‘Fulfill the mandate’: New election integrity report calls for critical changes to guarantee secure elections
FIRST ON FOX: A nonpartisan election integrity watchdog has released a detailed report outlining what it says are must-needed reforms to be taken up in states across the country to ensure election integrity. The Honest Elections Project (HEP) released its 2025 “Safeguarding our Elections” report that lists over a dozen “critical” measures, ranging from voter ID to cleaning up voter rolls to banning foreign influence in elections. “Election integrity ballot issues passed with flying colors across the board on election night. Now that state legislative sessions are starting up, lawmakers have a duty to fulfill the mandate the American people gave to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat,” HEP Executive Director Jason Snead told Fox News Digital. “Honest Elections Project’s 2025 ‘Safeguarding Our Elections’ report gives legislators a roadmap to do exactly that.” SELLING AMERICANS A ‘LIE’: HOW ELECTION INTEGRITY ATTORNEYS BATTLED LEFT-WING EFFORTS TO UPEND VOTING LAWS HEP has been active in recent years advocating against foreign influence in statewide elections via dark money and various loopholes, which the report discusses in the first section and points to polling showing 78% of Americans oppose foreign funding in elections. “It is illegal for foreign nationals to contribute to political candidates, but a legal loophole allows them to contribute both directly and indirectly to ballot measure campaigns,” the report states. STEPHEN A. SMITH ARGUES HE CAN WIN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AFTER DEMOCRATS’ ‘PATHETIC’ 2024 RUN “A single left-wing group, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, has simultaneously accepted approximately $243 million from foreign billionaire Hansjörg Wyss and spent $130 million supporting or opposing ballot issue campaigns in 25 states. Ballot issues can rewrite election laws and change state Constitutions. These campaigns should not be a Trojan Horse for foreign influence, whether from activists like Wyss or hostile foreign powers like China and Russia.” The report also warns against Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), which some states have banned but other states, including Alaska, continue to use it. “RCV makes it harder to vote, harder to understand election results, and harder to trust the voting process,” the report explains. “Nevertheless, a small group of left-wing megadonors are pushing RCV as a way to drag politics to the left. In 2024, donors like John and Laura Arnold collectively spent $100 million on ballot measures to bring RCV to six new states. Voters rejected them all, defeating ballot issues in states as diverse as Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Zuck Bucks” became an increasingly controversial aspect of election security after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg poured $400 million in grants during the 2020 election to fund a variety of work and equipment. HEP’s report urges states to prevent similar instances from occurring in the future. “Elections should be accountable to the public, not to special interest groups and liberal megadonors,” the report says. “In 2020, left-wing nonprofits pumped more than $400 million from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg into thousands of election offices, giving more money to places that ultimately voted for Joe Biden.” Other issues in the report include, requiring transparency and robust post-election audits of election processes and procedures, ensuring that elected lawmakers write election laws, and protecting vulnerable mail ballots.
Senate to vote on key Trump nominee after Democrats hold contentious overnight debate
The Senate is poised to vote on whether to confirm Russell Vought to a top administration role after Democrats held a rare overnight session to oppose his nomination. Vought was tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the office that helps create and manage the federal budget. While many Trump nominees have received bipartisan support, Vought’s nomination has been controversial among Democratic lawmakers who are opposed due to his stance on the Impoundment Control Act – a 1974 law that reinforces Congress’ power of the purse. LEADER THUNE BACKS SENATE GOP BID TO SPEED PAST HOUSE ON TRUMP BUDGET PLAN On Wednesday, the Senate voted to advance Vought’s nomination to a final vote on the floor, prompting a 30-hour, overnight debate period that Democrats vowed to use entirely for protest. Democrats scheduled speakers to hold the floor throughout the entire night in an effort to delay Vought’s confirmation. DEMS’ ‘DELAY TACTIC’ TO ‘MALIGN’ PATEL AND STALL FBI CONFIRMATION DISMISSED AS ‘BASELESS’ BY TOP SENATE LEADER However, the Senate is likely to hold a confirmation vote for Vought on Thursday evening once the debate period ends. “We’re gonna do everything we can to make sure he doesn’t get confirmed,” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, said in a video posted on X. “We know that Republicans have the votes, but we’re going to fight every step of the way.” Fox News’ Diana Stacey and Julia Johnson contributed to this report.
‘Nehru was more interested in…’: What book mentioned by Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha says about India’s first PM
In a veiled jibe at the LoP, PM Modi said that some leaders use the word “foreign policy”, just to be perceived as a “mature leader”. The Prime Minister further added that those interested in foreign policies should peruse the book, “JFK’s Forgotten Crisis”.
India’s Largest Book Stall Network: PrashantAdvait Foundation’s Mission to Revive Reading Culture
PrashantAdvait Foundation is the pioneer and currently operates the world’s largest Gita teaching-testing programme.
‘Integrity of the Court’: Cruz reintroduces amendment to combat court expansion efforts
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, is reintroducing a constitutional amendment to cap the number of Supreme Court Justices at nine, amid calls to expand the court. Cruz, now joined by 15 cosponsors including Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy (LA), Chuck Grassley (IA), Mike Crapo (ID), Thom Tillis (NC) and John Cornyn (TX), previously introduced the amendment in 2021 and in 2023. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Cruz said Democrats are seeking to “use the Court to advance policy goals they can’t accomplish electorally.” SUPREME COURT TO CONSIDER AN EFFORT TO ESTABLISH THE NATION’S FIRST PUBLICLY FUNDED RELIGIOUS CHARTER SCHOOL “Such a move would be a direct assault on the design of our Constitution, which is designed to ensure the Supreme Court remains a non-partisan guardian of the rule of law,” Cruz said. “This amendment is a badly-needed check on their efforts to undermine the integrity of the Court.” Likewise, Grassley said the amendment would ensure the Court’s independence from political pressures. “Democrats’ radical court packing scheme would erase the legitimacy of the Supreme Court and destroy historic precedent,” Grassley said in a statement. “The Court is a co-equal branch of government, and our Keep Nine Amendment will ensure that it remains independent from political pressure.” The nine-justice court currently has a conservative supermajority. Following various landmark decisions in recent years, including the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, Democrats have re-upped calls to impose court reforms, including expanding and packing the court as well as imposing term limits. TRUMP’S ‘TWO SEXES’ EXECUTIVE ORDER COMES ON HEELS OF SCOTUS ACCEPTING ANOTHER CHALLENGE TO LGBT AGENDA In October, then-Vice President Kamala Harris entertained the notion of imposing court reforms during a CNN town hall. Harris was asked if she would support expanding the number of justices from the current nine to 12. “There is no question that the American people increasingly are losing confidence in the Supreme Court and, in large part, because of the behavior of certain members of that court and because of certain rulings, including the Dobbs decision and taking away a precedent that had been in place for 50 years, protecting a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body,” Harris said during the event. “So, I do believe that there should be some kind of reform of the court, and we can study what that actually looks like.” PORN CASE IN THE SUPREME COURT THIS WEEK IS ABOUT PROTECTING CHILDREN, SAYS REPUBLICAN AG Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, also called for reforming the Court that same month, saying in social media posts, “We need to radically reform the broken Supreme Court.” Democrats have consistently proposed legislation to expand the Supreme Court to a 13-justice bench. In May 2023, Georgia Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson joined Democratic Sens. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Tina Smith of Minnesota, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, as well as Democratic Reps. Jerry Nadler of New York, Cori Bush of Mississippi, and Adam Schiff of California, in reintroducing the Judiciary Act of 2023. “We want to prevent this kind of rot and decay from ever overtaking a Supreme Court again,” Johnson told Fox News Digital in October.
‘BJP-led NDA works for Santushtikaran, not Tushtikaran’: PM Modi in Rajya Sabha
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accused Congress of appeasement politics and said the BJP-led NDA government works for “shantushtikaran” (total saturation) and not “tushtikaran”.
Rubio named acting director of another US government agency: report
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was tapped as the acting director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) just days ago, is taking on another new role in President Donald Trump’s new administration. Rubio is now also serving as the acting director of the U.S. Archives, ABC News reported, citing a high-level official. Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment, but they did not immediately respond. Trump signaled last month his intention of replacing the now-former national archivist Colleen Shogan, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, during a brief phone interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt. The National Archives notified the Justice Department in early 2022 over classified documents Trump allegedly took with him to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office. That would later result in an FBI raid and Trump being indicted by former Special Counsel Jack Smith. The source told ABC News that Rubio has been the acting archivist since shortly after Trump was sworn in as the 47th president last month. USAID HAS ‘DEMONSTRATED PATTERN OF OBSTRUCTIONISM,’ CLAIMS TOP DOGE REPUBLICAN IN LETTER TO RUBIO This week, Rubio is traveling on his first official State Department trip to Central America, during which he convinced the Panamanian president to end its Belt and Roads project deal with the Chinese government. Trump has said the United States could claim the Panama Canal through economic or military measures if necessary after raising concerns about Beijing allegedly controlling the strategic waterway that was constructed by the U.S. The Trump administration has suspended some foreign aid pending a review into how U.S. taxpayer dollars are being spent abroad, resulting in thousands of layoffs and ended programs. Addressing reporters in Guatemala City on Wednesday, Rubio said he issued waivers for certain programs that assist in gathering biometric information to better identify fugitives, as well as bolster technology and K-9 units to identify shipments of deadly fentanyl and precursor chemicals, showing “firsthand the kind of foreign aid America wants to be involved in.” “This is an example of foreign aid that’s in our national interest. That’s why I’ve issued a waiver for these programs, that’s why these programs are coming back online, and they will be functioning, because it’s a way of showing to the American people this is the kind of foreign aid that’s aligned with our foreign policy, with our national interest,” Rubio said. ‘VIPER’S NEST’: USAID ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION, MISMANAGEMENT LONG BEFORE TRUMP ADMIN TOOK AIM America’s top diplomat said the United States wants some fugitives who are “strategic objectives, meaning they help us strengthen our partners, and they help us to cut the head off the snake of a transnational group that’s particularly dangerous.” He said the State Department would be “working very closely” with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department in “prioritizing our extradition requests so that they align with our strategic objective with regards to who it is that we’re going after.” The State Department announced on Wednesday that “the government of Panama has agreed to no longer charge fees for U.S. government vessels to transit the Panama Canal,” saving the U.S. government “millions of dollars a year.” However, the Panama Canal Authority denied having made any adjustments to the tolls or transit agreements of the canal despite the State Department’s announcement, adding that they are “ready to establish a dialogue with the relevant officials of the United States regarding the transit of warships.” Earlier this week, Rubio voiced frustration about U.S. Navy ships having to pay to transit through the canal despite the U.S. being under treaty agreement to defend the canal if it’s attacked. “Secretary of State Marco Rubio is such a breath of fresh air & he’s proven to be incredibly effective in implementing President Trump’s PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH vision for the world,” Rep. Carlos Giménez, a Republican ally of Rubio in Congress representing south Florida, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Panama has agreed to drop its ‘memorandum of understanding’ with Communist China & to waive the toll for U.S. Navy ships transiting the Canal Zone. Panama must continue to work with the United States to evict Communist China from their country & achieve a productive, long-term deal that prioritizes both of our countries’ shared interests.” Besides the canal, Rubio has focused his trip on immigration, praising the Panamanians for the decreased flow of migrants through the Darien Gap and overseeing a deportation flight of Colombian nationals back to Colombia. Rubio secured two agreements with first, El Salvador, and then Guatemala on Wednesday, for the countries to accept deportees from the U.S.
Senate Democrats speak all night against Trump OMB nominee, delaying confirmation vote
The U.S. Senate stayed in session all night as Democrats delayed a vote on confirming Russell Vought to serve as Office of Management and Budget Director, a position he previously held during part of President Donald Trump’s first term in office. In a 53-47 party-line vote on Wednesday, all 53 Republicans invoked cloture on the nomination, while all 45 Democrats, and the two independent senators who caucus with the Democrats, voted against the move. While Democrats cannot stop the vote from eventually taking place, they are using all of the 30 hours available before the inevitable vote on Trump’s nominee. SENATE TEES UP TRUMP BUDGET CHIEF PICK RUSSELL VOUGHT FOR FINAL CONFIRMATION VOTE “I just came off the floor after speaking for an hour,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., noted in a tweet on Wednesday. “I refuse to let Republicans confirm Russ Vought the easy way, so we’re holding the floor through the night for 30 straight hours. Vought has shown he’ll ignore the law & constitution. I’ll be voting NO tomorrow.” GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma has been pointing out that Senate Republicans will vote to confirm Vought on Thursday evening. “Once again, OMB nominee Russell Vought will be confirmed at 7pm ET tomorrow. @SenateGOP has the votes. Enjoy your speeches,” he tweeted on Wednesday in response to a post in which Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., spoke about the Democrats’ plan. ‘ULTRA-RIGHT’: TRUMP BUDGET CHIEF PICK RUSSELL VOUGHT FACES FIRE FROM DEM SENATORS Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Vought a “horrible, dangerous man,” during remarks at a rally on Tuesday. Trump announced Vought as his pick for OMB last year. “He did an excellent job serving in this role in my First Term – We cut four Regulations for every new Regulation, and it was a Great Success!” he noted in a post on Truth social at the time. GOP-LED SENATE CONFIRMING PRESIDENT’S NOMINEES AT FASTER PACE THAN BIDEN ADMIN, FIRST TRUMP TERM CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Russ has spent many years working in Public Policy in Washington, D.C., and is an aggressive cost cutter and deregulator who will help us implement our America First Agenda across all Agencies. Russ knows exactly how to dismantle the Deep State and end Weaponized Government, and he will help us return Self Governance to the People,” Trump declared.
Feds spent millions studying trans menstruation, strengthening gay rights in the Balkans, database reveals
FIRST ON FOX: The federal government under the Biden administration doled out more than $174 million in grants and contracts to promote “radical ideas” on gender ideology, including to study menstrual cycles in transgender men and to “shield” the gay community in the Western Balkans, a new database dubbed ”Funding Insanity” found. “When Americans pay their taxes every year, they expect that money to go towards projects that help them: strengthening our national defense, building and upgrading infrastructure, protecting our natural resources, etc.,” American Principles Project President Terry Schilling said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. “However, in recent years Democrats have been using public funds to instead push their radical gender agenda here at home and around the world,” he said. “Hundreds of millions of dollars have been squandered on programs promoting the idea that human biology doesn’t matter. Nothing could better exemplify the disgusting corruption that has taken hold of Washington.” The American Principles Project, a conservative nonprofit that bills itself as “America’s Top Defender of the Family,” published a new database Thursday morning called “Funding Insanity,” which details various initiatives — both domestic and abroad — that received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the federal government to promote left-wing gender ideology. ‘VIPER’S NEST’: USAID ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION, MISMANAGEMENT LONG BEFORE TRUMP ADMIN TOOK AIM The funds examined by the AAP were doled out across the past four years under the Biden administration. In one of the priciest examples on AAP’s database, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) obligated $1,929,783 to the American Bar Association as part of a mission to “shield” members of “the LGBTQI+ population in the Western Balkans” by “strengthening human rights, information integrity, equality, and democracy.” ‘SESAME STREET IN IRAQ’: USAID’S ‘WASTEFUL AND DANGEROUS’ SPENDING EXPOSED BY SENATOR The Western Balkans includes nations such as Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Albania. The Balkans region overwhelmingly does not recognize gay marriage, though nations such as Montenegro recognize “life partnerships” between gay couples. The grant began on Oct. 1, 2024, and was set to run until Sept. 30. The Trump administration, however, paused foreign assistance in January, and USAID is in the midst of an apparent dismantling at the hands of the Department of Government Efficiency. USAID CLOSES HQ TO STAFFERS MONDAY AS MUSK SAYS TRUMP SUPPORTS SHUTTING AGENCY DOWN In another example, the Department of Agriculture granted $600,000 to Southern University A&M in Louisiana to study menstrual cycles, including for transgender men and nonbinary people. “The first occurrence of menstruation occurs at approximately 12 years of age and ends with menopause at roughly 51 years of age,” the description for the grant states. “A woman will have a monthly menstrual cycle for about 40 years of her life averaging to about 450 periods over the course of her lifetime. “It is also important to recognize that transgender men and people with masculine gender identities, intersex and non-binary persons may also menstruate,” it continues. “At any given moment about 26% of the world’s population is menstruating.” The grant began in April 2024 and is described as a study to “address the growing concerns and issues surrounding menstruation,” including the use of natural fibers, such as hemp, for feminine hygiene products. Fox News Digital reached out to the university and the American Bar Association regarding these respective grants but did not immediately receive replies. GOP HARDLINERS RALLY AROUND TRUMP, MUSK SCALING BACK USAID The Department of Agriculture spent an additional $229,637 to a natural resource management firm on contracts for “Brazil Forest and gender consultant services,” according to the database. Gender consultants in forestry services work to promote gender-equality and women’s empowerment in the industry. The forestry contract began on Jan 15, 2024, and ended in January, a review of its award profile shows. The State Department, in another example, spent nearly $25,000 in funds to “miscellaneous” foreign groups to premiere a theater production of “The Vagina Monologues” translated to the Gujarati language in India. “To support social change towards women empowerment and ending gender-based violence through theatre, world premier of the Vagina Monologues in Gujarati language in Mumbai and Ahmedabad,” the description of the grant reads. USAID EMPLOYEE SAYS STAFFERS HID PRIDE FLAGS, ‘INCRIMINATING’ BOOKS WHEN DOGE ARRIVED “The Vagina Monologues” is a feminist play that first premiered in the U.S. in 1996 that focuses on personal monologues involving topics such as rape, menstrual periods, genital mutilation and prostitution. In another pricey grant, USAID sent $1,065,702 to a Bangladesh welfare group to “support gender diverse people (gdp) through the new shomota (a Bangla word meaning “equality” in English),” the description for the grant reads. Another State Department grant delivered $2,315 to a nongovernmental agency in Nepal to teach English to “professional transgender women makeup entrepreneurs.” Schilling continued in his statement provided to Fox Digital that “corruption” involving the federal government using taxpayer funds for left-wing gender initiatives “is finally coming to an end.” In November 2024, “the American people gave Donald Trump a clear mandate to drain the swamp, and since taking office he has acted decisively to do so along with Elon Musk and the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency,” he said. “We hope President Trump, Musk and DOGE will find this information useful as they work to root out the far left’s ideological waste and instead return our government to its true purpose: service for the good of all Americans.” Musk and his team of auditors at DOGE are poring through federal databases to identify overspending, fraud and corruption, with their main focus right now involving USAID. FLASHBACK: BIDEN ADMIN REPEATEDLY USED USAID TO PUSH ABORTION IN AFRICA Secretary of State Marco Rubio reported on Monday that he is now the acting director of USAID, telling the media that the agency needs to be brought in line with Trump’s “America First” policies, which include heightened scrutiny over the distribution of taxpayer funds overseas. USAID’s website, since Tuesday evening, notifies readers that staff would be placed on leave globally, except “designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership
Arab Americans for Trump group changes name after president’s Gaza takeover proposal
A pro-Trump group is changing its name after President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. “take over” Gaza. The group formerly known as Arab Americans for Trump, is now going by the name Arab Americans for Peace. “We believe that his ideas, as well-intentioned as they might be, rubbed a lot of people the wrong way,” Bishara Bahbah, the founder of the organization formerly known as Arab Americans for Trump, told Reuters. “We’re opposed to any transfer of Palestinians, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, out of their homeland.” On Tuesday, during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump introduced the idea of the U.S. taking control of the Gaza Strip. TRUMP SAYS US WILL ‘TAKE OVER’ GAZA STRIP, REBUILD IT TO STABLIZE MIDDLE EAST “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” Trump said during Tuesday evening’s joint press conference. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexplored bombs and other weapons on the site.” The president emphasized the need to “do something different” in Gaza, where Hamas and Israel have fought for nearly 16 months. “If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way it has for 100 years,” Trump warned during the press conference. Trump’s plan to build “an economic development” in the war-torn Gaza Strip has been met with mixed reactions. The group now known as Arab Americans for Peace is far from alone in its rejection of the idea. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., slammed Trump’s proposal, saying that it did not put “America first.” Hamas, whose Oct. 7 massacre kicked off the latest war with Israel, called Trump’s proposal a “recipe for creating chaos.” The terror group that has controlled Gaza since 2006, one year after Israel gave up the strip of land and expelled its citizens from the area. “What President Trump stated about his intention to displace the residents of the Gaza Strip outside it and the United States’ control over the Strip by force is a crime against humanity,” a senior Hamas official also told Fox News on Wednesday. ‘PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH’: TRUMP AND NETANYAHU EXPECTED TO DISCUSS IRAN, HAMAS AT WHITE HOUSE MEETING Prime Minister Netanyahu praised Trump’s idea during an appearance on “Hannity” on Wednesday. “I think it will create a different future for everyone,” Prime Minister Netanyahu told “Hannity.” “The actual idea of allowing for Gazans who want to leave, to leave. I mean, what’s wrong with that?” Netanyahu asked. “They can leave. They can then come back. They can relocate and come back, but you have to rebuild Gaza. If you want to rebuild Gaza, you can’t have — this is the first good idea that I’ve heard.” After nearly 16 months of war, Hamas and Israel are engaging in a ceasefire deal, which has already seen the release of several hostages, including an American citizen. In the first phase of the deal, 33 hostages are set to be released. Details of the second phase have not been made public. Israel’s war against Hamas became a divisive issue within Democratic circles ahead of the 2024 election. The “uncommitted” movement in Michigan encouraged protest votes against former President Joe Biden when he was running for a second term. After Biden ended his reelection bid and former Vice President Kamala Harris took his place, the group Abandon Harris – which started as Abandon Biden – endorsed Jill Stein and urged Americans to vote against pro-Israel candidates. There were also several anti-Israel protests during the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The organization then-known as Arab Americans for Trump played a large role in Trump’s campaign outreach to the Arab American community in 2024. Many believe the group played an instrumental role in Trump’s ability to break Republicans’ losing streak in Dearborn, Michigan, which has a large Arab-American population. Trey Yingst contributed to this report.