Blue city funds immigrant activist program with taxpayer dollars, critics say it ‘shuts citizens out’
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration is offering taxpayer-funded scholarships for an activist program while limiting participation to immigrants, including non-U.S. citizens, a requirement that has drawn criticism online. The Immigrants Lead Boston program, run by the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement, is designed for “emerging leaders” interested in advocating for Boston’s immigrant communities. Participants meet city officials and receive training aimed at helping them engage with local government and organize within their communities during the 10-week program. Critics have seized on both the taxpayer funding and the eligibility requirements, arguing that U.S.-born residents are excluded from a city-backed leadership program whose participants can receive a $575 scholarship. “That is not charity. That is a political pipeline built to shut citizens out of their own city,” one user wrote on X. BOSTON TO GIVE LGBTQ+ MIGRANTS VOUCHERS FOR YOGA, MEDITATION, ‘CREATIVE HEALING’ “Paying illegal immigrants to learn political organizing to protest against the country they’re in,” one person wrote on X. “For starters it sounds like discrimination,” posted a user. “Michelle WU is a communist who probably wants a American version of China,” a person wrote taking shots at the Boston mayor. TRUMP’S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES NEW YORK, OTHER BLUE STATES OVER TUITION FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS “Is this legal,” asked one user. “Illegal aliens have broken our laws. Any assistance given them other than assistance to leave the country, simply rewards their unlawful behavior, encourages other unlawful behavior, and more illegals to follow their lead,” one person posted. Similar taxpayer-backed benefits for immigrants have surfaced in other Democratic-led states, particularly in higher education. NEBRASKA ENDS IN-STATE TUITION BENEFITS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS UNDER DOJ DEAL SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER New York, Connecticut and Vermont have offered in-state tuition or other financial benefits to immigrants in the country illegally, while Oregon and Washington have provided access to benefits such as state grants or student loans. California has also allowed qualifying students in the country illegally to apply for state financial aid. Fox News Digital reached out to Mayor Wu’s office for comment.
Republicans zero in on key player accused of helping Democrat fundraising giant hide foreign cash
FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans’ investigation into Democrats’ main fundraising platform is heating up on the heels of an explosive report that raised questions about whether left-wing candidates’ campaigns were raking in foreign cash. Top House GOP committee chairs are summoning ActBlue attorney Ronald Machen for a closed-door interview sometime before Oct. 9, Fox News Digital has learned. A letter sent to Machen Monday morning stated that information he previously disclosed to investigators appears to contradict other data that has been collected, specifically on ActBlue’s verification standards for making sure a donor is a U.S. citizen. “On September 11, 2026, you provided a briefing to the House Administration, Judiciary, and Oversight and Government Reform Committees regarding the accuracy of ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones’s prior statements to Congress about ActBlue’s donor and passport collection processes,” the letter said. “Your review appears to be nothing more than an after-the-fact sugarcoating of ActBlue’s misconduct and Ms. Wallace-Jones’s misrepresentations to the House Administration Committee.” ANOTHER ACTBLUE LEADER PLEADS FIFTH AS HOUSE INVESTIGATES ALLEGED FOREIGN DONATIONS The letter was sent by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Wis., Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who lead the panels probing ActBlue. ACTBLUE CO-FOUNDER PLEADS FIFTH AMENDMENT IN CLOSED-DOOR HOUSE GOP GRILLING ActBlue is a massive platform for campaigns to raise money that’s used by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, among others. Republican lawmakers have long accused the company of having lax verification standards for donors, something ActBlue has said it actively improved since the start of the GOP’s probe. But a new report released earlier this month, first reported by Fox News Digital, appears to show employees green-lighting donations despite some questions about where they came from. FAR-LEFT POLITICIANS STILL USING ACTBLUE AS 88-YEAR-OLD DISPUTES DONATING NEARLY $150,000 TO FUNDRAISING GIANT Chief among the GOP’s concerns is ActBlue’s passport number verification. According to the report, the field only requires the correct number of characters for a U.S. passport number rather than a valid code for a donation to be accepted. The Monday letter also points to a 2024 “contemporaneous review by ActBlue’s then-outside counsel, former Biden White House Counsel Dana Remus” which allegedly found “‘a substantial risk that some of the funds’ raised for Democrat campaigns and causes by ActBlue ‘were impermissible contributions from foreign nationals.’” Remus’ review further found that “passport checks did not always happen” and were “never conducted” when donations were made using third-party fiscal platforms like Apple Pay or PayPal, the letter said. The Republican chairs said Machen’s prior comments to Congress “conceded that your ‘forensic’ review found that ActBlue processed and accepted donations with foreign indicators even though ActBlue failed to identify a ‘passport number’ or ‘other indicia of eligibility’ for the donor. HOUSE DEM LASHES OUT AT GOP EFFORTS TO PROBE FOREIGN DONATIONS WITH STUNNING CLAIM ON MOTIVE “Nonetheless, you defended Ms. Wallace-Jones’s representations to Congress by arguing that ActBlue’s compliance and vetting policy was ‘as close to 100 percent as it could be,’” the letter said. “Documents produced to the Committees undercut your assertion. These documents demonstrate that if a donor did not have a U.S. passport or a U.S. address, an ActBlue employee retained the ability to determine an ‘alternative method of verifying the [donor’s] citizenship.’ This means an ActBlue employee could put ‘a placeholder,’ including ‘ACTBLUEXX,’ ‘in the passport number field of [the donor’s] ActBlue account.’ The placeholder allows ActBlue to accept all subsequent contributions from the donor without requiring a U.S. passport number.” ACTBLUE SCRUTINY FUELS NEW GOP BILLS TO TIGHTEN ELECTION DONATION RULES The letter said Machen’s review was also limited to 2023, arguing it left out potentially valuable information about 2024. “As such, the review did not accurately represent the totality of ActBlue’s foreign donation vetting and donor outreach practices during the 2024 election cycle. In fact, documents produced to the Committees show that ActBlue relaxed its vetting practices twice in 2024—data that your narrow ‘forensic’ review did not capture,” the letter said. ACTBLUE SUES TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON, ALLEGING POLITICAL RETALIATION OVER DEMOCRATS’ FUNDRAISING It also charged that he disputed Remus’ analysis without going into detail on how he established his own findings. ActBlue has consistently denied any wrongdoing and dismissed Republicans’ most recent findings in a statement to Fox News Digital. “There’s nothing to see here. After we released findings of a third-party forensic analysis that completely undermined a central claim that they have made against ActBlue, Republicans are refusing to move on,” ActBlue said. “Instead, they are orchestrating another political stunt before rushing out of town weeks early to go campaign. This coordinated campaign against ActBlue isn’t about the facts, or legislating, it’s about Republicans’ efforts to silence organizations they believe threaten their agenda.” A closed-door interview summons is not the same as a subpoena, which is a legally binding order.
Largest-ever US steel plant is coming to a key red state as Trump unveils $15B investment
President Donald Trump is unveiling Monday plans for a massive steel plant in Iowa that the White House says will be the largest in American history and promises to bring 1,750 permanent jobs to the state. The roughly $15 billion steel plant is touted as a major new investment and evidence that Trump’s economic agenda is bringing heavy manufacturing back to the U.S. with just over a month until the midterms. It will create between 5,000 and 6,000 construction jobs during its first phase. Trump is expected to make the announcement from the Oval Office at 2 p.m. alongside executives from Mesabi Metallics, a White House official told Fox News Digital. The company plans to build the facility using iron ore from its newly constructed mine in Minnesota. SEN KEVIN CRAMER: CHINA BUILDS FOR WAR WHILE AMERICA WAITS ON PERMITS The Iowa plant is expected to produce 7.5 million tons of steel annually in its first phase before eventually reaching 10 million tons per year, according to the White House. The administration says that would make it the largest steel plant ever built in the U.S. If completed as planned, the project would represent a significant expansion of American steel-making capacity. At its planned 10 million tons of annual production, the Iowa plant alone would have output equivalent to roughly one-tenth of what the entire U.S. steel industry produced last year. The project would also create a fully domestic supply chain, according to the White House, using iron ore mined at Mesabi’s Minnesota operation to produce finished steel in Iowa. But the scale of Monday’s announcement also comes with a long timeline: Mesabi does not expect the Iowa facility to produce its first steel until 2030. Trump has frequently highlighted large investment commitments as evidence that his tariffs and other economic policies are encouraging companies to build in the United States rather than invest abroad. The administration has announced hundreds of billions of dollars in planned investments from foreign governments and corporations, many of which are designed to unfold over several years. Mesabi’s Minnesota operation also illustrates the challenges that can accompany large industrial projects. The project traces back nearly two decades and encountered years of financing problems and missed deadlines before Essar Steel Minnesota filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016. It later emerged from bankruptcy as Mesabi Metallics, and Essar eventually regained control. The project has since made substantial progress. Mesabi has begun mining and commissioning work at the Minnesota operation, although commercial pellet production has not yet begun. A recent SEC filing by a company that holds a royalty interest in the project said initial DR-grade pellet production is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026, followed by an eight- to 12-month ramp-up to commercial production. The White House says the Minnesota operation will ultimately produce 7.5 million tons annually and create roughly 350 permanent jobs. The administration is also emphasizing the national security implications of the Iowa project. The new plant will be capable of producing high-grade steel used to meet defense-sector requirements, according to the White House, as Washington seeks to strengthen domestic supply chains for materials used by the military and critical infrastructure. “President Trump is delivering on his promise to rebuild American industry, reshore manufacturing, and create new jobs,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital. “Today’s announcement underscores the President’s historic efforts to revitalize the U.S. steel industry—supporting local communities, strengthening supply chains, and protecting our national security,” Rogers said. “After decades of decline, this President is restoring America’s industrial competitiveness and securing trillions of dollars in new investment.” The announcement comes as Trump points to tariffs as a tool for encouraging companies to manufacture in the United States. Trump doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 50% last year, arguing that protecting domestic producers from cheaper foreign competition would rebuild an industry critical to the economy and national security. TRUMP’S REINDUSTRIALIZATION AGENDA FACES ITS BIGGEST HURDLE — AMERICANS The policy has also increased costs for companies that consume steel. S&P Global reported that federal data showed prices for iron and steel rose 10.4% between April 2025 and April 2026, while the steel mill products index climbed 13.3%, even as domestic steel production increased. Unlike many newer U.S. steel facilities, which are smaller electric arc furnace plants, the Iowa project will be a large-scale integrated steel facility. The White House says it will be the first new “mega-steel” plant built in the United States since the 1960s. The first phase of the steel plant and the Minnesota mine together represent nearly $18 billion in investment, according to the administration. The White House estimates the first phase will generate approximately $95 billion in economic activity during construction and the plant’s first decade of operation. Trump is expected to be joined for Monday’s announcement by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, National Energy Dominance Council Executive Director Jarrod Agen and Export-Import Bank Chairman John Jovanovic, along with Mesabi Metallics Chairman Rewant Ruia, board member Prashant Ruia and CEO Joe Broking.
AOC gives major hint about 2028 as Democrat civil war looms
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s political future has remained a topic of discussion within the left wing — and there’s increasing speculation that she could be set for a collision course with Democrats’ top leader in Congress. The progressive rock star says she’s weighing what to do next, whether it be a 2028 presidential run or a bid for the seat currently held by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a fellow Democrat and New Yorker. “I know there is a lot of speculation about what I will decide to do in 2028. I get asked about it nearly every interview and event,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a recent fundraising email to supporters. The 36-year-old lawmaker with a massive social media footprint said in a recent New York Times interview that her decision, which could happen sometime after this year’s midterm elections, would come down to answering the question, “Where can I do the most good?” OCASIO-CORTEZ OPENS UP ABOUT 2028 If she decides on a statewide rather than a national run, it could set up a titanic Democratic Party and generational battle between her and the soon-to-be 76-year-old Schumer, who was first elected to Congress nearly half a century ago and has served in the Senate since 1999. Ocasio-Cortez, in her interview, made clear that her decision about 2028 would not be dictated by someone else. “I don’t think that my decisions would come down to deference,” she said. Meanwhile, a campaign swing the past few days throughout upstate New York by Ocasio-Cortez raised some eyebrows. While the trip was aimed at boosting fellow Democrats on the ballot in this year’s elections, it sparked speculation that it was also a move by Ocasio-Cortez to build relationships far from her base in New York City. Schumer has left his 2028 plans open and has not announced whether he’ll run for yet another term. When asked about re-election, he’s repeatedly said his “first focus is winning in 2026, getting back the Senate in 2026.” Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer’s office regarding his thinking on a potential 2028 re-election run, but didn’t receive a response by the time this story was published. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB But a potential intra-party clash between Ocasio-Cortez and Schumer may never materialize, according to speculation from plugged-in Democratic strategists familiar with the New York state political landscape, who doubt Schumer will seek re-election even if his party wins back the Senate majority in November’s midterms. “Everyone has an expiration date,” said one strategist, who like the others asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely. And referring to Ocasio-Cortez, the strategist told Fox News Digital, “I think she’s in a good position to win statewide.” Another operative, pointing to Schumer, speculated, “I think Schumer wants to go out on top and with a good legacy and one way to do that is to hand the reins over to this inspiring generational leader. At the same time, New York politics are insane and there are lots of people gunning for that spot and he may feel like he can’t do that.” SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER “He’s always been pretty smart when it came to her,” the operative noted. “As other Dems were still warming to her… he was one of the first members of the New York delegation to be very welcoming and thoughtful and worked with her on legislation during COVID.” Schumer’s approval ratings among New York voters are deep into negative territory at 36%-54%, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted Sept. 17-20. The senator’s favorable ratings were also underwater, at 34%-51%. Meanwhile, 41% of Empire State voters viewed Ocasio-Cortez favorably, with 36% seeing her in an unfavorable light. “He was the supreme retail politician. Once he became leader, he became a swamp creature from Washington and it started to chip away at his popularity back home,” a third Democratic strategist said of Schumer. MAMDANI SIDESTEPS WHETHER AOC SHOULD CHALLENGE SCHUMER IN 2028 Schumer’s short-term goal is to win back the Senate majority in the midterms. Asked if that prospect would make potentially challenging Schumer more difficult, Ocasio-Cortez told the New York Times, “That would honestly be the best possible problem we could have as a country.” “We’re working hard to have that problem, and I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it,” she added. Recent fundraising text messages sent to supporters appeared to take jabs at the Democratic establishment, of which Schumer is a part. She did not name any particular person in the notes, however. “The establishment believes that there’s only one path to winning: Don’t upset the status quo, don’t stand up to the concentration of greed taking over our country, and instead spend most of your time fundraising from powerful donors,” it read. “But Alexandria’s campaign didn’t win in 2018 by following the establishment playbook.” Another message said her 2018 victory “represented a threat to the typical D.C. power structure that existed back then and still exists now.”
Walz’s ‘exit interview’ reflecting on his tenure sparks lawmaker debate about his legacy: ‘Never serious’
Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz reflected on his legacy in a recent interview and his comments sparked immediate pushback both online and from Republican lawmakers in the state who spoke to Fox News Digital. “Fraud — should have stopped it sooner,” Walz told the Minnesota Star-Tribune in a discussion that is being dubbed an “exit interview” with the headline “Walz accepts blame for fraud but says it shouldn’t define his legacy” as he prepares to leave office in January. “We didn’t stop them. I accept that. I think there does need to be accountability with that. And part of it is that, yep, that’s with me, I’ll step aside.” Walz claimed the state “immediately” took action on the fraud and then went on to suggest the true cost of the fraud, estimated at $9 billion by federal prosecutors, has been overstated and claimed President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom, expected to cost taxpayers around $300 million, was more expensive than the Minnesota fraud. WALZ APPROVAL RATING CRATERS TO LOWEST LEVEL EVER AND TRAILS TRUMP AMID MASSIVE FRAUD SCANDAL: ‘TIRED OF IT’ “I should have been down on those agencies a little more, but I will tell you this, in the scheme of things, all the fraud that’s been prosecuted, by the way, and all the fraud that’s probably out there is less than the ballroom at the White House,” Walz said. “So it puts it into perspective. It doesn’t make it right. Doesn’t make it right.” The outgoing governor then explained his hope that people will remember his other accomplishments when talking about his legacy. “Those are legacy things to address climate. They’re legacy things to address livability,” Walz said. “And I get it, that fraud tainted a lot of that. It doesn’t change the fundamentals underneath it. This is the best state in the country to raise a child, and it will continue to be so because of those investments.” Three Republican lawmakers in Minnesota who spoke to Fox News Digital had a different take. “Governor Walz is correct, he shouldn’t only be remembered for fraud,” Minnesota state Sen. Julia Coleman told Fox News Digital. “We should remember him spending our $18 billion surplus, raising taxes $10 billion, creating an unsustainable budget, letting rioters burn down Minneapolis, hurting our students and businesses with lockdowns and pardoning a child rapist.” ‘WE HAVE NOT SLOWED DOWN’: MINNESOTA NOT OUT OF THE WOODS ON MASSIVE FRAUD SCANDAL, EXPERT WARNS Walz has faced fierce criticism for helping approve a full pardon for Tue Lue Vang, a Laotian national convicted of repeatedly raping a girl beginning when she was 10. Critics argued the decision prioritized Vang’s immigration concerns and family ties over the severity of his crimes, with a DHS official calling it “disgusting.” Minnesota Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth is running to replace Walz in November as she heads into a matchup with Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar to be the state’s next top executive. Demuth told Fox News Digital Walz’s legacy won’t be able to overcome the fraud scandal and pointed to Klobuchar’s tight association with him. “Tim Walz’s legacy will always be defined by the out-of-control fraud crisis that occurred on his watch,” Demuth said. “Yet Amy Klobuchar praised him as ‘an incredible leader who delivers for the people of Minnesota.’ As the senior member of our state’s congressional delegation, Sen. Klobuchar likewise failed to address the fraud crisis and even skipped hearings on the matter in D.C. Minnesotans deserve better than four more years of Walz-style failure.” Republican State Rep. Kristin Robbins chaired the last legislative session’s Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee, and she told Fox News Digital that “no matter how hard he tries to spin it, Tim Walz’s legacy will be that he allowed rampant fraud.” “He says he ‘should have stopped it sooner,’ which is obvious, but he could still be doing more NOW,” Robbins said. “He has been silent on fraud for months instead of taking the actions that are STILL under his control.” Robbins said Walz could have taken several steps to combat fraud, including firing senior DHS official Shireen Gandhi to send a message that abuse would not be tolerated, blocking Minnesota from seeking a SNAP waiver that allows applicants to attest to eligibility by phone without recording the call, and asking Attorney General Keith Ellison to prosecute Partners in Nutrition, a nonprofit that administered federally funded meal programs, rather than approve a settlement. “His legacy will be fraud because he continues to enable fraud, despite two years of hearings, investigative journalists, and Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) reports,” Robbins said. “He was never serious about stopping it and still isn’t.” Walz’s comments not only drew scrutiny from Republican lawmakers but also sparked backlash on social media. “Walz accepts blame for fraud, but believes his loss of $9 billion in taxpayer dollars ‘shouldn’t define his legacy,’” the X account for Minnesota House Republicans posted on X. “It does, and Minnesotans are paying attention to his blatant disregard of their hard-earned tax dollars.” Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office for comment.
Far-left legal ‘cartel’ in the hot seat as Trump admin decides its law school gatekeeper status
The future of the nation’s primary law school accreditor now rests in the hands of the Trump Education Department after a federal panel deadlocked 8-8 on whether to strip the American Bar Association (ABA) of its gatekeeper status following dozens of federal compliance failures. The deadlock hands the decision to Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent, who has up to 90 days to decide whether to revoke the ABA’s decades-long accreditation monopoly over roughly 200 law schools nationwide. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Department of Education spokesperson confirmed that staff had already recommended stripping the ABA’s gatekeeper status after finding the group out of compliance with “more than 26 recognition criteria.” The advisory body — known formally as the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) — advises the Education Department on whether higher education accreditors meet federal standards. NACIQI Chairman Jay Greene told Fox News Digital that while the panel split 8-8 on what action to take, committee members across the board shared a core concern over how the ABA is structured. “The primary issue that troubled all members of NACIQI is that the ABA accrediting body is clearly not separate and independent from the ABA as a whole,” Greene said, noting that federal law requires institutional accreditors to operate independently of trade associations. “Everyone on the committee agreed that this was a problem that required changes. The main divide was over whether the ABA was willing and able to take those steps to remedy the problem or not.” WATCH: BRANDON GILL CORNERS LAW SCHOOL GATEKEEPER WITH DEI QUESTION SHE WON’T ANSWER Responding to panel criticisms of chronic noncompliance, Melissa Hart, chair of the ABA Accreditation Council, defended the organization’s historic track record. “The Council has been continuously recognized by the Department of Education since 1952, being found in compliance during every regular recognition cycle for the past 74 years,” Hart said in a statement. “We take accreditation and our recognition as an accreditor very seriously, and we continue to be a reliable authority for accrediting J.D. programs.” However, legal advocacy groups argue the ABA’s structural defects and recent policy shifts render it unfit to serve as an industry gatekeeper. Reed Rubinstein, senior vice president of America First Legal and former general counsel at the Department of Education, told Fox News Digital that the ABA has “disqualified itself and undermined public faith and trust in the legal profession.” EXPLOSIVE REPORT EXPOSES ‘DANGEROUS IMBALANCE’ IN LAW SCHOOL PIPELINE SHAPING HOW ELECTION CASES ARE DECIDED Rubinstein also dismissed the ABA’s recent move to repeal its controversial diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) accreditation standard as a “ruse to retain power,” arguing it does not cure the underlying legal flaws. “The DEI accreditation standard, from the moment it was adopted, conflicted with controlling Supreme Court rulings and the plain text of the Civil Rights Act,” Rubinstein said, urging the Trump administration to permanently strip the ABA of its federal status. “The ABA’s leadership has made it clear, publicly and otherwise, that it will return to its unlawful ideological agenda at its first opportunity.” For more than 70 years, the ABA has operated as the sole federally recognized accreditor for U.S. law schools, granting the organization a near-monopoly over the legal profession. In almost every state, students must graduate from an ABA-accredited law school to be eligible to sit for the bar exam. Furthermore, the federal government uses the ABA’s accreditation as the gatekeeper for Title IV federal student aid, meaning law schools must secure the group’s stamp of approval for their students to receive federal loans. BEAUTY SCHOOL MOMS CAUGHT IN ACCREDITATION CROSSFIRE AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WEIGHS CONSEQUENTIAL DECISION If Under Secretary Kent ultimately moves to strip the ABA of its recognition, the decision would effectively break that national monopoly. While law schools affiliated with larger universities could rely on their broader institutional accreditors to maintain access to federal financial aid, roughly a dozen stand-alone law schools would be forced to scramble for alternative accreditation. State supreme courts would also face immediate pressure to rewrite their bar admission rules to allow graduates from non-ABA schools to take the exam. Some states have already begun taking matters into their own hands to bypass the ABA’s grip. Because the legal profession is regulated directly by the judicial branch, state supreme courts hold the ultimate authority to set educational requirements for bar admission. TRUMP ADMIN URGES RETURNING EDUCATION TO STATES, CITING $3 TRILLION OF TAXES SPENT AND POOR PROFICIENCY SCORES In January, Texas became the first state in the nation to eliminate its reliance on the ABA for law school accreditation, with the Texas Supreme Court finalizing a rule to take over the approval process itself. Just nine days later, the Florida Supreme Court followed suit. By cutting ties with the organization, the Texas high court announced it would judge law schools on “simple, objective, and ideologically neutral criteria” rather than the ABA’s mandates deemed by many as politically-driven. Other states are now catching on to the rebellion against the ABA. The Ohio Supreme Court formally proposed amendments in May to establish a state-run accreditation process, while supreme courts in Tennessee, Alabama and Washington have all recently taken steps to bypass the organization’s monopoly. “The ABA’s cartel-like control over law school accreditation drives up costs, limits access, and pushes ridiculous ideological mandates over merit,” Trump’s DOJ said earlier this year. “Ending the Tennessee Supreme Court’s exclusive reliance will expand opportunity AND lower costs.” Rubinstein noted that transferring authority back to the states marks a long-overdue correction for legal education. “State supreme courts are ultimately responsible for certifying and disciplining attorneys—there is arguably no need for a middleman,” Rubinstein told Fox News Digital. “By returning actual authority over legal education directly to the courts themselves… the result should be a better-quality education for attorneys and more accountability and transparency for the public.”
AOC’s Ivy League warmup act leads democratic socialists in notorious anti-Israel chant
An event for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., saw her far-left hosts at Cornell University lead a packed crowd in singing the anti-Israel slogan “from the river to the sea” on Sunday. The Cornell University Young Democratic Socialists of America hosted the event for AOC, which her campaign labeled as a “Students vs. Billionaires” town hall. The group’s president, Mina Petrova, and co-Chair Zoe Reisman led the crowd of roughly 2,000 people in chanting “from the river to the sea,” after declaring, “long live the student intifada.” “Cornell is fundamentally a capitalist institution that prioritizes billionaires and profit over students and community and is controlled by CEO trustees that are profiting off of genocide and war,” Petrova told the crowd at one point, triggering applause. BACKLASH ERUPTS OVER HASAN PIKER’S UPCOMING SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT AT CORNELL “Here we stand as anti-imperialists and believe that nobody is disposable. We have a responsibility to stand in solidarity with oppressed peoples everywhere,” Reisman said. “Student activism is not dead. Long live student resistance, and long live the student intifada.” YDSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 30% OF COLLEGE STUDENTS SAY VIOLENCE ACCEPTABLE WAY TO STOP SPEAKERS ON CAMPUSES, SURVEY FINDS AOC made no apologies when she eventually took the stage, joining her young hosts in accusing Cornell of censorship. “Whether it’s the issue about Palestine or many others, whether it’s about people trying to fire those who are forming a union in their workplace, whether it’s people trying to speak up about a number of different issues, we have to respond to that first crackdown,” she said. AOC’S SOCIALIST CREDENTIALS FACE FRESH SCRUTINY AFTER GLARING 7-YEAR GAP SURFACES: ‘VERY CONVENIENT’ “When we come out in numbers, they cannot take us all,” she added. AOC’s campaign says it is aimed at boosting voter turnout in Democrat strongholds, but recent polling shows that most Americans dislike association with Democratic Socialists of America groups. HOUSE REPUBLICAN AIMS TO PUT DEMOCRATS ON THE RECORD OVER DSA WITH RESOLUTION CONDEMNING SOCIALISM According to a recent Fox News Poll, 55% of registered voters hold an unfavorable view of the DSA, while only three in 10 see the DSA in a positive light. The Fox News Poll is the latest national survey to show that while the DSA has gained traction among Democrats, the group and the broader socialist movement in America face significant national skepticism. The figures appear to reinforce a key element in the GOP midterm playbook, which aims to turn what’s normally a referendum on the party in power into a choice election. Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
Woke megachurch pastor, Dem nominee called on congregation to repent for driving, eating beef
FIRST ON FOX: In Kansas, cows are king, but a Democrat trying to seize power once told his congregation to repent for eating beef and raising cattle. Adam Hamilton, the Democratic nominee running to unseat Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., in the Sunflower State, for years led the largest United Methodist church in the nation. He would give sermons that Marshall charged were “woke,” and counter to Kansans’ values. One such sermon, reviewed by Fox News Digital, saw Hamilton call on his congregation to repent over their carbon footprints. GOP SENATOR ALLEGES SCHUMER BEHIND ‘HIT JOB’ REPORT ON FORMER PATIENTS “That’s what repentance means — I saw things differently, it changed my heart, and it changed my behavior,” Hamilton said during a January 2020 sermon called, “What would Jesus say about climate change?” “So what I’m calling you to today, and I’m calling myself to it, because I’ve been wasteful, I’ve done things that wasn’t, you know, I didn’t think about it, how it wasn’t really good stewardship of the earth around me,” he continued. “I’m calling us to repentance to say, ‘I realize that this has impact, even if it seems small, it has an impact on the world and future generations. And I feel badly about that, and I’m going to do something different from this time forward.’” Despite Kansas’ 94-year history of being a ruby-red bastion for the GOP in the Senate, the race between Hamilton and Marshall has unexpectedly tightened in recent months as Republicans across the country face a sobering political environment. BIG MONEY PROPELS DEM MEGACHURCH PASTOR TO VICTORY IN LONGSHOT KANSAS SENATE BID Kansas slipped from “Likely R” in Fox News’ Power Rankings to “Lean R,” and Cook Political Report echoed the same shift, too. “In a state with more cattle than people, Hamilton saying that Kansans need repent for eating too much beef and flip flopping on the Farm Bill proves he’d be just like every other liberal Democrat in the Senate,” Marshall told Fox News Digital in a statement. High fuel prices, particularly diesel in an agriculture-centric state like Kansas, spurred by President Donald Trump’s Iran war are giving voters anxiety, and expanding the map of battleground states that Republicans need to defend to maintain their majority in the Senate. Hamilton’s campaign countered to Fox News Digital that Marshall has “repeatedly introduced legislation to reduce emissions from cattle and claimed ‘everyone’s concerned about the methane production in the cattle industry.’” “Marshall even bragged how the decline of the herd ‘eliminated half of the methane gas produced from cattle already,’” Tyson Brody, a spokesperson for Hamilton, said. “As Adam said at the debate, Roger should repent for failing to stand up for Kansas cattle producers on tariffs, foreign imports, and skyrocketing diesel prices, and now he should repent for attacking Adam for something Roger Marshall said himself in the Senate. Kansas producers don’t need lectures from someone who voted to put warning labels on hot dogs and bacon.” Meanwhile, Hamilton’s sermon was part scripture, part PowerPoint presentation on how greenhouse gases occur and their impact on the environment. And during his 44-minute talk, Hamilton suggested that one of Kansas’ staple economic drivers, beef, was a major contributor to the problem. ‘WHY WOULD HE DO THIS TO US?’: ONE CRUCIAL TRUMP DECISION IS HURTING HIS BASE, REPUBLICANS WARN “Some of the things that we grow, because we like to eat them, like cattle, end up producing more carbon dioxide than other crops that we could grow, other forms of food that we could have,” Hamilton said. “And so, in all of these ways, we are creating or adding to the amount of greenhouse gases in our world.” Cattle is a major industry for Kansas, which is the nation’s third-largest producer of beef, according to the Kansas Livestock Association. There are more heads of cattle in the state, just over 5.8 million, than people, with the state’s population sitting at roughly 2.9 million. It provides a major cash influx for the state’s economy, too, with cattle farming and ranching producing tens of billions of dollars and employing over tens of thousands of Kansans. “It is disappointing that a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Kansas, one of the nation’s top beef-producing states, would make a statement like this to his parishioners about beef’s impact on the climate,” Kansas Livestock Association Chief Executive Officer Matt Teagarden told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Beef is an important, nutritious part of the American diet, and cattle play a significant role in maintaining grassland health and conservation, while accounting for only 2% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.” Still, six years ago, Hamilton was calling on his congregation to change their habits to reduce their carbon footprint. “Now, you got to do everything you can to reduce your own usage of fossil fuels, but maybe changing your diet so that the things that you eat are requiring less production that creates methane and carbon dioxide and everything else,” Hamilton said.
Sen Kennedy says no living politicians should have buildings named after them after Trump’s moves
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said on Sunday that living public officials should not have buildings named after them and proposed a rule to prohibit such renaming efforts. This comes as President Donald Trump continues to push to rename the Kennedy Center after himself. The president has also sought to rename other prominent federal buildings in Washington, D.C., after himself since returning to the White House last year. Kennedy said public officials, including Trump, should not “spend public money on private ads for themselves.” “The White House sees it differently, but … you can’t spend public money to … promote yourself,” Kennedy told host Margaret Brennan during an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” KENNEDY CENTER CEILING PARTIALLY COLLAPSES AS TRUMP-LED BOARD PUSHES FOR 2-YEAR CLOSURE Kennedy’s comments came as a new ad promoting Trump appeared on multiple networks that was funded by the federal government. The senator then suggested public officials should be barred from having a building named after them while they are still alive. “I may end up with a sombrero on my head, but I also think we ought to have a rule that no politician can have a building named after him when he’s alive,” he said, referring to Trump mocking Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., last year by sharing AI videos of the lawmakers wearing sombreros. FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP’S NAME REMOVED FROM KENNEDY CENTER, SAYS ONLY CONGRESS CAN RENAME IT Trump has attempted to rename multiple buildings after himself since returning to the Oval Office, including the Kennedy Center, although federal judges blocked multiple attempts by the center’s board — handpicked by Trump — to add the president’s name to the building. Trump’s name was briefly added to the building’s facade but was ordered removed after courts ruled that only Congress holds the authority to change the center’s name. The State Department also added Trump’s name last year to the U.S. Institute of Peace, but former institute officials removed by the Trump administration filed a court motion earlier this month to block construction crews from putting the president’s name onto the outside of the building. Trump also suggested he wanted New York’s Penn Station and the D.C.-area’s Dulles Airport named after him as a condition for a funding deal earlier this year. The president has additionally floated a project to construct a promenade connecting the back of the Lincoln Memorial to the Potomac River, saying that allies wanted to call it the “Trump Promenade.” “They want to call it the Trump Promenade, but I don’t know if I want to do that, but it’s going to be beautiful,” he said at the time.
Susie Wiles reveals brutal toll of fighting cancer while running Trump’s White House
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles is opening up about the grueling reality of fighting breast cancer while holding one of Washington’s most demanding jobs, revealing that some days simply getting out of bed and going to work took all the strength she had. In an op-ed published Sunday in USA Today, Wiles described what it was like to undergo chemotherapy while continuing to lead the White House staff for President Donald Trump. The disease occupied her thoughts from the moment she woke up and sometimes even while she slept, she wrote. “Fighting cancer is brutal and unrelenting,” Wiles wrote. Questions about treatment, test results and what might come next could overtake even a strong mind. At times, she acknowledged, they overtook hers. CANCER-RELATED BRAIN FOG MAY IMPROVE WITH 2 SIMPLE TREATMENTS, SCIENTISTS SAY Some days, Wiles said, she poured her strength into fighting the disease. On others, getting out of bed, getting dressed and going to work was its own test. “Most days, I carried the full weight of both,” she wrote. Work gave her a purpose beyond appointments, scans and side effects. “Cancer can make your world very small,” Wiles wrote. She said she pushed herself to stay focused on the people who depended on her, even as she knew others might question whether she could still lead effectively. KAI TRUMP REVEALS HOW FAMILY RALLIED AROUND MOM VANESSA AMID BREAST CANCER BATTLE: ‘IT’S A LONG JOURNEY’ The treatment did take a toll on her stamina, mobility and, at times, her focus. Wiles said she could not always be everywhere she wanted to be. Colleagues inside and outside the White House stepped in, while her two daughters, extended family, friends and medical team helped carry her through the illness. Wiles made clear that working through treatment would not be right or possible for everyone. For her, she wrote, the job helped her hold on to a sense of who she was beyond the disease. CANCER SURVIVORS MAY SEE SURPRISING BENEFITS FROM ONE SPECIFIC EXERCISE, STUDY SAYS After successful surgery, pathology showed no residual cancer, Wiles wrote. She said she now faces the work of rebuilding what treatment took from her. “Chemotherapy is, in a word, a b—-,” she wrote. DOLLY PARTON’S PRIVATE CANCER BATTLE HIGHLIGHTS WHY SOME PATIENTS DON’T SHARE THEIR DIAGNOSES In a post on X Sunday, Wiles said she rarely writes about herself but wanted to share what it was like to fight cancer while continuing to do a job she loves. “Cancer tried to make my world smaller. I was determined not to let it,” she wrote, adding that she hoped her account could offer strength to someone still fighting the disease. VANESSA TRUMP REVEALS BREAST CANCER DIAGNOSIS IN EMOTIONAL STATEMENT: ‘I AM STAYING FOCUSED AND HOPEFUL’ Wiles announced Sept. 16 that she was cancer free after receiving clear pathology results following an appointment at the Mayo Clinic. She had disclosed her early-stage breast cancer diagnosis in March. Trump praised Wiles during her treatment, saying in a prerecorded May tribute that she was winning her cancer battle. Wiles thanked him for his kindness and compassion, and credited her family, friends, colleagues and doctors with helping her through the ordeal. For others going through treatment, Wiles offered a message of hope. “Cancer does not have to take away who you are,” she wrote. She said that for her, life beyond the disease includes serving Trump and the country and being a mother, grandmother and friend. One of those daughters, Katie Wiles, responded to her mother’s account on X. “A strong woman isn’t loud in her strength; she’s steady and unshakable,” she wrote. “You are our champion. So incredibly proud of you, Mom.”