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GOP preps attacks on vulnerable Dem senators over Mayorkas impeachment trial dismissal

GOP preps attacks on vulnerable Dem senators over Mayorkas impeachment trial dismissal

Republicans are planning to pin Senate Democrats’ move to kill the articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on vulnerable incumbents ahead of the November elections.  After several Democratic senators who face tough re-election battles voted in line with their party on Wednesday in order to deem the House-passed impeachment articles unconstitutional and forego a trial, Republican candidates are already using it to their advantage.  “Joe Biden’s wide open border is going to be a top issue for voters headed into November,” National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesperson Maggie Abboud told Fox News Digital in a statement.  REPUBLICANS ACCUSE BIDEN, SCHUMER OF EMBOLDENING IRAN PRIOR TO ATTACK ON ISRAEL “You can bet we are going to highlight Senate Democrats’ refusal to hold Joe Biden’s DHS Secretary accountable on the campaign trail, in advertising, and in every other way possible,” she added.  A spokesperson for One Nation, a group aligned with Senate Republican leadership and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also shared that it would be continuing to hit Democrats hard on immigration in the wake of Senate Democrats’ votes to block the impeachment trial of Mayorkas from moving forward.  Republican candidates taking on Democrats in competitive races, such as those in Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, were quick to slam their opponents for voting in line with their party and allowing Mayorkas to escape scrutiny.  “Everyone should be outraged that Jon Tester does more for illegal immigrants in Washington than he does for legal taxpaying American citizens,” former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, a Republican Senate candidate in Montana, said in a statement.  ‘CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY’ OF SENATE DEMS QUASHING MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL QUESTIONED BY EXPERTS After voting with his party, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., suggested the impeachment was a partisan game, while also urging both Mayorkas and Biden to use their executive branch authorities to help secure the border and pushing his colleagues in Congress to pass a bipartisan border package.  His campaign further told Fox News Digital in a statement that while Tester works towards a bipartisan solution on the border, “Tim Sheehy opposes the bipartisan border security bill endorsed by border patrol agents, and repeatedly called to defund the Department of Homeland Security.” Campaigns for Bernie Moreno, the Republican Senate nominee in Ohio, and David McCormick, Sam Brown and Eric Hovde, expected to be the Republican nominees for Senate in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Wisconsin, respectively, each made similar criticisms of vulnerable incumbent Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Bob Casey, D-Pa.; Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.; and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. “Together, Casey, Biden and Mayorkas have enabled drug cartels to flood Pennsylvania communities with deadly drugs like fentanyl,” claimed Elizabeth Gregory, a spokesperson for McCormick.  As Republicans add the Mayorkas impeachment dismissal to their attacks on Democratic opponents, the incumbent senators are already pushing back.  In a statement, Baldwin spokesperson Andrew Mamo said, “Tammy is focused on solutions, not political games,” reiterating her support for a “bipartisan border compromise.” REPUBLICANS PREDICT DEMS TO PAY ‘HEAVY PRICE’ IN ELECTION AFTER MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT BID FAILS “Senator Rosen is supporting solutions to increase border security and fix our broken immigration system because she is a bipartisan and independent voice for her state,” Rosen’s campaign said in a statement, criticizing “the extreme MAGA Republicans running against her” as “rubber stamps for Trump.” A Brown campaign spokesperson similarly pointed to the senator’s support for the bipartisan package, noting that Moreno vocally opposed it.  Casey’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Tommy Garcia further claimed, “Republican Senate candidates lost their message on the border the minute they opposed the border security bill that members of their own party helped write,” referencing a border package that was negotiated by Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla.; Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., which quickly lost support following former President Donald Trump’s public criticism.  Garcia remarked that “the ads write themselves,” following the Republicans’ abandonment of the border package.  GOP SENATOR EYES LEGISLATION TO DEFUND ‘PROPAGANDIST’ NPR AFTER SUSPENSION OF WHISTLEBLOWER Both Republicans and Democrats appear to be prepping to wield the border issues against one another, but Republican strategist Doug Heye noted that Democrats “are massively on defense on the border.” With this in mind, Heye also said, “Impeachment of the DHS Secretary was largely a niche issue for the Republican base already well-committed in those races.” Uncommitted and swing voters are not likely to have paid attention to it, he said.  Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, agreed with Heye’s assessment, adding, “I don’t think the specifics of the Mayorkas impeachment matter much if at all — it just seems like too much of an Inside Washington story to matter.” However, he pointed out “[President] Biden has terrible numbers on immigration.”  “Republicans will of course hammer on the issue, so it is something Democrats need to be prepared to counter,” he continued.  Republican strategist David Kochel called the Mayorkas impeachment a “lose/lose” situation for Democrats. While vulnerable incumbents are expressing their support for the bipartisan border package, he noted it wasn’t accomplished, and thus it is more difficult for them to use in their favor.  “The idea was to kill this thing quickly and hope voters forget about it,” he said of the Mayorkas impeachment proceedings. Going through with a full trial likely would have looked worse for Democrats, he added.  Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

SEC hit with new lawsuit alleging ‘mass surveillance’ of Americans through stock market data

SEC hit with new lawsuit alleging ‘mass surveillance’ of Americans through stock market data

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is illegally collecting data of every citizen who invests in the stock market, according to a new lawsuit. The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) filed the suit Tuesday against the SEC claiming that the agency, through its “Consolidated Audit Trail,” or “CAT,” program, is collecting mass amounts of personally identifiable data by forcing brokers, exchanges, clearing agencies and alternative trading systems to capture and send detailed information on every investor’s trades in U.S. markets to a centralized database.  The agency is doing so, NCLA says, without authorization from Congress and in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable government search and seizure of private information. Conceived during the Obama administration with bipartisan support within the Commission, the CAT program is a multibillion-dollar, self-appropriated fund, powered by various fees the SEC has collected through investment transactions, NCLA says. The group calls it “completely unlawful” and says it puts Americans’ financial data at “grave risk.”  BIDEN ADMIN TEMPORARILY DROPS ‘OUTRAGEOUS CLIMATE MANDATE’ AMID FLURRY OF LAWSUITS “By seizing all financial data from all Americans who trade in the American exchanges, SEC arrogates surveillance powers and appropriates billions of dollars without a shred of Congressional authority — all while putting Americans’ savings and investments at grave and perpetual risk,” said Peggy Little, NCLA senior litigation counsel.  “The Founders provided rock-solid protections in our Constitution to prevent just these autocratic and dangerous actions. This CAT must be ripped out, root and branch,” she said. REPUBLICANS UNVEIL EFFORT PROTECTING FEDERAL LANDS FROM FOREIGN INVESTORS, CLIMATE ACTIVISTS The lawsuit, filed in the district court for the Western District of Texas, calls CAT “the greatest government mandated mass collection of personal financial data in United States history.” “Historically, a government that wished to track its citizens had to devote large resources to having them followed. That is no longer the case: modern surveillance tools enable mass tracking of individuals’ every movement, every transaction, every purchase, sale, or transfer of securities at low cost while powerful computer algorithms can process that information to reveal personal and private details of each person’s financial life or investment strategy,” the lawsuit states.  “This class action complaint challenges SEC’s shocking arrogation of power to impose dystopian surveillance, suspicionless seizures, and real or potential searches on millions of American investors.” Little told Fox News Digital that the SEC collects and stores in its database “every trade information on every investors’ trades from inception to completion,” naming funds like 401(k) or 529 Education Fund as examples. “And there is simply no law that permits them to do that, and the Fourth Amendment forbids them to do that,” she said.  “And here’s the dirty little truth: all investing Americans will pay for this because it’s paid for by fees that the SROs [self-regulatory organizations] extract from the brokerage houses, who charge their customers… I mean, this is a multibillion-dollar tax on American investors and American investing, and nobody ever voted for it.” A spokesperson for the SEC told Fox News Digital that “the Commission undertakes its regulatory responsibilities consistent with its authorities.” SEC WARNS BROKER DEALERS OVER INADEQUATE ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING MEASURES In an op-ed published Monday in The Wall Street Journal, former Attorney General William Barr argued that “even when the government seeks information about a citizen from banks, phone companies and others with whom he has done business, the government isn’t free to vacuum this up carte blanche.” Barr noted that the crux of the SEC’s argument for the CAT program is that “it could investigate things more easily if it weren’t limited to gathering investor information on a case-by-case basis after suspected wrongdoing took place.” “But the whole point of the Fourth Amendment is to make the government less efficient by making it jump through hoops when it seeks to delve into private affairs,” Barr wrote.  “For an agency to argue that it should be able to avoid these hoops to make investigations easier is to assert that it should be exempt from the Fourth Amendment.” 

GOP hopes for holding House could come down to 6 races in key battleground state

GOP hopes for holding House could come down to 6 races in key battleground state

In the 2024 showdown for the House majority, Pennsylvania will be a key battleground. As Republicans defend their razor-thin majority in the chamber, they’ll be playing plenty of defense to try and retain GOP-held seats in the blue bastions of California and New York. But in Pennsylvania, which holds primary elections on Tuesday, Republicans will be on offense, targeting three of the most vulnerable House Democrats in the country. “If Democrats are to take back control of the House this November, they’ll need to hold the line in the Keystone State,” Erin Covey, House races analyst for top non-partisan elections handicapper The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, said recently. THESE SIX HOUSE SEATS COULD FLIP FROM BLUE TO RED IN NOVEMBER Atop that list is three-term Democratic Rep. Susan Wild in the state’s 7th Congressional District, which is one of the most evenly divided House districts in the country. In flipping the seat in 2018 and in her 2020 and 2022 re-elections, Wild’s races have come down to the wire. But Wild, in anticipation of another bruising re-election bid, has assembled a formidable campaign war chest, far ahead of her GOP challengers. The GOP congressional primary is a three-way race between state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, National Guard veteran Kevin Dellicker and attorney Maria Montero. “Both national parties are almost guaranteed to invest in this race,” Covey emphasized. “But the GOP candidates’ anemic fundraising has made some national GOP strategists less bullish on flipping this seat, and other Democratic-held swing seats could take priority in November.” Republicans are also taking aim at Democratic Rep. Matt Carwright in northeastern Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District. And across the state, in the Pittsburgh-based 17th District, Rep. Chris Deluzio is being targeted by the GOP. But neither district is expected to have competitive Republican primaries on Tuesday. Wealthy construction company CEO Rob Bresnahan is considered the presumptive nominee in the 8th District, while state Rep. Rob Mercuri doesn’t face any major rivals in the primary in the 17th. While they play plenty of defense in Pennsylvania, Democrats are also eyeing an opportunity to flip a red seat. That opportunity is in the 10th District — anchored by the state capital Harrisburg in the central part of the state — where former Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry is up for re-election. Republicans control the House 218-213, with vacant seats in three red districts and one in a blue district. The Cook Report rates 22 races as toss-ups, evenly split between the Democrats and Republicans. Republicans controlled the House majority for eight years before the Democrats won back the chamber in the 2018 midterms. In the 2020 elections, the GOP defied expectations and took a big bite out of the Democrats’ majority. The GOP narrowly won back control of the chamber in the 2022 midterms, but hopes of a red wave never materialized. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. 

Nikki Haley welcomes husband Michael home from National Guard deployment: ‘End of a year-long prayer’

Nikki Haley welcomes husband Michael home from National Guard deployment: ‘End of a year-long prayer’

Former presidential hopeful Nikki Haley and her family welcomed husband Michael home today after a year-long deployment with the South Carolina Army National Guard. The former South Carolina governor, United Nations Ambassador and Republican presidential candidate shared the photos on her X account with the message, “That moment when you finally take a breath…It’s been a long year but even longer without each other.” TRUMP’S LAST GOP RIVAL LANDS NEW GIG AFTER FAILED 2024 PRESIDENTIAL BID “Thankful for Michael’s safe return and the end of a year long prayer.” The Haley family’s military service came under fire earlier this year when former President Donald Trump asked in a February rally in the Palmetto state “What happened to [Nikki Haley’s] husband? Where is he? He’s gone. He knew. He knew.” Ambassador Haley fired back on X, posting “Michael is deployed serving our country, something you know nothing about.” The two have been married nearly 30 years and share two children, Rena and Nalin, together. Haley credits her husband Michael with her conversion to Christianity and referred to him in 2023 after a ceremony at the Citadel as “my rock.” Michael Haley has served in the South Carolina Army National Guard since 2006 and holds the rank of Major. He has formerly deployed to Afghanistan and most recently returned from the Horn of Africa. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Haley completed her social media post with the hashtags #Blessed, #TheYearLongPrayer, and #proudmilitarywife.

‘Nothing more backwards’ than US funding Ukraine border security but not our own, conservatives say

‘Nothing more backwards’ than US funding Ukraine border security but not our own, conservatives say

A $60 billion aid package for Ukraine which provides about $300 million to bolster the country’s border struck a nerve with several lawmakers increasingly frustrated with the administration’s handling of the crisis at the U.S. southern border. On Saturday, the House of Representatives approved spending $60 billion to help Ukraine build up its defense against Russia’s invasion, with a 311 to 112 vote. Republicans were not unanimous in their approval of the measure, with 101 voting in favor of the aid package, and 112 voting against it. The U.S. national debt is currently at more than $34 trillion. Speaker Johnson, R-La., unveiled the foreign aid plan earlier in the week, though a lack of any border security measures prompted allies to be wary of letting the bills move forward. HOUSE PASSES $60B UKRAINE AID BILL AS GOP REBELS THREATEN TO OUST JOHNSON A meeting to advance the package ended Wednesday night without a vote because it provided funding for Ukraine and not U.S. border security. One of those Republican foreign aid hawks on the House Rules Committee was Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas. The House Rules Committee is the final barrier before a piece of legislation moves to the House floor for a vote. After the vote, Roy and others turned to the social media platform X to express their discontent of the foreign aid package. “Today, I voted no… These bills were brought forward under a contrived process to achieve a pre-determined outcome — a $100 billion, unpaid-for foreign aid package while failing to secure the border,” Roy wrote. “For months, House Republicans — specifically, Speaker Mike Johnson — have been unequivocal that we would not send billions in additional aid to Ukraine without securing our own border first. This package represents a complete reversal of a position that previously unified the Republican conference, despite the clear & present danger the southern border represents to U.S. national security.” DEMS SAVE JOHNSON’S $95B FOREIGN AID PLAN FROM GOP REBEL BLOCKADE Roy said he supported Ukraine’s effort to defeat Putin, but added he cannot support sending $60 billion in additional funding without the U.S. having a “clear mission” and “policy changes necessary” to secure its own border. Like Roy, Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., voted against the package because of “urgent problems” happening in the U.S. HOUSE TAKES KEY TEST VOTE FOR JOHNSON’S $95B FOREIGN AID PLAN AFTER DEMS HELP IT ADVANCE “States and cities across our nation are grappling with the consequences of Biden’s border crisis, inflation continues to squeeze the budgets of every American household, and our country is over $34 trillion in debt,” Cline said. “As I continue fighting for the people of Virginia’s Sixth District, I urge my colleagues in Congress and the Biden Administration to listen to the American people and put their concerns first.” House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Eric Burlison also weighed in. “Republicans have control of the House, and we should be leveraging it to secure our border, unfortunately the Uniparty is working to secure the borders of Ukraine instead of our own border,” he said. “This has to stop, we should be putting AMERICA FIRST!” TENSIONS ERUPT ON HOUSE FLOOR AS CONSERVATIVES CONFRONT JOHNSON ON $95B FOREIGN AID PLAN Burlison, Cline, and Roy could not be reached for comment on the matter. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection sources, there were over 7,000 encounters at the southern border on Friday, following two days in a row of about 6,500. During prior weeks, the number of encounters had been in the 4,000s and 5,000s. “We are beyond disappointed that the House would give aid to secure the borders of foreign countries but gave nothing to allow the Border Patrol to secure the safety of the United States,” Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told Fox News. “There’s nothing more backwards. I wouldn’t have even expected tax payer’s dollars. They could have given us policy, and that would have been enough.” Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.