Harris once boasted of ‘behind the scenes’ work to get ‘every’ trans inmate access to gender surgeries
Then-Sen. Kamala Harris bragged in 2019 about working “behind the scenes” when she was California attorney general to change the state’s policy she said was unfairly hindering transgender inmates from receiving taxpayer-funded gender surgery. Video of an interview Harris did as a candidate for the 2020 presidential election with the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) Action Fund began circulating online following Tuesday night’s debate, after former President Donald Trump argued his opponent “wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.” His remarks were immediately met with bewilderment by members of the media and Harris supporters, who suggested the claim was untrue. “When I was Attorney General I learned that the California Department of Corrections, which was a client of mine – I didn’t get to choose my clients … they were standing in the way of surgery for prisoners,” Harris said during the 2019 interview. “And there was a specific case. When I learned about the case, I worked behind-the-scenes to not only make sure that that transgender woman got the services she was deserving – it was not only about that case – I made sure that they changed the policy in the state of California so that every transgender inmate in the prison system would have access to the medical care that they desire and need.” NO TAXPAYER DOLLARS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT GENDER SURGERIES UNDER NEW HOUSE GOP BILL The 2019 interview was part of a series of other talks by NCTE Action Fund, called “TRANSform the White House,” which sought to talk to the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential candidates about where they stood on the issue of LGBT rights. Trump’s claim Tuesday about Harris wanting to give detained illegal immigrants access to taxpayer-funded sex-change surgeries started a firestorm on social media. “‘She wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens who are in prison’ is the WILDEST thing I’ve ever heard in any debate. EVER,” former CNN commentator Marc Lamont Hill wrote on X shortly after Trump made his claim Tuesday evening. “Trump made history last night for sure. Who will ever forget him ranting on stage about immigrants eating people’s dogs? Or insisting that the Vice President ‘wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in jail’?” posted The New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser. Meanwhile, Time magazine was forced to make a correction after implying Trump’s claim was “false.” TIME MAGAZINE ISSUES CORRECTION FOR CALLING CLAIM HARRIS SUPPORTED FUNDING MIGRANT SEX CHANGES ‘FALSE’ Trump’s comments on Tuesday evening and the subsequent frenzy over where Harris now stands on providing taxpayer-funded medical procedures to transgender inmates was preempted by news that while Harris was running for the presidency in 2019, she indicated in a candidate questionnaire to the American Civil Liberties Union that she did indeed support gender transition surgeries for detained migrants. “I support policies ensuring that federal prisoners and detainees are able to obtain medically necessary care for gender transition, including surgical care, while incarcerated or detained,” Harris wrote in the questionnaire. She also checked a box “Yes” in response to whether she would use her executive authority as president to ensure transgender inmates, “including those in prison and immigration detention,” can receive transgender surgery. “The Vice President’s positions have been shaped by three years of effective governance as part of the Biden-Harris Administration,” a Harris campaign adviser told Fox News when asked about Harris’ response to the questionnaire. In an additional statement to CNN, the campaign added that “As President, [Harris] will take that same pragmatic approach, focusing on common-sense solutions of the sake of progress,” but did not elaborate in response to questions on where Harris currently stands on the issue. “That questionnaire is not what she is proposing or running on,” Harris campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler also told Fox News. HARRIS ACLU QUESTIONNAIRE SHOWS SHE SUPPORTED GENDER TRANSITION SURGERIES FOR DETAINED MIGRANTS, DEFUNDING ICE Besides her remarks during the 2019 interview on LGBT rights about changing California policy to help “every” transgender inmate get the surgery they “desire,” Harris bragged during the interview about helping train prosecutors around the country on how to defeat the so-called “trans panic defense.” She also touted her work starting what Harris said was California’s first taxpayer-funded victims assistance program for transgender individuals, while lamenting the “epidemic” of Black transgender women getting murdered and insisting transgender people do nOt seek the assistance they need out of fear of judgment. “Way back when, with the power that I had [as California Attorney General], I used it in a way that was about pushing forward the [trans rights] movement frankly, and the agenda,” Harris insisted during the 2019 interview. Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment but did not receive a response by publication deadline.
Power plant expansion tied to Bitcoin mining faces backlash in rural Hood County
Granbury residents say a noisy Bitcoin mine keeps them up at night. Now a plan to expand the power plant that fuels the mine is drawing opposition over pollution concerns.
California proposal would give phone subsidies to illegal migrants
Illegal immigrants in California may soon be given access to cell phone bill subsidies under a new proposal. The state’s Public Utilities Commission will vote on Sept. 26 whether California LifeLine, a subsidy program for low-income state residents, should extend eligibility to those without Social Security numbers. “If an undocumented Californian falls on hard times, they should benefit from this program, just like every other Californian,” agency commissioner Alice Reynolds said of the proposal, according to Politico. FIVE CALIFORNIA MEN INDICTED FOR KIDNAPPING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, HOLDING THEM FOR RANSOM: US ATTORNEY’S OFFICE The Commission committed to making such accommodations for illegal immigrants over a decade ago but never followed through. California has long been famous for its social programs assisting illegal immigrants, but Democratic Party leaders have urged lawmakers to pump the brakes as the national platform veers away from open-borders and sanctuary cities. NEWSOM VETOES CONTROVERSIAL BILL THAT WOULD HAVE GIVEN HOUSING LOANS TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has even stepped in to kill legislation that may be perceived as too accommodating to foreign nationals living illegally in the U.S. Last month, the California legislature advanced AB 1840, known as the “California Dream for All” loan program — a bill that, if signed into law, would have given first-time homebuyers up to 20% of a home’s value or up to $150,000 as down payment assistance. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Newsom vetoed the bill, citing its explicit intention of including illegal immigrants in the assistance program. “This bill seeks to prohibit the disqualification of applicants from one of California Housing Finance Agency’s (CalHFA) home purchase assistance programs based solely on their immigration status. Given the finite funding available for CalHFA programs, expanding program eligibility must be carefully considered within the broader context of the annual state budget to ensure we manage our resources effectively,” Newsom said in the veto letter. Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
‘Legacy of incompetence’: Comer unveils wide-ranging hearing on Biden-Harris ‘failed record’
FIRST ON FOX: The House Oversight Committee is planning a hearing next week broadly targeting Biden-Harris administration policies and their effect on Americans, Fox News Digital has learned. Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is scheduling the hearing – titled, “A Legacy of Incompetence: Consequences of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Policy Failures” – for Thursday, Sept. 19, at 10 a.m. ET. Comer accused President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of causing “skyrocketing inflation, the worst border crisis in American history, high energy prices, chaos around the world, and rampant waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement at federal agencies,” in a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday. IN THE TRUMP-HARRIS FACEOFF THERE WAS A CLEAR WINNER BUT DON’T BELIEVE THIS ELECTION IS OVER “Simply put, everything President Biden and Vice President Harris touches fails,” Comer said. “Next week’s hearing will examine the Biden-Harris Administration’s failed record and what can be done to reverse the damage this Administration has caused.” It comes as House Republicans ramp up their scrutiny of Harris in the weeks since she became the Democrats’ 2024 presidential nominee, replacing Biden after he dropped out of the race. HARRIS TELLS TRUMP HE’S ‘NOT RUNNING AGAINST JOE BIDEN’ DURING DEBATE Republicans have also seized on Harris’ own past efforts to position herself as integral to the White House’s most critical decisions. Former President Trump and his GOP allies argue that a Harris administration would be an extension of Biden and his progressive policies. The House has also held multiple hearings on Harris’ handling of the border crisis in particular, and her role as the Biden administration’s “border czar” in charge of tackling the root causes of mass migration from Central and South America. BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT’S BRUTAL TAKE ON BIDEN’S DEBATE AGAINST TRUMP: ‘LIKE A DEAD MAN WALKING’ Comer has also led efforts to scrutinize the ties that Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, has with China. Next week’s House Oversight Committee hearing will include testimony from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) member Brendan Carr, Center for Immigration Studies Executive Director Mark Krikorian, Meaghan Mobbs of the Independent Women’s Forum, and former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official Mandy Gunasekera.
Riley Gaines stars in Hawley campaign ad hitting Missouri Dem’s support for ‘radical trans agenda’
FIRST ON FOX: Riley Gaines is starring front and center in a new ad for Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s re-election campaign against progressive challenger Lucas Kunce in Missouri. The 30-second ad obtained by Fox News Digital is narrated by Gaines and shows her diving into a pool as the camera pans to her telling her story. “As a child, I woke up at four am to swim every day. I fought my way to nationals, but then I was forced to compete against a man,” Gaines can be heard saying in the video. “He got the trophy a woman had earned.” JUDGE GRANTS DETRANSITIONER’S LAWSUIT AGAINST DOCTORS TO PROCEED IN COURT: ‘SUFFICIENT’ ALLEGATIONS “It’s wrong. Lucas Kunce supports the radical trans agenda, boys in girls’ bathrooms, sex change operations for minors, explicit teaching in grade school – it’s gross. But Josh Hawley defends the rights of women, Josh. Hawley is on our side,” Gaines said. TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT During the 2022 primaries, Kunce, a progressive Democrat, supported transgender treatment for children. On Thursday, Kunce posted a video of Hawley on X talking about Missouri’s Amendment 3 – the state’s right to abortion initiative – where Hawley said that Kunce supports transgender treatments for minors. “Josh Hawley is so afraid of sharing the ballot with an amendment to end his total abortion ban that it’s broken his brain,” Kunce posted to X in response. Kunce won the Democratic primary in Missouri, a Republican state, last month and has his sights set on unseating Hawley, who was elected in 2019. TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT “It’s an election year, so now Josh Hawley sees ‘mandated sex change surgeries’ behind every corner,” a senior Kunce campaign adviser told Fox News Digital. “He even says that Missourians ending his total abortion ban will ‘mandate’ sex change surgeries for kids. No one’s buying it.” In a previous Hawley ad, he said on X, “Of all Lucas Kunce’s nutty policies, this may be the worst: he wants MEN in girls’ sports. And MEN in girls’ locker rooms. It’s nuts – and dangerous. But that’s Kunce.”
DRDO, Indian Navy successfully test short-range surface to air missile
According to officials, the flight test was carried out from a land based vertical launcher against a low-flying, high-speed aerial target
Odessa’s mayor ran to help the West Texas city “repent.” Now he wants a second term.
Under Javier Joven’s leadership, his critics say, the Odessa City Council has lost focus on municipal issues like roads and water infrastructure.
Biden admin proposes 2-year delay of enforcement of ID rules to board planes day after 9/11 anniversary
The Biden administration on Thursday proposed delaying full enforcement of new ID rules for Americans to board airplanes or enter federal buildings by another two years. The federal standards for issuing identification cards were approved by Congress in 2005 following a recommendation by the commission established to determine safeguards after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Enforcement, however, has been pushed back several times. The last time it was extended was in December 2022, when the deadline was set for May 7, 2025. Now, the Biden administration is looking to push this until May 7, 2027. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) published “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” on Thursday, a day after the 23-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The TSA emphasized that the “proposed rule does not extend the REAL ID deadline.” The notice aims to ensure that federal agencies “have appropriate flexibility to implement the card-based enforcement provisions of the REAL ID regulations after the May 7, 2025, enforcement deadline by explicitly permitting agencies to implement card-based enforcement in phases,” according to the proposal’s summary. “This rulemaking proposes that agencies may implement the card-based enforcement provisions through a phased enforcement plan if they determine it is appropriate upon consideration of relevant factors including security, operational feasibility, and public impact.” DOJ: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT STOLE US CITIZEN’S IDENTITY TO VOTE IN MULTIPLE ELECTIONS, OBTAIN AMERICAN PASSPORT “The proposed rule would also require agencies to coordinate their plans with DHS, make the plans publicly available, and achieve full enforcement by May 5, 2027,” the summary says. Passed by Congress in 2005 following a 9/11 Commission recommendation, the REAL ID Act establishes minimum security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards. Security standards include incorporating anti-counterfeiting technology, preventing insider fraud, and using documentary evidence and record checks to ensure a person is who they claim to be, according to DHS. Under the new regulations, “every traveler 18 years of age or older will need a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or identification card, state-issued enhanced driver’s license, or another TSA-acceptable form of identification at airport security checkpoints for domestic air travel,” according to the DHS website. “TSA is engaging with the public, licensing jurisdictions and states to facilitate a smooth transition to REAL ID enforcement beginning May 7, 2025,” TSA administrator David Pekoske said in a statement. “REAL ID provides an important security enhancement, and this rule allows us to plan for a range of scenarios to help minimize the potential impact to travelers, industry stakeholders and states during implementation.” RNC BLASTS WALZ ADMIN’S NONANSWER ON HOW NONCITIZENS MADE IT ONTO MINNESOTA VOTER ROLLS: ‘NO HYPOTHETICAL’ The U.S. Department of Homeland Security website as of Thursday morning listed the countdown until REAL ID enforcement as 237 days. “On May 7, 2025, U.S. travelers must be REAL ID compliant to board domestic flights and access certain federal facilities,” the website reads. In December 2022, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that DHS intended to extend the REAL ID full enforcement date by 24 months, from May 3, 2023 to May 7, 2025, citing how state driver’s licensing agencies were having to work through the backlogs created by the COVID-19 pandemic. “This extension will give states needed time to ensure their residents can obtain a REAL ID-compliant license or identification card,” Mayorkas said at the time. “DHS will also use this time to implement innovations to make the process more efficient and accessible. We will continue to ensure that the American public can travel safely.”
Nikki Haley slams PAC using her name to support Harris as group targets Wisconsin Republicans
Haley Voters for Harris launched a new campaign to target over 77,000 Nikki Haley voters in Wisconsin to encourage them to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in November’s presidential election, drawing the ire of the former Republican presidential candidate who has issued a cease-and-desist letter. Former U.N. Ambassador Haley told Fox News Digital in a statement, “Kamala Harris and I are total opposites on every issue. Any attempt to use my name to support her or her agenda is deceptive and wrong. I support Donald Trump because he understands we need to make America strong, safe, and prosperous.” A law firm representing Haley’s presidential campaign sent the Haley Voters for Harris PAC a letter imploring the group to refrain from using Haley’s name to suggest she supports Harris for president. Over 4.4 million people voted for Nikki Haley for president in the 2024 primary, according to the Haley Voters for Harris website. If just enough of these GOP primary voters turn to Harris, she could win the presidency. Craig Snyder, director of Haley Voters for Harris and former chief of staff to the late Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, believes Haley voters could play a pivotal role in battleground states. “In such a closely contested place as Wisconsin, this group of voters, who have already clearly expressed their disapproval for Trump, can easily decide the race if even any significant portion of them join the coalition now behind the vice president – a coalition spanning the entire American political spectrum, from Dick Cheney to Bernie Sanders,” Snyder told Fox News Digital. NIKKI HALEY BREAKS WITH TRUMP ON IVF PROPOSAL, STILL SAYS SHE’S ‘ON STANDBY’ FOR CAMPAIGN Haley, a former governor of South Carolina who served as United Nations ambassador under President Trump, received 76,841 votes after she had already dropped out of the race in Wisconsin’s April GOP primary. Although Haley was trounced by the former president, who won over 400,000 more votes, Haley’s voters could be the key to swinging the election in Wisconsin. President Biden narrowly won Wisconsin in 2020, winning 49.45% to 48.83%, a margin of only 0.62 percentage points. Biden received 1,630,673 votes compared to Trump’s 1,610,065, a difference of just over 20,000. In 2016, Trump won by a razor-thin margin with 23,000 more votes than Hillary Clinton. Haley’s voters in the primary were made up mostly of college-educated and independent-minded Republicans. Haley Voters for Harris will target these mostly center-right and moderate voters in the critical swing states, including Wisconsin, through social media and direct voter outreach. The group will specifically be looking to educate these voters on what Snyder calls Harris’ centrist record, focusing on her years as a “no-nonsense prosecutor” who guided the Biden administration toward the center on issues ranging from the executive order ending the abuse of the asylum system, to record-setting oil production drilling permits, to federal support for hiring 100,000 additional police officers. “We will be communicating directly with Haley voters and the other moderates in Wisconsin, through digital advertising, texting and direct mail, and while Gov. Haley herself has made the decision to support Trump, for whatever personal reasons, these independent-minded voters will decide for themselves what’s better for our country,” Snyder said. FORMER TRUMP PRIMARY RIVAL NIKKI HALEY IN REPUBLICAN CONVENTION SPOTLIGHT After dropping out of the GOP race in April, Haley eventually said she would vote for Trump, completing the Republican Party’s consolidation around the former president as the nominee. Haley formally endorsed Trump in a speech at the Republican National Convention in July, saying he has her “strong support” and that “you don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him.” William Howell, professor at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, told Fox News Digital that voters who turned to Haley in the primaries did so not because they were enthusiastic about her candidacy, but because they were dismayed by the direction of the Republican Party. “It’s possible, then, that their votes are still up for grabs,” Howell said. Howell thinks if Haley Voters for Harris puts in the work, they can have a real impact. NIKKI HALEY DEFENDS TRUMP SUPPORT AFTER BEING CALLED OUT BY LIZ CHENEY: ‘THIS IS ABOUT AMERICA’ “You don’t need to change many minds in order to have an outsized influence on this election – particularly if you can target the small segment of the population that remains undecided in one of the handful of competitive states. Haley voters in Wisconsin may be exactly that.” Prior to President Biden’s disastrous debate performance on June 27, which ultimately drove him to withdraw from the presidential race, Snyder led the Haley Voters for Biden campaign, and said in a July press statement that “many of us strongly believed that the country needed to move on from Donald Trump.” A CNN poll conducted by SSRS from Aug. 23-29 had Harris with a 50% to 44% lead over Trump. Other recent polling from Wisconsin shows a tighter race and both Harris and Trump will need to win Wisconsin if they hope to win the White House.
No taxpayer dollars for illegal immigrant gender surgeries under new House GOP bill
FIRST ON FOX: A new House GOP-led bill is being introduced to block federal dollars from paying for gender reassignment surgery for illegal immigrants. Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., introduced legislation called the Stopping Transgender Operation Payments and Wacky Expenses for Illegal Residents and Detainees (STOP WEIRD) Act on Thursday, and it is backed by at least five other House Republicans. “Kamala could implement her weird and disgusting plan today, or in the very unlikely case of a Harris-Walz administration,” Steube told Fox News Digital. “Congress has the responsibility to safeguard taxpayer dollars from funding transition surgeries for illegal immigrants – I can think of a million things that are a better use of taxpayer dollars – for one, our veterans who fight for months, and sometimes years, to get the medical care they earned through service to our country.” HARRIS FINALLY ADDS POLICY PAGE TO CAMPAIGN WEBSITE, DEVOTES SEVERAL SECTIONS TO TRUMP It is part of the House GOP majority’s increased scrutiny of Vice President Kamala Harris and her policy platforms since the vice president became the Democrats’ 2024 White House nominee in late July. Harris signaled support for federal dollars going toward transgender surgeries for detained illegal immigrants and U.S. prisoners in a recently resurfaced American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) questionnaire from 2019. The then-junior California senator filled it out alongside other 2020 presidential primary hopefuls. It has earned her aggressive blowback from GOP critics who say it is proof that Harris is not the moderate she is styling herself to be during her campaign. YOUNG SWING STATE VOTERS DELIVER ADVICE FOR KAMALA HARRIS Former President Donald Trump called Harris out over the questionnaire during their tense head-to-head on ABC News on Tuesday. “Now she wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison,” Trump said during the debate. “This is a radical left liberal that would do this.” The questionnaire said, “As President, will you use your executive authority to ensure that transgender and nonbinary people who rely on the state for medical care — including those in prison and immigration detention — will have access to comprehensive treatment associated with gender transition, including all necessary surgical care? If yes, how will you do so?” Harris responded, “It is important that transgender individuals who rely on the state for care receive the treatment they need, which includes access to treatment associated with gender transition.” IN THE TRUMP-HARRIS FACEOFF THERE WAS A CLEAR WINNER BUT DON’T BELIEVE THIS ELECTION IS OVER “I support policies ensuring that federal prisoners and detainees are able to obtain medically necessary care for gender transition, including surgical care, while incarcerated or detained. Transition treatment is a medical necessity, and I will direct all federal agencies responsible for providing essential medical care to deliver transition treatment,” she added. When asked about her answers by Fox News Digital, a Harris campaign adviser responded, “The Vice President’s positions have been shaped by three years of effective governance as part of the Biden-Harris Administration.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment on the bill. Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.