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Year: 2025

Trump-backed redistricting push turns Midwestern state into next political battleground

Trump-backed redistricting push turns Midwestern state into next political battleground

The high-stakes political fistfight between Republicans and Democrats over congressional redistricting ahead of next year’s midterm elections shifted to a new battleground this week. A special session of Missouri’s legislature to redraw the solidly red state’s congressional districts and give the GOP control of one additional House seat kicked off on Wednesday with public hearings scheduled for Thursday. “Missouri’s conservative, common-sense values should be truly represented at all levels of government, and the Missouri First Map delivers just that,” Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe argued, as he announced the special session and unveiled a proposed map. MAJOR REPUBLICAN REDISTRICTING VICTORY IN THIS KEY STATE Kehoe’s move came hours after GOP Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas on Friday signed into law a redistricting bill passed by the Republican super majority in the state legislature that aims to create up to five right-leaning congressional districts at the expense of currently Democrat-controlled seats in the reliably red state. The Republican push in Texas, which came at the urging of President Donald Trump, is part of a broad effort by the GOP across the country to pad their razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats. WATCH: CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS AIM TO COUNTER TEXAS REDISTRICTING Trump, in a social media post, argued that Missouri voters will have “the tremendous opportunity to elect an additional MAGA Republican in the 2026 Midterm Elections.” Trump and his political team are aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats stormed back to grab the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections. Democrats are fighting back against the rare, but not unheard-of mid-decade redistricting. State lawmakers in heavily blue California last week approved a special ballot proposition this November to obtain voter approval to temporarily sidetrack the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and return the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democrat-dominated legislature. TRUMP NOT ON BALLOT BUT FRONT-AND-CENTER IN 2025 ELECTIONS The effort in California, which aims to create five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts and counter the shift in Texas, is being spearheaded by two-term Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is seen as a likely 2028 Democratic presidential contender. In Missouri, the new map proposed by Kehoe targets longtime Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City area district by shifting it eastward to include rural right-leaning voters.  If passed by the GOP-controlled legislature, the new map would likely flip Cleaver’s seat and give Republicans a 7-1 advantage in the state’s U.S. House delegation. The Missouri legislature’s special session will also tackle another top Republican priority – a proposed constitutional amendment making it more difficult to approve citizen-driven ballot initiatives. Abortion-rights and marijuana legalization amendments, opposed by many Republican leaders in the state, have passed in recent years. Missouri state House Minority Leader Ashley Aune on Monday charged that Kehoe and Republican state lawmakers are pushing to “rig our maps and eliminate our representation in Congress.” Former Rep. Russ Carnahan, the chair of the Missouri Democrats, warned there are political consequences for Republicans pushing to redistrict. “They’re choosing to bow down to Washington demands to do some things that I think are going to stir the ire of Missouri voters, and they’re about to see what pissed off Missouri voters look like,” Carnahan told Fox News Digital. But Democrats in the Missouri state house have limited options to stop the legislature from passing the new map. Unlike in Texas, where Democratic state representatives fled the state for two weeks to delay passage of redistricting, a similar move by Missouri Democrats wouldn’t prevent a quorum needed to conduct business. And any filibuster by Democrats in Missouri’s state Senate would likely be quickly shut down by the majority Republicans. Cleaver, whose seat is threatened, has vowed to take legal action if the new map is signed into law by the governor. With Democrats currently needing just a three-seat pick-up in next year’s midterms to win back the House majority, Missouri and Texas are far from the only states where Trump and his political allies are urging Republicans to re-write the maps to create more right-leaning congressional districts. Top Republican state lawmakers in Indiana, which, similar to Missouri, is a former battleground state that’s now red, visited the White House last week to discuss redistricting. Republicans in GOP-controlled South Carolina and Florida are also mulling redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections. And right-leaning Ohio is under a court order to draw new maps ahead of the midterms. Democrats, as they push back, are looking to New York, Illinois and Maryland in the hopes of creating more left-leaning congressional seats. But they have less attractive options than Republicans.  They control fewer states than the GOP and face constitutional limitations or nonpartisan redistricting commissions, which is the case in New York. In Illinois and Maryland, where Govs. J.B. Pritzker and Wes Moore are discussing redistricting, Democrats hope to pick up to three more left-leaning seats. And they could pick up a seat in right-leaning Utah, where a judge recently ordered the GOP-controlled legislature to draw new maps after ruling that lawmakers four years ago ignored an independent commission approved by voters to prevent partisan gerrymandering.  Fox News Digital reached out to Kehoe’s office to request an interview but did not immediately hear back. 

After high-profile divorce, Ashley Biden reflects on ‘one of the hardest summers’

After high-profile divorce, Ashley Biden reflects on ‘one of the hardest summers’

Ashley Biden, daughter of former President Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden, wrote on social media that it was “one of the hardest summers of my life.” The post comes after a summer during which the former first daughter faced two main challenges: her divorce and her father’s cancer diagnosis. “August 2025. The summer of 2025 was one of the hardest summers of my life. I have been preparing for the fall (my fav season) and now ready for the RISE,” she wrote as the caption of a carousel of summer photos. “Grateful for the support of friends and family. Grateful that I took the time/space to grieve, process and heal. Grateful for peace of mind, new beginnings, new seasons, and a rediscovered strength and love for myself.”  She ended the caption with “#SturgeonMoon2025” – a reference to the August full moon – followed by a string of emojis. ASHLEY BIDEN FILES FOR DIVORCE FROM HUSBAND, HOWARD KREIN, AFTER 13 YEARS OF MARRIAGE: REPORTS Last month, Ashley Biden shared a photo of her with her ex-husband and another woman, who the former first daughter identified as the doctor’s “girlfriend.” She captioned the Instagram story, “my husband and his girlfriend holding hands,” and posted it with the Notorious B.I.G. song “Another,” featuring Lil’ Kim, the New York Post reported.  The outlet also noted that the Instagram story was posted just hours before Ashley Biden filed for divorce from her husband of 13 years.  FEW PRESIDENTS HAVE BOWED OUT LIKE BIDEN. HISTORIANS EXPLAIN WHAT IT MEANS The story appeared on Aug. 10 and was deleted shortly after it was posted. While it appeared to be aimed at her husband, the people in the image faced away from the camera and were not immediately identifiable. The Post also reported in August that in a separate Instagram story, which was also deleted, Ashley Biden posted herself walking through a park giving a thumbs-up while “Freedom” by Beyoncé played. Ashley Biden’s divorce filing states the marriage is “irretrievably broken” and requests spousal support while the divorce is pending, according to filings reviewed by Radar Online. She married Dr. Howard Krein in 2012 with a ceremony blending her Catholic faith with his Jewish heritage, followed by a reception at the Biden family’s lake house in Wilmington.  At the time, then–Vice President Joe Biden praised his future son-in-law, telling People magazine: “This is the right guy. And he’s getting a helluva woman.” At the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Ashley Biden recalled her father’s role in her wedding to Krein, saying, “At the time, my dad was vice president, but he was also that dad who literally set up the entire reception. He was riding around in his John Deere 4-wheeler, fixing the place settings, arranging the plants, and by the way, he was very emotional.” In May, Biden’s office confirmed he had been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer. “While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management. The [former p]resident and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians,” Biden’s team shared in a statement. Ashley Biden made a similar Instagram reflection post at the end of May, writing: “May 2025. Heartbroken yet HOPEFUL. MAY I have the courage to handle all that life throws at me (us). So very grateful for all the love + support.” “Life is tough my darling, but so are YOU,” she added at the time. On the same day, she also posted a picture of herself with her parents and seemingly pushed back against rumors that her family had covered up her father’s cancer diagnosis while he was in the White House. Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.

US appeals court blocks Trump use of Alien Enemies Act in deportation drive

US appeals court blocks Trump use of Alien Enemies Act in deportation drive

A federal appeals court has ruled that the administration of United States President Donald Trump illegally invoked a wartime law to deport Venezuelans as part of its immigration crackdown. Late on Tuesday, a majority on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to expedite deportations without due process. The decision was remarkable on several fronts. It was the first time a federal appellate court had weighed Trump’s use of the 18th-century law, but it was also a strong rebuke to Trump’s mass deportation campaign from a court with a reputation for leaning conservative. Writing for the majority on the three-person bench, Judge Leslie Southwick rejected Trump’s claim that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua represented an invasion into the US. “We conclude that the findings do not support that an invasion or a predatory incursion has occurred,” Southwick wrote. “We therefore conclude that petitioners are likely to prove that the AEA [Alien Enemies Act] was improperly invoked.” The Alien Enemies Act has the power to give the government wide-ranging powers to detain and deport citizens of “hostile” foreign nations, but only in times of war or during an “invasion or predatory incursion”. Before Trump, the law had only been used three times — and exclusively during war. But Trump officials have used the law to justify the rapid deportation of Venezuelan migrants, on the basis that they constitute a criminal “invasion” across the border. Southwick, who was appointed by Republican President George W Bush, rejected that argument. Advertisement “There is no finding that this mass immigration was an armed, organized force or forces,” Southwick wrote. The panel is the highest federal court to so far rule on Trump’s attempts to use the law for deportations. The case is expected to eventually make its way to the US Supreme Court. Tuesday’s ruling, however, was limited in scope: It only applies to states under the appeals court’s jurisdiction — Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi — though it could be cited as a precedent in other appeals court circuits. Trump first invoked the Alien Enemies Act on March 15, publishing an executive order that accused the Tren de Aragua gang of “perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion” into the US. That same day, his administration flew two planeloads of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT), a maximum-security prison notorious for human rights abuses. That came despite a lower judge’s order blocking his use of the law while the flights were under way. Trump officials accused the Venezuelan migrants on those flights of being Tren de Aragua members, though their lawyers point out that many of them had no criminal records. To meet the standards for using the Alien Enemies Act, the Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that Tren de Aragua is controlled by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a longtime rival of the Republican leader. Trump has accused Maduro of masterminding a “narco-terrorism enterprise” in a coordinated effort to destabilise the US. But a declassified US intelligence memo has contradicted this claim, saying there is no evidence that Maduro coordinated with Tren de Aragua. On Tuesday, the US announced it had attacked a boat carrying 11 alleged Tren de Aragua members in international waters in the Caribbean, killing all on board. Trump claimed they were “narcoterrorists”. Cases related to Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act have twice reached the US Supreme Court, which has not yet addressed the underlying validity of the Trump administration’s actions. In April, the Supreme Court ruled that deportations under the act could proceed, but that immigrants should have “reasonable time” to contest their removals. It also decided that such challenges should be brought in the federal districts where the deportees are being held, as opposed to courts elsewhere in the country. In a second ruling, also in April, the Supreme Court blocked the deportations of a group of Venezuelan men in northern Texas. Advertisement Then, in May, the Supreme Court extended the block, faulting the Trump administration for attempting to swiftly remove detainees just one day after providing them with deportation notices. “Notice roughly 24 hours before removal, devoid of information about how to exercise due process rights to contest that removal, surely does not pass muster,” the majority opinion said. The case was ultimately sent back to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In a statement after Tuesday’s decision, Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), called the ruling a “critically important decision reining in the administration’s view that it can simply declare an emergency without any oversight by the courts”. The ACLU represented the Venezuelan men in the case. But there was one judge who dissented from Tuesday’s decision on the Fifth Circuit Court: Andrew Oldham, a Trump appointee. Oldham argued that deportations under the Alien Enemies Act were “matters of political judgment” and that the president has the right to determine whether the appropriate conditions were met. “From the dawn of our nation until President Trump took office a second time, courts have never second-guessed the President’s invocation of that Act,” Oldham wrote. Adblock test (Why?)

Campbell’s sees tariff hit in year ahead as economic uncertainty looms

Campbell’s sees tariff hit in year ahead as economic uncertainty looms

The maker of the Goldfish snack also plans to stop using artificial dyes by the second half of its 2026 fiscal year. Published On 3 Sep 20253 Sep 2025 Campbell’s Co expects sales to fall in the coming year as tariff-driven economic uncertainty weighs on the food maker. In its fourth quarter earnings report released Wednesday, the New Jersey-based company said its sales will likely remain flat or decline by as much as 2 percent in the coming year. Campbell’s, which is best known for its canned soup products, said that it expects that tariffs will account for about 4 percent of the cost of goods for the 2026 fiscal year which started August 4. The company says it plans to mitigate the cost with some price increases and other cost-saving measures as inflation weighs on how much consumers spend. “Consumers continue to be increasingly deliberate in their food choices,“ CEO Mick Beekhuizen said. The latest consumer price index report reflecting the month of July, and which came out in mid-August, showed that prices overall for food at home increased by 2.2 percent compared over the same period a year ago. “The company faces a dynamic operating and regulatory environment resulting in substantial input cost pressures, primarily driven by tariffs, which, despite significant mitigation efforts, reduce its earnings outlook for the upcoming fiscal year,” Beekhuizen said. Campbell expects annual adjusted profit per share to fall up to 18 percent to between $2.40 and $2.55, including tariffs, and below the estimates of $2.63, according to data compiled by LSEG. Food brands like Campbells and its competitors use steel in their cans, which has been subject to steep tariffs. The Can Manufacturers Institute warned earlier this year that tariffs would put a strain on food producers, especially as domestic manufacturing of the steel used in cans has fallen by 75 percent over the last eight years. “Domestic can makers and canned food producers now import nearly 80 percent of tin mill steel from trade allies,” Robert Budway, president of the Can Manufacturers Institute, said at the time. Advertisement Campbell’s Co reported net sales increased in the fourth quarter by 1 percent to $2.3bn. Prices also increased by 2 percent for the quarter, which offset a 4 percent decline in volume. Food dye cuts The maker of the Goldfish snack also plans to stop using synthetic food dyes in its products by the second half of the 2026 fiscal year. The company plans to replace them with more natural alternatives like annatto, an orange-red food condiment made from the seeds of the achiote tree, and purple carrot juice in Lance crackers and V8 Splash. It joins industry peers, including PepsiCo, Kraft-Heinz and Nestle, in replacing synthetic food dyes with natural ones in response to Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative and shifting consumer preferences. On Wall Street, the company’s stock surged on the news, and as of 11:30am in New York (15:30 GMT), it was up by 4.6 percent. Adblock test (Why?)