Migrant encounters hit daily record at southern border, as Washington struggles to agree on solutions
Migrant encounters at the southern border hit the highest total for a single day ever recorded on Tuesday, marking yet another record broken as part of the ongoing migrant crisis which has hammered cities at both the border and across the country. Multiple Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources told Fox News that there were over 12,000 migrant encounters on Tuesday. Over 10,200 of those were Border Patrol encounters of illegal immigrants coming between ports of entry. That Border Patrol number is among the highest number of encounters ever recorded for the agency by itself but breaks a record when combined with the encounters by CBP’s Office of Field Operations at ports of entry. CONSERVATIVE COALITION WARNS GOP LEADERS AGAINST ‘WATERING DOWN’ BORDER MEASURES’ TO CLINCH SPENDING DEAL As of Wednesday morning, the agency has over 22,000 migrants in custody, with several major Border Patrol sectors running heavily over capacity, sources said. Fiscal Year 23 hit a new record of 2.4 million migrant encounters, with September hitting the highest monthly total ever recorded, with over 260,000 encounters. October saw slightly fewer with over 240,000 encounters, but that was still a record for October. In recent weeks, the Tucson Sector in Arizona has been hard hit by a surge in migrant encounters with remote parts of the sector seeing massive amounts of migrants — including hundreds of adult male migrants from Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The Tucson Sector saw nearly 3,000 encounters in a single day and has seen 17,500 encounters in a single week, the highest weekly total ever recorded. Meanwhile, in the Del Rio Sector, which includes the traffic hotspot of Eagle Pass, there were over 3,300 illegal crossings in that sector alone. ‘I LOVE YOU JOE BIDEN:’ MIGRANT THANKS POTUS AFTER CROSSING ILLEGALLY IN ARIZONA Fox is currently on the ground in Lukeville, Arizona, where adult migrants were camped out waiting to be processed by overwhelmed Border Patrol agents. Many of them told Fox they are here for opportunity and want to go to cities like New York City — which has itself said it is overwhelmed by the numbers it is seeing. Those cities have increased pressure for more funding from the Biden administration in recent weeks, with mayors demanding $5 billion in aid. That is significantly higher than the additional $1.5 billion the White House has requested as part of its supplemental funding request to Congress. That request is also being held up as Democrats and Republicans struggle to agree on what border provisions need to be in any funding package. Republicans, who blame the Biden administration’s policies for the crisis, want restrictions on asylum and parole. Democrats have said they would only agree to policy changes if they were accompanied by an amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the U.S. The Biden administration has long said that it needs more funding — it has requested $14 billion for border operations overall in the supplemental — while calling on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. STUNNING IMAGES SHOW ARIZONA BORDER OVERRUN BY MASSIVE SURGE OF ADULT MALE MIGRANTS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on CNN on Wednesday that the administration was open to some proposals from Republicans, but not others. “We’ve presented proposals that address the situation, that provide real practical solutions and also do not do violence to our fundamental values. We are a country of refugees. We do have asylum laws. We do have refugee laws. We we abide by our international obligations that are longstanding,” he said. “And so that is my response to that. Some of the proposals are reasonable and worthy of discussion. Others are, frankly, not.” President Biden, meanwhile, told reporters on Wednesday afternoon that he is open to “significant compromises” on the border. “We need to fix the broken border system. It is broken,” he said.
Ohio Republicans propose nixing home grow, increasing taxes in sweeping changes to legal marijuana
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Banning marijuana growing at home, increasing the substance’s tax rate and altering how those taxes get distributed are among vast changes Ohio Senate Republicans proposed Monday to a marijuana legalization measure approved by voters last month. The changes emerged suddenly in committee just days before the new law is set to take effect, though their fate in the full Senate and the GOP-led House is still unclear. OHIO HOUSE COMMITTEE ADVANCES CONTROVERSIAL HIGHER EDUCATION BILL The ballot measure, dubbed Issue 2, passed on the Nov. 7 election with 57% of the vote and it set to become law this Thursday, making Ohio the 24th state to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use. But as a citizen-initiated statute, the Legislature is free to make tweaks on it, of which they’re attempting plenty. “The goal of this committee is to provide the people’s wishes with a safe product,” Sen. Michael Rulli, a Columbiana County Republican, said during a meeting of the Senate General Government Committee, where the changes were tacked onto an unrelated alcohol regulation bill. Tom Haren, a spokesperson for the pro-Issue 2 campaign Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, harshly criticized the Senate rewrite. “Some in the Ohio Senate propose to gut Issue 2’s most important provisions, including home grow and social equity, and to put in place higher taxes that will entrench the illicit market and force Ohioans to continue to buy their cannabis products in Michigan,” he said in a statement. “This is not what voters wanted.” The Senate changes still have a long way to go, however. If they clear the Senate floor, the Republican-majority House, which leans more in favor of overall recreational marijuana legalization than the Senate, would still have to agree to the many changes. GOP Gov. Mike DeWine, who has supported going along with at least the basics approved by voters, also must sign off on them. Senate changes would prohibit growing marijuana at home, a departure from provisions approved by voters that allow individual Ohioans to grow up to six plants at home and up to 12 per household. The Senate’s proposal also would increase the approved tax on marijuana products of 10% to 15%. Cultivators would also be taxed at that rate under the revisions. Tax revenue would go toward general state funding, law enforcement training, substance abuse treatment and prevention and safe driving training. Under the original statute, that revenue would have gone to local governments hosting dispensaries and a social equity program supporting those who wish to break into the cannabis industry. The elimination is meant to keep most of the tax revenue from simply going back to the industry rather than benefitting state, according to northern Ohio Republican Sen. Rob McColley. Senate legislation would also reduce the amount of recreational marijuana someone can legally possess at a time, as well as lower the legal THC levels for marijuana plants, from the statute’s original 35% to 25%, and the levels for extracts, from the original 90% to 50%. GOP senators also proposed several efforts to protect children from consuming or being exposed to marijuana use — a priority for the governor. Under the new measure, marijuana products would have to be sold in child-safe packaging and could not resemble any animals, fruit or fictional characters such as those from cartoons. Advertisers would also be banned from utilizing any media or pop culture figures whose target audience is children to sell marijuana products, and dispensaries could not exist within 500 feet (152 meters) of a school, church, public library or public park. The changes also address what opponents to Issue 2 said were “ambiguous” rules around public consumption. Non-smoking products such as edibles could be consumed publicly unless prohibited by a private establishment, but any smoking or vaping of the drug would be banned unless inside an individual’s home. However, landlords could still ban tenants from smoking. Employers would also be able to set their own rules for their employee’s cannabis use and testing and can fire them for use without worrying about violating discrimination laws. Scott Milburn, a spokesperson for the anti-Issue 2 campaign Protect Ohio Workers and Families, said in a statement that the changes make the measure “less dangerous to Ohioans and less self-serving to the industry.” State Sen. Bill DeMora, a Columbus Democrat, slammed the changes as ignoring the will of the voters — especially the elimination of home growing, diverting tax revenue intended for local governments and lowering the THC levels. “The voters’ intent is nowhere to be found in what I call a shell of what the voters passed,” DeMora said Monday during committee.
WI Republican prosecutor plans appeal in state abortion case
A Republican prosecutor said Tuesday that he plans to appeal a court ruling that Wisconsin law permits consensual medical abortions, the first step toward a potential showdown in the state Supreme Court over abortion rights. Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski issued a statement through his attorneys saying that he disagrees with Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Schlipper’s July finding and state law clearly bans abortions, including consensual medical abortions. PLANNED PARENTHOOD ANNOUNCES RETURN OF ABORTION IN WISCONSIN AFTER KEY COURT RULING The case appears destined to end up at the state Supreme Court. Liberal justices currently hold a 4-3 majority on the court, making it unlikely that conservatives would prevail at that level. Urmanski could string out the process beyond the 2025 spring elections, however, in the hopes that liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley loses re-election and conservatives regain control of the court. WISCONSIN RESUMES OFFERING ABORTIONS FOLLOWING 1-YEAR HIATUS In question is an 1849 Wisconsin law that conservatives have interpreted as banning abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision legalizing abortion, reactivated the law. Abortion providers subsequently ceased operations in the state out of fear of violating the ban. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit days after the Supreme Court decision, challenging the ban’s validity. He argued the statutes were too old to enforce and a 1985 law permitting abortions before fetuses can survive outside the womb trumps the ban. Three doctors later joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs, saying they fear being prosecuted for performing abortions. Urmanski is defending the ban in court. The city of Sheboygan is home to one of Planned Parenthood’s three Wisconsin clinics that provide abortions. The others are in Madison and Milwaukee. Schlipper ruled this past July that the abortion ban prohibits someone from attacking a woman in an attempt to kill her unborn child but doesn’t apply to consensual medical abortions. Her finding didn’t formally end the lawsuit but Planned Parenthood was confident enough in the ruling to resume abortion procedures at their Madison and Milwaukee clinics in September. Urmanski later filed a motion asking Schlipper to reconsider her ruling. She refused in a 14-page opinion issued Tuesday, writing that Urmanski failed to show how she misapplied state law or made any other mistake and declared that the plaintiffs had won the suit. She also declined the doctors’ request to issue an injunction prohibiting prosecutors from charging abortion providers, saying she’s confidant prosecutors will follow her ruling. WISCONSIN MAN AGREES TO PLEAD GUILTY TO FIREBOMBING OFFICES OF PRO-LIFE GROUP Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, both Democrats, have said they would abide by Schlipper’s ruling. Urmanski has said he would abide by it as well. He reiterated in his statement Tuesday that he’s obligated to follow the ruling unless it’s stayed on appeal. Kaul said during a news conference Wednesday morning before Urmanski’s announcement that he fully expected an appeal. “This decision can be appealed. I expect that it likely will be,” Kaul said. “And so other courts will weigh in on this. But for now, this is a major win for reproductive freedom in Wisconsin, and we are prepared to defend that victory and reproductive freedom as we move forward.”
Sen Vance in letter to Biden admin accuses WaPo writer of encouraging ‘open rebellion’ against US
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanding answers regarding a recent Washington Post op-ed that he said suggested “open rebellion” against the United States. Robert Kagan, an editor at large at the newspaper, wrote a piece last week, claiming that “resistance” to former President Donald Trump, should he win the 2024 presidential election, “could come from the governors of predominantly Democratic states such as California and New York through a form of nullification. States with Democratic governors and statehouses could refuse to recognize the authority of a tyrannical federal government.” “That is always an option in our federal system,” Kagan added. JD VANCE FURIOUS OVER FORBES ARTICLE ON HOW TO ‘DECENTER WHITENESS,’ WILL INVESTIGATE AUTHOR’S DEI FIRM Vance wrote in his letter to Garland and Blinken that Kagan’s piece potentially violates federal law. “Excuse me? I must have missed that day in civics class,” he wrote after quoting Kagan’s piece. “According to Robert Kagan, the prospect of a second Donald Trump presidency is terrible enough to justify open rebellion against the United States, along with the political violence that would inevitably follow.” Vance also mentioned in his letter that Kagan is married to Victoria Nuland, who is currently serving as the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, and he asks whether her “close relationship with her husband might compromise her judgment about the best interests of the United States.” Vance gave Garland and Blinken a Jan. 6 deadline to answer several questions, including whether the Department of Justice will open an investigation into Kagan. “If not, what factors counsel against such an investigation? Why were those factors inapplicable in President Trump’s case?” he asked. “How does the Department of Justice distinguish between heated political rhetoric and evidence of a conspiracy to violate rights or rebel against the United States?” he asked. “In the view of the Department of Justice, could a demand for ‘nullification’ or secession ‘intimidate’ a voter into changing his behavior at the ballot box?” Fox News Digital has reached out to Kagan, The Washington Post, the State Department and the DOJ for comment.
NRA calls Chuck Schumer’s latest gun bill ‘attack’ on Constitution
FIRST ON FOX: The National Rifle Association (NRA) slammed New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer for reintroducing a ban on so-called “assault weapons” that the NRA says is another attempt by Democrats to “destroy our self-defense and Second Amendment rights.” “Sen. Chuck Schumer launched a failed attack on the Constitution itself, targeting firearms legally owned and used by millions of Americans. This is yet another attempt by gun control extremists to erode and eventually destroy our self-defense and Second Amendment rights,” NRA-ILA Executive Director Randy Kozuch told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. Schumer said earlier this week on X that he would bring forth legislation to the floor for a vote to bring back a ban on semi-automatic firearms that was last in effect almost 20 years ago. “This week, I will put the Assault Weapons Ban on the Senate floor,” Schumer said in the post. “After I led the passage of the Brady Bill and the Assault Weapons Ban 30 years ago, America saw a decrease in mass shootings and gun deaths.” BIDEN URGES BAN ON ASSAULT WEAPONS AFTER ‘SENSELESS’ LEWISTON, MAINE, MASS SHOOTING “We must stand with the American people and against the gun lobby,” he added. Schumer took the Senate floor Wednesday morning and said he is introducing an “assault weapons ban, among other gun safety legislation” and called on his colleagues to join him to end the “scourge of gun violence in America.” He asked the Senate for unanimous consent for the legislation, which is a procedure that would allow the bill to pass without a formal vote. Some Republicans have already rejected the legislation. KEY GOP SENATOR SAYS SCHUMER’S ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN ‘NO LONGER ON THE TABLE’ Republican Wyoming Sen. John Barraso took the Senate floor to block Schumer’s attempt “to infringe on your Second Amendment rights.” “Almost every single page of the bill that’s in front of us today adds new restrictions and new burdens on people who follow the law. It tells you what you can buy, what you can’t buy. It bans more than 205 rifles, shotguns, and pistols by name. Republicans reject these unjustified and unconstitutional restrictions,” Barasso said. ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN PASSED IN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES “Democrats’ bumper sticker solution to ban guns is not about safety. It’s about restricting lawful gun ownership,” he added. The NRA’s Kozuch spotlighted Barasso and thanked him for speaking out against Schumer’s efforts. “NRA’s millions of members are grateful to Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming for courageously standing on principle and championing the rights of law abiding Americans and stopping Schumer’s egregious onslaught on the rights of responsible gun owners,” Kozuch added. Democrats have repeatedly stated their intentions to ban so-called “assault weapons,” including President Biden. “I’ll say it again. I’m not going to be quiet until we get it done: It’s time again to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,” Biden said in the Rose Garden on Sept. 22. Democrats, including Biden when he served as a Delaware senator, voted to ban semi-automatic firearms in 1994 as part of a major crime bill, while the Democrat-majority House at the time passed the ban as a standalone bill. The bill ultimately was incorporated into the sweeping anti-crime package and required exceptions in order to pass, including a sunset provision. The bill was passed by Congress and signed into law by then-President Clinton in September of that year. It enacted a 10-year ban on the manufacture, transfer or possession of “semiautomatic assault weapons” and “large capacity ammunition feeding devices.” Democrats suffered historical losses the next election season, ceding control of both chambers of Congress to Republicans. The law expired in 2004, when George W. Bush was president and Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress. A Department of Justice study published in 1999 examined the short-term effects of the ban and found it “failed to reduce the average number of victims per gun murder incident or multiple gunshot wound victims.” Another DOJ study published in 2004 determined the ban’s “effects on gun violence are likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement.”
Comer, Jordan threaten to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress after he rejects subpoena for deposition
FIRST ON FOX: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan are threatening to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress, after the lawyer for the president’s son notified the panel that he will not appear to testify unless he can do so in a public setting. Comer, R-Ky., subpoenaed Hunter Biden to appear for a deposition on Dec. 13 behind closed doors. COMER, JORDAN DEMAND HUNTER BIDEN APPEAR FOR DEPOSITION, SAY HE WILL NOT RECEIVE ‘SPECIAL TREATMENT’ Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, last week, notified the committee that the president’s son wanted to testify in a public hearing instead. Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, last week said Hunter Biden would not receive special treatment and was compelled to appear for a closed-door deposition. They vowed to release the transcript of his testimony shortly after it took place and vowed to schedule a public hearing at a later date. Lowell on Wednesday sent a letter to Comer, saying Hunter Biden will only appear for testimony in a public hearing setting. “Mr. Biden has offered to appear at a hearing on the December 13, 2023, date you have reserved, or another date this month, to answer any question pertinent and relevant to the subject matter,” Lowell wrote. “He is making this choice because the Committee has demonstrated time and time again it uses closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort, the facts and misinform the American public—a hearing would ensure transparency and truth in these proceedings,” Lowell said. “We look forward to working out the schedule.” Comer and Jordan replied, threatening to hold the president’s son in contempt. COMER DEFENDS PRIVATE DEPOSITION OF HUNTER BIDEN, VOWS TO RELEASE TRANSCRIPT AND HOLD PUBLIC HEARING “On November 8, 2023, we issued subpoenas to your client, Robert Hunter Biden, for a deposition on December 13, 2023,” they wrote. “Contrary to the assertions in your letter, there is no ‘choice’ for Mr. Biden to make; the subpoenas compel him to appear for a deposition on December 13,” Comer and Jordan wrote. “If Mr. Biden does not appear for his deposition on December 13, 2023, the Committees will initiate contempt of Congress proceedings,” they wrote. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Democratic mega donor Reid Hoffman gives $250,000 to top Nikki Haley super PAC
Democratic mega-donor and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman recently donated $250,000 to a super PAC supporting former South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley’s bid for the White House. The donation – given to SFA Fund Inc., the top Haley-aligned super PAC – comes after Haley recently gained momentum in the Republican primary race and witnessed a surge in the polls. First reported by the New York Times, the contribution was confirmed to Fox News Digital by Dmitri Mehlhorn, a political adviser to Hoffman. Hoffman declined to comment on the donation. Despite the hefty contribution to the Haley-aligned PAC, Hoffman, a longtime Biden advocate who said he would support the incumbent’s re-election bid at the ballot box next fall, described his positioning on the issue in a Wednesday morning blog post on LinkedIn. HALEY CELEBRATES MOMENTUM AS GOP RIVALS RAMP UP ATTACKS: ‘THESE GUYS KNOW WE’RE SURGING’ “In the 2024 election, I will enthusiastically vote for Joe Biden,” Hoffman prefaced the post. “First, to repeat, Biden is a good man and good politician who has been a history-making successful President during a time of crisis. He did not have to learn on the job.” “While I am a staunch supporter of Biden and hope he will win a second term, I also provided financial support to Nikki Haley’s super PAC even though some polls show Haley doing better than Trump in a general election against Biden,” he added. Hoffman, who previously helped rehab Jeffrey Epstein’s image and visited his island, said the donation was made in an effort to “defeat” former President Donald Trump. “I did so because my first priority is American democracy and the integrity of our legal system,” he wrote. “That means my first priority is to defeat Trump, and the primary is the first of two chances to do so.” Taking aim at Trump in the post, Hoffman insisted that the former president “will have a coin-flip chance of winning” if he’s the GOP nominee. “As the nominee, Trump will get loyal support from the massive national Republican apparatus, and billions of dollars of financial support,” Hoffman said. “His campaign will be a campaign against American democracy and our rule of law system. And, as in 2016 and 2020, the election will be decided by a few tens of thousands of votes in states such as Arizona, Wisconsin, and Georgia.” Fox News Digital reached out to SFA Fund Inc. about the donation, but did not receive a response. DESANTIS SUPER PAC HAMMERS HALEY WITH CLINTON COMPARISON IN MILLION-DOLLAR IOWA AD BUY Following reports of the sizable donation from Hoffman, Haley faced criticism from Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign for being supported by “Democrat billionaires.” “I just found out that Democrats are funding Nikki Haley’s campaign,” Trump remarked Tuesday night during a town hall with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity. Similarly, Bryan Griffin, the press secretary for DeSantis’ campaign, said in a statement, “It makes perfect sense that liberal Democrat billionaires would support Nikki Haley’s bid for the White House, because she is a liberal.” “She would let corporations set immigration policy, roll out the red carpet for China, hike taxes on hardworking Americans, and require social media users to register with the government,” Griffin added. “Ron DeSantis is bearing the banner of conservatism in this nomination contest and will defeat the swamp, starting with Nikki Haley.” Fox News Digital did not receive an immediate response from Haley’s campaign about the donation or the criticism she received over it from her challengers. Haley has enjoyed momentum in the polls in recent months, thanks in part to well-received performances in the first three GOP presidential primary debates. She has also picked up a stream of strong endorsements in recent weeks, including one from Americans for Prosperity Action, the political wing of the influential and deep-pocketed fiscally conservative network founded by the billionaire Koch Brothers. Haley recently showcased over 70 new Hawkeye State endorsements and launched a $10 million ad blitz in Iowa and New Hampshire last week. Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations in Trump’s administration, has leapfrogged DeSantis for second place in New Hampshire and in her home state, which holds the first southern contest. She has also pulled even with DeSantis in some of the latest polls in Iowa, whose caucuses kick off the GOP nominating calendar on Jan. 15. But Haley and DeSantis remain far behind Trump, who continues to hold a commanding lead over the rest of the field as the former president makes his third straight White House run.
Ohio House committee advances controversial higher education bill
An Ohio House committee cleared a contentious higher education bill Wednesday that would eliminate nearly all diversity and inclusion training requirements in Ohio’s public colleges and universities and bar them from taking stances on “controversial topics,” despite House leadership claiming it doesn’t have the votes. Republican House Speaker Jason Stephens told reporters last week that the measure didn’t have enough support in the GOP-dominated House and that he had no intentions of pushing it to a floor vote. OHIO JUDGE PUTS MASSIVE GOP-BACKED EDUCATION OVERHAUL ON HOLD Even so, the House Higher Education Committee voted out the legislation, known to be a high priority for Senate President Matt Huffman, who is poised to challenge Stephens for the speaker position once his term in the Senate ends in 2025. The measure previously passed in the Senate with a majority Republican vote, although three GOP members broke away from their party to join Democrats in voting against it. A spokesperson for Stephens did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment. Committee Chair Rep. Tom Young, a Dayton-area Republican, told reporters Wednesday that the committee vote is the first step in seeing whether or not Stephens’ words hold weight. “I think the votes are there,” he said, but added that they’ll have to wait and see. Supporters of the measure have called it necessary to rid higher education of bias, promote “intellectual diversity” and help protect conservative speech on campuses. It comes alongside other Republican-led states targeting diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education this year. GOP-BACKED OHIO EDUCATION OVERHAUL NOTCHES KEY WIN IN ONGOING LAWSUIT But opponents, including university students and faculty, as well as the 61,000-student Ohio State University, have spoken out against the bill. Many have argued the legislation encourages censorship and allows the Legislature to micromanage higher education — particularly when it comes to defining subjective terms like “bias,” “intellectual diversity” and “controversial matters.” Ranking Democratic committee member Rep. Joseph Miller slammed the measure after Wednesday’s vote, calling the legislation anti-education and anti-union. “It attacks the very institution that is formed in Ohio to provide Ohioans with an opportunity to better their lives by educating themselves for the next stage of life as an adult,” Miller said.
Biden’s billion-dollar plan to build 500,000 EV chargers has yet to yield a single charger
President Biden’s trillion-dollar infrastructure package included billions of dollars to fund an ambitious plan to construct a massive nationwide electric vehicle (EV) charging network, but has yet to yield a single charger two years later. Overall, the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) earmarked $7.5 billion for electric vehicle chargers – $5 billion for the so-called National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program and another $2.5 billion in discretionary funds for charging and fueling infrastructure – as part of the federal government’s ambitious effort to expand EV ownership and reduce carbon emissions. However, just $101.5 million has been distributed for seven state NEVI awards and just two projects, located in Columbus, Ohio, and Pittston, Pennsylvania, have begun construction, according to the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation which was established by the IIJA. At its current pace, the billion-dollar program, designed to build out a network of 500,000 chargers and award $5 billion in five years, will fund a handful of projects and dish out just $250 million in that time frame. “Too many members of Congress think Field of Dreams is a blueprint for infrastructure: build it and they will come. No, they won’t come. Because Americans didn’t want EVs when this wasteful spending was passed and they don’t want them now, even with all the massive subsidies and incentives to buy EVs,” Daren Bakst, the director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment, told Fox News Digital. INTERNAL DEM MEMO CLAIMS GOP BILL OUTLAWING EV MANDATES MAY LEAD TO PREMATURE DEATHS Bakst added that car dealers are continuing to warn of waning interest in EVs and manufacturers are rethinking their EV strategies. Last month, in a letter to President Biden, a coalition of thousands of car dealers from around the country said they opposed any EV mandate, saying “enthusiasm has stalled” for EVs and noting their lots are full of EVs consumers don’t want. Bakst further called for Congress to fully defund the NEVI program to save taxpayers money. HOUSE SET TO HOLD VOTE ON BILL STRIKING DOWN BIDEN’S EV PUSH: ‘RADICAL AND UNATTAINABLE’ “Market realities influence the states that play a central role in whether EV chargers will be built,” Bakst continued. “Therefore, it shouldn’t be a surprise that no EV chargers have been built using the $7.5 billion. States don’t want to waste time and money on building EV chargers that will fail.” “The lack of demand for EVs is part of the equation, but so too are the technological shortcomings of EVs and the rural nature of many states,” he said. “Then there’s also the Biden administration imposing inflexible and stringent federal requirements, something that states have said will cause problems in implementing the NEVI program. As it is, more than half of the states have not even started soliciting bids for EV chargers.” According to the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, the seven public conditional NEVI awards were announced in Ohio, Hawaii, Maine, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Alaska and Kentucky. And 17 states are in the process of soliciting more proposals and applications for future EV charging station projects, a process that can take months or years. Under the IIJA’s NEVI Program, funding is designed to be distributed to all 50 states, which then award funding to private developers who construct the charging stations. In addition to the goals of distributing all $5 billion earmarked for the program by 2026 and building 500,000 total chargers, the program is designed to ensure a charger is built at least every 50 miles along major U.S. highways. “We need to move much faster,” said Ben Prochazka, the executive director of the Electrification Coalition, a nonprofit group that advocates for the adoption of EVs on a mass scale. “We applaud the seven states that have awarded funding,” he continued. “We continue to urge states to accelerate their work to issue [requests for proposal] and work with vendors to create a national charging network that is critical to accelerating electrification.” FORD DRAMATICALLY SCALES BACK EV PLANT AMID PLUMMETING SALES IN BLOW TO BIDEN’S GREEN ENERGY GOALS Meanwhile, the Columbus project touted by the Biden administration as the first success story of the NEVI program broke ground in October, but isn’t expected to be operational until early next year, more than 24 months after the IIJA was passed and signed into law in late 2021. The Ohio Department of Transportation said the project will consist of four chargers, which may take up to 40 minutes to give an EV an 80% charge. The Pittston project will also consist of four 350-kilowatt charging ports located in a highway service area. Using NEVI funds, Ohio and Pennsylvania are both planning to construct dozens of additional fast-charging stations statewide by the end of 2024. And, in addition to the NEVI program, the $2.5 billion earmarked under the Department of Transportation’s Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program has yet to be distributed or awarded anywhere. The agency announced in March that it would begin accepting applications under CFI’s two sub programs. “Thanks to the record federal investment in President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the number of publicly available charging ports has grown by nearly 70% and EV sales have tripled since he took office,” White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson told Fox News Digital. “So far, states like Ohio and Pennsylvania have already broken ground on their federally funded chargers, and thousands more are on the way across the country,” she continued. “We’re on track to build out a national network of 500,000 publicly accessible chargers by 2026 – fulfilling the President’s campaign goal four years early.”
Conservative coalition warns GOP leaders against ‘watering down’ border measures to clinch spending deal
A conservative coalition is warning Republican leaders that they will oppose any move to water down border security proposals found in the House Republican signature legislation in order to achieve a supplemental spending deal. The conservative groups want to see the Secure the Border Act, known as H.R. 2, included as part of any spending agreement on the White House’s $106 billion request submitted to Congress, which includes border funding and aid to Israel and Ukraine. The bill passed the House earlier this year and would restart border wall construction and restrict the use of parole while overhauling and limiting asylum eligibility. Republicans have demanded that limits on asylum and the use of parole be included in any spending agreement, but the H.R. 2 package has so far seen total opposition from Democrats in the Senate. A Senate working group outlined proposals similar to H.R. 2 but which some conservatives said fell short of the House bill. ROMNEY RIPS ‘CLUELESS’ DEMOCRATS FOR TRYING TO NEGOTIATE BORDER SPENDING Now, the conservative groups are telling Republicans that they must hold firm amid ongoing negotiations in Congress, given the historic crisis at the southern border which is now deep into its third year and saw record migrant numbers in FY23. “There is no reason Members of the House and Senate should accept anything less than the provisions of H.R. 2,” they argue. “Watering down its provisions, simply as a means of obtaining enough votes for other policy priorities should not guide the Senate’s efforts here,” they say. “The goal should be to end this border crisis,” they say. They argue that H.R. 2 is the “bare minimum required to regain control of America’s southern border and provide credibility for our nation’s immigration system.” The groups are led by the Heritage Foundation and include former officials including former acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan, former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan, former acting Deputy DHS Secretary Ken Cuccinelli and former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott. The groups on the letter include immigration hawks including the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and Numbers USA, as well as newer groups such as the National Immigration Center for Enforcement (NICE) and the Immigration Accountability Project (IAP). Other groups include Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime and the Citizens for Renewing America. REPUBLICANS CLOSE RANKS, DEMAND DEMS FACE BORDER CRISIS AS BIDEN UKRAINE AID PLAN HANGS IN BALANCE The White House has sought $14 billion for border operations, which includes money to support arrivals, and aid communities that are receiving large number of migrants. It also includes funding for transportation, including removal flights and resources for alternatives to detention. It also includes money for “non-custodial housing options” for those in expedited removal, including facilities with housing, legal services and medical care. The administration has argued it is working in a broken system and needs more funding and comprehensive immigration reform, including an amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S. Republicans, however, blame the crisis on the administration’s policies, and say that the practice of releasing migrants into the U.S. either via parole or to claim asylum needs to be ended to stop the crisis and it cannot be solved by more funding alone. As a result, conservatives see this spending fight as a rare chance to secure policy changes to do that. But the coalition says the policies being considered as part of the Senate deal, even if they would restrict parole and asylum to a degree, are not enough. SENATE DEMS SAY ANY CHANGES TO ASYLUM SYSTEM MUST BE COUPLED WITH AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS “The Biden Administration inherited the most secure border in our lifetimes, but intentionally chose policies to create and maintain the border crisis. As such, the half-measures being contemplated in this Senate ‘border deal’ would simply facilitate the ongoing de-facto amnesty the Biden Administration is granting by processing millions of illegal aliens into American communities,” they say. They also warn that they would be prepared to fight against any such deal, just as they had worked to torpedo prior immigration deals in years past. “The undersigned and the millions of actual voters we represent who support sensible immigration policy are prepared to defeat this ‘deal’ just as we defeated the Gang of Eight bill ten years ago,” they say. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are demanding that any policy changes to asylum and parole be accompanied by a pathway to legal status for those in the country illegally already — a measure that would likely be a non-starter for many, if not all, Republicans.