‘Severe’ Pentagon lockdown sparks emergency response as hazmat teams sweep area
Certain areas in the Pentagon went on lockdown Thursday morning due to an “air quality incident,” Fox News Digital has learned. An alert, shared with Fox News Digital, carrying a “severe” rating was sent to employees in multiple corridors of the building directing them to shelter in place. All other personnel were told to avoid the area. “The Pentagon has sophisticated systems to ensure the safety of the building and its occupants,” chief spokesperson Sean Parnell told Fox News Digital. “Those systems have detected an air quality issue necessitating precautionary measures until we determine its significance. The Department is executing standard protection protocols, including a shelter-in-place order for the affected area. Response teams are in place and ready to support building occupants.” A hazardous material team is scrubbing several locations in the Pentagon’s A ring, the center-most location in the building, according to a Pentagon official. Approximately 23,000 to 27,000 people work in the Pentagon on any given day. Secretary Pete Hegeth’s office and chairman of the joint chiefs Gen. Dan Caine’s office are not located in the corridors placed under lockdown. Systems detected a problem with the air quality in that part of the building and a device picked up a bio hazard scent, the Pentagon source told Fox News. Nothing has been found as of this writing. The Arlington, Virginia, fire department confirmed on X it sent its Hazardous Materials team to support the Pentagon Force Protection Agency’s Hazmat team with the incident. Fox News’ Liz Friden contributed to this report.
WATCH: Trump DHS escalates pressure over migrant child warnings it says Biden ignored: ‘Move heaven and hell’
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin accused the Biden administration of turning a “blind eye” to widespread reports of sexual abuse targeting migrants during a Thursday press conference. “We’re going to enforce our nation’s laws, and we’re going to right the wrongs that the Biden administration turned a blind eye to,” Mullin said. “It’s horrific to what’s happening right in our own country because of four years of a blind eye that allowed unvetted sponsors to come pick up 450,000 kids on our borders … their own reports [were] reporting that over a third of the females, regardless of age, was sexually assaulted before they made it to their border.” In May 2025, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, obtained Department of Health and Human Services data showing that 65,605 reports regarding migrant children were ignored or dismissed under President Joe Biden, including 7,346 reports of human trafficking. Within 100 days of assuming power, the Trump administration had opened dozens of legal investigations from the previously inactive reports. NOEM SAYS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS LOCATED 127K MISSING MIGRANT CHILDREN LOST UNDER BIDEN During the press conference, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that three individuals, all purportedly illegal immigrants from Guatemala, had been indicted in the Northern District of Ohio for allegedly conspiring to smuggle more than a dozen children into the United States by “exploiting the loopholes created by the last administration.” “This is one example, one indictment, but it is not unique. There are over 15,500 super-sponsor cases that we have identified, along with DHS. And again, these sponsor cases are when somebody sponsors more than three children, unrelated,” Blanche said. Mullin took an emotional tone later in the press conference. “What’s inhumane about taking care of our kids?” he asked. “As a father of six with three young girls, I’ll do whatever I have to do, I will. I will move heaven and hell to go find these kids.” “We’re going to bring you to justice. We’re going to charge you, and we’re going to work side by side with Todd Blanch and DOJ to make sure you pay for your crimes,” Mullin added. HUNDREDS OF JAILED ILLEGAL ALIENS RELEASED BACK ONTO BLUE-STATE STREETS DESPITE ICE DETAINERS, RECORDS SHOW A 2021 HHS Office of Inspector General report found that large numbers of child migrant sponsors were not properly vetted before minors were released to them, including 19% of sponsors who authorities never received FBI fingerprint or state child abuse and neglect registry checks. ICE SWEEPS UP CHILD PREDATORS, RAPISTS ACROSS US AS MULLIN TAKES HELM OF DHS While internal government probes uncovered problems in the Biden administration’s processing of migrant children, the administration did take some action in response to abuse concerns and sponsor-vetting failures. In July 2024, for instance, the Biden administration sued Southwest Key, a company that operated a processing facility for unaccompanied migrant children, alleging that employees sexually abused and harassed the minors in their care. The administration also accepted recommendations for reform following the 2021 HHS OIG report. The DOJ and Biden’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. DHS directed Fox News Digital to Mullin’s comments during the press conference when approached for additional comment. “We found 146,000 kids so far. Some of these kids claimed that they were raped over 600 times. I don’t care who you are. If you can’t stand for law enforcement to go find these kids, who are you?” Mullins said during the press conference.
SPLC’s tax exempt status under scrutiny as congressman accuses group of ‘act of fraud’
EXCLUSIVE — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is being asked to strip the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) of its tax-exempt status, after a Republican congressman alleged their funding of extremist groups is “an act of fraud.” The plea from Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., makes the case that while raking in millions under the guise of fighting hate, the SPLC showed a clear pattern of targeting conservatives on its infamous “Hate Map” while funding the activities of actual extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, as alleged in a Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment. “The SPLC has reached a point where it’s become extremely obvious that they are certainly not the organization anymore that they were maybe even founded to be, but they’ve become a strong left-wing political organization that is really just funding groups that most Americans are absolutely and would be absolutely appalled to know,” Harris told Fox News Digital in a Wednesday interview. The lawmaker’s letter to Bessent establishes that a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization “must be organized and operated primarily for charitable, educational, or similar purposes and cannot engage in political activity,” and explains why he thinks the SPLC is bucking that law. CHIEF OF INDICTED SPLCE FACES HOUSE GRILLING OVER ALLEGED SECRET PAYMENTS TO KKK MEMBERS “[T]he SPLC has consistently engaged in the partisan targeting of conservative groups by placing them on its so-called ‘hate map,’ alongside organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Brotherhood,” the letter notes. “Meanwhile, violent left-wing groups such as Antifa and Jane’s Revenge have been widely ignored by the self-described civil rights organization.” During a House Judiciary Committee hearing earlier this week, Harris, a pastor, referenced a major Biden-era scandal — the DOJ’s monitoring of what it called “radical traditionalist Catholics.” The Biden administration allegedly used the SPLC’s guidance to justify the monitoring. HAWLEY PRESSES FBI TO PROBE ALLEGED BIDEN-ERA TARGETING OF CHRISTIANS The Alabama-based nonprofit also lumped mainstream Christian groups, like the Family Research Council and Alliance Defending Freedom, into its “Hate Map.” And in 2012, crazed gunman Floyd Lee Corkins II attacked the Family Research Council office in Washington, D.C., and shot a security guard after he found out they were designation as an anti-LGBT organization on the SPLC’s website. “I mean, we could go on and on and list those groups, but they all have in common that they happen to be just conservative groups in this country that stand on conservative principles,” Harris told Fox News Digital. The North Carolina representative also tore into the SPLC over allegations the group funneled $4 million donor dollars into shell companies to fund the KKK and other extremist organizations, all while claiming to fight hate. Harris claimed in his letter to Bessent this was “an act of fraud” rather than charity, and needs to be addressed as such. NEO-NAZIS, ‘SADISTIC’ BIKERS AND CHARLOTTESVILLE ORGANIZER: 5 OF THE MOST SHOCKING SPLC INFORMANTS “Through what we’re learning in this indictment by the Department of Justice that even points out how this $4 million has been misused or used, that one example was that they actually funded a Ku Klux Klan rally and funded the cross burning and paid for the gas to burn the cross,” he said. He accused the SPLC of creating the racism it claimed to fight. Harris referenced claims from this week’s congressional hearing that the SPLC saw a spike in contributions after the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The group is accused of paying an informant to help plan the rally. “That’s the way these groups work because, again, it becomes a money-making machine,” said Harris. “If they can keep things stirred up, if they keep things with people fighting, if they could keep people divided … then they accomplish what they want to accomplish, which at the end of the day, is all about the almighty dollar.” DOJ SAYS SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER FUNNELED $3M+ TO WHITE SUPREMACIST AND EXTREMIST GROUPS Harris’ letter concluded: “The evidence is clear: the SPLC does not operate as a charitable organization and should therefore lose its tax-exempt status. I respectfully ask that you direct the IRS to examine the SPLC’s Section 501(c)(3) status and take appropriate action to revoke their tax-exempt status.” The SPLC has denied the DOJ’s allegations. The group did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Vice President JD Vance’s chief of staff set to depart White House role
Vice President JD Vance’s chief of staff is set to depart his role, Fox News Digital learned Thursday. Jacob Reses is set to formally leave his role by the end of summer. Reses worked with Vance for years and played a key role in Vance’s 2022 Senate campaign. “Jacob’s been by my side for my whole career in public life. I can’t imagine having been on this life-changing journey without him. From day one of my time as a Senator-elect, I could not have asked for a more loyal and discerning advisor and friend as my chief of staff,” Vance said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “I’ll miss him dearly, but he won’t be far, and I plan to keep his counsel close until our paths cross again,” he added. MINNESOTA FRAUD REPORT ACCUSES STATE AG OF ‘INCOMPETENCE, WILLFUL BLINDNESS OR WORSE’ Reses received praise from a litany of top White House officials upon news of his departure, including White House chief of staff Suzie Wiles, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney Gen. Todd Blanche, Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent and others. “Jacob has served the Vice President and the entire administration with distinction. He understands the moment we’re in and he spent every day fighting to deliver results for the President. His intellect, leadership, and humor will be missed,” Rubio said. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff called Reses “a killer.” News of the departure comes just days after Vance referred allegations involving Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to the Justice Department’s fraud division for a potential criminal investigation. Vance made the announcement during an appearance on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” when he was asked about a report released by the House Oversight Committee alleging that state officials, including Walz and Ellison, were warned of fraud in the state but did not take action to stop it in part because of litigation threats and concerns about being accused of discrimination. MINNESOTA TAXPAYER DOLLARS FUNNELED TO AL-SHABAAB TERROR GROUP, REPORT ALLEGES “We’re certainly going to investigate this, Jesse, and I guess now I can make a bit of breaking news because I left the White House to come here to do this interview with you. And before I did, we actually referred this particular case to the Department of Justice for a full criminal investigation. We are not going to do what the Biden administration did and make judgments of the law before all the facts are in,” Vance said. “But here’s what’s particularly troubling about this to me is, Jesse, you had people within Governor Walz’s office who were saying, you know what? This looks like fraud. It looks like these Somalian illegal immigrants are doing something that’s very shady, and then you had people who shut them down, who shut these whistleblowers down and said, you know, you’re a racist or you’re a xenophobe for asking questions about where taxpayer money is going,” he continued.
Spy program credited with stopping Taylor Swift terror plot barrels toward expiration
A key U.S. surveillance program is on the brink of expiring after House Democrats and a group of conservatives sank a temporary extension amid a standoff over President Donald Trump’s intelligence chief pick. Lawmakers voted 198-218 on Thursday to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for three weeks, falling well short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage. The measure, meant to give Congress more time to negotiate a long-term renewal, faced an uphill battle amid widespread Democratic opposition. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., warned he would withhold support for extending the program until Trump reversed his decision to name Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., put the bill on the floor via suspension of the rules, a fast-track procedure that requires a higher threshold to secure passage. WHY TRUMP PICKED BILL PULTE TO LEAD US INTELLIGENCE AS CRITICS QUESTION HIS QUALIFICATIONS He indicated he would not keep the House in session before the spy law was scheduled to lapse Saturday at 12:01 a.m. “I attempted to pass a short-term extension for three weeks. Clean extension, no changes to the law,” Johnson told reporters following the failed vote. And the Democrats … voted against it and applauded themselves as they left the building. What would be the point of me going through this exercise over and over?” Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., Don Davis, D-N.C., Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Susie Lee, D-N.V., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., were the 7 Democrats to cross party lines and support extending the program through July 2. Meanwhile, 19 Republicans, who were skeptical of a clean reauthorization of Section 702 without greater privacy guardrails, joined the majority of Democrats in voting down the measure. Thursday’s vote was a notable setback for Trump, who urged lawmakers to reauthorize the program ahead of the June 12 deadline with no modifications. Democrats and some Republicans have argued that Pulte, a Trump insider and senior housing official, is unqualified for the top intelligence post. Trump has largely defended and refused to bow to Democrats’ demands. His comments Wednesday that he is actively looking for a permanent replacement for Pulte, who is expected to begin the job June 19, were not enough to soften Democrats’ opposition. The standoff over the critical surveillance tool has led to tensions erupting in the lower chamber with little time to act before the law’s expiration. Jeffries called Pulte a “malignant clown” during a news conference earlier this week and pledged that House Democrats would probe his tenure at the Federal Housing Finance Agency if they retake power in November. As the agency’s director, Pulte launched investigations into several Trump foes over alleged mortgage fraud. Meanwhile, Republicans have warned that letting the spy law sunset would leave the United States uniquely vulnerable amid an influx of foreigners into the country with the World Cup underway and as the war with Iran drags on. They argue that Democrats are putting the country at a grave security risk by failing to extend the program into July. “45 countries descend upon the United States for World Cup games, which just so happens to be the week that Democrats have actively chosen to disallow this critical national security tool from being renewed to allow it to go dark,” House Intelligence Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Ark., said Wednesday. “This is unserious, very dangerous behavior on the part of congressional Democrats.” “You cannot play politics with the security of the American people,” Johnson told reporters. “I am praying that they come to their senses.” REPS ANDY HARRIS, KEITH SELF, SEN RICK SCOTT: FIX FISA. DON’T SPY ON US The Section 702 program allows the U.S. government to collect intelligence on foreigners abroad who are using U.S. communication systems. The spy law also allows the government to sweep up the messages of Americans when communicating with foreign suspects, provoking the ire of privacy hawks in both parties. The program is credited with thwarting a terrorist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Austria in 2024, as well as gathering intelligence used to identify and eliminate a prominent Mexican cartel leader and providing information used to intercept shipments of fentanyl precursors from China. Congress passed two consecutive short-term extensions of the law earlier this year, but has yet to strike a deal on a multi-year fix. Some Democrats have argued Republicans’ warnings are political theater and have pointed to an intelligence court ruling that recertified Section 702 through March 2027. “Existing law allows Section 702 collection to continue under an order from the FISA court for another year, even without congressional reauthorization,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Wednesday. “Congress can and must take the time to get this right.” But GOP lawmakers warned that allowing the government’s warrantless surveillance powers to sunset entails substantial risk, including potential legal challenges. “If this authority lapses starting on Saturday, we move into uncharted territory,” Crawford said Wednesday. “The implications get worse every single day.” “While the 702 database would remain available to search, the data in that database will become increasingly out of date, with the potential of provider noncompliance with orders, litigation by providers or outside groups, and even reticence by agency personnel to continue implementing an expired authority for fear of personal liability,” he added.
Senate map tightens as top forecaster moves 3 races toward Democrats
A leading nonpartisan political handicapper shifted three Senate races toward the Democrats on Thursday and predicted that with just under five months to go until the midterm elections, the Democrats have a “clearer path to winning the Senate majority.” But Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia adds that despite the shifts, “we still favor Republicans in the overall race for the Senate.” Republicans currently control the Senate 53-47 but are battling stiff political headwinds, as the party in power in the nation’s capital traditionally loses seats in the midterms. The GOP also faces a rough political climate fueled by economic concerns amid persistent inflation, as well as rising gas prices tied to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran and President Donald Trump’s underwater approval ratings. THESE MIDTERM RACES WILL DETERMINE WHETHER REPUBLICANS HOLD THEIR SENATE MAJORITY Sabato’s Crystal Ball shifted the race in battleground North Carolina from toss-up to lean Democrat. Former two-term Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is facing off against former Republican National Committee Chair Mike Whatley in the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis. It moved the Senate showdown in Alaska, where GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan is expected to face off against former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, from lean Republican to toss-up. And in Ohio, where appointed GOP Sen. Jon Husted is being challenged by former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, it shifted the rating from lean Republican to toss up. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB The movement toward the Democrats in the Ohio race comes a week after a Fox News poll indicated Brown currently up by eight points, 53%-45%, over Husted. Democrats need a net gain pickup of four seats in the midterms to win back control of the Senate they lost in the 2024 elections. Pointing to the four races it now considers toss-ups, Sabato’s Crystal Ball said “there are now enough Toss-up races to give Democrats a clearer path to winning the Senate majority… But Republicans can block Democrats by winning just one of the Toss-ups, meaning that they’re still better-positioned to hold the majority.” The ratings shift by Sabato’s Crystal Ball comes a month after another top nonpartisan political handicapper, the Cook Report, moved its rankings of four key Senate races in favor of the Democrats. DEMOCRATS EYE NARROW PATH TO CAPTURE SENATE MAJORITY, BUT ONE WRONG MOVE COULD SINK THEM Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, is optimistic that Democrats can flip the chamber. Gillibrand told Fox News Digital earlier this year she sees “all the makings of a blue wave.” Gillibrand’s rival, National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chair Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, acknowledged in a Fox News Digital interview earlier this year that “there’s no doubt the climate has gotten more and more difficult.” But Scott emphasized he remains “incredibly optimistic, not only about holding the majority, but still expanding the majority.” And NRSC National Press Secretary Bernadette Breslin told Fox News Digital on Thursday that “no battleground races can be taken for granted. While Democrat candidates lurch further left to appease their radical base, Republicans are staying focused on lowering costs, investing in American workers, and doing the work required to defend the majority.”
Trump admin yanks funding from LA homeless agency amid explosive fraud probe: ‘Necessary step’
EXCLUSIVE: A top Trump agency is cutting off funding to the Los Angeles agency responsible for coordinating billions in homelessness spending after accusing it of “obvious fraud,” “wanton mismanagement” and repeated failures to safeguard taxpayer dollars, Fox News Digital has learned. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which is a member of the White House fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance, is immediately suspending the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s (LAHSA) federal funding while HUD’s inspector general investigates potential offenses by the agency and its leadership, according to a letter sent to LAHSA’s board chair Wendy Greuel and its CEO Gita O’Neill, which was obtained and reviewed by Fox News Digital. The letter detailed conflicts of interest, financial mismanagement, fraud, lack of oversight, and more from the homelessness agency, which has faced efforts by the city and county to take it over. The move puts one of the country’s biggest homelessness bureaucracies under direct federal scrutiny after years of criticism that billions have gone into homelessness programs in Los Angeles while the crisis remains entrenched on the streets. LAHSA receives funding at the city, county, state and federal level, with the group getting nearly $1 billion from just the federal government since 2021, according to HUD. CALIFORNIA MAN ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY STEALING MILLIONS IN HOMELESS FUNDS “Suspending LAHSA’s participation in federal government programs is a necessary step in accomplishing that critical mission in Los Angeles,” HUD wrote in the letter. “LAHSA’s failures have been so severe and pervasive that Los Angeles County has withdrawn its funding for the agency, and the City of Los Angeles is considering doing so as well.” LAHSA’s former top executive, Va Lecia Adams Kellum, resigned last year after she was found to have been a party to directing $2.1 million in federal funds under LAHSA’s control to her husband’s Santa Monica-based nonprofit employer. HUD says a federal judge last year also concluded that LAHSA had committed “obvious fraud” after it allegedly kept requesting funding for an 88-bed shelter even though it knew the shelter was operating at roughly half-capacity. EX-NONPROFIT BOSS ALLEGEDLY SWIPED $1.2M MEANT FOR HOMELESS PROGRAMS TO FUND LAVISH LIFESTYLE, DA SAYS HUD noted in its letter that the judge considered placing LAHSA into receivership as well. LAHSA’s inability to verify the existence of nearly 2,300 housing sites for which it was responsible is another recent issue that has plagued the homelessness provider, according to HUD, which said 70% of the contracts for those sites did not disclose any expenses over the prior year. Public audits of LAHSA, meanwhile, found a pattern of routinely paying service providers late and poor record keeping preventing it from monitoring contracts, including $5 million in cash advances sent to five different service providers, according to the Associated Press. In November 2024, the City Controller’s Office found that LAHSA failed to spend $513 million in public funds budgeted in fiscal year 2024, blaming a lack of staff and old technology, according to HUD. “Under President Trump’s leadership, HUD will fund results, not corrupt failure or the homeless industrial complex,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Year after year, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars were funneled to LAHSA with little accountability. Meanwhile, homelessness skyrocketed. Taxpayers will no longer bankroll an organization that puts its own self-interests ahead of the Americans it was created to serve.” Other audits concluded that LAHSA’s poor record keeping made it unable to accurately identify or calculate how well its spending has been benefiting the homeless population in Los Angeles. KAREN BASS GRILLED OVER BROKEN HOMELESSNESS PROMISE, BLAMES BUREAUCRACY FOR SLOWED PROGRESS Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, who is the vice chair of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, praised the leadership on this issue from HUD Secretary Scott Turner, President Donald Trump and Vance, who serves as the chairman of the fraud task force that was established earlier this year. “Los Angeles didn’t care about helping the homeless, but the Trump Administration does,” Ferguson told Fox News Digital. “It is unconscionable that Los Angeles has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars that was supposed to be used on housing our nation’s most vulnerable. Instead of providing a roof and care for the homeless, Los Angeles has used these funds to line the pockets of left-wing NGOs. Such a disgrace ends today.” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles officials have pointed to recent homeless-count data as evidence that the crisis has begun to improve, with LAHSA reporting that countywide homelessness fell for a second straight year in 2025 and Bass saying it marked the first time in the city’s recent history that homelessness had declined two years in a row. But the numbers still showed more than 72,000 people experiencing homelessness across Los Angeles County, and critics have continued to argue that modest declines do not erase years of runaway spending, encampments and repeated audit findings that the region’s homelessness system has failed to adequately track whether taxpayer dollars are producing results. The federal action from HUD comes after Los Angeles city and county officials had already begun backing away from LAHSA, the Associated Press reported last year. The city council moved to explore bypassing the agency and contracting directly with providers, while the county moved to redirect hundreds of millions of dollars in annual homelessness funding away from LAHSA and into a new county department, citing the need for stronger accountability after a series of audits. “HUD cannot ignore LAHSA’s wanton mismanagement of public funds. HUD’s mission is to reduce the plague of homelessness in America,” the agency’s letter to LAHSA leadership on Thursday stated. “Turning over billions of dollars from American taxpayers to an organization under investigation and suspected of gross misuse of federal funding and “obvious fraud” does nothing to reduce homelessness. Indeed, diverting dollars from worthy programs to LAHSA merely makes the homeless crisis worse.” Fox News Digital reached out to LAHSA for comment.
Chip Roy fields proposal to block pay and power for longtime lawmakers
Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas has fielded a proposal to cut off pay and power from House and Senate lawmakers once they’ve served 12 years in their respective legislative chamber. “A Member of Congress (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress) who has served 12 or more cumulative years in the House of Representatives or in the Senate, as the case may be, may not, on and after the date that the Member reaches 12 years of service in the Member’s respective House of Congress, be eligible for any covered benefit described in subsection (b),” the text states. Under the proposal, such long-serving lawmakers would no longer be eligible for pay and would no longer be eligible to serve in House and Senate leadership posts or as the chair or ranking member of standing or select committees. FIRST ON FOX: SPLC’S TAX-EXEMPT STATUS UNDER THREAT AFTER FIERY CAPITOL HILL HEARING “For too long, Washington has rewarded longevity with greater power, higher pay, and deeper entrenchment. If members of Congress want to serve beyond 12 years absent a constitutional amendment limiting them, they should do so without taxpayer-funded salaries and without monopolizing committee chairs and leadership positions,” Roy said, according to a press release. “This bill helps ensure that public service remains exactly that: service to the people, not a lifelong career in politics,” he said, according to the release. Roy, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2019, lost the Texas attorney general Republican primary runoff contest last month to Lone Star State Sen. Mayes Middleton. SENATORS AGREE TO FORGO SHUTDOWN PAYCHECKS — BUT MANY WON’T FEEL THE PAIN The text of Roy’s proposal indicates that the restrictions would be enacted by the legislature “as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively, and as such are deemed a part of the rules of each House, respectively … ” and that the restrictions would be enacted “with full recognition of the constitutional right of either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of that House.” “The prohibition under this section shall apply with respect to the One Hundred Twenty-First Congress and each succeeding Congress,” the measure states. The 121st Congress will start in early 2029. TEXAS MAGA BATTLE ENDS WITH MIDDLETON VICTORY AS CHIP ROY FALLS SHORT IN AG RACE The U.S. Constitution stipulates that “Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings,” but also states that “The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.”
Second Amendment fights grow across several states over 3D-printed gun laws
Lawmakers in an increasing number of states are attempting to impose restrictions on 3D-printed firearms amid a Second Amendment fight over ghost guns. As a bipartisan slate of states attempt to restrict the possession and manufacturing of ghost guns — firearms without serial numbers often made or modified with the use of 3D printers — Second Amendment activists and gun rights advocates argue the restrictions impinge on their constitutional right to bear arms. At least 16 states have now put 3D gun laws on the books, with seven states adding major legislation this year. Lawmakers in Colorado, New Jersey, Maine, New York, Virginia, and Washington have all imposed various restrictions on weapons manufactured without serial numbers in 2026 while California’s legislators added to the states already robust anti-3D manufactured firearm laws by advancing a bill that would require 3D printer manufacturers to equip their devices with technology that would block the printing of firearms. MARYLAND MAN ON THE RUN AFTER POLICE ALLEGEDLY FIND MASSIVE STASH OF ILLEGAL GHOST GUNS IN HOME New York lawmakers added a similar law to the state’s budget this year that will go into effect by mid-June. Manhattan’s Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg compared the law to statutes preventing commercial and consumer printers from producing U.S. dollars. “We’re going to put technology into our machines such that they will not be a 3D gun. Much like, you know, we don’t have, you know, commercial printers that print US currency,” Bragg told ABC 7 Eyewitness News. In January, Maine’s legislature passed a bill requiring serial numbers on all firearms, included 3D-manufactured guns. The same month, former New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed Bill A4975, which requires state residents to own a firearms license to even possess instructions or blueprints to print a 3D firearm. COLORADO POISED TO BAN SALE OF AR-15S, OTHER RIFLES AND SHOTGUNS WITH EXTENDED MAGS Colorado and Virginia also passed similar laws against weapons without serial numbers while a Washington state law that Gov. Bob Ferguson signed in March restricted the ability for residents to possess the serial-free weapons while also imposing constraints on the digital blueprints and devices that would manufacture the 3D guns. A Minnesota legislative package considering a wide slate of restrictions failed to pass the statehouse in March. The impetus to restrict the DIY ordinance coincides with a sharp rise in 3D-printed guns recovered at crime scenes. Data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) shows the bureau recovered over 27,000 3D-printed ghost guns from crime scenes in January 2023 compared to just over 1,600 recovered in January 2017. ONLINE ‘GORE’ FORUMS ARE ‘GATEWAY TO EXTREMISM’ IN MASS SHOOTINGS, NORMALIZING HORROR FOR KIDS: EXPERTS Proponents for stricter gun laws argue that the rise of 3D-printed weapons increases the likelihood of adverse shootings in American communities. “As 3D-printing technology becomes more affordable and accessible, young people are increasingly able to manufacture their own firearms—often without the knowledge of the adults in their lives. As schools purchase 3D printers and train students how to use them, the problem of 3D guns is now entering the classroom as well,” reads a statement on the Everytown For Gun Safety website. Others, however, argue that placing restrictions on the weapons violated Second Amendment rights and that bans don’t fundamentally impact public safety. “The gun is not the problem. The individual committing the crime is the problem,” William Sack, the senior director of legal operations at the Second Amendment Foundation, told Michigan Advance. Several states with restrictions are facing constitutional lawsuits. In February, a three-judge panel on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit dealt a blow to the constitutional argument, siding with the state of New Jersey in a case against Texas-based 3D-gun blueprint designed Defense Distributed. The Third Circuit upheld a lower court ruling that affirmed a cease and desist that New Jersey’s Attorney General delivered to Defense Distributed ordering the company to stop distributing gun-printing blueprints to unlicensed individuals. Defense Distributed’s legal team is requesting the court to take up the case again and will petition the Supreme Court if unsuccessful, according to the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs.
Missouri senator warns Dem immigration policies threaten Western civilization after scoring ICE funding win
Democrats’ “suicidal empathy” on immigration will “destroy our country,” a Republican senator warned after his proposal targeting sanctuary city policies was included in the reconciliation package funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). In a Tuesday interview with Fox News Digital, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., argued that Democrats’ approach to immigration is also driven by political self-interest and not entirely by the desire for moral high-ground. “There’s an electoral play here. It’s about raw power,” he said. Schmitt’s provision, which was included in the House-passed funding package Tuesday, would provide $350 million for ICE agents to arrest criminal illegal immigrants after their release from state or local custody. It comes as law enforcement in sanctuary states and cities continue to refuse to cooperate with federal officials. Schmitt also warned that failing to deport illegal aliens is a threat to the West itself. NEW DEM PROPOSAL WOULD RESTRICT ICE’S KEY TOOL TO DETAIN CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS “I think it’s a very important time for Western civilization, honestly, to stand up and say, ‘no, we actually believe in sovereignty. We believe that a country can decide who can come and who has to go,’ and that this is our moment,” he said. “And the easiest of low-hanging fruit is to say that when you’re here illegally and you’ve committed a violent act, when you’re released from prison, we’re actually going to send you back home, and that’s what this legislation does.” In sanctuary cities and states, officials often flout federal immigration law and refuse to coordinate with ICE to ensure criminal illegal aliens are deported after they’re freed, Schmitt explained. “And I know that sounds crazy, but that’s the practical implication,” said Schmitt, adding that there were 18,000 such cases in 2025 alone. ICE WARNS ILLINOIS IS RELEASING VIOLENT CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS DESPITE DETAINERS, RISKING PUBLIC SAFETY “These violent rapists or other violent criminals are just being let loose into the community,” said Schmitt, who argued that being in the country illegally — even without committing a violent crime — is justification enough for deportation. “But these sanctuary jurisdictions have decided that they would rather let these criminal illegal aliens back in the community than have them deported. That’s how inverted the morality is on all this,” he continued. “And so this sets to right that wrong. It says that these sanctuary jurisdictions… you don’t want to cooperate? Okay, well we’re going to have the resources to go do it on our own with ICE.” Schmitt’s successful provision and the larger debate on the funding bill comes as criminal illegal aliens continue to make headlines. Just last week, four members of the barbaric Venezuelan Tren de Aragua street gang pleaded guilty to murdering two Americans by gunning them down in cold blood. WAVE OF ALLEGED MIGRANT MURDERS IGNITES FURY ACROSS US AS OFFICIALS WARN OF MORE CARNAGE, CRACKDOWN NEEDED Another illegal alien in California, accused of killing a two-month-old baby, grinned in court during a pretrial hearing on June 2. Yet another illegal alien was sentenced at the end of May to 25 years in prison after raping and impregnating a 12-year-old girl in Missouri. “I can’t explain why they wanted an open border,” Schmitt said of the opposition party. “I can’t explain why they don’t want criminals deported from this country. I can’t explain why they don’t want people denaturalized who have, you know, committed terrorist acts in this country.” “That’s on them, but we’ve got a job to do, which is to make the American people more safe.” Schmitt noted that arresting criminal illegal aliens when they’re released from jail is also much safer than arresting them in immigration raids and operations, and expressed disbelief that such a policy has not yet been implemented. “I can’t believe it hadn’t happened before, but I also don’t know that we’ve really been confronted with political leaders on the other side here who just don’t believe in the sovereignty of our country, and that’s kind of where we’re at. I mean, they wanted to defund ICE,” he told Fox News Digital. “They don’t really want enforcement of our federal immigration laws, and I think the American people do.”