Trump could face impeachment if Democrats seize House majority, GOP leader warns
A top House Republican is arguing that Democrats would upend work in Washington by impeaching President Donald Trump immediately if they win the majority in November. “Democrats aren’t even being shy about it. They’re telling you what they would do. I mean, they’ll impeach the president day one,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital. House Democrats successfully impeached Trump twice the last time they held the House majority, though both efforts failed to get him convicted by the Senate. PUSH TO OUST TRUMP EXPOSES CRACKS AMONG DEMOCRATS ON STRATEGY, TIMING Their party leaders have not openly called for impeaching Trump again if they win in November, but progressive lawmakers have already introduced a flurry of impeachment resolutions targeting both the president and his Cabinet. And while the Democratic establishment has not endorsed any impeachment efforts — and even went so far as to join Republicans in killing one on the House floor in June 2025 — Scalise and other Republicans are warning that it’s the far left that will soon have the reins of the party. GOP LAWMAKER UNVEILS HISTORIC MOVE TO ‘EXPUNGE’ BOTH ‘MALICIOUSLY FALSE’ IMPEACHMENTS AGAINST TRUMP It comes after a wave of socialist insurgents toppled Democratic incumbents and establishment-backed candidates in primaries across the country. Republicans have seized on the turmoil, arguing their candidates and vulnerable incumbents are much closer to where Americans currently are than those leading the leftward shift on the other side. “These are tough members. And these are members who have been working with President Trump to make life more affordable for families all across America, running against socialists,” Scalise said. “Socialists who wanna raise taxes, open the border back up again, bring criminals back in.” SCALISE WARNS ‘BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION’ TAKING OVER DEM PARTY AFTER SOCIALIST PRIMARY WINS Citing part of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) policy platform, he said, “Defunding prisons? Where are those prisoners gonna go? You know, are they going to take them in their house? This is insane.” “And we’ve got seats, by the way, we have a real chance to flip. You know, go look at [Gov. Paul] LePage in Maine, poised to flip a Democrat seat over to Republican,” Scalise said. “We’ve got seats in Texas and Ohio and Florida — so many other places where we have an opportunity to flip seats from Democrat to Republican because people are rejecting this crazy extreme socialism on the left.” Fox News Digital reached out to House Democrats’ campaign arm for a response to Scalise’s impeachment comments.
FBI seizes Swalwell’s devices at airport as sexual misconduct investigation escalates: sources
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized disgraced congressman and former California gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell’s electronic devices at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday night, two sources familiar with the incident confirmed to Fox News Digital. Swalwell’s home in Washington, D.C., was subsequently searched on Sunday, a source said. DOJ OPENS INVESTIGATION INTO ERIC SWALWELL OVER SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS The devices seized included at least one cell phone. The devices were taken from the ex-lawmaker related to a probe into sexual misconduct, according to the sources. He was not arrested or detained. Fox News Digital reached out to Swalwell’s attorney. The Democratic former congressman and left-wing television news darling resigned from his seat in Congress in April. At the same time, he dropped his bid to become California’s next governor. This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Blue-city drug gear exposes hypocrisy as cleanup group faces probe, leader cries foul
The founder of a Seattle nonprofit that cleans up discarded drug paraphernalia distributed through city and county harm reduction programs says she was stunned to learn her organization is now under state investigation over how it handles those same supplies. Andrea Suarez is the founder of We Heart Seattle. She rallies volunteers to pick up and dispose of needles, smoking supplies such as pipes and foil, and other drug-use items distributed through King County “harm reduction” programs. Critics argue the policies can enable continued drug use rather than moving people toward treatment and recovery. “One of the biggest advocacy work I have done is that I go to the needle exchange and I get what they call the ‘party kit,’ and I demonstrated that our King County ‘Health’ Department is handing out cookers and tourniquets and glass pipes and paraphernalia to do drugs,” Suarez told Fox News Digital. “I was referring to this ‘party kit’ as a ‘suicide kit’ with very little, if no information on where to get medical detox.” SEATTLE CLEANED UP FOR THE WORLD CUP BUT ONLY WHILE THE WORLD WAS WATCHING, COMMENTATOR SAYS Suarez has been working on her mission of cleaner streets, parks and playgrounds for seven years, and We Heart Seattle has logged more than 50,000 hours of volunteer service. Founded in 2020 as a solo operation, Suarez has built an army of hundreds of volunteers over the past six-and-a-half years. The group is now facing a state workplace-safety investigation, which Suarez says is its first government probe. We Heart Seattle is under investigation by the Washington Department of Labor & Industries following a complaint alleging “improper handling and collection of hypodermic needles and fentanyl paraphernalia,” according to documents sent to Suarez from the Washington Department of Labor & Industries and viewed by Fox News Digital. SEATTLE MAYOR GRILLED ON PUBLIC SAFETY CRISIS AS RESIDENTS DEMAND ANSWERS Suarez denied wrongdoing and said the group uses gloves, grabbers and sharps-disposal procedures, while pointing to safety guidance posted on We Heart Seattle’s website. That plan includes guiding supporters on what to wear to protect themselves from potential hazards, including wearing long pants and sleeves and closed-toed boots. The website also provides guidance for volunteers to stay safe while picking up debris. Suarez argued there is a double standard in the state scrutinizing how her group handles discarded drug-use supplies while local harm reduction programs distribute some of the same types of materials. SEATTLE MAYOR SAYS SOBRIETY WON’T BE REQUIRED AT NEW HOMELESS SHELTER “We have been out here for… going on seven years every day, every weekend we’re out there picking up needles and trash. And for my ‘thank you’ letter from the government, it was this letter saying, ‘You’re under investigation for allegedly improperly handling this very equipment that they hand out with no instructions.’” Suarez said that after learning of the investigation, she visited a harm reduction site and asked for specific guidance on handling “fentanyl foil” and other dangerous drug supplies, but said staff did not provide her with such instructions. The Washington Department of Labor & Industries told Fox News Digital that the investigation stems from a complaint made by someone outside of the organization. TAXPAYER-FUNDED ‘METH MANSION’ UNDER FIRE AS CRIME CONCERNS MOUNT AROUND HOMELESS CAMPUS Spokesman Matt Ross said inspections can take up to six months, and that once complete, the results are made available to the public. He said there’s a related probe into a temporary staffing agency, but declined to provide specifics. “Inspectors may issue violations if an organization isn’t meeting those requirements, and may also issue violations for other safety hazards they observe in the course of an inspection,” he said. “The inspectors also work with the organizations on the best way to address the hazards they find. Potential penalties will depend on the specifics of the violations.” Suarez criticized state and local harm reduction policies, arguing they contribute to the conditions her volunteers are cleaning up. SOCIALIST MAYOR KATIE WILSON SILENT AMID PROTESTS OVER ‘HUMAN DUMPING GROUND’ AHEAD OF US WORLD CUP MATCH “You have to look at the optics of a state, a county, a city level that allows people to openly use lethal and illegal narcotics like methamphetamines and fentanyl, and they give you the paraphernalia to use those drugs on our taxpayer dime, to use in public spaces with no consequences… and then I’m over hear trying to manage the problem, clean up our dog parks, clean up our children’s merry-go-rounds, ensuring our playgrounds don’t have needles and foil sticking up through the grass, and I’m the one under investigation,” said Suarez. “The optics are egregious,” she said. She also painted a gruesome picture of life in Seattle’s public spaces. SEATTLE SENIORS BEG CITY FOR HELP AS ‘ABSOLUTE ANARCHY’ ERUPTS OUTSIDE LGBTQ HOUSING COMPLEX “I think I’m going to go after the state to say, ‘Why aren’t you training me before I go into our city library when there’s drug addicts slumped over in all of the computer chairs, using our bathrooms, shooting drugs and leaving their paraphernalia all around the perimeter, putting me or my child or dog at risk of picking something up and getting a blood-borne pathogen infection of sorts,’ right?” she said. “So this whole city is a blood-borne pathogen risk for everybody. I think that’s why people don’t go to these public places anymore, and they really frankly have been overtaken by drug users.” Suarez said she plans to look into whether her group was unfairly targeted. She described herself as relatively apolitical before starting the nonprofit, but said its cleanup work has increasingly drawn the organization into political disputes over Seattle’s drug and homelessness policies. King County defended its harm reduction approach, saying it is intended to reduce overdoses while connecting people with treatment and other services. “The influx of fentanyl led to a sharp rise in fatal overdoses across the U.S. and in King County. Our comprehensive approach to overdose response and recovery focuses on
Dem’s ‘sexist’ remark against cancer survivor provokes Republican to go scorched earth: ‘Guy’s got a problem’
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Mike Collins is going scorched earth, accusing his Democratic opponent Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., of making a “sexist” and “misogynist” viral remark involving a female cancer survivor working in the Trump White House. Ossoff, a 39-year-old freshman senator running for re-election in Georgia, drew criticism after making a remark about White House aide Natalie Harp during an Atlanta campaign rally Sunday. Ossoff suggested that President Donald Trump has been neglecting his duties, saying, “He doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar.” Though the comment earned immediate cheers from the crowd, conservatives criticized it as sexist and defended the 35-year-old aide as simply doing her job. Ossoff sought to clarify his remarks Monday, saying, “I’ve heard this particular aide referred to as his security blanket. And I think we could say that about any number of the senior aides in the White House. They’re not telling him what he needs to hear. They’re telling him what he wants to hear.” In an interview with Fox News Digital, Collins criticized Ossoff’s remarks. “It’s sexist, misogynist. This guy has a problem, the way he has treated women, and it’s all coming out in the open now.” JON OSSOFF DODGES ON WHY HE INVOKED TRUMP AIDE’S NAME DURING GEORGIA CAMPAIGN RALLY Collins said Ossoff’s remarks about Harp reinforced his concerns about how the senator views women. “with what he said about Natalie is just one more nail in the coffin on how this guy actually feels about women,” said Collins. “When he will say that about someone who is out there doing a fantastic job and to suggest those types of things. Yeah, he owes not only her an apology, but the American people an apology.” Ossoff led the race in a July AARP poll, which showed him ahead by nine percentage points. Speaking with Fox News Digital, however, Collins emphasized that the polls “have been tightening” as remarks such as this have shown his “true colors.” “There is a clear problem with him and females, and he needs to explain that. He needs to tell us why he is attacking a young lady like Natalie Harp personally like that,” he said. “I mean, what he is a trust-fund kid who’s never had a job, who’s out there denigrating women, and the vulgarity that he is insinuating and talking about this young lady, Natalie Harp, who has overcome so many odds. It’s just unbecoming.” Harp rose to prominence in 2019 after crediting Trump’s Right to Try Act with helping her access experimental treatment for a rare bone cancer. She later joined Trump’s 2020 campaign and became a special assistant to the president. WHITE HOUSE TEARS INTO OSSOFF WITH BRUTAL TAKEDOWN AFTER JAB AT KEY TRUMP AIDE: ‘LIGHTWEIGHT LOSER’ She has earned the nickname the “human printer” in Trump’s orbit, providing the president with printouts of news articles, emails, social media posts and other material. Collins defended Harp as someone who overcame the odds and “does a great job,” adding that “there’s a pattern here with this guy and it’s out of control.” “You can take that further. The fact that he wants to allow men to participate in girls’ sports, the fact that he doesn’t mind if they use women’s restrooms, this guy’s got a problem,” he said, adding, “He can’t even define a woman.” Collins also said Democrats “are nothing but hypocrites when it comes to these types of issues.” DSA’S GROWING GRIP ON DEM PARTY HITS NEW TERRITORY AS ESTABLISHMENT FALLS IN LINE SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER “For him to stand up there and denigrate her and to talk about her, this is nothing but him trying to make sure that he gets his social media-based platform raised and make sure he kind of tries to gin up the public out there.” Fox News Digital reached out to Ossoff’s campaign for comment.
Battle over federal courthouses erupts as GSA warns against giving judiciary more control
EXCLUSIVE: The agency overseeing U.S. courthouses is pushing back against a new bill that would give the judicial branch more property control, arguing that the judiciary has a history of mismanaging its buildings. The General Services Administration (GSA), which serves as landlord for most federal courthouse space, said the bill would allow the judiciary to assume real property authority over facilities in up to 10 federal judicial districts from the GSA, including responsibility for repairing and maintaining facilities. The bill, the Judicial Space and Facilities Management Effectiveness Act, was introduced July 30 by U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and John Boozman, R-Ark. Proponents of the bill argue that it is necessary because the GSA itself has poorly maintained judicial facilities. Pointing to a building-management delegation program approved as a pilot in 1988, the GSA said participating courts encountered significant repair costs after assuming greater facilities responsibilities. Judiciary records say GSA changed the program in 2004 to make participating agencies responsible for additional repair costs, including major and unforeseen repairs, and that the Judicial Conference voted in 2005 to withdraw from the program as a cost-saving measure. VIDEO EXPOSES DISREPAIR LURKING BENEATH TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER AS $257M RENOVATION LOOMS Only one courthouse, the Hugo Black Federal Courthouse in Birmingham, Alabama, remained under the judiciary, the agency said. The Judicial Conference later approved continued delegated management authority for the Birmingham courthouse under specified cost limits and provisions for catastrophic repairs. The building reportedly deteriorated significantly and accumulated $57.7 million in delinquent maintenance costs. An analysis revealed extensive safety hazards, including improper chemical storage, inoperable elevator emergency phones and poorly maintained fire protection systems, among other issues, according to the GSA. “The facility’s unique repair needs reflect poor maintenance practices that have shortened the useful life of expensive, critical systems, including elevators, chiller plants, and boilers,” the agency said. Despite holding autonomy over the courthouse, the judiciary repeatedly turned to the GSA for technical assistance with complex repairs, the agency said. The judiciary also relied on GSA service contract templates to assist with its own contracting needs, according to the agency. After GSA shifted additional maintenance responsibilities to participating courts, the Judicial Conference endorsed ending the judiciary’s participation in September 2005 “as a cost-savings measure,” according to Judiciary records. KENNEDY CENTER DISPUTES ALLEGATIONS ON CONTRACTOR BIDS DESPITE DEMOCRAT SENATOR’S CLAIMS The judiciary strongly disputed those claims in a statement to Fox News Digital. During a Senate hearing, Judge Julia S. Gibbons and then-Sen. Jeff Sessions both “enthusiastically praised” the property management results at the Birmingham courthouse, the judiciary said. “There simply was no suggestion of failure at that hearing, and in fact the Judiciary manages repairs in the Birmingham courthouse, with no GSA involvement, to this day,” an Administrative Office spokesman said. “The courts have a long history of managing complex business operations, such as budgets, finances, and information technology.” The judiciary also pointed to the current GSA-managed maintenance backlog, which it said has ballooned to more than $8.3 billion, leaving federal courthouses to cope with broken elevators, severe storm damage and undrinkable water. GSA has also acknowledged having courthouse repair and alteration liabilities. “The Judiciary has endured 15 years of sustained failure to maintain our nation’s courthouses. We are seeking Real Property Authority for one reason—we have no choice,” the Administrative Office spokesman said. WHITE HOUSE SEIZES ON DELAYED OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER OPENING TO CROWN TRUMP ‘BUILDER-IN-CHIEF’ The GSA attributed the maintenance backlog to a “broken Congressional authorization and appropriations process,” pointing to delays and funding shortfalls. The agency said GSA Administrator Edward Forst has already made unprecedented efforts to address the backlog. “The fundamental issue at hand is outdated Congressional funding and approval rules,” Forst said. “I’m leading an unprecedented effort to reimagine federal building management by raising the prospectus threshold and expanding access to the Federal Buildings Fund with support from 22 cabinet members and agency heads. Those changes — not Judiciary management — are what’s necessary to remediate and renew America’s federal facilities and courthouses.” Separately, the GSA said it successfully completed construction on the new U.S. Courthouse in Huntsville, Alabama, in 2024. The project was completed $7 million under budget and features state-of-the-art security, energy efficiency and operations technology. Forst claimed that the agency is “the most experienced and efficient building manager in the federal government.” “Multiple Government Accountability Office (GAO) studies show that breaking our model apart would not make courthouse projects faster, cheaper, or better-built. It would make them more fragmented, more expensive, less accountable, and less safe,” Forst said. “Trials and audits have shown that the Judiciary struggles with basic upkeep and maintenance of their facilities, doesn’t effectively utilize its vast space, and is not equipped with the financial resources or expertise to manage their own buildings,” GSA added. GAO has separately found that congressional funding constraints have contributed to deferred maintenance in federal buildings and has cautioned that transferring real property authority to the Judiciary would not itself provide additional funding and would require sufficient real property expertise. Defending the branch’s capability, an Administrative Office spokesperson argued that basic facilities upkeep is inherently tied to their work. “Maintaining a safe, functional environment is essential to the administration of justice,” the spokesperson said. “Starting with the proposed pilot program, the Judiciary has the capacity to make property management decisions that better serve the public and the courts.”
Trump urged to stop targeting fellow Republicans as GOP fights to keep majority
FIRST ON FOX: Some Senate Republicans worry that their secret weapon on the campaign trail, President Donald Trump, isn’t making a strong enough case to voters that there needs to be more Republicans in the upper chamber. There are only a handful of primary races left between now and November, when the balance of power in the Senate could slip from the GOP’s grasp, with several seats on the line and Senate Democrats hungry to regain control. And there’s a major issue bogging Republicans down that has spurred internal animosity: the SAVE America Act. Trump’s pressure to pass the election integrity measure and his tendency to bash Republicans for not getting it done has placed vulnerable incumbents in between a rock and a hard place. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital in an interview that while some Republicans are making promises to voters that the bill could pass right now, the better tact would be to push why more Republicans are needed in the Senate. INSIDE THE SENATE’S CHAOTIC ALL-NIGHTER THAT LEFT TRUMP’S SAVE AMERICA ACT ON THE SHELF “The president made the argument, ‘Well, pass the Save America Act, it will motivate our base,’” Thune said. “Yeah, but I think the base can be plenty motivated by other issues, and particularly by the president getting out there on the campaign trail and telling them why it’s important that they elect Republicans to the Senate.” “Everybody has their own ideas about how best to communicate our message, but I think our message between now and November ought to be why the Democrats are completely out of step with the American people and why we need to elect more Republicans so we can do things like the SAVE America Act,” he continued. Anxious Republicans hope to see a shift in messaging from shooting inward at their own to turning their fire on Democrats, who themselves are undergoing a messy ideological change on the campaign trail. Republicans see prime messaging targets with candidates like Dr. Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota pushing left-leaning policies. SCHUMER SAID ‘DEMOCRATS SUPPORT VOTER ID’ — THEN EVERY SENATE DEMOCRAT VOTED AGAINST GOP BILL But the SAVE America Act has consumed much of the oxygen heading into the penultimate stretch of the election cycle. The legislation has produced an online dogma that punishes any Republican, including Thune, who tries to convey the political reality in the Senate that Democrats continue to block the bill, and there just aren’t enough Republican votes to pass it as is. It’s caused private disagreements to take a new life on social media, where proponents, like Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, are sniping at their colleagues for the bill’s failure to launch, despite five attempts at trying to pass it throughout the year in various iterations. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee (NRSC), warned that division would sow disaster for the GOP heading into November. “There’s no doubt that the road to socialism runs right through a divided Republican Party,” Scott told Fox News Digital. “I hope every American understands that, remembers that, and hears it several times between now and Election Day.” And with a Senate midterm map with more vulnerable Republicans in play than Democrats, it will be a difficult task for the GOP to maintain and grow their thin, 53-seat majority in the upper chamber. TRUMP KEEPS CALLING THUNE DESPITE PUBLIC FIGHT OVER SAVE AMERICA ACT Republicans know that Trump will be the key to motivating their base, just as he’s motivated voters in years past, and some hope he’ll stop dragging Republicans through the mud. Thune isn’t the only one that wants to see Trump push more on the road. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., reportedly questioned members of Trump’s political operation during a closed-door meeting last week on when the president would start attacking Democrats instead of members of his own party. Daines, who helmed the Senate GOP’s campaign arm before Scott in 2024 when they flipped the upper chamber, told Fox News Digital that Trump would be “one of the most important voices in the 2026 election.” He contended that Trump would be a powerful influence on showing the contrast between “common sense versus crazy” that’s been developing in the Democratic Party. “We’re seeing the Democrats are just running so far to the left that it’s frightening where the center of gravity is now a Democrat Party,” Daines said. “And this has been one of the more compelling arguments for ‘26, and the president can make that as well as anybody.” When pressed on Trump’s involvement on the campaign trail, Daines noted that midterm election cycles tend to boil down to complacency versus motivation. “I think he’s a very important voice here, because in midterm elections, it’s about turning out your base. In midterm elections, the party that’s not in power tends to be angry, and they’re motivated, and they do vote,” Daines said. “The party that is in powers base tends to be a bit more complacent. We’ve got to get our happy, complacent Republican voters out to the polls, because we cannot allow Democrats to take control.” Meanwhile, Thune said, “Why not turn [the SAVE America Act] into a campaign issue,” and argued that the key to winning out this cycle will be independent voters who aren’t moored to either party. But the Beltway issues, like nuking the filibuster and squabbling over legislation that has stalled since March, aren’t helping make the case to those voters, for now, that Republicans should be in charge. “If you look at Maine, in North Carolina, in Ohio, in Iowa, in Alaska, you know, it’s the Indy voters, it is the middle of the electorate, and we are not talking to them when we are arguing with each other over whether or not to eliminate the filibuster,” Thune said. “I mean, that’s just not an issue that’s going to win the hearts and minds
Illegal immigrant released under Biden accused of stabbing Virginia mother, dousing her in gasoline
The man accused of stabbing a Virginia mother to death in Fairfax County is an immigrant in the country illegally who was admitted by the Biden administration, a federal source tells Fox News. Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos, a 19-year-old Salvadoran national, was caught and released at the southern border during the Biden administration. The source said Cedillos-Campos was allowed into the U.S. at El Paso, Texas, in April 2024. “[Former President Joe] Biden and [former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas hand-delivered alleged killer Cedillos-Campos to the streets of Fairfax County. They recklessly unleashed millions of unvetted illegal aliens into American communities and abused the law to do so,” DHS said in a statement to Fox News. “President [Donald] Trump and [DHS] Secretary Markwayne Mullin are now enforcing the law, arresting illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country — and have reversed Biden’s deadly catch and release policy.” Fairfax County Police arrested Cedillos-Campos Wednesday in connection with Monday’s stabbing death of 42-year-old Carmen Lizet Puch. He is being held in the Prince George’s County jail pending extradition to Fairfax County, where he faces a second-degree murder charge, according to police. FIRST ON FOX: MAN FOUND DEAD ON STREET TRIGGERS ICE ACTION AFTER SHOCKING HIT-AND-RUN A jogger spotted Puch unconscious just off a popular trail in the affluent Northern Virginia suburb. When police arrived, they found stab wounds on her body and saw that the victim had been doused in gasoline. She was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. “The way that she was treated by this killer was reprehensible, to say the least,” said Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis, who confirmed at a news conference that the two had an intimate relationship and worked together. “We have video footage of our suspect at the restaurant where he worked with our victim arming himself with a fixed blade knife, taking a pair of black latex gloves, taking a water bottle, and then off he goes with the intent to do harm and kill the victim,” Davis said. Fairfax County, one of the most affluent counties in America, has seen a series of violent and sexual crimes involving immigrants in the country illegally, including several who were admitted under the Biden administration. Puch was from Reston, a suburb of Washington, D.C. She was the mother of a young daughter and worked at a nearby restaurant, according to NBC Washington. The outlet reported that “people who knew her … said she was soft-spoken and worked hard to support her young daughter.” After the jogger called police at about 6:45 a.m. Monday, officers found Puch lying beside her car. NBC Washington reported that sources familiar with the investigation said she was stabbed inside the car. Puch is not the only Fairfax County victim of violent crime involving an immigrant in the country illegally who was admitted under the Biden administration. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ISRAEL FLORES ORTIZ GETS 360 DAYS FOR GROPING GIRLS AT FAIRFAX COUNTY VA. HIGH SCHOOL One case involved 18-year-old Salvadoran immigrant Israel Flores Ortiz, who entered the country illegally in 2024 and was convicted this year of assault and battery involving the groping of several underage girls at Fairfax High School. Fox News Digital also reported on several homicides and other violent crimes involving immigrants in the country illegally in Fairfax County earlier this year. Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has faced criticism over immigration enforcement policies affecting immigrants in the country illegally. ICE CALLS OUT ‘DEPRAVED FREAK’ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT DEPORTED AFTER HEINOUS CRIME IN DEM-RUN STATE On her first day in office, Spanberger rescinded an executive order by her predecessor, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, that directed state law enforcement agencies to assist federal immigration authorities. She also ordered state and local law enforcement agencies to terminate all 287(g) agreements with ICE and signed an order prohibiting ICE from using state property as a staging area, processing location or operations base for federal civil immigration enforcement. On Wednesday, the White House blamed the Biden administration’s immigration policies for Cedillos-Campos’ presence in the country. “This brutal killing of this mother was 100% preventable,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Fox News. “The Biden administration released this illegal alien MURDERER into our country.” Bis added that “extreme Democrat politicians’ open border policies have consequences,” pointing to murders, rapes and other violent crimes committed against Americans. Fox News Digital reached out to Biden and Spanberger for comment.
How one NYC suburb could decide which party controls the House
The question of which party controls the House majority for the latter half of President Donald Trump’s term could come down to a group of suburbs just north of New York City. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., the first Republican to represent the area in roughly 40 years, is facing off against Democrat Army veteran Cait Conley in his bid for a third term in New York’s 17th Congressional District. The expected close margins and dwindling number of battleground districts mean the race has garnered national attention, but Lawler is accusing Conley of ducking national-level debates. HOUSE REPUBLICANS AIM TO TURN DEMOCRATIC CIVIL WAR INTO MIDTERM WEAPON “It is, you know, vitally important for the voters in my district to hear from us — and I think, frankly, nationally, folks would benefit from it because it’s one of a handful of seats that really is going to make the difference and decide control of Congress,” Lawler told Fox News Digital. “So, to me, if you’re running for public office, you should be able to stand on your own two feet and answer the questions from reporters, but moreover, make the direct and compelling case to voters about why you should be elected.” Lawler said he challenged Conley to six debates after she won the primary to take him on, but that she has so far agreed to only two that are hosted by local networks. When reached by Fox News Digital for comment, Conley’s campaign confirmed that she agreed to two debates with Lawler and accused him of running cover for fellow Republicans. “Mike Lawler will do anything to avoid delivering for his constituents, like last week, when he went on CNN to defend domestic abuser Max Miller. While he continues to act like a spoiled brat begging for more national air time to lie about his record, Cait is focused on hearing directly from voters, who are sick of being represented by a career political hack and ready for someone who puts country over party,” Conley’s communications director, Maddy Rosen, said. “Cait looks forward to their two scheduled televised debates where she will hold Mike Lawler accountable for failing the Hudson Valley, voting with Trump 100% of the time, and being a spineless, self-serving politician.” Lawler said her refusal to agree to more debates showed that Conley was “not prepared” for the House and accused her of not even residing in the district she’s running to represent. Conley’s communications director did not address the claims of her residency, but the candidate’s website touts her as a “fourth-generation Hudson Valley native.” Lawler was born and raised in the district. Tying the GOP lawmaker to Trump is likely to be an oft-used attack by Democrats as the election season wears on, with Lawler being one of three House Republicans in the entire country who won their seats despite their districts voting for Kamala Harris in 2024. But Lawler, who has sought to forge a reputation as a moderate, is in turn accusing Conley of pushing the same ideological issues as the far-left reaches of her party, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. JOHNSON TURNS DEMOCRATS’ SOCIALIST CIVIL WAR INTO NEW WEAPON FOR MIDTERMS “The fact is, she can try to obfuscate here, and she can try and hide, but she stands shoulder to shoulder with them, and she refuses to denounce any of them,” Lawler said, referring to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). “In fact, she praised Zohran Mamdani throughout the primary campaign. So to me, at the end of the day, whatever she calls herself doesn’t really matter. It’s the policies.” Republicans are pointing to Mamdani and other DSA figures as a warning sign of where the Democratic Party is headed, arguing they’ll push the country further left if they win in the midterms. In Lawler’s district just outside the Big Apple, that warning could be critical to his keeping the seat red. Lawler defeated former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., to win the seat in 2022. He then defended it against former Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y. With just a handful of swing districts on either side, the race for the House majority is almost guaranteed to be close. Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to win the majority back from Republicans in November.
Texas mom backs Ten Commandments in classrooms as legal battle reaches Supreme Court
As roughly two dozen Texas families fight to keep the Ten Commandments off public school walls, one Austin-area mom is making no apologies for wanting them in her kindergartner’s classroom. Brittany McFarland, a Christian mother whose 5-year-old daughter attends public school in Texas, told Fox News Digital she was “pleasantly surprised” by the new classroom displays and said the fierce backlash over them reflects a much bigger battle over faith, values and religious liberty in America’s public schools. “I feel like our country, we’ve been kind of forced to erase religion and discussion of religion in schools in general,” McFarland said. “Almost to the point where the topic is taboo, and our children are afraid and uncomfortable to mention their faith or talk anything about it.” McFarland said she and her husband had weighed whether public school was still the right choice for their daughter but said learning about the Ten Commandments law gave her a “sense of hope” about the direction of public education. TEXAS DEM JAMES TALARICO RIPS ‘UN-CHRISTIAN’ COURT DECISION ON WHAT’S ALLOWED IN CLASSROOMS “It gave me a renewed sense of hope in our school systems,” she said. The fight is straightforward. Texas requires public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, and roughly two dozen families want the Supreme Court to block the law. The families, represented by groups including the ACLU, argue the state is crossing a constitutional line by putting a religious text in public school classrooms. They say decisions about a child’s religious upbringing should be left to parents and faith communities, not the government, and warn the displays could make students from other religious or nonreligious backgrounds feel excluded or pressured. TED CRUZ, CONSERVATIVES RESPOND AFTER TALARICO CRITICIZES BIBLE-RELATED EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS AS ‘PROPAGANDA’ Texas has defended the law, and a federal appeals court upheld it, reasoning that students are not required to recite the Ten Commandments, believe them or affirm their religious origins. Now the families are asking the Supreme Court to step in. The justices have not yet agreed to hear the case. If they do, the dispute could become a major test of how the First Amendment applies to religious expression in public schools. McFarland rejects the characterization that simply displaying the Ten Commandments amounts to imposing Christianity on students. “I look at the Ten Commandments as a reminder to do the right thing,” she told Fox News Digital. “They’re good standards for children to be exposed to.” McFarland pointed to commandments against stealing and the instruction to honor one’s father and mother as examples of principles she believes have value for children. “These are things that we should be talking about in our homes and in our classrooms,” she said. McFarland also stressed that, based on what she has seen in her daughter’s classroom and others, the Ten Commandments are not being presented as something students must recite or affirm. “It’s not like you’re walking to the classroom, and you’re seeing a five-by-six poster with it in huge font, right, front and center. That’s not what’s happening,” she said. JUDGE ORDERS WASHINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT TO LOOSEN LIMITS ON OFF-CAMPUS BIBLE CLUB FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS “I don’t see this posting historically significant religious text as imposing religion at all. It’s not like the children are having to recite it. It’s not like they’re standing up and giving a Pledge of Allegiance to it. It’s nothing of that sort.” McFarland said her school district recently informed parents that teachers are instructed to tell students who ask about the poster that it is displayed because of Texas law. According to the message McFarland read to Fox News Digital, teachers would contact parents if students asked specific questions about its contents rather than providing religious instruction themselves. TRUMP DOJ EXPANDS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY PROTECTIONS AFTER MAJOR SUPREME COURT RULINGS “To me, that’s not imposing religion upon anyone,” McFarland said. “That’s giving them the opportunity to go home and talk about it. It’s opening up conversation that can occur within the home and the walls of your home.” Opponents, however, said the fact that students are not required to recite the text does not resolve their concerns. The ACLU has described the displays as government-imposed religion and argues they could lead to religious coercion, bullying or stigmatization. Some parents involved in the challenge said the mandate could make children who follow other faiths or no faith at all feel that the state favors one set of beliefs over their own. An Austin interfaith couple involved in the case has also argued that parents, rather than politicians, should decide how their children receive religious education. McFarland said she actually agrees with that principle, but disputes that a classroom display constitutes religious instruction. “I would actually tend to agree with the family that politicians shouldn’t have a role in how teachers are specifically teaching religion to our children or trying to influence them on religion,” McFarland said. “However, I see this very differently.” “To me, having a poster up is not teaching your child that religion,” she added. McFarland compared the distinction to a student seeing a human anatomy poster hanging in a health classroom, arguing that the presence of the material does not mean the child is being forced to receive instruction about everything depicted on it. She also pushed back on concerns that young children could feel pressured to adopt the religious beliefs contained in the Ten Commandments. “Five-year-olds can’t read, for the most part,” McFarland said, adding that she does not believe her daughter is entering the classroom, reading the poster and feeling pressure to embrace a particular faith. “Religion should not be taught from the teachers or enforced by the teachers, but this isn’t that,” she said. McFarland said she believes the controversy has become about something larger than the physical display itself. “I don’t think that this fight is really a poster in the classroom,” she said. “I think it’s about religious liberties.” At the same time,
Luxury travel, shopping, six-figure income: Battleground Dems ripped for ‘phony’ working-class narrative
Several battleground Democrats running in competitive House races have leaned on working-class, blue-collar biographies to connect with voters’ economic anxieties, but financial records and other materials reviewed by Fox News Digital complicate the images they have presented on the campaign trail. In New Jersey, for example, Democratic Party candidate Rebecca Bennett has pitched herself as a parent with firsthand understanding of the “rising costs and economic uncertainty” facing American families, but financial records show she collected a combined salary of nearly $250,000 in 2024 and holds an extensive investment portfolio with assets potentially worth nearly $1.8 million and no reportable liabilities. In New Mexico, Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., has said he “never had the luxury of financial wealth,” argued voters are drawn to candidates who do not “come from wealth,” and described his mother as working long hours in Mexico’s “maquiladora industry” to make ends meet. But records reviewed by Fox News Digital show his mother held corporate finance roles at GE, including as a finance manager and comptroller in Mexico and later as a senior finance analyst in Indiana, while social media screenshots shared with Fox News Digital show repeated European travel, luxury shopping and other upscale family photos. DEM IN KEY SWING RACE MISSED NEARLY HALF HER STATE HOUSE VOTES WHILE TAKING TAXPAYER SALARY: ‘NO SHOW’ Meanwhile, in Washington State, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., has built part of her blue-collar image around her time working in an auto shop and her Reed College history, saying she worked three jobs and paid for the private liberal arts school “by the credit hour” after her parents stopped paying tuition. But financial disclosures reviewed by Fox News Digital did not list reportable student-loan debt, while critics familiar with her time at Reed College have questioned whether jobs Gluesenkamp Perez cited, including as a nanny, campus barista and at an “iPhone case factory,” could have plausibly covered the school’s cost. “Voters can see through the phony double-talk easier than politicians ever realize. It’s far better to be who you are and offer a compelling vision to make voters’ lives better than contort your own biography and background into something it’s not,” Republican strategist Colin Reed told Fox News Digital. “Under normal circumstances, financial success and upward mobility would be attributes to lean into as selling points on the campaign trail. But with socialism ascendant and the demonization of wealth not far behind, these are far from normal times.” DEMOCRATS CAUGHT ON CAMERA COACHING CANDIDATE ON HOW TO BE ‘AUTHENTIC’ IN 2026 MESSAGING Bennett, who is running in New Jersey’s competitive 7th Congressional District, disclosed dozens of investments, retirement accounts and other assets in an amended candidate financial disclosure filed with the House on May 15 and reviewed by Fox News Digital. Based on the value ranges listed in the disclosure, her reported assets could be worth as much as roughly $1.8 million. The filing listed no reportable liabilities. Among the holdings were three valued between $50,001 and $100,000 apiece and 17 more valued between $15,001 and $50,000. Because the disclosure reports assets in broad value ranges rather than exact amounts, Bennett’s reported holdings total roughly $447,000 at the low end and nearly $1.8 million at the high end. Using the midpoint of each disclosed range puts their estimated value at roughly $1.12 million. The disclosure also showed that Bennett received nearly $200,000 in salary from Noom in 2024 and nearly $46,000 from Oshi Health that year, for more than $242,000 combined. The financial picture contrasts with the economic message Bennett has emphasized on the campaign trail, where she has repeatedly invoked her own family’s finances and experience as a mother of two. In a June 18 campaign post titled “My 2010 Honda Accord,” Bennett said she and her husband still drove the 16-year-old car because “it’s what we can afford,” arguing Washington needs more “regular people” who understand families’ financial pressures firsthand. In the post, Bennett specifically pointed to childcare, writing, “I know what it’s like to worry about childcare costs,” while also citing rising grocery bills and difficult financial decisions because there is not “an unlimited amount of money sitting in the bank account.” Months earlier, she similarly said she was, “like so many of you,” navigating the “astronomical” costs of food, education, childcare and healthcare. Those comments also come as FEC records show Bennett’s campaign has paid $21,250 since June 2025 to cover her childcare expenses. Federal election rules permit campaign funds to cover a candidate’s childcare expenses when they are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity. “After serving our country for 15 years as a Navy helicopter pilot, Rebecca swapped her MH-60 Seahawk for the 2010 Honda Accord she uses to drop off her two young children at day care and public school. Rebecca knows firsthand how much childcare costs, and it’s critical that we have people in Congress that understand the challenges New Jersey families are facing,” campaign spokesperson Carly Jones told Fox News Digital. “While Tom Kean Jr. plays the stock market in Congress, Rebecca is going to fight to lower costs and end Washington corruption.” Meanwhile, Vasquez has also been explicit in casting his background in working-class and blue-collar terms. In his first House floor speech in March 2023, the New Mexico Democrat said, “I’ve never had the luxury of financial wealth,” and during his 2022 campaign argued that voters were drawn to a candidate who “doesn’t come from wealth” or money. DSA CO-CHAIR STRUGGLES TO EXPLAIN MILLIONAIRE TAX POLICY Vasquez has also repeatedly pointed to his mother’s work in Mexico’s “maquiladora industry” as part of his family’s working-class story. In an October 2025 La Opinión op-ed, he wrote that his mother, Hortencia Banuelos, “worked long hours in the maquiladora industry working to make ends meet,” describing her story as one of “sacrifice, resilience, and hope.” In a 2023 interview, Vasquez similarly said his parents worked in the maquiladora industry, including assembling aerospace parts and building sensors for refrigerators and washing machines