ENDORSEMENT WIN

In battleground Georgia’s Republican Senate runoff, an 11th hour endorsement by Trump this past weekend helped boost Rep. Mike Collins, a MAGA champion, to victory over former college football coach Derek Dooley, who was backed by popular conservative Gov. Brian Kemp.

Collins will face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in the general election in a race that’s among a handful that will likely decide if the GOP holds its slim majority in the chamber in the midterms.

TRUMP-BACKED CANDIDATE SURVIVES GRUELING REPUBLICAN RUNOFF

But in Georgia’s GOP gubernatorial runoff, the candidate Trump backed, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who was also endorsed by Kemp this past weekend, was defeated by Rick Jackson, who ran as an outsider.

Jones regularly showcased his Trump endorsement, but Jackson, who launched his bid in February long after the president had endorsed Jones, repeatedly said that Trump had inspired him to run.

“I just thought, you know, if you had somebody doing business solutions for the state of Georgia, just like Trump is for the United States, I just felt like I would have a major impact on the state of Georgia, and so that was one of the reasons I wanted to get in. I was inspired by President Trump,” Jackson told Fox News Digital recently.

And he continuously highlighted that, like Trump, he’s an outsider and businessman. “I’m going to be Trump’s favorite governor because we’re just alike on the way that we handle business and handle problems, and I want to do exactly in Georgia what he’s doing at the federal government,” he reiterated in a Fox News Digital interview Sunday.

TRUMP ENDORSEMENT FAILS TO SAVE MAGA CANDIDATE

The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past six weeks, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas that grabbed plenty of national attention.

But Trump’s endorsement streak in statewide and congressional Republican primaries was snapped two weeks ago when his 11th-hour endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to propel the three-term congressman to victory.

Feenstra was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

Trump rebounded last week, as the candidate he endorsed in the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, finished first in a crowded field and clinched one of the two tickets in the race for the nomination.

Meanwhile, longtime Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham did win a majority of the vote in the Republican Senate primary, and avoided a runoff.

Graham, who was endorsed by Trump, was facing primary challenges from five candidates, including conservative businessman Mark Lynch, who took aim at the senator over his support for the war in Iran. Lynch was backed by some MAGA leaders who have been critical of the president.

A Trump political operative, pointing to Tuesday loss by Trump-backed Jones, noted that “Rick Jackson set a record for spending in a statewide Republican primary. He spent Tom Steyer level money in a state a fraction of the size of California. That’s going to have an impact.”

And the operative, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, also emphasized that “Rick bearhugged Trump. All of his ads and material was about how he’s going to be Trump’s favorite governor. So the race was not really a referendum on Trump.”

Veteran Republican strategist Matt Gorman told Fox News Digital that “Rick was a great candidate. Trump’s endorsement can’t do all the work. It’s a massive value add but it’s not a panacea. Now the focus is on coming together for the fall.”

Jackson was endorsed at the last minute by Sen. Ted Cruz, and the conservative firebrand from Texas joined Jackson on the campaign trail for a runoff eve rally.

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“Rick has an extraordinary record, an extraordinary life story. And I also think he’s positioned to win. And the stakes are too high. This election is a battleground all across the country. We can’t afford to lose Georgia,” Cruz told Fox News Digital.

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When Cruz endorsed Jackson on Friday, he also supported South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who is facing off in a week against Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette.

Asked if he’s trying to put some daylight between himself and the president on the campaign trail, Cruz quickly responded, “No. Not remotely….The president and I agree on the vast majority of races. What I try to do in every race is endorse the strongest conservative who can win. And typically I get in races late in the race at a time where my support might be able to make a difference and be helpful.”

He wasn’t on the ballot, but President Donald Trump is a winner in the Republican Senate runoff election in Alabama, as the candidate he endorsed captured the GOP nomination.

Trump-backed Rep. Barry Moore defeated rival Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL sniper, in Tuesday’s Republican showdown for the GOP nomination in solidly red Alabama, the Associated Press reports.

Moore and Hudson were the top two finishers in last month’s Republican primary, but with no candidate topping 50% of the vote, they both advanced to the runoff.

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

Moore, who was also endorsed by Vice President JD Vance and Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune, will now be considered the clear frontrunner in the race to succeed Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is running for governor this year rather than seeking re-election to the Senate.

The congressman, who founded a waste hauling company and later served as a state lawmaker before first winning election to the U.S. House in 2020, was one of the first politicians to endorse Trump in 2015 when the president first ran for the White House.

THESE MIDTERM RACES WILL DETERMINE WHETHER REPUBLICANS HOLD THEIR SENATE MAJORITY

Moore, who represents Alabama’s 1st Congressional District, in the southern portion of southeastern state, is a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Hudson, running as an outsider, edged out state Attorney General Steve Marshall to advance to the runoff.

Besides being a combat veteran, Hudson has served as a sheriff’s deputy, firefighter, small business owner and current head of a nonprofit that trains law enforcement in taking out human traffickers.

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Hudson was endorsed by then-Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who is now Trump’s Department of Homeland Security secretary, Sen. Tim Sheehy, the National Association for Gun Rights PAC, and conservative activists and media star Riley Gaines.

But Hudson fell short against Moore, who will face off in November against either Dakarai Larriett, a petcare business owner, or attorney and former judge Everett Wess.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, on Tuesday announced support for abolishing capital punishment in his state, reaffirming his change of heart on the policy he helped write as a legislator 45 years ago to reinstate the death penalty in Ohio.

DeWine, who has repeatedly postponed executions during his time as governor, pointed to data showing that the death penalty does not serve as a deterrent to violent crime.

“For the state to take a human life, there must, in my opinion, there must be evidence that in doing so it will help protect the public, that the threat of that action will deter someone from committing murder,” DeWine said at a news conference.

“I do not believe that argument today can be successfully made, nor do I believe that there’s any chance in the future the facts that I’ve cited to support that belief will change,” he said. “Therefore, I believe Ohio should abolish the death penalty.”

TEXAS LAWMAKER PROPOSES BILL TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY IN LONE STAR STATE: ‘I THINK SENTIMENT IS CHANGING’

As he made his case, DeWine brought out charts and graphs showing the decline in both the number of death sentences handed down by courts and the quantity of executions being carried out. The data also showed the exceedingly long wait times as legal appeals play out for inmates on death row.

The governor said condemned murderers are increasingly unlikely to be executed, as they sometimes die by natural causes or by suicide before they can be executed.

“Even if the murderer is caught, indicted, convicted and sentenced to death, the odds are still pretty good they’re not going to be executed,” he said.

“In summary, each decade that the death penalty has been in effect, the chances of a murderer getting executed get more and more and more remote,” he added.

The last 10 people to be executed in Ohio had been on death row between 14 and 32 years, he said. Since the state reinstated capital punishment in 1981 under a law co-written by DeWine, 56 people who received the death sentence have been executed and 41 died by natural causes or suicide while on death row. Another 89 death sentences were overturned due to “judicial action” such as legal errors.

DeWine emphasized the years of pain for victims’ loved ones due to the delays and the impact on the mental health of state employees who work on execution teams.

UTAH DEATH ROW INMATE WITH DEMENTIA DIES OF NATURAL CAUSES 3 MONTHS AFTER EXECUTION WAS HALTED

“I no longer believe the death penalty is a deterrent to murder,” DeWine said. “The moral justification I had for voting for the death penalty simply no longer exists.”

The governor, who is term-limited and cannot seek another term in the 2026 election, said he felt compelled to share his thoughts now after 50 years of experience with the death penalty issue, including as a Greene County prosecutor, a member of the U.S. House and Senate and as Ohio’s attorney general.

However, he said his outright opposition to the death penalty has become solidified in the past year.

DeWine urged the legislature to abolish the death penalty or to leave it up to state residents to vote on the issue, although Republican House Speaker Matt Huffman has said he would oppose such an effort. Other supporters of capital punishment have argued that Ohio’s yearslong execution pause has denied justice to victims’ families and weakened the deterrent effect of death sentences.

DeWine has not authorized an execution since taking office seven years ago, citing, on numerous occasions, pharmaceutical suppliers’ unwillingness to provide the drugs used in lethal injections. Last year, President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Justice Department to help states to resolve that issue. In January 2025, President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Justice Department to help states resolve that issue.

The governor has said he expects no more executions during the remainder of his term. Delaying executions has left Ohio with 30 scheduled over the next four years, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The state has not put an inmate to death since July 18, 2018, before DeWine took office.

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“The most important way to protect the public is to lock up violent criminals and to keep them out of society,” DeWine said. “That is a proven way of saving lives and protecting our citizens. Our money and energies are much better spent focusing on keeping these repeat violent offenders out of society.”

Currently, 27 states allow the death penalty while 23 states and Washington, D.C., do not, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Since 2019, including that year, three states have abolished capital punishment, while five states now authorize nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method amid ongoing controversy over lethal injection protocols.

At the federal level, Trump has pushed to expand executions. During his first term, 13 federal executions were carried out, which was more than any president in modern history.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Socialist Washington, D.C. mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George holds a lead in her bid to replace outgoing mayor Muriel Bowser as midnight passes on the East Coast and the ballots continue to be counted throughout the night.

The Associated Press reports that as of 12 a.m. ET on Wednesday morning, George is the leader with 52.6% of the vote after 66% of the votes had been counted. The next closest candidate, Kenyan R. McDuffie, sits at 36.8%.

The nation’s capital has been at the center of the Trump administration’s nationwide crackdown on crime during his second term and he sent the National Guard into the district last year, which proponents have argued directly correlates to plummeting violent crime numbers.

Trump has suggested that he’d order another federal takeover of Washington D.C. if the “crazy socialist” mayoral candidate was elected.

LUIGI MANGIONE SUPPORTER WORKING FOR FAR-LEFT DC MAYORAL CANDIDATE LIKENED TO MAMDANI

“I wouldn’t like it — and maybe we take back Washington, run it on the federal basis,” Trump said when asked by reporters how he’d respond if a self-described Democratic socialist D.C. council member were to win her bid.

“We won’t put up with it. We’re not going to lose our businesses,” Trump said on Thursday during a press briefing from the White House.

George called Trump’s recent threat to enact a second takeover as an “attack on democracy itself.”

DC GUARD SHOOTING SUSPECT STARES DOWN DEATH PENALTY IN FIRST COURT APPEARANCE

George, who has become the Democratic frontrunner, leads a race that will likely decide the winner of the general race in a city where roughly 75% of voters are registered Democrats.

Washington, D.C. is using ranked-choice voting for the first time, which could delay the certification of an official winner.

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Voters in Washington, D.C. were also voting in the Democratic primary to determine their next non-voting U.S. Delegate following the retirement of Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Shortly after midnight, the Associated Press called the race for the winner, At-Large Council member Robert White. 

Fox News Digital’s Elaine Mallon contributed to this report

At-large D.C. Council member Robert White Jr. won the Democratic primary Tuesday for Eleanor Holmes Norton’s longtime non-voting congressional seat, putting him on track to become the district’s first new member of Congress since 1991.

The rare open-seat contest for D.C.’s delegate post came after Norton, 88, announced she would not seek another term following 18 terms in Congress. The Democratic nominee will advance to the November general election in heavily Democratic Washington, where the party’s nominee is heavily favored against Republican and third-party challengers.

D.C.’s delegate can introduce legislation, serve on committees and advocate for the district on Capitol Hill, but the role does not include a final vote on the House floor. The race comes as Washington continues its long-running fight over statehood, home rule and federal control of the nation’s capital.

The primary race was held under D.C.’s new ranked-choice voting system, but White was able to secure the nomination.

White has served as an at-large member of the D.C. Council since 2016 and previously worked in Norton’s congressional office as legislative counsel. He entered the race after dropping a possible mayoral bid, arguing the district needed a more aggressive advocate in Congress as federal pressure on D.C. intensified.

Norton was first elected in 1990 and took office in 1991, becoming the district’s nonvoting delegate and one of D.C.’s most recognizable political figures. Her retirement closes an 18-term tenure spanning roughly 35-years, defined by fights over statehood, home rule and full congressional representation for the capital.

For many D.C. voters, Norton has been the only congressional delegate they have ever known. Her decision to step aside after 18 terms opened the first truly competitive race for the seat in decades and set off a scramble among local Democrats seeking to inherit one of the district’s most symbolic political posts.

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White will advance to the November general election, where the Democratic nominee will be heavily favored in overwhelmingly Democratic Washington, D.C.

Republican Denise Rosado is running unopposed for the GOP nomination, while at least one third-party candidate, Kymone Freeman, is also seeking the nonvoting delegate seat.

Former Judge Everett Wess has won the Democratic Senate nomination in solidly red Alabama, in the race to succeed Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is running for governor this year.

Wess defeated small business owner Dakarai Larriett in the Democratic Senate runoff, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

Wess and Larriett finished first and second in last month’s primary, in the four candidate field. But since no one topped 50% of the vote, Wess and Larriett advanced to Tuesday’s runoff election.

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Wess will be considered the clear underdog in the general election against the Republican nominee. Rep. Barry Moore, who was backed by President Donald Trump, was facing off against former Navy SEAL sniper Jared Hudson in the GOP nomination runoff election.

Other than former Democratic Sen. Doug Jones’ 2017 special election victory, it’s been over three decades since a Democrat has won a Senate election in Alabama.

THESE MIDTERM RACES WILL DETERMINE WHETHER REPUBLICANS HOLD THEIR SENATE MAJORITY

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Tuberville, a former Auburn University head football coach, is running for governor this year rather than seeking re-election to the Senate.

Trump-endorsed former Oklahoma state Sen. Mike Mazzei, R-Bixby, and Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond advanced to the August 25 runoff in the Sooner State’s Republican gubernatorial primary, defeating a slew of other candidates vying to replace term-limited Gov. Kevin Stitt.

Stitt — recently the top Republican at the National Governors Association — was term limited.

Trump called Mazzei a “MAGA warrior” who “will never let you down,” throwing the already crowded contest into further uncertainty.

Until that point, Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Mazzei were locked in a tight race with businessman Chip Keating and former Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Tishomingo.

THE BALLOT BOX SHOWDOWNS THIS MONTH THAT YOU NEED TO WATCH

Trump noted he “won big” in Oklahoma — which, along with West Virginia, is one of only two states with no blue counties in election results.

Mazzei is running on top issues, including eliminating state property taxes, protecting state lands from foreign purchasers, increasing the state’s literacy rate, and cutting waste and abuse from government.

In the latter regard, Stitt appointed Mazzei as his state budget director for part of his term.

Some critics targeted Mazzei for hiring former Nixon campaign figure and Trump ally Roger Stone as a political consultant during his campaign.

Stone, one of the most prolific conservative consultants of the 20th century, famously had his Fort Lauderdale home raided in the middle of the night by the FBI while CNN was waiting and filming, sparking national uproar.

“Roger Stone is one of many political advisers and teammates that we have going back months and months and months,” Mazzei told Oklahoma City’s ABC affiliate.

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY OR GOVERNMENT OVERREACH? OKLAHOMA AG FIGHTS OWN PARTY IN SCOTUS BATTLE OVER CATHOLIC SCHOOL

“And, of course, it’s helpful to have someone on your team that’s aware of what’s going on in Washington, D.C. And the aspects of a Trump agenda and how they fit with an Oklahoma agenda.”

Drummond is running on his tough-on-crime record as attorney general, immigration enforcement efforts, career as a fighter pilot and ties to Trump similar to those touted by Mazzei.

“When his nation called, Captain Gentner Drummond answered with courage. Leading the first U.S. combat mission of the Gulf War, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for “extraordinary achievement.” By the end of Operation Desert Storm, Capt. Drummond was one of the most highly decorated Oklahomans of the war,” a statement on his campaign website reads.

Drummond highlighted his efforts fighting “the Biden administration’s radical overreach, including failures on immigration” and policies permitting biological boys in girls’ sports.

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McCall ran on a platform of “family, faith and moral leadership,” and burnished his state legislature credentials and record.

He wants to abolish both the state income tax and property tax, and put forward an economically conservative plan of action.

Keating, who also served in the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, noted on his campaign website he is the only former law enforcement officer running for governor.

Keating pushed a public safety-first platform targeting trafficking, open borders and Antifa, whom he described as “radical domestic terrorists.”

Deep in Trump country, a Republican vying for a seat in the Senate is wondering why his possible future colleagues can’t pass a key voter ID and citizenship verification bill. 

Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., cruised to a primary victory Tuesday night in the Sooner State, where he told Fox News Digital in an interview that the one thing he hears from voters constantly is whether Congress will pass the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act. 

“They’re saying we need to work on, you know, the SAVE Act,” Hern said ahead of primary Election Day. “I mean, this is time and time again.” 

EXCLUSIVE: COLLINS PITS RECORD BUILT IN MAINE POTATO FIELDS AGAINST PLATNER’S ‘ANGRY RHETORIC’

But the legislation has been stuck in the Senate, where all Democrats have vowed to block it. A cohort of Republicans have voted against the bill in various forms, too.

“This is something I’m not real sure why Republican senators are not supporting,” Hern said. “I understand why Democrats don’t support it. They don’t support anything that protects America.”

Hern has served five terms in the House, where he’s moved up the chain into the fourth-highest role in House GOP leadership as House Republican Policy chair. He also ran for Speaker of the House when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted. 

His decision to leave the House and seek a seat in the Senate came after President Donald Trump nominated fellow Oklahoman, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, to lead the DHS.

HOUSE GOP LEADER LAUNCHES SENATE BID AS TRUMP TAPS MARKWAYNE MULLIN FOR DHS

Since jumping into the race earlier this year, Hern has amassed a bevy of endorsements from senators and Trump, who lauded the lawmaker as being “strongly supported by the fiercest MAGA Warriors in Oklahoma, and the most Highly Respected Leaders in the United States Senate!”

And Hern knows that Oklahoma is Trump country, noting that voters there “love the president. They love the fact that I support the president and I work with the president.” 

Hern likely won’t face strong headwinds in November against one of a half dozen Democratic candidates seeking the nomination in the Sooner State, given that Trump has won the state — and all 77 of its counties — three times.

MULLIN PROMISES TO EARN DEM VOTES AS GOP COLLEAGUES POUNCE ON HIS SEAT

That doesn’t mean he intends to rest on his laurels until November. Hern, who grew up without indoor plumbing, said he knows the value of work and preparation. It’s what landed him his own McDonald’s franchise empire in Oklahoma, where he owned 24 restaurants — his past life in business also earned him the nickname “McCongressman.”

“I just respect the idea of work. I think working hard gives you a chance to compete with anybody,” Hern said. “And so, same thing with the Senate race. I came out strong, set a tone from day one.”

“The president endorsed me in the first 48 hours because of the work I’ve done over the last eight years,” he continued. “And I think it goes back to that common word of work and working hard.” 

And if successful in November, Hern isn’t shutting down the option of seeking a spot in Senate GOP leadership.

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Hern said that throughout his business career he would tell anyone that “if you wait till something comes available, and you start working hard, it’s too late because there are other people like me that have started out in the proverbial parking lot.” 

“We’ve got people on third base who think they’re ready to be in leadership, and I’m running right past them, and they say, ‘Who’s this guy?’ And it’s a guy like me that’s just been working hard, positioning, building relationships,” Hern said. “And I think that’s important going forward, and we’ll see what comes open.”

In a 2010 interview with a Mexican newspaper, Latin Grammy winner Bobby Pulido, a Democratic congressional candidate, once said he hasn’t gone shopping since becoming a music star.

“While he was in college, Bobby Pulido set foot in a supermarket on occasion — but since his career began 15 years ago, he hasn’t stopped in one since,” a 2010 profile of El Norte Magazine reads.

“‘El Golden Boy’ notes that he doesn’t have time to deal with the running of his household. ‘I don’t have the time; I’ve never gone to the supermarket to shop… well, very rarely. When I was in college, I did go, but ever since I started singing, not anymore,’” Pulido told interviewers.

Now, as the Democratic candidate in one of the country’s most competitive congressional districts, Pulido’s depiction of himself clashes with broader efforts from Democrats to zero in on affordability, a messaging platform for the 2026 midterms that looks to capitalize on inflation and the persistently high gas prices that have drawn criticism of President Donald Trump.

TOP REPUBLICAN PUSHES FOR RECONCILIATION 3.0 TO ADDRESS AFFORDABILITY

Pulido is best known for Tejano, or Mexican-Spanish folk-style songs like “Desvelado” and “Se Murió de Amor,” and has received five Latin Grammy Award nominations, winning Best Tejano Album in 2022 and 2025.

Despite a series of scandals over past behavior, Pulido has framed his campaign as a Texan referendum on expenses the administration has overlooked.

“The economy we care about is not a bunch of numbers and letters flashing on a board on Wall Street,” Pulido’s campaign page reads.

“It’s in our pockets, at the pump, in the grocery store when we buy fajitas, milk and eggs — and for some it’s when they have to choose between paying the rent or for their health insurance.”

TEXAS DEMOCRAT – A LATIN GRAMMY WINNER AND PARTY RECRUIT – CAUGHT DEFACING TRUMP’S HOLLYWOOD STAR

Inflation has climbed in recent months, reaching 4.2% in May — up from 3.8% in April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Pulido argues the climb in prices takes a disproportionate toll on his district, which he believes has the lowest per-capita income in the Lone Star State.

“Here in the Rio Grande Valley, when inflation hits, oh gosh. We don’t make a lot of money to begin with. So, inflation really hurts us harder than — it gives people in San Antonio a cold; it gives us the flu. We feel it that much harder,” Pulido said on a recent podcast posted to his YouTube channel.

Pulido hopes to unseat Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas. His race, which is expected to be one of the more competitive opportunities for Democrats in Texas after a redistricting effort in the state looks to squeeze five Democrats out of office, will turn on whether he can attract support from across the aisle.

TEXAS DEMOCRAT BLASTED FOR ‘BLOODY TRUMP’ COSTUME, VIOLENT RHETORIC AFTER DEADLY ICE SHOOTING

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A two-term incumbent, De La Cruz last won election to the district in 2024 in a 57.1%–42.9% victory over Democratic nominee Michelle Vallejo.

Having cleared the Democratic primary last month, Pulido will face off with De La Cruz on Nov. 3.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Pulido campaign.

In his new book “Communion,” Vice President JD Vance reflected on the “childless cat ladies” jab he made while running for U.S. Senate in 2021, characterizing it as “one of the dumbest” remarks he has ever made, according to NBC News.

During a 2021 appearance on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Vance said, “We’re effectively run in this country, via the Democrats … via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made,” and who desire to make the rest of the nation “miserable too.”

He then pointed to then-Vice President Kamala Harris, then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., declaring, “The entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?”

Harris has two adult stepchildren.

VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE REVEALS HE HAS ‘SACRED TIME’ WITH HIS FAMILY FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS EVERY DAY

Buttigieg announced in an August 2021 post on X, “For some time, Chasten and I have wanted to grow our family. We’re overjoyed to share that we’ve become parents! The process isn’t done yet and we’re thankful for the love, support, and respect for our privacy that has been offered to us. We can’t wait to share more soon.” They adopted two children.

“Chasten and I are beyond thankful for all the kind wishes since first sharing the news that we’re becoming parents. We are delighted to welcome Penelope Rose and Joseph August Buttigieg to our family,” Buttigieg wrote in a September 2021 post on X.

JD VANCE REVEALS DETAILS OF US-IRAN DEAL, ADDRESSES WHETHER TAXPAYER MONEY WILL GO TO TEHRAN

Vance addressed his controversial comment in his new book, according to NBC News.

“One of the dumbest things I ever said came when I argued that ‘childless cat ladies’ across the Democrat Party were running our country into the ground,” Vance wrote, according to the outlet.

“The comment caused two firestorms: the first when I made it, the second years later during a political campaign,” he noted. “It was a boneheaded comment, intentionally (and successfully) provocative rather than illuminating.”

Vance won election to the U.S. Senate in 2022 and took office in early 2023.

In 2024, then-former President Donald Trump tapped Vance as his running mate. Vance became vice president in early 2025.

According to NBC News, the vice president recognized that the remark was “enraging” and noted that it “had the added effect of distracting from the actual point I wanted to make, which was that our society is becoming pathologically hostile to having kids.” He indicated that he “could have made that point much more effectively, and with the benefit of showing a little charity to the many Americans who — some for reasons beyond their control —­ don’t have children.”

JD VANCE’S WIFE USHA DETAILS HOW CHARLIE KIRK’S DEATH INFLUENCED DECISION TO HAVE FOURTH CHILD

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“When I consider the Church’s admonition to respect the dignity of every life, this was a clear moment where I failed,” Vance, who is Catholic, noted.

FIRST ON FOX: A new report reveals that a dangerous dynamic of anti-Christian extremism and “assassination culture” could have fueled the recent attempt to kill conservative leader Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk, as threats against public officials and figures rise to historic levels.

In late May, Bexar County charged Jacob Wenske, 26, with a third-degree felony count of making a terroristic threat involving public fear of serious bodily injury or public disruption for his alleged plan to bomb a Turning Point USA event where Kirk was the keynote speaker. 

In an email to TPUSA, Wenske said he was targeting Kirk, other event speakers and so-called “Christian nationalists,” according to an arrest warrant.

Wenske, who worked as a valet driver, also posted multiple threats on social media, according to the warrant.

TEXAS MAN ALLEGEDLY THREATENED TO BOMB TURNING POINT USA EVENT AND KILL CEO ERIKA KIRK IN ONLINE POSTS

Wenske’s arrest emerged amid a record number of threats against political figures and members of Congress. The U.S. Capitol Police Threat Assessment Section showed a 58% increase in threats against members of Congress from 2024 to 2025, and threats overall have nearly doubled since 2020. 

The Network Contagion Research Institute, a research lab that studies how radical ideologies spread across digital networks and social media, analyzed the threats against Kirk to assess the level of danger and how “permission structure” plays a role in originating the threat.

“What we’re seeing is a massive influx of foreign malign influence that is truly shaping the Western world right now, particularly through social media,” Travis Hawley, cyber threat and open-source intelligence analyst at the Network Contagion Research Institute, told Fox News Digital. “What you could call our digital diet is really shaping how people see ourselves, our values, our country, and even our history.”

TRUMP, KIRK SHOOTINGS EXPOSE ONLINE HATE BREEDING LONE-WOLF ASSASSINS, EXPERTS WARN

“And there are many countries, organizations, and wealthy individuals, whether it’s [Neville Roy] Singham in China, who are really pushing or putting their thumb on the scale, trying to push us and accelerate us into violence, dystopian even, and a civil unrest type of environment,” Hawley added. “This is really concerning and really showing how democracy actually has a weakness if it is not protected.”

The targeting of Kirk comes nine months after the assassination of her husband, who was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University. 

FBI Director Kash Patel said that Tyler Robinson, Kirk’s alleged assassin, confessed the killing in the chatroom platform Discord, a platform which members of Congress have criticized for radicalizing users.

NEIGHBORS OF CHARLIE KIRK’S SUSPECTED KILLER, TYLER ROBINSON, SPEAK OUT

In the case of Luigi Mangione, the alleged assassin of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, pro-Mangione demonstrators regularly frequent the courthouse to support him, and a legal fund for Mangione has collected more than $1.5 million.

The new study obtained by Fox News Digital shows that “permission structure” plays a role in promoting the idea that a murder is justified.

LUIGI MANGIONE ‘DOES NOT SUPPORT VIOLENT ACTIONS,’ ATTORNEY SAYS AS POLITICAL ATTACKS MOUNT ACROSS THE US

Permission structure gives individuals the excuse to commit an act that would normally be unacceptable, like murder, assassination or political violence.

In 2025, a Network Contagion Research Institute study found that 1,264 U.S. adults, or 38% of people surveyed, considered it “somewhat justified” to murder President Donald Trump, and the figure increased to about 55% among those identifying as left of center.

In a post on X, Charlie Kirk cited the study, blaming “left-wing protest culture” for a rise in political violence. He was assassinated 153 days later.

NEW BOMBSHELL STUDY REVEALS ‘ASSASSINATION CULTURE’ SPREADING ON THE LEFT UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP

Hawley also told Fox News Digital that alleged malign foreign influence in protest and agitator networks plays a role in boosting radicalized beliefs. Hawley said that the far-left network stokes an anti-West ideology that aligns with the propaganda messages of America’s adversaries.

“The motivation of our adversaries to push Marxist ideology, Islamist ideology, Marxist ideology, socialists, you name it, anything that is anti-Western, anti-democratic, anti capitalist is to defeat us from within,” Hawley explained. 

He also noted that malign actors can easily use social media platforms to quickly mobilize pro-communist, anti-Western agitators.

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A Fox News Digital investigation uncovered that U.S. tech tycoon and Shanghai resident Neville Roy Singham has  poured $278 million into nonprofits that have promoted Chinese Communist Party propaganda at protests around the country, often taking aim at U.S. leaders and public figures, like the Kirks.

“It seems to be bubbling up increasingly is these protests, these riots, whether it’s against the government itself, whether it’s against ICE and the military, the war,” Hawley told Fox News Digital. “We’re living in a time where it is very clear that our ability to protect our country really hinges on understanding how much of the civil unrest we are living through in recent years is actually organic.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota on Tuesday announced that 15 Antifa members have been indicted for their alleged roles in conspiring to hinder federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis earlier this year.

The suspects, 12 of whom are in custody, are all charged with conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, according to a 94-page criminal complaint, and some are charged with further crimes. Federal prosecutors allege that each suspect took part in a conspiracy to obstruct federal immigration enforcement officers, including ICE personnel, through force, intimidation and threats.

The suspects are alleged members of the Antifa cell Direct Action Minnesota Network (DAMN), a radical far-left group accused of coordinating operations against federal immigration officers.

Federal prosecutors maintain that the group use Signal chats to organize and carry out rapid response operations including coordinating street blockades, tracking federal vehicles, surveilling the ICE field office at the federal Whipple Building and other activities meant to stop immigration officials from conducting their business.

FBI INVESTIGATING MINNESOTA ANTI-ICE SIGNAL GROUP CHATS, PATEL SAYS

The government says that DAMN served as the hub for participants to share intelligence, plan actions, recruit volunteers and assign roles.

Below is a full list of the suspects and the charges they face:

• Isaac Auman Sant – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, interstate stalking
• Emmett James Doyle – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Cameron Kennedy – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Callum Robinet – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Erik Davis – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Kyle Wagner – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, solicitation of violence, interstate threats
• Hannah Margaret Van de Water Davis – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal office
• Treasure Cay Thoreson – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Nathan Junho Kim – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Alec Stewart – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Douglas Misterek – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• Dustin Scott Beisell – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer
• William Morgan – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, interstate stalking, assault on a federal officer, destruction of government property
• Natasha Rakotz – conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, assault on a federal officer resulting in bodily injury/use of a dangerous weapon

ANTI-ICE MINNEAPOLIS AGITATORS SET UP CHECKPOINT TO TRACK FEDERAL AGENTS

Isaac Sant is portrayed by prosecutors as one of the ringleaders of the conspiracy who allegedly organized meetings between anti-ICE factions, delivered shields and other equipment for “direct actions” against ICE and maintained a database of suspected federal immigration vehicles by tracking license plates.

He also allegedly coordinated “commuters” to follow federal immigration officials.

On May 4, according to the indictment, Sant personally followed a federal immigration officer from the Whipple Building in Minneapolis — a hub of anti-ICE activities — across state lines to Hudson, Wisconsin, leading to the interstate stalking charge.

William Morgan, the only suspect charged with four crimes, is also accused of interstate stalking for allegedly following a federal immigration officer on May 12 from the Whipple Building to near the officer’s home in Hudson.

VIRAL VIDEO SHOWS ICE AGENT TELLING AGITATORS THEY’RE DISRUPTING ARREST OF CHILD SEX OFFENDER IN MINNESOTA

Three days later, Morgan allegedly committed two more crimes by confronting an agent who was conducting an interview and physically assaulting him. He later was accused of kicking a federal vehicle, causing $1,000 in property damage, the complaint claims.

Natasha Rakotz was charged with assault on a federal officer resulting in bodily injury for allegedly driving her car into the path of a federal agent, striking and injuring him — similarly to how in a January incident in Minneapolis Renee Good was shot dead during an altercation where she ran her car into a federal immigration officer.

Kyle Wagner has been in custody since February, after encouraging followers to take up arms against federal agents. More charges were announced against him during Tuesday’s press conference.

WHO IS KYLE WAGNER? MEET THE SELF-IDENTIFIED ANTIFA MEMBER ARRESTED AFTER TARGETING ICE

On Jan. 8, 2026, Wagner posted a video warning ICE agents, “We’re f—ing coming for you.”

Prosecutors allege he urged followers to “get your guns,” and suggested identifying agents even if it had to be done “at the barrel of a gun.”

President Donald Trump declared Antifa to be a terrorist organization last year.

“Today’s charges and arrests reflect a broad federal effort to address organized, lawless behavior, which seeks to disrupt the execution of federal law, endanger law enforcement, and, importantly, endanger the very communities that these defendants falsely claim to be protecting,” U.S. Attorney Daniel Roden said in a Tuesday press conference announcing the charges.

MINNESOTA ANTI-ICE AGITATORS SWARM, CONFRONT FEDERAL AGENTS DURING ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS

He emphasized that the defendants have not been arrested for speech — which is protected by the First Amendment — but for alleged criminal actions.

Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy echoed that sentiment.

“Peaceful protest is a protected right and a cornerstone of our democracy. We respect and defend that right,” he said. “However, there’s a clear line that cannot be crossed when protest turns into rioting, violence or criminal activity, it becomes unlawful and it will not be tolerated.”

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“Working closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, our investigation uncovered extensive planning, material support and coordinated attacks against federal personnel and facilities. Our teams have worked tirelessly conducting surveillance, reviewing camera footage, and analyzing large volumes of information to identify those responsible.”

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

Senate Republicans narrowly halted another attempt to handcuff President Donald Trump’s war authority in Iran as a peace deal begins to take shape.

The latest failed war-powers resolution, this time from Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., comes after Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iranian government that could lead to an end to the war. While Congress is still in the dark on the details of the deal, Republicans still stood behind the president Tuesday.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who has led the Democrats’ war powers efforts for the last several months, argued that while a possible deal was a good thing, it appeared the U.S. and Iran would be headed to an “intermission” in fighting as both sides hammered out the final details of a longer peace deal. 

TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL SPARKS GOP DEMANDS FOR VOTE AS CONGRESS REMAINS IN THE DARK

“An intermission is a great time to do what we should have done before this war, which is have the consultation with Congress that the Constitution requires,” Kaine said. “Why restart a war if we haven’t done our job?”

Still, Warnock’s resolution failed despite a previous effort advancing in the Senate last month when a cohort of Senate Republicans joined nearly all Senate Democrats to rebuke the war. That same group, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Bill Cassidy, R-La., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., joined all Democrats to vote for the resolution. 

But absences on both sides of the aisle helped the GOP in their effort to give Trump more runway to hammer out a deal to end the war. 

TRUMP’S PUSH FOR $350 BILLION ‘ARSENAL OF FREEDOM’ HITS GOP SKEPTICISM

Senate Foreign Relations Chair James Risch, R-Idaho, argued that Democrats were effectively trying to “help Iran” with Democrats’ war powers efforts, and he countered that if the resolution passed, Iran would back out of any forthcoming peace deal.

“If a miracle happened, a miracle happened, and this passed, got through the Senate, got through the House, and the president signed it — if that miracle happened, do you think Iran would sign the deal that has been negotiated? Of course not,” Risch said. 

DEMS SCORE WIN AS GOP SENATOR HELPS ADVANCE IRAN WAR POWERS RESOLUTION

Meanwhile, Congress is still waiting for details of the deal, which as of Tuesday, had yet to materialize publicly or behind closed doors in the upper chamber. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he still had not been briefed on the matter. When asked if it was normal for Thune and others to request these kinds of briefings from the administration, Thune said, “Since I’ve been in this job, we haven’t had this issue, so I don’t know the answer to that.”

“My assumption is that it’s a function of, at some point, they understand they’re going to have to, I think they’ve intimated as much, that they’ve got to get this in front of us,” he said. “And hopefully, that’ll happen sooner rather than later. But you know, obviously it sounds like they’re not going public with it until later in the week, so we’ll see.” 

Some Democrats, on the other hand, are contending that early reports of the deal appear to favor Iran more than the U.S.

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Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said, “It’s essentially a surrender.” 

“But I think that’s the only play we can make at this point. We have to end this war, stop wasting money, stop killing Americans and civilians, stop driving a crisis,” Murphy said.
”So, it’s a bad deal, but he’s not gonna get a better deal. So, we just have to accept the humiliation.” 

Colorado has reversed a controversial requirement that attorneys using the state’s court e-filing system certify they would not use court information to assist federal immigration enforcement efforts.

The verification requirement was removed from state law last week after Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill 26-1276, creating a carveout for attorneys seeking to use the filing system.

Multiple attorneys spoke out in April after the state’s e-file system required them to certify they would not share such personal information with the federal government — a requirement Colorado officials said stemmed from the Protect Civil Rights Immigration Status Act of 2025.

Colorado Springs attorney Ian Speir told Fox News Digital that Colorado appeared to be “unlawfully coopting private attorneys across the state to further its anti-federal sanctuary policies,” while noting that he doesn’t practice criminal nor immigration law but couldn’t sign into the state court system without “saluting the resistance.”

COLORADO LAWYERS SAY COURT E-FILE SYSTEM NOW MAKES THEM CERTIFY THEY WON’T ASSIST ICE

The House Judiciary Committee took note of Fox News Digital’s reporting on the matter and notified Colorado officials in April that their immigration-related certification wrongly “commandeers private attorneys into Colorado’s radical sanctuary policies, handcuffs federal officials from enforcing immigration law in Colorado, and violates fundamental free speech principles.”

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s immigration integrity, security and enforcement subcommittee, told Fox News Digital in a Monday interview that he was pleased to see Colorado reverse itself but warned that the incident is just the latest volley in sanctuary states’ battle against federal supremacy.

He called it the latest example of the notion that any state “can obstruct federal laws they don’t like.”

REP JIM JORDAN, REP TOM MCCLINTOCK: DEMOCRATS THINK THEY CAN OVERRULE LAWS

“I think they’ve crossed the line into obstruction by forbidding attorneys access to the court system without this outrageous pledge under penalty and perjury that they wouldn’t report any information for federal immigration enforcement purposes,” McClintock said.

“Obviously, the state recognized what tenuous ground they had staked out, and it reversed themselves. But I remain concerned over what other sanctuary jurisdictions that comprise this new ‘Confederacy’ may take in the future.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), celebrated the news and noted it was prepared to file a lawsuit against the state government in Denver on First Amendment grounds if it did not repeal the provision.

“Colorado made the right move removing the certification requirement, which was a clear viewpoint-based regulation that violated the First Amendment,” the Washington-based group said in a statement.

Speir added that while the state may be able to tell its own public lawyers what to say to ICE, he, as a private attorney, “work for my clients, not the government.”

Greg Greubel, FIRE’s senior attorney, said in a statement that the government by law cannot condition an attorney’s access to courts “on a promise not to use information for a lawful purpose the state disfavors.”

BLOODTHIRSTY VENEZUELAN GANG PUT ON NOTICE AS NEW BILL CURBS BLUE STATE SANCTUARY POLICIES

 “Kudos to Colorado legislators and the governor for acting quickly to resolve this issue, but it’s troubling that the state attempted this in the first place.”

Laws restricting speech must be viewpoint-neutral under the First Amendment, but critics argued that by forcing attorneys not to speak with ICE, they were putting their thumb on the partisan scale.

McClintock said his panel’s focus continues to be on the variety of sanctuary policies in states and cities that are “resisting and in many cases obstructing federal law enforcement,” citing the Supremacy Clause’s assertion that immigration falls under the federal government’s authority.

“That’s particularly important in regions such as mine where the local sheriffs very much want to cooperate with ICE,” said McClintock, who notably chaired the raucous hearing that featured Fairfax County, Virginia, prosecutor Stephen Descano and Sheriff Stacey Kincaid who have been lambasted for their handling of illegal immigrant-related cases.

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A measure his panel is working on would allow victims of sanctuary policies to sue those jurisdictions for damages created by the release of illegal immigrant criminals and the like.

Fox News Digital reached out to Polis and ICE for comment.

President Donald Trump has hailed the newly signed Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) as a breakthrough that normalizes relations between the two countries after months of fighting. 

But by the White House’s own account, the agreement settles few of the issues that dominated months of negotiations, leaving sanctions relief, frozen assets and Iran’s nuclear program for a new round of talks.

“This is really just the first MOU and then we’re going to launch into the real technical discussions later this week,” a senior administration official told reporters Monday. 

The memorandum, signed digitally by Trump and Vice President JD Vance Sunday, kicks off a 60-day period for technical talks aimed at a final agreement. A formal signing ceremony with U.S. and Iranian officials, along with Pakistani and Qatari mediators, is planned for Friday. Yet even administration officials acknowledge that the memorandum leaves many of the most contentious issues unresolved. 

“We’ll know over the next two to three weeks whether those understandings will turn into an actual agreement,” a senior administration official said. 

TRUMP MAY HAVE WON A STRATEGIC PAUSE IN IRAN. NOW COMES THE HARD PART

Nate Swanson, a former senior advisor on Iran policy to successive administrations and now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said the memorandum appears to postpone rather than resolve disputes over sanctions relief, Iran’s nuclear program and the future of the Strait of Hormuz.

“It does not appear to resolve the core issues surrounding the mechanics of the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian nuclear concessions, or Iranian financial incentives and sanctions relief,” Swanson wrote in an analysis published by the Atlantic Council.

The remark was striking given that U.S. and Iranian officials have been negotiating since the April ceasefire and already had announced a signed memorandum and upcoming signing ceremony.

The president expressed optimism for a final deal.

“I think it’s going to happen, fairly on time, but we’ve been both involved. I think they’re going to want to get it done. Iran wants to get it done. They have to get back to business. And the relationship is now normalized,” Trump said during the G7 Summit in Évian-les-Bains, France.

JD VANCE REVEALS DETAILS OF US-IRAN DEAL, ADDRESSES WHETHER TAXPAYER MONEY WILL GO TO TEHRAN

The administration has yet to publicly release the text of the memorandum, but officials indicated that many of the issues that have dominated months of negotiations remain subject to future talks, including sanctions relief, frozen Iranian assets and the disposition of Iran’s remaining enriched uranium stockpiles.

“Here’s what it says: Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. That’s what it says. It won’t have one to buy, to develop. They will not have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. 

Administration officials said Monday the text of the deal would be released Tuesday or Wednesday.

On perhaps the most disputed issue, White House officials insisted Monday that no frozen Iranian assets have been released, despite reports in Iranian state-linked media that Iran could gain access to roughly $24 billion in blocked funds during the negotiation period.

“The very simple fact is, $0 of unfrozen assets have been released by the United States or any other country.”

The administration also said it will maintain its current military posture in the region during the negotiations, despite Iranian accounts suggesting the framework contemplates a future reduction in U.S. forces around Iran.

“The plan is to keep the current force posture during the 60-day negotiations.”

Officials repeatedly stressed that any concessions would be tied to verification rather than promises.

“We’re still at the early phases where we’re building trust.”

“This memorandum does not mean trusting the enemy; it has been written with active distrust,” Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said, according to Iranian state-linked Mehr News. “We will monitor the implementation of US commitments.”

The clearest immediate effect appears to be the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments normally pass, and a commitment by both sides to preserve the ceasefire while negotiations continue. Oil prices fell to their lowest levels in three months on the agreement to lift the blockade and open the strait. 

Administration officials repeatedly described the memorandum as a framework that could eventually lead to sanctions relief, economic normalization and a broader settlement of Iran’s nuclear program — if negotiators can reach a final agreement in the coming weeks.

“Nothing is on the table if it doesn’t come along with real performance.”

Iranian state-linked media have described the framework as already containing commitments on sanctions relief, access to roughly $24 billion in frozen assets, future reductions in U.S. military forces in the region and a $300 billion reconstruction program. The White House has disputed key elements of that characterization.

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“We don’t pay them — there was some statement. We’re going to spend $300 billion. No, we’re allowed to go and invest if we wanted to. Someday, in the future. We have no obligation whatsoever,” Trump said during the G7 Summit.

The competing descriptions underscore how much remains unsettled.  

“There will likely be a significant delta between the aspirations outlined in the MOU and what emerges in a final deal,” Swanson said. 

Some congressional Republicans already are questioning whether Washington and Iran are describing the same agreement.

“I think we’d all like to see the terms of the memorandum and hopefully end up with a real deal,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told reporters at the Capitol Tuesday. 

“I don’t think there’s anybody in Congress that’s ever gonna support giving money to them,” he went on. 

“They ought pay for what it cost us to do this to bring them to their senses to stop killing us … I want to get reimbursed for the money we’ve had to spend to bring them to their senses. They’ve got plenty of oil, they can rebuild their own country.”

“I am pleased to hear the memorandum of understanding with Iran to allow the Strait of Hormuz to open has been agreed to. I will be watching closely the ensuing negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear program and other matters. I am somewhat concerned that Iran’s view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiating team is claiming.”

EXCLUSIVE: A Republican challenging a vulnerable Democratic incumbent in one of the nation’s most competitive House races is touting a key labor endorsement. 

Mike LiPetri, a former state assembly member backed by President Donald Trump, said support from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 138 reflects growing momentum behind his campaign. 

“I think you’ll see [more unions] fall in line with us knowing that we stand with the men and women who work hard to build our country,” LiPetri told Fox News Digital in an interview.

The endorsement from the 1,500-member union gives LiPetri a boost as he prepares for a rematch contest against Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., who won back the suburban swing seat in 2024 after representing it from 2017 to 2023. 

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Local 138 Business Manager John Duffy praised LiPetri’s candidacy in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“We need leaders in Washington with guts — people who aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves to get the job done, no excuses,” Duffy said. “Mike LiPetri is that guy and the men and women of Local 138 are with him all the way.” 

The support from the union comes as national Republicans, who view Suozzi as a top target, look to make gains in the district spanning parts of Long Island and Queens ahead of November’s elections. 

Trump carried Suozzi’s seat by just over four points in 2024, while LiPetri ran three points behind the incumbent lawmaker.

Republicans have largely united behind LiPetri, who is seeking to fend off a challenge from attorney Gregory Hach in the June 23 GOP primary. LiPetri is part of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s flagship candidate program and is viewed as a top recruit.

“This seat can literally decide the fate of the majority,” LiPetri told Fox News Digital. 

“The president is all in on our race, he’s given us a ringing endorsement,” he added. “House leadership is all in on this race. Local leadership is also all in on this race.”

LiPetri also argued that Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the presumptive GOP nominee against Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., would help drive Republican turnout on Long Island.

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The GOP challenger is also seeking to draw sharp contrasts with Suozzi on immigration, transgender issues and tax policy as he looks ahead to November. 

Suozzi, the co-chair of the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus, has branded himself as a staunch moderate. But LiPetri argued the incumbent has strayed from that image over the past year.

Suozzi notably joined Democrats in opposing additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) during the months-long standoff over immigration spending.

He initially backed a Department of Homeland Security funding bill in January but later publicly apologized for his vote, saying he “failed” to view the legislation as “a referendum on the illegal and immoral conduct of ICE” amid backlash from the left over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis. Suozzi later adopted Democratic leadership’s position in pushing to pair any new funding with reforms to immigration enforcement.

“We have to have someone that stays strong with law enforcement,” LiPetri told Fox News Digital, arguing Suozzi had “betrayed” federal law enforcement officers with his votes.

Suozzi also voted with Democrats against legislation barring biological males from women’s sports in K-12 schools and against a bill to direct the construction of a women’s history museum on the National Mall. Some Democrats vigorously objected to the proposal because it excluded transgender people, and LiPetri argued Suozzi shared that view. 

“They’re going to have to explain to their voters why they believe this museum should not be built and why they believe that there should be transgender exhibits in it,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., the measure’s sponsor, said in May, referring to Democrats.

LiPetri also hammered Suozzi for his vote against Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which created new deductions for tips, overtime pay, and automobile loans.

“No tax on overtime was critical for union men and women,” LiPetri told Fox News Digital. “And they see who my opponent really is, someone that focuses on keeping his job rather than doing his job.”

Suozzi opposed Republicans’ budget law at the time over cuts to federal Medicaid spending and objections to extending lower tax rates for the highest earners, among other concerns.

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However, the GOP challenger still faces a steep fundraising climb against Suozzi. The New York Democrat has nearly $5.5 million in his campaign’s war chest compared to LiPetri’s roughly $727,000 cash on hand, according to recent Federal Election Commission filings.

LiPetri said his campaign is among the top fundraisers for GOP challengers nationwide. 

“We’re gonna keep pushing and raising our money to make sure our message gets out there,” LiPetri told Fox News Digital. “People are excited for what’s ahead.”

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the race “Lean Democrat.” 

Fox News Digital reached out to Suozzi’s campaign before publication.

EXCLUSIVE — President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general has earned the endorsement of a sprawling sheriff’s association in what is expected to be a contentious confirmation process.

The Western States Sheriffs’ Association sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., along with high-ranking Senate Judiciary Committee members expressing their support for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s permanent confirmation to the position.

The organization represents sheriffs and their command staff from 19 states in The West, from Missouri to Washington state.

“We believe Mr. Blanche possesses the experience, integrity, and commitment necessary to lead the Department of Justice effectively during this important time,” the letter says.

“His background as a seasoned prosecutor, his demonstrated leadership as Acting Attorney General, and his focus on upholding the rule of law, supporting law enforcement, and prioritizing public safety align closely with the values and operational needs of America’s Sheriffs.”

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The letter notes that western sheriffs face “unique challenges,” particularly with border security concerns and policing vast rural areas — and they believe Blanche will help address those issues.

“As an organization dedicated to assisting Sheriffs with federal and state legislative issues, addressing policy matters, and promoting the strength and effectiveness of local law enforcement, we have long recognized the critical partnership between federal leadership at the Department of Justice and the frontline work performed by Sheriffs across The West,” the endorsement states.

The group said it is encouraged by Blanche’s understanding of the role that local and state officials play in federal law enforcement operations, and his willingness to work with those local and state officials to combat violent crime, drug trafficking, illegal immigration and other community threats.

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“WSSA members stand ready to partner with Attorney General Blanche to advance policies that empower Sheriffs, enhance officer safety and wellness, secure our borders, and ensure that federal resources are directed toward the real-world problems facing our counties and states,” the letter says.

It concludes with a call to action for Congress, urging the Senate to quickly confirm Blanche as U.S. Attorney General.

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Blanche’s nomination was formally sent to the Senate on June 8 after he was installed as Acting AG following former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s bombshell ouster in April.

Republicans are reportedly targeting late summer for a full Senate confirmation vote.