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Year: 2025

‘Essential to our nation’s sovereignty’: Noncitizen voter crackdown led by GOP ahead of 2026 midterms

‘Essential to our nation’s sovereignty’: Noncitizen voter crackdown led by GOP ahead of 2026 midterms

FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are rolling out a new package of election security legislation this week, with GOP lawmakers already setting eyes on 2026. Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, introduced the bills this week, with four lawmakers co-sponsoring the entire package and various other members supporting specific pieces. The three pieces of legislation are a bill to prohibit noncitizen residents of Washington, D.C., from voting in local elections, a bill to block noncitizens from helping administer elections and a constitutional amendment to prevent noncitizens from voting. KASH PATEL ENRAGES ADAM SCHIFF IN CLINTONIAN BATTLE OVER THE WORD ‘WE’ AND A JANUARY 6 SONG  It is currently illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. Though the law does not apply to state and local elections, there is currently no state in the U.S. that allows noncitizens to vote in statewide elections. Some areas, however, allow for noncitizens to vote in local-level elections – including Washington, D.C. “Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy, which is why protecting them from noncitizen influence is essential to our nation’s sovereignty and will ensure America has a flourishing democracy for decades to come,” Pfluger told Fox News Digital. “These bills are three commonsense steps we can take to ensure noncitizens are not influencing our elections by voting in them or administering them. We must safeguard the integrity of our electoral system, and these bills will work to do just that.” Earlier this year, House Republicans passed the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which requires proof of citizenship in the voter registration process. The majority of Democrats have cried foul at GOP-led efforts to crack down on noncitizen voting, with progressive lawmakers accusing Republicans of trying to spread doubt about the country’s election processes by targeting something that’s already illegal in most cases. Democrats also criticized Republicans for pushing bills like the SAVE Act just weeks before the November election.  MAJOR CHANGES KASH PATEL COULD MAKE ON DAY 1 AT FBI However, Pfluger and his GOP allies are now side-stepping that criticism by introducing the bills well ahead of the 2026 midterm races, when historical precedent suggests that House Republicans face an uphill battle to keeping their majority. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Among the co-sponsors of the entire package is House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, who is playing a critical role in congressional Republicans’ efforts to pass a massive conservative policy overhaul via the budget reconciliation process. Border security and immigration reform are expected to be a significant part of that forthcoming legislation.

After stinging election defeats, DNC eyes rural voters as key to 2026 midterm success

After stinging election defeats, DNC eyes rural voters as key to 2026 midterm success

FIRST ON FOX— The Democratic National Committee (DNC) plans to focus much of its campaign efforts on winning over rural voters in the 2026 midterm elections, according to the party’s outgoing chairman— a sprawling effort they hope will help the party engage with and educate new voters, and loosen what many see as President Donald Trump’s ironclad grip on many red state voters. The new strategy was previewed exclusively to Fox News Digital by outgoing DNC Chair Jaime Harrison ahead of the DNC’s slated vote Saturday to select his successor as next party leader. In an interview, Harrison said the strategy, which has been weeks, if not months in the making, is designed to refute many of Trump’s campaign trail claims on the economy, health insurance and taxes for average Americans. Rather, Harrison said the aim is to tie Trump more closely to these policies and to make the case to voters directly that Trump is “using rural America, and giving rural voters nothing in return.” “An examination of Trump’s second term agenda and first administrative actions reveals that rural families and the resources they rely on are in greater jeopardy than ever before,” the DNC said in a preview of its new election strategy memo, shared exclusively with Fox News.  “One can conclude, Donald Trump is using rural America and giving rural voters nothing in return,” the memo continued. TRUMP’S ULTIMATUM TO FEDERAL WORKERS: RETURN TO OFFICE ‘OR BE TERMINATED’ Trump’s rhetoric has long been praised as refreshing by voters, who resonate with what many said they see as his unorthodox, anti-establishment bona fides. However, there is a difference between Trump as a presidential candidate and Trump as president. It is “him just saying things and not having the power to implement them,” compared to being back in the Oval Office, Harrison said.  The DNC’s effort, however, will seek to challenge that assumption by highlighting victories secured by former President Joe Biden in his first term, including tightening CAFE fuel economy standards for gas-fired vehicles, investing in EV manufacturing and battery supply chains, cracking down on PFAS contaminants and pollution, and allocating billions of dollars in clean energy and climate spending. Trump has vowed to undo many of these policies after retaking control of the Oval Office. To date, he has made good on his promise. Trump used his first week in office to sign hundreds of executive orders and actions, a dizzying flurry of orders that, among other things, sought to crack down on immigration, unleash U.S. liquefied natural gas exports and freeze all congressionally approved spending, if only temporarily. Democrats, for their part, have sought to use Trump’s vice-grip on the post-inauguration news cycle to double down on their efforts to appeal to voters and prepare for the midterms, no matter how far-off they might seem. This includes focusing on issues like healthcare coverage and medical providers, both of which have suffered “major” disparities in rural America, and where doctors have exited en masse amid a flurry of hospital closures and a dearth of insured patients. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY DEFENDS TRUMP’S FIRING OF INSPECTORS GENERAL Many of the Republican-led states that did not opt to expand Medicaid saw wide hospital closures, higher out-of-pocket costs for prescriptions and much more limited access to opiod recovery or substance abuse programs, Harrison said. Rural communities are also seeing more limited access to doctors, emergency treatment centers and a lack of access to important medication, as Biden-era programs wane. “These things are going to have a detrimental impact on rural America,” he said. Still, Harrison acknowledged that the Democratic Party also needs to do its part to meet voters where they are at in 2026, just months after the party’s humbling defeat in the 2024 presidential election. SWING STATE’S SUPREME COURT ISSUES PIVOTAL RULING ON MAIL-IN BALLOTS SENT WITHOUT POSTMARK However, changing hearts and minds will not happen overnight, he said. Rather, it will require many conversations from state party leaders at the local level, who can both identify key issues for voters and help recruit good candidates for the upcoming election cycle. “I think what we have to do is paint a picture for the American people of all the things that we rely upon— all the things that are necessary and needed in these communities, and that sometimes we don’t even know are [programs] that the federal government is funding,” Harrison said.  “Those things are in jeopardy under this administration.” “We want to let people know these things aren’t just happening by happenstance. It’s happening because Donald Trump is taking this radical right wing extremist agenda and trying to implement and therefore impacting the quality of your life.” The DNC’s effort will also spell out to voters what they say will happen if these policies are rolled back, in accordance with Trump’s plans, Harrison said.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “The second thing is having our cannons— we go out, and we work with our state parties, and recruit candidates to run in 2026,” he said of candidates who are well-positioned to speak to the communities they are representing. In Harrison’s view, this will also help explain to voters how Trump’s drastic cuts or reductions will impact their communities specifically.  “And then we continue to have that conversation, one-on- one, in small and larger groups with the people in those communities,” he said. “And that is how we put ourselves on a much stronger foot going into the 2026 midterm election. “

Pete Buttigieg blasts Trump after president excoriates him during press briefing

Pete Buttigieg blasts Trump after president excoriates him during press briefing

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg fired back at President Donald Trump on Thursday after the commander in chief blasted the Democrat during a press briefing about the deadly midair collision between a military helicopter and a passenger airplane that occurred on Wednesday night. Trump sarcastically called Buttigieg “a real winner.” “He’s a disaster. He was a disaster as a mayor. He ran his city into the ground. And he’s a disaster now. He’s just got a good line of bulls—,” the president said.  PETE BUTTIGIEG GIVING ‘SERIOUS LOOK’ TO 2026 SENATE RUN IN TRUMP-WON MICHIGAN Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Indiana Mayor who served as secretary of the Transportation Department under former President Joe Biden, sounded off in a post on social media. “Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch,” Buttigieg declared in a post on X. “President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe. Time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again,” he added. Buttigieg mounted a presidential bid in 2019, but dropped out the next year and endorsed Biden. Buttigieg is reportedly “taking a serious look” at the possibility of running for U.S. Senate in in Michigan. “Pete is exploring all of his options on how he can be helpful and continue to serve,” a source familiar with Buttigieg’s thinking told Fox News Digital. “He’s honored to be mentioned for this, and he’s taking a serious look.” Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson contributed to this report

New FOIA on migrants potentially avoiding the draft could open new deportation predicate: attorneys

New FOIA on migrants potentially avoiding the draft could open new deportation predicate: attorneys

A top government accountability group will send a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the U.S. Selective Service System (SSS) for data on illegal immigrants who did not register for the draft and therefore committed a felony. Oversight Project executive director Mike Howell – whose group is filing the action – underlined the move is not an illustration of any support for illegal immigrants serving in the military. By law, all U.S. males aged 18-26 must register with the SSS under penalty of felony conviction and $250,000 fine under the Military Selective Service Act of 1917, Howell’s group noted in their filing. Additionally, the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 makes failure to register with the SSS a deportable offense, and the SSS website clearly states undocumented aliens are required to sign up for the draft, Howell noted. However, the Oversight Project’s filing also cites a passage on the SSS website saying the agency does not share or collect information on a man’s immigration status and has “no authority to collect such information, has no use for it, and it is irrelevant to the registration requirement.” WATCHDOG SUES BIDEN AGENCY FOR RECORDS AS LAWMAKER CALLS ITS VOTER WORK ‘A SLAP IN THE FACE’ Given that discrepancy, the letter goes on to cite a 2023 SSS report to Congress cataloging 23,249 registrations from USCIS – the federal agency responsible for overseeing legal immigration – but no data from ICE, the Office of Refugee Resettlement or other agencies engaged in handling illegal immigration and asylees. In a Thursday interview, Howell and attorney Kyle Brosnan said SSS registration has been flat during the Biden administration as far as it relates to the obvious uptick in “military-aged males” crossing the border and being “caught-and-released” by federal immigration authorities. “The absence of such a surge indicates that there is widespread criminal non-compliance by such aliens,” they wrote in their FOIA request. “There should be a large increase in [SSS registration] with 10 million illegals that have come over the border in the last four years,” Brosnan said. “Former Secretary Mayorkas went on the Hill and talked about how good [Biden’s DHS] was at processing people – well, how didn’t that processing lead to an increase in registrations for Selective Service?” “What we are really looking at now is whether the Selective Service under the Biden administration took this into account and they purposely avoided this issue for political reasons.” “If you look at their website… they go out of their way to assure illegal aliens like we’re not going to share information with ICE… So I want, you know, whether those people have any culpability for failing to register the biggest population surge of military age males in U.S. history when their job is to register military.” OVERSIGHT GROUP SEEKS DOCS FROM WALZ’ MINNESOTA AS DOJ REBUKES VA VOTER ROLL MAINTENANCE Howell said the FOIA request’s results could go beyond the scope of just determining whether undocumented residents of the U.S. may have attempted to avoid the draft – but also potentially offer an additional avenue for Border Czar Thomas Homan’s mass deportation plans. With failure to register with SSS being a felony and a deportable offense, Howell said that if the threads are pulled further on this situation, it could provide simplified legal grounds for the mass deportation plans of the Trump administration. “Now that this little quirk has been figured out, how can ICE and other entities in the federal government use this new authority to drastically scale-up immigration enforcement?”  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “You can turn a class of individuals into potential criminals overnight. What it also means is you don’t need ICE necessarily to do it. [Alleged SSS violators] would be prosecuted by DOJ. That means they’re in other beds that aren’t ICE beds. So you’re looking at all of them being in federal prison potentially, as opposed to taking up space in ICE custody,” Howell said.  “All of these things open up the aperture for immigration enforcement in a huge way.” The Oversight Project went on to formally request at least a dozen data points from SSS in hopes of ascertaining how many asylum seekers and illegal immigrants are violating the law twofold with their avoidance of the draft. Copies of the letter will also be sent to Homan, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.