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Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is being mocked online over the “irony” of saying she is “very, very mindful and scrupulous” about being impartial during a guest appearance on former first lady Michelle Obama’s podcast, “IMO.”

During an appearance of more than an hour appearance on the podcast, Jackson, a Biden appointee to the Supreme Court, stressed the importance of being unbiased, saying, “You really have to be focused on that.”

“There are lots of limits on what judges can do, and I try to be very, very mindful and scrupulous with respect to that because, as you say, our obligation is to be unbiased in our approach,” said Jackson. “And so, you have to then navigate all the sources that could make for an appearance of partiality, which you want to avoid.”

She added that “there are lots of things that I end up not accepting for that reason.”

MICHELLE OBAMA ACCUSES MEDIA OF WEAPONIZING FASHION TO ‘DIMINISH’ HER AS A CAMPAIGN THREAT

The former first lady asked Jackson about the practices she follows to remain unbiased.

“You also have to watch your exposure to things, so that there isn’t a bias,” said Obama. “What does that mean for you in terms of reading the paper and listening to the news and how do get your information and what do you have to be careful about and how are you dealing with the potential conflicts so that you do stay above board?”

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Jackson said that there are employees in the court whose job is to be “assisting us in that way.”

“When I get invitations to do things, I always have them screened by the legal office, the public information office, just to make sure that there are no ethical conflicts, that this is not a fundraiser, you know,” she told Obama.

ALITO RIPS JACKSON’S ‘UTTERLY IRRESPONSIBLE’ SOLO DISSENT AS SUPREME COURT FIGHT SHAKES UP 2026 MAP

Reactions poured in quickly.

“Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown discusses the importance of being neutral while she is sitting on Michelle Obama’s podcast set!” wrote Turning Point USA contributor John Amanchukwu.

“She doesn’t really expect anyone to believe that, does she?” wrote conservative influencer Patricia Foster.

“Make it make sense,” wrote commentator DeVory Darkins.

“Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson can’t be real. She says it is important to be neutral as a Supreme Court justice……..while she is literally on MAJOR leftist Michelle Obama’s podcast,” wrote Darkins. “We ALL know how impartial she is.”

‘WOKE’ SMITHSONIAN EXHIBIT LIONIZES EMBATTLED FAUCI AMID CONSERVATIVE SCRUTINY OF MUSEUM’S MESSAGING

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Harris Rigby, a columnist for the Babylon Bee’s non-satirical site “Not the Bee,” wrote, “There isn’t a strong enough word for the irony in this video clip.”

He ripped Jackson as “the most public, loud-mouthed, self-assured judge in the history of the United States,” adding that she now “wants to lecture us about the dignity of the courts.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Obama and the Supreme Court for comment.

The House committee charged with overseeing American elections is demanding more information on allegations of non-citizens voting in federal races.

The Committee on House Administration is requesting classified briefings on foreign interference in U.S. elections after President Donald Trump raised such concerns during a speech earlier this month.

“Reports of non-citizens casting illegal ballots continue to emerge, undermining election integrity and public confidence in American elections,” wrote Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis.

“To inform potential legislative reforms, the Committee therefore requests a Member-level, classified briefing from DHS on the number of non-citizens registered to vote across the country and cyber vulnerabilities present in current voting systems. Please contact the Committee by August 13, 2026, to set up a briefing to be held in the month of September. The Committee also requests that any relevant documents be provided alongside the briefing.”

HOUSE REPUBLICANS CONFRONT NJ GOVERNOR OVER 6,600 NON-CITIZENS REGISTERED TO VOTE IN ALLEGED SOFTWARE FAILURE

The classified briefing requests were sent to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Bill Pulte.

In the letters, Steil cited Trump’s claim that DHS discovered roughly 278,000 non-citizens registered to vote as well as recent revelations that New Jersey mistakenly added 6,600 non-citizens to its voter rolls in 2023 and 2024.

TRUMP ACCUSED CHINA OF AN ‘ELECTION SECURITY NIGHTMARE’ BUT THEN UNDERCUT HIS OWN WARNING

Steil also pointed to Trump’s comments in his speech on Chinese-led “cyberattacks on election infrastructure.”

The committee’s release said there were “serious concerns about the security of American elections.”

The briefing requests come less than 100 days before the November midterm elections, which will decide which party controls both houses of Congress for the latter half of Trump’s final term in the Oval Office.

Republicans have long raised concerns about the security of American elections, which Democrats have argued are attempts to undermine people’s faith in those elections.

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It is already a federal crime to vote in elections as a non-citizen, but the GOP is pushing for further guardrails such as proof of citizenship in the voter registration process and a federal voter ID standard at the polls.

To date, no evidence has been found that non-citizens have swayed the outcome of any federal election.

Despite reports of waning munitions, spiking gas prices and concerns of no clear objectives moving forward, Senate Republicans are still giving President Donald Trump wiggle room in the war in Iran.

Republicans again blocked another war powers resolution to force an immediate withdrawal of America’s military might from Iran on Thursday. Senate Democrats have tried and failed to convince enough of their Republican colleagues to consistently buck the war over a dozen times as it stretches into its fifth month.

The latest effort from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., failed along similar lines as last week’s effort, where only a small cohort of Senate Republicans crossed the aisle to end the war.

REPUBLICANS FALL IN LINE WITH TRUMP ON IRAN WAR DESPITE RISING COSTS AND US DEATH TOLL

One Republican who did join Democrats, but has since reversed course, is Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who got into a shouting match with Trump and demanded a briefing on the situation in Iran.

He got that briefing and has since flipped his vote, which he acknowledged was used as “leverage to get some information.” Still, he doesn’t totally support what’s going on, but used “All the King’s Men” as an example to show that the situation and the politics of it are not black and white.

“It is a gradation,” Cassidy said. “What we’re doing here is a gradation, a murkiness, a vagueness, but we’re trying to see our way through it. And I’m trying to see my way through it.”

WATCH: SCHUMER’S ANTI-CORRUPTION SPEECH DERAILED AFTER HECKLER BRANDS HIM ‘GENOCIDAL MANIAC’

But he drew a hard line on ground troops entering Iran.

“If there are ground troops, by definition, there needs to be a declaration of war from Congress on this, period,” Cassidy said.

The latest votes come as reports of munitions continuing to dwindle have reverberated through Congress, and as the Pentagon and War Secretary Pete Hegseth plead for more defense funding.

HEGSETH DISMISSES ‘FOOLISH’ US STOCKPILE CONCERNS AS IRAN CONFLICT TESTS MUNITIONS

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who has been wary of the war but has so far not broken with Trump to back Democrats’ resolutions, said, “Obviously, it’s concerning” that the nation’s munitions stockpile is dropping, but countered that a closed-door debriefing on the matter could sate concerns.

“And of course, if they are chronically low and affecting war strategy, then we should make it a priority,” Tillis said.

When asked whether he had been adequately briefed, Tillis said, “No.”

Munitions have been a concern throughout the war in Iran, and with renewed strikes starting last week, they are again back at the forefront of the conversation about the strategy in the region.

A report released Monday from the Center for Strategic and International Studies found, for example, that renewed fighting in the Middle East found that Patriot and THAAD interceptor missiles, which are used to thwart incoming projectiles and drones, had dwindled from prewar inventories of 2,330 and 452, respectively, to 759 and 234 missiles.

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“I think there’s pretty solid information that our military is short on munitions, not their fault,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said. “Trump launched this war impulsively, without a clear set of achievable objectives, and planning for how to conduct it.”

“The basic failure to plan the amount of munitions that would be necessary is a fatal failing that is directly the responsibility of the commander in chief,” he continued.

A federal judge in New Jersey blocked the Justice Department from gaining access to the state’s unredacted voter rolls on Wednesday.

District Judge Zahid Quraishi, a Biden appointee, ruled that handing over the rolls could give rise to privacy concerns for voters. The ruling is the latest defeat for President Donald Trump’s administration after the DOJ sued Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia, and New Jersey for access to their voter rolls earlier this year.

The administration argued that Title III of the Civil Rights Act granted federal authorities access to the lists, but Quraishi disagreed.

TRUMP-APPOINTED FEDERAL JUDGE TOSSES DOJ LAWSUIT SEEKING ARIZONA VOTER DATA

“The plain text of Title III applies only to records ‘which come into’ election officers’ ‘possession’ and thus does not extend to New Jersey’s computerized VRL [voter registration list] – a document the State itself created,” Quraishi wrote.

Quraishi’s ruling also comes amid a statewide controversy related to noncitizen voting in New Jersey.

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill admitted that week that a “serious software error” led to the mistaken registration of roughly 6,600 noncitizens through the state’s Motor Vehicle System, while the company that provides the identity-related security services denied any wrongdoing.

DEMOCRATS CONCEDE NJ VOTER-ROLL FAILURE WAS ‘HORRIBLE’ — BUT REJECT BROADER FRAUD FEARS

“In New Jersey, we absolutely need to have accountability for what happened,” Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said of the incident. “It was just horrible. There was a big problem with that computer problem that they had. We need to try to address that going forward.”

Sherrill said she immediately ordered an investigation after the error was discovered and that the state’s Division of Elections is removing ineligible voters from the rolls. She said fewer than 400 of those improperly registered cast ballots.

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Reports also surfaced this week that roughly 75,000 noncitizens had been summoned for jury duty through state databases, according to multiple reports, broadening the controversy beyond the Motor Vehicle Commission and prompting additional Republican calls for a wider investigation.

Fox News’ Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Florida Republican Sen. Ashley Moody introduced a bill targeting the Washington, D.C. public school system in a push to prioritize patriotism in the nation’s capital, Fox News Digital has learned.

The PLEDGE Act proposal would require teachers to feature the American Flag in their classrooms, and for administrators to provide students the opportunity to recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day.

“Currently, there are schools in Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital, that do not display our flag or set aside time for students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, but they do teach them to be activists,” claims the press release shared with Fox News Digital.

FAR-LEFT ACTIVIST CONFERENCE AT TEACHERS UNION HQ RAISES CLASSROOM CONCERNS

In a city where Pride flags and progressive causes are prominently displayed across the district, some conservatives say patriotic symbols like the American Flag have taken a back seat in schools — fueling concerns about how civic values are being taught to the next generations of Americans.

“Radicals want to teach kids to be ashamed of the United States of America and how to be activists instead. We should be teaching kids why America is worth loving, and most importantly, the principles and values that make America worth defending,” said Sen. Moody in the release.

Over 40 states have varying Pledge requirements in their schools — but not in the nation’s capital.

“My PLEDGE Act helps restore pride in our nation by reminding students every day of the freedom, responsibilities, and blessings that come with being an American, and the sacrifices made for our flag and everything it represents,” Moody said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital.

BERNIE SANDERS, DSA REVEAL DEMANDS FOR DEM PARTY AFTER SOCIALISTS SWEEP NEW YORK ELECTIONS

The bill comes amid a mayoral race in D.C., where socialist candidate Janeese Lewis George is the frontrunner. This continues a trend in the nationwide rise of the far-left Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) movement, which often spouts anti-American rhetoric.

The DSA platform, which aims to appeal to younger voters, wants to replace free-market capitalism with social ownership. It also pushes for major constitutional changes, like abolishing the Electoral College and expanding voting rights for noncitizens.

Younger Americans are significantly less likely to express strong national pride than older generations, with just 41% of Generation Z saying they are extremely or very proud to be American, according to a June 2025 Gallup poll.

The same poll says 58% of U.S. adults say they are “extremely” or “very” proud to be American, the lowest level the pollsters have recorded since it began asking the question in 2001.

DEMS PUT ON BLAST OVER POLL THAT SHOWS RECORD-LOW PATRIOTISM IN US: ‘TEAR OUR SOCIETY APART’

The DC Public School (DCPS) curriculum calls for students to learn more progressive politics, from studying Harvey Milk to learning how the LGBTQ+ community has shaped and defined the Washington, D.C. community.

For example, 5th grade social studies standards in the district require students to analyze the rise of queer culture during the Black Renaissance and also require students to compare the experiences of LGBTQ+ service members returning to the U.S. after World War II, according to their 2023 Social Study Standards.

During President Donald Trump’s second term, his administration restored patriotic symbols to the nation’s capital by installing two large American flags on the White House grounds and removing the “Black Lives Matter” street mural on the plaza just blocks from the executive residence.

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Washington, D.C., has long been a focal point for political demonstrations and protests. Trump, in his second term, deployed the National Guard to help bolster safety in the city.

Fox News Digital reached out to DCPS for comment.

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Sen. Jim Banks, R-Indiana, took to the Senate floor Wednesday to call out Neville Roy Singham, saying the communist tech tycoon’s vast nonprofit network is helping China wage “political warfare” against the U.S.

Singham, a 72-year-old American who sold his tech company for $785 million in 2017 and now lives in Shanghai, has funneled $278 million into the broad network of nonprofits since 2017, according to a Fox News Digital investigation. These groups regularly organize and participate in anti-ICE, anti-Israel and pro-Iran demonstrations.

“From his Shanghai office, which he shares with a CCP propaganda outlet whose avowed mission is to ‘tell China’s story well,’ Singham began funding a complex network of left-wing NGOs and nonprofits that advance the interests of the Chinese Communist Party,” Banks said.

SEE IT: GOP SENATOR FLIPS SCRIPT ON AGITATORS TIED TO PRO-CCP, SINGHAM NETWORK

“Code Pink, that radical organization that chases me and other senators throughout the halls of Congress, used to, on occasion, condemn CCP human rights abuses,” he added. “After Singham started lavishly funding the group—and married its co-founder—Code Pink stopped criticizing the Chinese government and started defending it.”

Code Pink, which was co-founded by Singham’s wife, Jodie Evans, regularly confronts lawmakers on Capitol Hill, and publicly states that “China is Not Our Enemy.” Evans and Singham have not responded to Fox News Digital’s repeated requests for comment.

Fox News Digital obtained footage of Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, being targeted by Code Pink on Wednesday over the conflict in Iran. Scott pushed back, questioning whether the group was bothered by the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

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The Code Pink agitators did not respond to Scott’s question.

Banks’ floor speech also addressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s call to combat far-left political terrorism which has taken root across the globe and in the U.S.

Rubio spoke to more than 60 countries at a summit in Washington, D.C., earlier this month, saying that networks are coordinating across multiple countries, providing training instructions and using encrypted communication to foment unrest. He said that international cooperation is critical to disrupting the financing of dangerous organizations, and that some are working with hostile foreign states.

JIM BANKS, GOP LAWMAKERS RALLY BEHIND DOJ PROBE INTO ALLEGED CCP-LINKED FUNDING NETWORK

“For far too long, however, our counterterrorism doctrine has had a blind spot – a blind spot when it comes to extremist violence from the political left, Rubio said. “Even today, the very idea that far-left terrorism could be a serious threat is treated as a right-wing fever dream, or worse, as a dangerous fascist conspiracy.”

Singham currently faces a grand jury investigation in the Southern District of New York, a probe which was authorized by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. The grand jury investigation focuses on Singham’s finances, and seeks to uncover any financial crimes that have taken place as he funds his pro-CCP network of nonprofits. Singham has not been charged to date.

Earlier this year, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held a meeting in New York with Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon, where he urged the firm to cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation into Singham’s financial network, according to sources familiar with the discussion.

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One source familiar with the meeting told Fox News Digital the exchange was amicable rather than adversarial, adding that Solomon signaled Goldman Sachs was prepared to cooperate with the Justice Department’s probe.

“All distributions from Mr. Singham’s donor-advised fund were made to legally recognized nonprofit organizations, as determined by the IRS, a Goldman Sachs spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “No distributions have been made from the account since August 2023, and it was closed in early 2024.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wanted to talk about alleged corruption committed by President Donald Trump and his family, but instead was interrupted by a protester calling out his “diabolical record.”

Schumer was just getting started with his speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to make a “major anti-corruption announcement,” when an audience member seated in the front row tore into the Senate’s top Democrat.

“You talk about corruption, how can you talk about corruption when you back genocide? What can be more corrupt than genocide? This is part of the same con of you and Trump playing off of each other,” the protester said.

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The disruptor then noted that Schumer and other congressional Democrats were “put on notice” by the Center for Constitutional Rights in 2023 for “aiding and abetting” Israel in its war against Hamas.

Critics of that conflict have long pointed to the Jewish State for going above and beyond in their quest to snuff out the terrorist organization by leveling cities in Gaza, withholding food, aid and electricity and targeting civilians.

Schumer tried to regain control of the moment and told the audience member, “Thank you for your diatribe. Now let’s continue. Let’s continue.”

But he wasn’t successful.

“You should be questioned about your diabolical record,” the audience member said. “It’s amazing that you can show your genocidal face in public.”

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“Mr. Senator. Mr. Senator. Shame on Public Citizen for not allowing questions to this genocidal maniac,” he said as he was escorted out.

Schumer has been a vocal supporter of Israel, voting to send aid and weaponry to the country during the conflict. But over the last several months, Senate Democrats have broken from him on a handful of occasions, and in growing numbers.

Earlier this year, Senate Democrats showed their slow creep away from Israel following the release of photos of starving children in Gaza.

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Forty Senate Democrats voted to halt arms sales and military bulldozers to Israel as an act of protest against Trump’s war in Iran in April.

The two resolutions from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., combined would have blocked nearly $500 million in arms and equipment sales to Israel. One resolution would have halted the sale of roughly $295 million in Caterpillar bulldozers, while the other would have stopped the sale of nearly $152 million worth of 1,000-pound bombs.

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Meanwhile, despite the disruption, Schumer did get his point across: to announce the push for legislation to create a new anti-corruption agency.

“This bill is the biggest, boldest and broadest proposal ever put forward to revitalize our anti-corruption institutions,” Schumer said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci‘s refusal to answer more than 100 questions during Wednesday’s fiery Senate hearing has sparked a legal showdown over whether a witness granted a sweeping presidential pardon can still invoke the Fifth Amendment.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, announced after the hearing that he plans to pursue contempt proceedings against Fauci following the repeated invocations of the Fof whetherth Amendment and his refusal to answer lawmakers’ questions.

“We’re going to have a vote next week on contempt,” Paul said. “I think there’s another legal question that the courts may have to decide upon, and that is whether or not a presidential pardon offers you complete immunity.”

RAND PAUL SEEKS CONTEMPT CHARGES AFTER FAUCI INVOKES FIFTH AMENDMENT MORE THAN 100 TIMES

Former President Joe Biden issued Fauci, who served as the chief architect for the government’s COVID-19 guidelines, a full and unconditional pardon for all actions taken between Jan. 1, 2014, and Jan. 19, 2025. Biden’s broad pardon protected Fauci from prosecution for the actions being investigated by the committee, leaving only the possibility of charges if he lied under oath.

Abhishek Kambli, a former Justice Department official who now represents former Trump advisor Peter Navarro in his contempt of Congress case, told Fox News Digital that the issue presents a novel legal question about whether Fauci can invoke the Fifth Amendment at all.

“Obviously, if he tells the truth, then he would be protected by that blanket pardon, since the past conduct that he reveals he’s fully immunized from,” Kambli told Fox News Digital.

Kambli questioned whether the Fifth Amendment privilege properly applies if truthful testimony could no longer expose Fauci to prosecution for the underlying conduct.

“His theory is that it’s a witch hunt and that they’re looking for perjury traps to charge him with, so that’s why he needs to invoke the Fifth Amendment,” Kambli said.

But Kambli said the argument becomes more difficult to sustain if lawmakers are asking straightforward factual questions.

“I think it gets a little problematic,” Kambli said of Fauci invoking the Fifth Amendment for common knowledge questions like what day of the week it is.

FAUCI PLEADS FIFTH WITH ‘ZERO LEGAL JUSTIFICATION’ AS CRITICS ERUPT AND DEMAND CONTEMPT CHARGES

“If it’s just factual questions that he should know the answer on, it’s hard to see how he would walk into a perjury trap if he’s just telling the truth, because perjury also requires that you knowingly made a false statement,” Kambli said. “If he had an incorrect recollection, that was an innocent mistake that typically wouldn’t lead to a perjury charge.”

Kambli said federal law distinguishes between witnesses who ignore a congressional subpoena and those who appear before Congress but refuse to answer questions. In the latter case, he said, prosecutors generally do not have to prove the witness intentionally violated the law. Instead, the central question is whether the witness had a valid legal basis for refusing to answer, such as a legitimate claim under the Fifth Amendment.

“The issue is [the witness] is already protected if he tells the truth, and it’s only if he knowingly lies about something material that he can be charged,” Kambli said. “So the issue becomes whether the Senate can make a referral to DOJ based on that.”

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said the legal issues surrounding Fauci’s testimony are more complicated than either side suggests.

“The only risk that he faced would come from any false statements that he made in the hearing in dealing with these questions,” Turley told Fox News Digital. “That would likely be viewed as sufficient, particularly since some questions could extend to statements and conduct from after the pardon grant.”

Turley also pointed to Fauci’s decision to deliver an opening statement before invoking the Fifth Amendment, suggesting it could raise additional legal questions.

“There are also questions about the questions limited to the period of his pardon as well as his decision to give an opening statement before invocation. Those are possible grounds for contempt. It would raise novel issues, though there is precedent from the Lois Lerner matter,” Turley said.

TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM FAUCI’S HEARING: PAUL BOOTS LAWYER, MORENO ERUPTS AS CONTEMPT VOTE LOOMS

Turley was referring to former IRS official Lois Lerner, who declared her innocence in a voluntary opening statement before invoking the Fifth Amendment during a 2013 congressional hearing. House Republicans argued Lerner waived her right to invoke the Fifth Amendment when she made statements about the very subject under investigation. Although the House held Lerner in contempt, the Justice Department later declined to pursue criminal contempt charges.

But Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, argued Paul’s position is stronger than Fauci’s.

“He can’t be prosecuted by the federal government for any actions he took during the period the pardon covers,” von Spakovsky said. “However, if he lies while under oath at his hearing today about any of those prior actions, he could be prosecuted for perjury.”

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While von Spakovsky acknowledged that Biden’s pardon of Fauci covers only federal charges, it does not shield Fauci from facing state charges. But he noted no state has accused Fauci of violating state law, at least not yet. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Wednesday announced a state investigation into Fauci, following his testimony on Capitol Hill.

“The possibility of a state prosecution is almost nonexistent because states generally cannot prosecute federal officials acting within the scope of their duties and Fauci would argue that everything he did over COVID was carried out in his official slot as head of NIAID,” von Spakovsky told Fox News Digital.

“The only reason for him to take the Fifth is because he doesn’t want to admit, based on his personal diaries, that he lied repeatedly to the public and Congress when he was head of the NIAID,” von Spakovsky said.

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If Paul’s contempt resolution clears the committee, it would move to the full Senate, but it will need to beat the 60-vote filibuster in order to pass.

Fox News Digital reached out to Fauci’s attorney, David Schertler, for comment.

Former President Barack Obama has endorsed Democratic Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek for U.S. Senate.

“Now the ball’s in your court, Iowa. Let’s make sure that we send Josh Turek to the United States Senate,” Obama said near the end of a video that featured the two men shooting hoops on a basketball court in a modified version of the classic game horse.

“Let’s go. We playin’ horse or what? Obama asks.

“We’re playin’ Iowa,” Turek replies.

OBAMA WARNS VANCE IS PUSHING ‘BLOOD AND SOIL’ VERSION OF ‘WE THE PEOPLE’ MANTRA

“I know a little somethin’ about winning Iowa,” Obama quips.

Obama won the state in both the 2008 and 2012 presidential contests.

Turek is a four-time wheelchair basketball Paralympian and was a gold medalist twice.

DEM SENATE HOPEFUL RIPPED AS ‘ABSENTEE LEGISLATOR’ AFTER MISSING NEARLY 60% OF VOTES

He will face U.S. House Republican Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, in the general election.

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, announced last year that she would not run for re-election in 2026.

That same day, Hinson announced a U.S. Senate bid.

TRUMP-ENDORSED HINSON SECURES IOWA SENATE NOMINATION AS DEMOCRATS EYE GOP SEAT

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Then just days later, President Donald Trump endorsed Hinson for Senate.

The embattled former face of the United States’ COVID-19 response is prominently displayed and heroically framed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History — as the network of Smithsonian institutions faces scrutiny over woke messaging from government officials.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, formerly the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has a prominent place at the museum’s “Entertainment Nation” exhibit.

“As a deadly pandemic ravaged the nation, major sports leagues found themselves at the center of a debate over ‘reopening’ the country,” a placard dedicated to Fauci says.

FAUCI’S NEWLY RELEASED COVID DIARIES REVEAL BIZARRE FIXATION ON FAME AS PANDEMIC DEATHS MOUNTED

“Amidst a cacophony of misinformation and denial, advice from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading epidemiologist, urged leagues to make decisions about resuming play ‘based on scientific evidence and public health judgment,'” it continues. “When baseball became the first league to retake the field, Fauci threw the ceremonial opening pitch—wearing a facemask in a stadium empty of fans.”

A diary kept by Fauci while the pandemic raged, recently exposed by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., shows a man fixated on his own fame, who acknowledged answers to controversial questions in private, but said the opposite in public.

One of those controversial questions dealt with the origin of the virus. COVID-19 may have originated in a National Institute of Health (NIH) funded facility in China. While Fauci recognized privately that the virus may have accidentally escaped a lab, he stalwartly maintained the opposite in public. Fauci critics who suggested otherwise, including other doctors, were castigated. Fauci also insisted that the government was not conducting controversial gain-of-function research. That was later proved false.

FAUCI PRIVATELY TOOK CREDIT FOR COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS DESPITE PUBLIC DENIAL, NEWLY EXPOSED DIARY ENTRIES REVEAL

Alongside the Smithsonian’s heroic characterization of Fauci as a man of science, the museum prominently features that Washington Nationals baseball cap, signed by the doctor, that he wore while throwing out the first pitch when MLB resumed play after lockdowns.

Fauci also repeatedly denied that he was behind the damaging pandemic-era lockdowns, but acknowledged in his diary that mayors and health officials in the country’s largest metropolitan areas, including New York City and Los Angeles, were taking his advice to shut their municipalities down.

Diary posts also show that the doctor, often framed as a humble lifelong public servant, was obsessed with the attention he received during the pandemic. He extensively documented flattering news stories about himself, bragging in May 2020 that his “national and international fame is explosive and really unimaginable” and that it was “not hyperbole” to say he was “the most famous and talked about person in the country.”

TRUMP ORDERS SIGNS OUTSIDE SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM AMID ROW OVER ITS DEPICTION OF AMERICAN HISTORY

The pandemic claimed 1.2 million American lives.

Fauci was grilled on Capitol Hill Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, chaired by Paul. He invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 111 times, failing to answer a single question.

The Smithsonian is dealing with government scrutiny of its own, both from Congress and the White House.

The American history museum’s director, Anthea Hartig, was grilled before Congress last week over sexually explicit imagery, Mickey Mouse being linked to racism and a museum toolkit discussing “objectivity” as a feature of White supremacy.

The museum’s MASS Action Toolkit is a mid-2010s anthology for museums that references the 2014 Ferguson, Missouri, police shooting of Mike Brown and subsequent Black Lives Matter protests. It links politeness and being on time to White supremacy.

The White House chastised the taxpayer-funded museum for pushing “one-sided, divisive political narratives.”

“American taxpayers should not be funding institutions that undermine our country or promote one-sided, divisive political narratives,” White House official Lindsey Halligan told Fox News Digital. “The Smithsonian Institution should present history in a way that is accurate, balanced, and consistent with the values that make the United States of America exceptional.”

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The White House also released a report on July 4 that criticized the Smithsonian’s portrayal of American history, and more recently, President Donald Trump ordered the National Park Service to place signs outside the museum directing visitors and passersby to an online resource that he says portrays an “accurate” version of American history.

He also blasted the museum as “woke” and “OUT OF CONTROL” on Truth Social.

Fox News’ Charles Creitz and Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Lonnie Bunch III, the Smithsonian Institution secretary who called DEI an “integral to excellence in museum practice,” raked in over $4.4 million from 2020-2024 in base salary and added benefits, a Fox News Digital review found.

While the Smithsonian funds executive compensation through private trust revenues to comply with federal pay caps, the high-dollar package could draw fresh scrutiny because federal taxpayers still fund roughly 60% of the institution’s overall budget.

During his tenure, Bunch has championed a sweeping transformation of the institution’s cultural footprint, stating during a 2019 interview with the Smithsonian Magazine that he wanted the Smithsonian to make “diversity and inclusion so central that it’s no longer talked about.”

“We call ourselves the Great Convener, but we’re really a great legitimizer. And I want the Smithsonian to legitimize important issues, whether it’s 1619 or climate change,” Bunch said, referring to the controversial 1619 Project that has been repeatedly slammed for “egregious errors” by scholars. “We help people think about what’s important, what they should debate, what they should embrace.”

FORMER DEMOCRATIC STAFFERS, DEI LEADERS SHAPE SMITHSONIAN LEADERSHIP AMID POLITICAL FIRESTORM

“Everybody that thought about the 1619 Project, whether they liked it or disagreed with it, saw that the Smithsonian had fingerprints on it. And that to me was a great victory,” he added.

As secretary, Bunch reports to the organization’s board of regents and oversees the Smithsonian’s 21 museums, 21 libraries, the National Zoo and several research centers. Within the organization, the departments of the deputy secretary, chief operating officer and external affairs report to him.

While Bunch’s current salary is not public yet, the Smithsonian Institution’s 990 tax forms from 2020 to 2024 show that he has raked in millions of dollars, including a salary of $915,469 with $74,090 in added benefits in 2024. Other years range from $726,156 to $861,379 for his salary and up to $68,391 in added benefits.

In addition to the interview, he co-wrote a policy framework resource titled “Excellence in DEAI,” an acronym for Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion, which was written for the American Alliance of Museums. 

Bunch further elaborated on his views on diversity in this 17-page document, which says that museums should “embed responsibility and accountability for implementing DEAI policies and processes into operations, job descriptions, and performance reviews at all levels of the institution, from the board of directors, c-level executives, and senior leaders to middle managers, junior staff, and volunteers.”

“DEAI is integral to excellence in museum practice. FULL STOP,” Bunch wrote.

“Amid social, political and cultural polarization and clear structural racism and other forms of oppression in the United States and around the world, DEAI must be at the center of how we understand and practice excellence in our institutions,” he added.

SMITHSONIAN PUSHED ‘REVOLTING’ SOCIAL ACTION TRAINING AFTER ‘WHITENESS’ CHART APOLOGY: EXPERT

Bunch’s comments, along with statements from other Smithsonian leadership members, have prompted scrutiny from the Trump administration. In a report titled Saving America’s Story, the administration raised concerns that the organization had taken on a clear political bent.

“Confirmed in the words of museum leadership, this ideological capture has moved the museum’s mission away from straightforward historical education and scholarship toward an extreme political activism that seeks to transform our country,” the report reads.

For his part, Bunch has claimed that he sees himself as an apolitical actor without an agenda despite pushing for DEAI.

“What the country needs are places that are nonpartisan and safe, where people can grapple with what’s going on around them,” Bunch told Smithsonian Magazine.

The Smithsonian, which was established by Congress in 1846 as an independent federal trust, depends heavily on taxpayer dollars.

TRUMP ORDERS SIGNS OUTSIDE SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM AMID ROW OVER ITS DEPICTION OF AMERICAN HISTORY

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“Financially, the institution depends on the federal government for approximately two-thirds of its funding,” the organization stated in its 2025 management report.

Bunch did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether he believes his political leanings are at odds with the Smithsonian’s overall purpose or whether federal funding should prevent the organization’s employees from furthering a stated agenda.

LOS ANGELES, CA – As new data show homelessness rising in Los Angeles, local activist John Alle said Mayor Karen Bass has neglected her responsibility to address the issue and witness firsthand the crime, drug use and deteriorating conditions in some of the city’s hardest-hit neighborhoods.

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority released its 2026 annual homeless count Friday, finding overall homelessness increased 3.4% in LA and 1.2% across the Los Angeles Continuum of Care following two consecutive years of declines, though LAHSA said “neither change is considered statistically significant.”

The count estimated 45,194 people were experiencing homelessness in LA and 73,040 across the Continuum of Care, which excludes Long Beach, Pasadena and Glendale.

“She doesn’t get it. She doesn’t see it,” John Alle, a Santa Monica business owner and co-founder of the Santa Monica Coalition who owns properties across Los Angeles, told Fox News Digital in an interview last month.

KAREN BASS GRILLED OVER BROKEN HOMELESSNESS PROMISE, BLAMES BUREAUCRACY FOR SLOWED PROGRESS

“We’ve invited her numerous times to ride along with us through Alvarado, Third Street, Park View, MacArthur Park and Westlake. Come drive with us. Have a police officer follow behind for security. And she refused.”

The report also found street homelessness rose 7.9% in Los Angeles and 3.3% countywide, with an estimated 29,115 people living on the streets in the city. LAHSA said funding cuts affecting Time-Limited Subsidies and other economic factors reduced the number of people permanently housed by about 5,100 from the “record high of 28,625 people housed permanently in 2024.”

In a press release Thursday responding to the data, Bass argued funding cuts “at the federal and state levels” contributed to the rise, adding the Trump administration had “driven up the cost of gas, groceries, and rent — pushing more families to the edge — and slashed critical safety net funding.”

“For two years straight, we drove down homelessness by historic margins — but as expected, last year our efforts ultimately couldn’t keep up with policies and funding cuts at the federal and state levels that pushed more people onto the streets,” she said.

Bass also admitted in a May interview with CNN’s Elex Michaelson that she did not fulfill her promise to end street homelessness in the city by 2026 because she “didn’t anticipate some of the bureaucratic barriers” her administration would face.

Alle said crime has “gotten so bad” in neighborhoods including Little Bangladesh, which Bass has previously described as one of “LA’s most vibrant communities.”

“In Little Bangladesh, the crime is so bad that we’re finding people on the streets unconscious,” he said. “We’re having handymen pick up needles and dispose of them.”

SPENCER PRATT SAYS HIS POLICY WILL FORCE HOMELESS OUT OF LA AND INTO CITIES LIKE SEATTLE

Pointing to his tenants’ experiences, Alle said he sees the impact of the crisis every day on the “mom-and-pop” renters who live in his apartment buildings and pay thousands of dollars a month, saying “it doesn’t sit well with me.”

“From people overdosing outside the gated apartment buildings I own, to people attacking each other, murders, and calling 911 only to be put on hold for sometimes an hour, and then being told, ‘Well, you’re lucky. Sometimes it’s two hours,'” he said.

Alle accused Bass of ignoring neighborhood conditions despite living nearby at Getty House, the mayor’s official residence in Windsor Square.

“The streetlights are out,” he said. “The rubbish isn’t collected. The streets are dirty. It’s one thing to complain about copper wire theft, but we’re just talking about normal streetlights and replacing the bulbs.”

But it’s not just residents who are affected, according to Alle, who said small businesses are being forced to close early to avoid crime and making it harder to stay in the city.

“When I see them having to leave work at four o’clock, I see them having to close their businesses at four o’clock during the winter and at dusk during the summer,” he said. “That’s not good. I want them to succeed. If they don’t succeed, they can’t afford to stay in LA I feel for them, and their problems are my problems.”

HOUSING FIRST IS A DISASTER. I SAW SACRAMENTO’S HOMELESS CHAOS FIRSTHAND

Multiple studies have found that a large portion of homeless individuals in Los Angeles County aren’t originally from there and Alle has been vocal about how his coalition partnered with an artificial intelligence company to create an AI-powered hotline that has helped more than 40 homeless people return to their home states over the past year.

“They’ve called us from shelters,” he said. “They’ve called us from parks. The people calling aren’t entrenched with the drugs or the gangs. They came here for noble reasons.”

Additionally, Alle said his coalition collaborates with local law enforcement, paying for bus, plane or train tickets to help homeless people voluntarily return home, where they can reunite with family or enter treatment programs.

“We’re not gonna put them behind the slammer,” he said.

Alle said the most “heartbreaking” part is watching families embrace loved ones returning home, with many looking “completely different” after recovery.

“It’s a long road ahead, but they’re trying because they’ve seen hell in LA,” he said.

While acknowledging the program won’t end all homelessness, Alle said helping even a small number of people rebuild their lives is a victory.

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“One person saved is great. Fifteen percent, and the 40 people we’ve saved, is tremendous,” he said.

Bass will face off against progressive city councilwoman Nithya Raman, who has her own ties to the homeless crisis as chair of the Los Angeles City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, in her bid to win another term as mayor in November.

A resurfaced video of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s 2021 door-to-door COVID-19 vaccine campaign is gaining renewed attention amid his contentious testimony before Congress on the federal handling of the pandemic.

The clip shows Fauci, then White House health advisor, and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser visiting residents in the city’s Anacostia neighborhood to encourage them to get vaccinations. But the footage shows several skeptical residents challenging Fauci over the vaccines’ rapid development, long-term safety and the government’s messaging — exchanges that have become a flashpoint in the debate over the federal response.

And now that Fauci’s diary has been published and includes seemingly contradictory public statements versus private musings, his entire involvement has come under the microscope of his biggest critics.

“The people in America are not settled with the information that’s been given to us right now. So I’m not gonna be lining up taking a shot on a vaccination, for something that wasn’t clear in the first place, and then you all create a shot in miraculous time. It takes years to create,” said a Washington, D.C. resident in the video shot by PBS in response to Fauci’s vaccine push campaign.

DID THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PURPOSEFULLY IGNORE COVID VACCINE SIDE EFFECTS?

Fauci and Bowser, who is leaving office at the conclusion of her current term, encouraged residents in the “historic African American neighborhood” of D.C. to get the vaccine, seemingly attempting to persuade skeptical residents and using Fauci as an expert to sway them.

“[If] thousands of people, like you, don’t get vaccinated, you’re going to let this virus continue to percolate in this country and in this world,” urged Bowser, standing alongside the nation’s top voice on the coronavirus at the time.

That resident pushed back, continuing to question the very swift timeline of the vaccine’s development and roll out. They compared it to the flu and expressed skepticism over why the government was incentivizing residents to get the jab.

FAUCI PRIVATELY TOOK CREDIT FOR COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS DESPITE PUBLIC DENIAL, NEWLY EXPOSED DIARY ENTRIES REVEAL

“Because when you start talking about paying people to get vaccinated, when you start talking about incentivizing things to get people vaccinated, there’s something else going on with that. Something else. It’s something else,” said the resident.

Critics on social media swiftly responded to the resurfaced clip.

“They’re terrified of a free-thinking black man. God bless this man,” wrote “The Riley Gaines Show” podcast Riley Gaines on X.

“Earlier this day, Fauci learned he had a blood clot in his lung. Yet he still beat on black people’s doors, telling them to get the COVID shots. And these (mad) scientists wonder why black Americans are leery of vaccines? Maybe they don’t want to be Tuskegee test rats again,” wrote Article III Project founder Mike Davis.

EXCLUSIVE: BIDEN PARDON WON’T SHIELD FAUCI IF HE LIES TO CONGRESS, COMER SAYS

“Never forget this brave American citizen that turned down getting a Covid vaccine and called out Fauci right to his face on camera,” wrote one user on X.

“What an absolute legend this guy… telling that narcissistic, deranged liar and his acolytes to GFT with their sh*tccine,” wrote Bitcoin miner Javier Hermonsa.

Fauci and Bowser both did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the video making its rounds on social media ahead of the retired medical advisor’s appearance in Congress on Wednesday.

Fauci was subpoenaed by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Rand Paul to answer questions primarily about the U.S. government’s handling of COVID-19 and the origins of the virus.

Ahead of the hearing Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump blasted Fauci on Truth Social.

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“I Inherited Fauci, who was there since the 1980’s, but with each passing day, relied less and less on him. He made too many bad calls,” wrote Trump in part.

“Fauci was largely taken out of play, and then along came Sleepy Joe Biden, who made Fauci a ‘King!’ I called Biden to tell him Fauci was no good, either didn’t have a clue, or was dishonest. The call was well received, but sadly, not acted on. Biden went on to give Fauci vast destructive power,” he added.

During the hearing, Fauci repeatedly refused to answer substantive questions, invoking the Fifth Amendment against questions from lawmakers at least 111 times during the hearing.

Paul said the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will hold a vote next week to “certify” Fauci’s contempt of Congress.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, tore into Dr. Anthony Fauci, who served as President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor and was a key government spokesman during the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping an F-bomb during Wednesday’s congressional hearing.

Fauci was issued a subpoena by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., as part of a congressional investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and the federal government’s response to the pandemic. Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and his Republican colleagues have long accused Fauci of misleading Congress and the American people about the origins of the virus, federal funding for research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the Chinese city where the virus first emerged and the nature of so-called gain-of-function research, which alters pathogens to study how they may become more transmissible or dangerous.

“Here I am sitting in front of you six years later saying, who the f–k do you think you were for doing that?” Moreno said. “It is a total disgrace what you did to this country.”

FAUCI PRIVATELY TOOK CREDIT FOR COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS DESPITE PUBLIC DENIAL, NEWLY EXPOSED DIARY ENTRIES REVEAL

Moreno’s remarks came after he argued the government’s COVID-19 guidance, including mask mandates, social distancing recommendations and school closures, harmed Americans. He said “moronic” politicians’ implementation of Fauci’s guidance led to arrests, recounting the story of an Ohio mother who was arrested for not wearing a mask during an outdoor high school football game.

“When that story broke, I said to myself, I cannot stand idly on the side and watch this happen,” Moreno said. “It was about six years ago today that I decided I’m going to give up my businesses, sell them all, run for office, run for the United States Senate.”

Moreno then asked Fauci whether he would apologize to the American people, prompting Fauci to invoke the Fifth Amendment. Throughout the hearing, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times rather than answer lawmakers’ questions.

RAND PAUL SEEKS CONTEMPT CHARGES AFTER FAUCI INVOKES FIFTH AMENDMENT MORE THAN 100 TIMES

At the beginning of his allotted time, Moreno called on audience members to stand if they had questioned the government’s COVID-19 guidelines and were made to feel “like less than a human being” or suffered consequences for failing to comply, such as being fired from their jobs or refusing the vaccine. Moreno’s request prompted audience members sitting behind Fauci to stand. Moreno asked Fauci to turn around and face them, but he refused.

Moreno accused Fauci of being more interested in rubbing elbows with celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, referring to a Zoom call Fauci participated in with her and more than a dozen other celebrities, than serving as a public health official.

Moreno’s fiery exchange with Fauci quickly drew praise from conservative commentators and Trump administration officials on social media.

“Fauci should go to jail. Full stop,” Fox News contributor Joe Concha wrote on X.

White House Communications Director Stephen Cheung praised Moreno’s line of questioning.

“Senator @BernieMoreno throwing a high-heat fastball!”

Jace Yarbrough, a Republican congressional candidate in Texas’ 32nd District and an Air Force veteran, thanked Moreno for confronting Fauci and described what he said was pressure placed on service members who declined the COVID-19 vaccine.

“I am one of the service members who refused the COVID shot,” Yarbrough wrote on X. “Many were removed from service, lost their livelihoods, or received career-ending reprimands simply for declining the shot.”

“Thank you @berniemoreno for taking this man to task and standing up for those who were targeted by his regime.”

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Philip Letsou, Moreno’s chief of staff, also reacted to the exchange, writing on X, “Never seen a moment quite like this in Congress.”

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“We have no comment on anything Senator Moreno had to say other than he is completely wrong,” David Schertler, Fauci’s attorney, said in an email to Fox News Digital.

The Trump administration is seeking to use a specialized federal court for the first time since Congress created it three decades ago in an effort to deport an Afghan woman accused of aiding an Islamic State-inspired terror plot in the U.S., according to court records made public on Wednesday.

Nazira Haji Zada, of Fort Worth, Texas, is the first person facing deportation through the Alien Terrorist Removal Court after her arrest earlier this week.

The court is scheduled to hold an initial hearing on Thursday in Washington, D.C., in the government’s effort to deport Haji Zada.

“The allegations in this case show the matriarch of an ISIS-sympathizing family aiding in a plot to launch a mass casualty attack on American voters on Election Day. The Department’s application in this court makes clear that terrorists have no place in the United States of America,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.

‘SOMETHING BIG’: FEDS REVEAL HOW RELATIVES OF SUSPECTS IN FOILED WHITE HOUSE UFC PLOT SAW WARNING SIGNS

According to an FBI memo dated July 15, authorities “developed information” that Haji Zada supports the Islamic State and had her children pledge their loyalty to the terrorist group.

Haji Zada “supported” a plot by family members to carry out an ISIS-inspired attack in the U.S., according to the memo.

She was identified in court filings as the mother and mother-in-law of two Afghan men who were convicted in Oklahoma in connection with a 2024 Election Day terror plot.

Her son, Abdullah Haji Zada, was sentenced in November to 15 years behind bars. He previously agreed to be deported after his release from prison.

Haji Zada’s son-in-law, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, who previously worked as a security guard for a U.S. military installation in Afghanistan, pleaded guilty to conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State. Prosecutors said he attempted to advance his attack plans by ordering AK-47 rifles, liquidating his family’s assets and purchasing one-way tickets for his wife and child to travel back to Afghanistan.

The Alien Terrorist Removal Court was created in 1996 but never received a petition until this month, when the Justice Department filed an application attempting to deport Haji Zada.

The longtime-dormant court hears government applications seeking the removal of noncitizens alleged to qualify as “alien terrorists” under federal immigration law when the evidence supporting removal includes classified information.

FLORIDA CONGRESSMAN MOVES TO IMPEACH JUDGE WHO ORDERED CONVICTED CUBAN PLANE HIJACKER FREED FROM ICE

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“Congress created the Alien Terrorist Removal Court three decades ago to remove from the United States alien terrorists who never should have been here in the first place,” Blanche said.

The court is made up of five federal judges from various districts across the country who are appointed by the Supreme Court’s chief justice.

For the time being, the court says all proceedings will take place at the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

As the Democratic Party’s socialist wing racks up primary victories, one top Democrat is emphasizing that the party remains a big tent.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., dodged a question from Fox News on Wednesday about whether the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) platform has a place in the Democratic Party.

“[The] bottom line is Democrats from one end of the spectrum to the other are going to be working to defeat Trump, to bring down costs, to go after his corruption and to end the chaos,” Schumer replied at a leadership news conference.

The Senate minority leader did not elaborate on whether he agreed with the DSA’s call to abolish the Senate.

WATCH: HOUSE DEMS DODGE QUESTIONS ON SOCIALIST AGENDA THAT THREATENS TO ABOLISH KEY INSTITUTIONS

The Senate has frequently drawn criticism from socialists for giving equal power to all states and its 60-vote threshold requiring bipartisan consensus to pass most legislation.

The Senate abolition proposal is part of the DSA’s recent platform, “Workers Deserve More,” which also calls for scrapping the presidency and the Supreme Court in favor of representatives “chosen by” and “subordinate to” a unicameral Congress.

In the manifesto, the far-left group also calls for abolishing the police and prisons, defunding the Department of War, and dismantling capitalism.

The exchange comes as Schumer’s path to political power is increasingly colliding with the socialist movement’s growing strength.

After upsetting Democratic incumbents in New York City and Colorado this year, the DSA is attempting to keep its winning streak alive by electing more socialist candidates in upcoming primaries in Missouri and Michigan.

If Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed, a far-left candidate who has rejected the “socialist” label, wins the hotly contested Democratic primary, Schumer’s hopes of becoming Senate majority leader could depend on his victory in November.

The New York Democrat has thrown his support behind Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., who has consolidated support among the party’s establishment wing, in the key Senate race.

Schumer could also face a primary threat from the Democratic Party’s far-left flank if he seeks reelection in 2028.

DSA MEMBER LEADS DEM PRIMARY IN MIDWEST BATTLEGROUND BUT TRAILS LIKELY GOP NOMINEE: POLL

Some moderate Democrats have called on the party to take a harder line in rejecting the DSA.

“This isn’t a big tent—it’s anarchy,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., wrote on social media earlier this week. “Why can’t Dems call out the DSA?”

DSA co-chair Megan Romer affirmed the group supports many of these policy ideas during a recent interview with “Fox News Sunday.”

“[You’re advocating for] abolish[ing] the Senate?” Fox News’ Shannon Bream asked.

“True,” Romer responded.

“Replace the presidency and Supreme Court as we now know them?” Bream followed up.

“Yep,” Romer replied.

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“Abolish ICE?” Bream pressed.

“Absolutely,” Romer said.

Whether Democratic leaders embrace or distance themselves from the DSA will be a defining question heading into the November midterms.

The Senate took another small step toward levying sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin and Iran in another massive, bipartisan vote.

Though not the final vote to pass the long-stalled effort, the latest successful bid to move a bone-crushing sanctions package once championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham is no less significant.

The upper chamber hopes to complete work on the package, renamed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, by next week. If successful, the long-awaited legislation will again be put on the shelf, albeit temporarily, until the House returns from its August recess.

‘A BIG EFFING DEAL’: GRAHAM’S FINAL MISSION MOVES FORWARD AFTER HIS DEATH

Still, lawmakers are confident they can get the bill through the next few hurdles and believe that it’s the best way to honor Graham, who made his final trip home to South Carolina on Wednesday for his funeral.

“This may turn out to be Lindsey Graham’s greatest legislative achievement in a stellar 32-year career,” Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said.

The bill, which has gone through several iterations, still focuses on kneecapping Putin’s war machine in its ongoing fight with Ukraine. However, it reinserts sanctions targeting Iran’s weapons and energy sectors in the hopes of incentivizing a lasting peace deal as the war in the Middle East marches on.

PUTIN, RUSSIA PUT ON NOTICE AS SENATE TAKES CRUCIAL STEP TO GRIND DOWN THE KREMLIN’S WAR MACHINE

Key components of the legislation allow for up to 500% tariffs on Russian imports; tariffs of up to 100% on countries buying Russian energy, like China and India; and provides President Donald Trump flexibility for when to turn off some aspects of the sanctions.

Some Democrats have acknowledged that giving Trump tariff authority could give their colleagues heartburn, particularly after raging against his usage of duties during his second term.

Proponents of the bill brought in heavy artillery to convince Democratic skeptics in the form of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a close ally of Graham’s, to win some key votes for the package.

LINDSEY GRAHAM’S FINAL MISSION NEARS FINISH LINE AS WORLD LEADERS GATHER TO HONOR HIM

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said on the Senate floor that she was aware that some had raised concerns about the tariff authorities.

“They say that President Trump has used tariffs indiscriminately to target our closest allies. Well, I agree,” Shaheen said.

“But, in the case of this bill, Congress is explicitly directing these tariffs for one unambiguous purpose: to increase the pressure on Vladimir Putin and end his unprovoked war against Ukraine,” she continued. “That’s why this bill is narrowly targeted at the worst actors supporting Russia.”

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And at its core, the legislation is still meant to send Putin and the Kremlin a strong message as the war in Ukraine rages on.

“This bill says to Vladimir Putin, ‘Your days of war are numbered. You are on the losing side. Better to come to the table now than sacrifice more lives, waste more money, crater your economy, destroy your standing in the world,’” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said.

Two prominent Democratic figures with deep ties to the Clinton and Obama administrations publicly criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani this week, with former Clinton adviser Mark Penn attacking the mayor’s proposed property tax plan while former Obama White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel recounted what he described as a private conversation in which he challenged Mamdani’s rhetoric on Israel.

The criticism is notable because it comes from longtime Democrat insiders rather than Republican opponents and focuses on two of the issues that have defined Mamdani’s rise political rise: his far-left economic agenda and his positions on Israel.

Fox News Digital reached out to Penn, Emanuel and Mamdani’s office for comment.

NYC MAYOR MAMDANI CALLS THREAT OF RICH PEOPLE LEAVING NYC OVER TAXES ‘IMAGINED’

Penn, a longtime Democrat strategist and former pollster and adviser to President Bill Clinton, accused Mamdani of dramatically understating the scope of his proposed pied-à-terre tax after the mayor released a public database identifying property owners who could be subject to it.

In a lengthy post on X, Penn argued the city’s valuation system had swept in nearly one million property owners rather than the roughly 30,000 luxury homeowners Penn said had previously been described as the intended targets.

“The $5 million figure was a fake,” Penn wrote, arguing the city’s valuation system had improperly classified properties and would force homeowners to prove they should not be taxed.

RAHM EMANUEL WARNS NEW GENERATION OF DEM SOCIALISTS DON’T LIKE AMERICA

Penn also argued the proposal could depress property values, discourage investment in New York City and potentially raise constitutional questions.

Meanwhile, Emanuel said during an appearance on the Unholy Podcast that he met privately with Mamdani for roughly 90 minutes and challenged the self-described democratic socialist mayor over his views on Israel.

Emanuel said he praised portions of Mamdani’s domestic agenda, including childcare, but criticized Mamdani’s past use of the phrase “from the river to the sea.”

MAMDANI DODGES ON ‘POLITICAL THEATER’ OF EMPTY NETANYAHU ARREST THREAT, CALLS FOR US ACTION AND NYC PROTESTS

“I know where there’s a line. You don’t,” Emanuel recalled telling Mamdani.

Emanuel said both calls for a “Greater Israel” and the slogan “from the river to the sea” would lead to “perpetual conflict.”

After clips of Emanuel’s remarks circulated online, Mamdani communications director Anna Bahr publicly disputed the account.

“can confirm this …. did not happen,” Bahr wrote on X in response to a post summarizing Emanuel’s remarks.

It was not immediately clear from Bahr’s post whether she was disputing that the meeting occurred or Emanuel’s characterization of the conversation.

Emanuel has also recently criticized the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) more broadly. In a post on X this week, he argued Democrats should focus on winning competitive elections rather than what he characterized as ideological distractions.

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“You can be focused on winning tough races, flipping red seats blue. Or you can be focused on abolishing prisons and… the Senate and Supreme Court? You can’t do both,” Emanuel wrote. “I’m for winning this November and ending Trump’s corruption — and I’m also for putting an end to all the distractions from the DSA.”

Penn, Emanuel and Mamdani’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for additional comment before publication.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s chances of confirmation were derailed Wednesday, less than 24 hours before a pivotal vote in the Senate.

It’s another chapter in the troubled saga that has followed Blanche since he was tapped to replace former Attorney General Pam Bondi and one that boils down to issues among Blanche, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and two key Republicans who control his fate in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senators John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., are demanding that the DOJ provide explicit, written proposals to modify the settlement deal reached between the IRS and President Donald Trump and his family earlier this year.

TRUMP AG PICK TODD BLANCHE FACES SENATE TEST IN FIRST MAJOR CONFIRMATION FIGHT SINCE GRAHAM’S DEATH

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., had hoped a deal could be struck and allow for the confirmation to move forward, eying next week as the major floor vote to formally confirm Blanche as Bondi’s replacement.

“I think that that’s an issue between, right now, the White House and Senators Cornyn and Tillis,” Thune said. “But, yeah, I would encourage them to sit down, which I think they are, and try to come to a resolution there so that the markup can continue tomorrow, and we can get Todd Blanche ready for the floor.”

The DOJ had until 4 p.m. Wednesday to get the lawmakers what they wanted, but the agency fell short, and Blanche’s bumpy carriage ride to confirmation turned into a pumpkin.

Without a guarantee that Cornyn or Tillis would vote to confirm Blanche, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, opted to postpone the hearing until a later date.

Their targets are the now-defunct, nearly $2 billion anti-weaponization fund and the president’s audit immunity. Republicans and Democrats alike railed against the fund, particularly over concerns that the funding would go to people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots on Capitol Hill. 

Trump’s audit immunity has similarly ruffled feathers. Blanche, in his announcement of the settlement deal earlier this year, outlined that, as part of the agreement, the IRS would not be allowed to audit Trump, his family or affiliated companies.

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Cornyn has proven the most resistant until his demands are met. He’s used his newfound freedom to extract concessions from the Trump administration in recent weeks.

His push for an explicit end to the audit language in the settlement agreement is another such example. The longtime lawmaker, who will exit the Senate at the end of this year after being ousted by the Trump-backed Ken Paxton, was set to meet Blanche Wednesday morning.

But the confab was called off, and Blanche continued making the rounds in the Senate throughout the day, capping off his visit to the Capitol with Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo. He declined to comment to reporters on his way out. 

Cornyn said it was “made clear from the outset that we expected some written proposals to modify the release that was signed in the tax dispute with President Trump and his organization.”

“We need to conform the actual document to what Todd Blanche testified under oath as the president’s acting attorney general,” Cornyn said. “We’ve had two meetings scheduled that have now been canceled because they have not been responsive in providing those written documents.”

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Trump, when asked about the holdup in the Senate for Blanche, portrayed himself as a president at an arm’s length from the situation and said he heard his attorney general pick was “going through quite nicely.” 

“Well, all I can say is Todd Blanche is outstanding. And I thought he’s — I thought it was pretty routine because he’s so good,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “You just wouldn’t find a better person. So, I don’t know, maybe John Cornyn is upset with me because I didn’t endorse him. I don’t know what it is, but I haven’t heard that there’s a problem.”

Tillis made clear he doesn’t “have a beef with DOJ or with Blanche.” 

“They’re trying to get it done, but still gotta get it done,” Tillis said. 

He also noted that the number of hurdles that getting those kinds of written proposals through was more extensive than meets the eye. For example, Tillis said the actual settlement likely was signed by the president’s lawyer and not Trump himself. 

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“So there’s, you know, there’s a circle of people that have to go through the loop,” he said. “And I get that, but, you know, if we can get it done or possibly get him reported out on Tuesday, if they schedule a markup, I would support that if we get the language.”

The Trump Organization, led by President Donald Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, made a controversial investment in a construction company that now stands to profit from a rare earth minerals deal funded by the U.S. government.

While the deal raises suspicions, one securities attorney says evidence of wrongdoing is likely impossible to find and acknowledged that critics have a “proof problem.”

“Well, the question is whether President Trump would have known about his sons’ investments in this company, and I think the answer would be ‘no’ unless the sons told them,” Andrew Stoltmann, a Chicago-based securities and investment fraud attorney, told Fox News Digital.

“Look, they are private investors,” he continued. “They are not government employees. So, to the extent they make a passive investment in a company or an entity, there are no real duties to disclose this information.”

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The controversy stems from a tungsten mining deal in Kazakhstan, which primarily involves U.S.-based investment company Cove Capital and the company’s mining affiliate, Cove Kaz Capital Group. Between 2023 and 2024, Cove Capital negotiated with the Kazakh government to take a 70% share in the country’s state-owned tungsten mining deposits.

Tungsten is a rare earth mineral that is critical to building military equipment, including missiles and fighter jets. The lion’s share of the earth’s supply of the mineral is owned by China and Russia. Trump, since returning to office, has made it a strategic national security priority to secure a long-term supply of the resource.

In August 2025, through an investment vehicle created by Dominari Securities, which is housed in Trump Tower in New York, the Trump brothers purchased a minority interest in a construction company, Skyline Builders, which at the time was publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker SKBL.

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In June of that year, Cantor Fitzgerald, founded by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, underwrote a $46.8 million loan to a company called ASP Isotopes. ASP Isotopes is owned by businessman Paul Mann. Lutnick’s company is now controlled by his sons, Brandon and Kyle Lutnick, who took over when their father became a government official.

At about the time of underwriting, the Trump brothers were investing in Skyline Builders, a wholly-owned ASP Isotopes subsidiary that acquired voting control of Skyline Builders.

On Nov. 6, 2025, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, met with Trump and announced that the Central Asian country had awarded a tungsten mining contract to the United States. The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which provide government financing for international projects, penned letters of interest totaling up to $1.6 billion in financing for the deal. Cove Kaz Capital was selected as the firm to do the majority of the mining.

The deal has not officially been inked and is under a standard review process by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Earlier this spring, Skyline Builders completed a reverse merger with Cove Kaz Capital, creating a company called Kaz Resources, which is now listed on the NASDAQ as KAZR. Skyline Builders owns 20% of Kaz Resources after a $20 million investment.

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Critics have suggested — albeit without evidence — that the Trump brothers schemed to invest in Skyline Builders with advance knowledge that Kazakhstan would opt to award the billion-and-a-half-dollar tungsten deal to the United States instead of other countries, and, in turn, Kaz Resources would secure the contract. 

The Trump organization vehemently denies that characterization and says the investment made by the brothers through Dominari Securities in Skyline Builders was passive, made before the tungsten deal was done and made without the knowledge that Kazakhstan would award the mining contract to the United States in the first place.

Even without wrongdoing, Stoltmann said the appearance of impropriety could cause headaches.

“The $64,000 question is pretty much what Trump knew and when he knew it — and, look, the optics are bad,” he said. “You have the president’s sons investing in a company that is eventually awarded a very large contract, and so it certainly raises eyebrows, it raises suspicions.

“And it’s certainly clear why this has caused an uproar. But a lot of times, this is more thunder, this is more noise — a tempest in a teapot, as I like to say.”

In discussing potential ramifications, Stoltmann said members of the political left who are frenzied over the deal will have trouble finding proof of wrongdoing, as Trump would have no way of knowing about his sons’ investment unless they told him about it.

“But this is where the proof problem comes in,” said Stoltmann.

“It’s fun to have conjecture. It’s fun to theorize, and it’s fun to discuss this, but I don’t think there’s any duty of disclosure when you are a passive investor in a company, and that’s where President Trump would most certainly say, ‘I don’t know all the things my sons do.'”

As for the Lutnick brothers, Stoltmann noted that Cantor Fitzgerald stood to financially benefit from underwriting and advisory fees when it helped finance the loan for Mann, whose company now owns a majority voting stake in Kaz Resources.

“You most certainly need a Wall Street brokerage firm or bank to help finance some of this, but, more importantly, to do the underwriting,” Stoltmann said. “We have reverse mergers, we have mergers and we have multiple shell companies coming into the equation. When you do that, you need a bank, you need a brokerage firm. And that’s where Cantor Fitzgerald comes in.”

In the way of political ramifications, Stoltmann warned that if Democrats regain control of the House and Senate in November, the Trump brothers will likely face heat from the president’s political opponents for any business deals that they think can come under scrutiny.

“You’re going see a tsunami of subpoenas trying to get the phone records, the communication records, the emails of the Trump boys and President Trump and everybody associated with this deal,” he predicted. “So, look, is there potential legal liability this situation? Yes, there is. I don’t think there is for President Trump, though.

“You know, clearly, at least by all appearances, it seems like his sons were passive investors, and the sons would say, ‘Look, we’re worth a couple hundred million dollars. We have passive investments in dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of different companies. This is all pure than Caesar’s wife,’ but it certainly raises some suspicions.”

The White House reiterated that the president does not directly manage his investment holdings and that they are instead managed by independent third-party financial institutions.

“This is the same, tired narrative that Democrats have pushed against President Trump, his family and his administration for a decade,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said. “President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public, which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media. There are no conflicts of interest.”

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Cantor Fitzgerald emphasized that it had no interaction at all with Kaz Resources or Skyline Builders.

“Cantor is a natural partner for companies raising capital to meet growing demand for critical minerals,” a spokesperson said. “Cantor’s involvement is limited to supporting capital raises in the public markets and does not include participation in negotiations with the current or any prior administration.”

The Trump Organization and Commerce Department did not return Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.