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Year: 2026

Thune reveals reason Democrats are ‘scared’ to reopen DHS

Thune reveals reason Democrats are ‘scared’ to reopen DHS

FIRST ON FOX: The top Senate Republican argued that while Senate Democrats may be the ones voting against reopening the government, they’re not the ones calling the shots. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital in an interview that as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown continues, it’s Democrats’ voters who are pushing them to continue blocking funding for the agency. “The Democrats up here on the Hill are so afraid of their far-left base,” Thune said. “And I think the far-left base, their demand right now, is defund ICE, defund law enforcement, which is not, by any stretch, a reasonable position.” The agency has been shut down for 35 days, putting the latest closure into record-breaking territory. Senate Democrats have, so far, blocked four attempts to reopen the agency over demands for stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and how agents operate in the field. THUNE ACCUSES CRITICS OF ‘CREATING FALSE EXPECTATIONS’ AMID BACKLASH OVER STALLED SAVE AMERICA ACT Negotiations had ground to a halt for several weeks, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus staying quiet on the latest offer from the White House. That communication breakdown began to thaw this week when Democrats responded with an offer the White House dubbed unserious. And signs of a deal further improved on Thursday when a handful of Democratic negotiators sat down for the first time with Senate Republicans and border czar Tom Homan. It also comes as lines at airports stretch for several blocks as workers go unpaid, and concerns of terrorist attacks are at a fever pitch in the wake of the Iran war. Thune will again put a bill to reopen the agency on the floor on Friday, and Democrats are again expected to block it. REPUBLICANS SIGNAL NO RETREAT ON SAVE ACT AS MARATHON SENATE DEBATE KICKS OFF Still, Thune said that the meeting “suggested even more movement” toward breaking the funding logjam but remained wary of Democrats actually wanting to make a deal to end the shutdown. He also noted that until Thursday, Democrats had consistently rejected Republicans’ offers to get into a room and hash it out, and he contended that it was the White House making their offers to Democrats public that likely spurred the latest confab. “My impression is, at least up until now, that the edict has gone out from the paternalistic Democrat fathers that none of their children should be talking to Republicans about how to solve this problem in a way that gets them actual reforms in place,” Thune said, “and funds an important department that has a number of agencies that are really critical, not only to national security, but to emergency management and other things.” DEMS UNMOVED AS WHITE HOUSE REVEALS DHS CONCESSIONS IN SHUTDOWN BATTLE “So it seems to me, at least they are — these guys — they are running scared,” he continued. “They, I think, believe they benefit politically from this.” Several Democrats left the meeting with Homan and Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Katie Britt, R-Ala., declining to comment on the discussion. When asked if lawmakers were any closer to a deal, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said, “No.” Still, Republicans were hopeful that there would soon be a breakthrough to the impasse. “Unfortunately, the Democrats’ list of demands keeps growing and growing, and that makes it difficult,” Collins said. “But the group that was in there is operating in good faith, and I hope we’ll get together again very soon.”

From ‘jump on a bus’ to tax crackdowns: Blue states chase wealthy residents fleeing to red havens

From ‘jump on a bus’ to tax crackdowns: Blue states chase wealthy residents fleeing to red havens

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul became the latest blue-state leader to lament the flight of wealthy tax-paying residents to Republican-led tax havens like Florida, Alaska, Wyoming and Tennessee, calling millionaires who stayed in the Empire State to fund its massive social services net “patriotic.” With Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declaring his jurisdiction a “free state” for transplants wishing to leave liberal policies and taxation behind, blue states like New York, Illinois and California are squeezing and at times pursuing natives who emigrate to financially greener pastures — while at the same time, some governors are blasting conservative voters as inauthentic neighbors and driving them out in the first place. Fox News Digital took a look back at taxing authorities and top officials in blue states that have pursued or criticized the very people they are trying to retain for taxation purposes – and those who aren’t simply urging them to return are finding ways to force continued collection. BRING THEM BACK FROM PALM BEACH Hochul, speaking during a Politico event this month, said “high-net-worth” people need to stay in New York to support the “generous social programs we want to have in our state.” “There are some patriotic millionaires who stepped up. OK, cut me the checks. If you want to be supportive — but maybe the first step should be [to] go down to Palm Beach and see who you can bring back home, because our tax has been eroded.” GRADUALLY, THEN SUDDENLY, BLUE STATE AMERICA IS HEADING FOR FINANCIAL DISASTER ‘JUMP ON A BUS’ Hochul has often criticized the most prominent New Yorker to flee to Palm Beach: President Donald Trump. At a 2022 rally for Rep. Pat Ryan, a moderate Democrat from Ulster County, Hochul trashed Republican-voting New Yorkers and urged them to do what she now wants to see reversed. BLUE STATE’S BILLIONAIRE EXODUS ABOUT TO GET MUCH WORSE IN 2026, INSIDER WARNS “And we are here to say that the era of Trump, and Zeldin and Molinaro, just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong, OK?” “Get out of town. Because you do not represent our values. You are not New Yorkers,” Hochul said, while facing off with now-EPA chief Lee Zeldin and criticizing Ryan’s opponent, then-Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro whom Trump recently appointed as head of the FTA. THE ‘TEDDY BEAR’ TAX TEST Revenue agencies in states like New York have established multitiered tests to enforce residency liabilities for people who split their time between or try to claim other states as their primary home. In Albany’s lengthy guide to determining whether a taxpayer must consider themselves a New Yorker, a five-part review includes what some attorneys have called the “Teddy Bear Test” – in that it all depends on where you lay your head at night. A “Near and Dear” factor asks taxpayers to consider the “location of items which the individual holds ‘near and dear’ to his or her heart, or those items which have significant sentimental value” – such as teddy bears. MORE AMERICANS LEAVE BIG CITIES FOR RURAL STATES AS MIGRATION PATTERNS SHIFT IN 2026 “This analysis of ‘Near and Dear’ items can help to solidify the intent of the taxpayer concerning the location of his domicile,” the document read. Another aspect is whether a person uses or maintains his New York residence at the same level as his out-of-state residence, as it and other states have a 183-day threshold for determining tax liability. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance conducted 3,000 nonresidency audits between 2010 and 2017, encompassing part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s term, and collected about $1 billion from those who fled the state. Cuomo, however, appeared to have what pundits called a political “epiphany” when he voiced concern about the state’s lurch to the left on tax policies. In 2019, The Wall Street Journal quoted Cuomo on realizing what Democratic policy had done to New York’s tax base: “Tax the rich, tax the rich, tax the rich. We did that. God forbid the rich leave.” The top 1% of taxpayers foot 46% of personal income tax in New York, which is not alone in trying to keep people in. REVERSE GOLD RUSH In 1849, when gold was discovered at John Sutter’s mill not far from Sacramento, people from across the country rushed in to make a buck. Today, people are reversing flow and trying to escape Sacramento’s reach. “California … they don’t particularly like when people that were large taxpayers … leave,” Marc Minker, lead managing director at accounting provider and consulting firm CBIZ MHM, previously told FOX Business. “The state becomes very aggressive with respect to making you prove that you essentially changed your domicile.” While California does not have an explicit “Exit Tax,” the term is thrown around to describe the complex hierarchy of levies and policies Sacramento enforces on people who leave or now only spend part of their year in the state. MILLIONAIRE ACTOR MARK RUFFALO TELLS NEW YORKERS TO ‘TAX THE RICH’ WHILE CRITICS DEMAND ‘HIM FIRST’ Gov. Gavin Newsom opposed a 2023-24 iteration of an “exit tax” – that would have applied to the wealthiest Californians who leave for the first four years of nonresidency. If the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) determines a taxpayer to be a nonresident, their California-based income sources, like rental homes, can still be taxed. The recent Super Bowl in Santa Clara brought the state’s “jock tax” back to the fore, as Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold’s tax liability following his win led to a net financial loss for him. The FTB also regularly conducts residency audits similar to New York’s, with residency requirements remain more complex than other states’ calculation of number-of-days-spent. WASHINGTON POST CITES U-HAUL DATA IN CALIFORNIA EXODUS TO ‘PRO-GROWTH’ STATES, SAYS ‘DECLINE IS A CHOICE’ FTB considers a resident someone who is “present in California for other than a temporary or transitory purpose” or “domiciled in California, but outside California for a

Trump-backed Senate hopeful gains momentum with top GOP endorsements before Mullin DHS shift

Trump-backed Senate hopeful gains momentum with top GOP endorsements before Mullin DHS shift

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., have both endorsed Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., for U.S. Senate. “Kevin Hern is a proven conservative leader and fighter for Oklahomans in the House, where he has championed our shared Republican agenda. He will be a great asset in the Senate and has my full support and endorsement,” Thune said in a statement. “Kevin Hern is a principled conservative, Oklahoma-first leader who knows what it means to create jobs and unleash prosperity. He is a fighter for President Trump’s agenda, and we’re excited to welcome him to our Republican majority as Oklahoma’s next Senator,” Scott said in a statement. THUNE ACCUSES CRITICS OF ‘CREATING FALSE EXPECTATIONS’ AMID BACKLASH OVER STALLED SAVE AMERICA ACT President Donald Trump has tapped GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma to take over the role of Department of Homeland Security secretary. If the Senate confirms Mullin to serve in the post, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, will get to appoint a replacement to fill the vacancy, but that appointment would come with a significant catch.  HOUSE GOP LEADER LAUNCHES SENATE BID AS TRUMP TAPS MARKWAYNE MULLIN FOR DHS Oklahoma state law stipulates that “a person who is a prospective appointee shall submit to the Secretary of State an oath affirming that the person will not file as a candidate for the office when it next appears on the ballot.” In a post on X last week, Stitt wrote, “I appreciate @POTUS taking time to meet to discuss the importance of appointing a new U.S. Senator for Oklahoma. President Trump has made a great selection in Markwayne Mullin to join his cabinet, and I am committed to making a swift decision on his replacement once Mullin is confirmed by the Senate.” Trump endorsed Hern for the Senate seat last week. ‘TELL ME TO MY FACE’: TOP MOMENTS IN MULLIN’S HEATED CONFIRMATION HEARING TO BE TRUMP’S NEXT DHS CHIEF “Kevin Hern will be an outstanding Senator, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement – HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” the president declared in a Truth Social post.