GOP doctors call out health task force for ‘woke distractions’ amid major reform push
EXCLUSIVE: The GOP Doctors Caucus is backing a possible effort to overhaul the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, or USPSTF, an independent task force that’s used to determine recommendations on what services health insurance companies in the United States have to cover free of charge. A letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., led by Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., and Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., and other members of the caucus expressed concerns that the group may be prioritizing social justice issues over other issues. “Preventive care should be about keeping Americans healthy, not about checking political boxes,” Harshbarger said in a statement. “The American people deserve a task force that follows the science, acts with urgency and relies on the expertise of front-line doctors. The USPSTF should be leading the charge in President Trump’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ agenda, not wasting time on woke distractions while chronic disease rates keep climbing.” REPUBLICAN SENATOR CLAIMS RFK JR. MRNA VACCINE DECISION UNDERMINES TRUMP AGENDA Specifically, the letter asks for “relevant specialists” to be part of the process when making certain recommendations, greater transparency in decision-making and more of a focus on outcomes as opposed to “substantial attention to divisive social issues,” citing “race and gender identity considerations that extend beyond traditional clinical parameters,” according to a news release. “In 2010, the Affordable Care Act expanded the authority of the USPSTF and tied coverage recommendations to Task Force determinations. However, since the USPSTF’s authority was expanded, the rate of incidence of preventable chronic disease in the United States has only climbed,” the letter states. The letter was also signed by other members of the caucus, including Reps. Andy Harris, Ronny Jackson, Mike Kennedy, Brian Babin, Sheri Biggs and Bob Onder. GOP SENATORS RALLY AROUND EFFORT TO END ‘RADICAL WOKENESS’ IN HHS TASK FORCE Earlier this month, three Republican senators wrote a similar letter raising ideological concerns about the current task force. “In particular, the USPSTF departed from its proper activities in its December 2023 Health Equity Framework. The framework criticizes ‘equal access to quality health care for all’ as an inadequate goal of public health and announces that the Task Force will instead use equity as ‘a criterion of the ‘public health importance’ of a topic’ for consideration,” that letter stated. The Wall Street Journal reported that, in July, Kennedy was considering removing members of the board. DEMS ‘DELIBERATELY OBFUSCATING’ TRUTH ABOUT ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ WITH THIS CLAIM: WATCHDOG “No final decision has been made on how the USPSTF can better support HHS’ mandate to Make America Healthy Again,” an HHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement when asked about the WSJ report at the time. The American Medical Association has opposed an overhaul of the task force. “USPSTF plays a critical, nonpartisan role in guiding physicians’ efforts to prevent disease and improve the health of patients by helping to ensure access to evidence-based clinical preventive services. As such, we urge you to retain the previously appointed members of the USPSTF and commit to the long-standing process of regular meetings to ensure their important work can continue without interruption,” the AMA wrote. Meanwhile, a group of physicians, including those from the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, America’s Frontline Doctors and the Pennsylvania Direct Primary Care Association, signed another letter in support of possible changes. The signers wrote that new members should have an “ideological balance to develop recommendations based on facts and science.” Fox News Digital reached out to HHS for an updated comment.
WATCH: Footage shows blue state prosecutor warning officers they’ll ‘regret’ arresting her: ‘I’m an AG!’
Bodycam footage from the Newport Police Department in Newport, Rhode Island, shows Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan pleading with officers not to arrest her and appearing to try to use her job as a state prosecutor to get officers to let her go. “I’m an AG! I’m an AG!” Flanagan can be heard saying to police as they tried to detain her for failing to comply with their demands. “You’re going to regret this. You’re going to regret it. I’m an A-” Flanagan said as she was escorted to the back of a police car and the door was shut. “Good for you, I don’t give a s—,” one of the arresting officers can be heard saying back at one point. FEMALE POLICE OFFICER LEAPS INTO WATER, FIGHTS CAREER CRIMINAL BEFORE MAKING ARREST, VIDEO SHOWS The Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office indicated Monday that they were reviewing the matter involving Flanagan, but did not indicate whether any disciplinary measures have been taken. Throughout the video, Flanagan can also be heard telling the officers how to do their job. “I want you to turn your body-camera off. Protocol is that you turn it off. It’s a citizen request to turn it off,” Flanagan told the officer when he approached her to ask her to leave. “She knows, she’s a lawyer,” a separate female who was with Flanagan told the officer. “She’s a f—ing lawyer.” EX-TRUMP PROSECUTOR JACK SMITH UNDER INVESTIGATION BY GOVERNMENT WATCHDOG OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL “On the evening of Aug. 14, the Office of the Attorney General learned that members of the Newport Police Department arrested Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan for trespassing,” Megan Skinner, a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office, said Friday, according to The Boston Globe. Meanwhile, a separate spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital that the attorney general’s office was “reviewing the matter” of Flanagan’s arrest. “The Office immediately began a review of the incident, which we anticipate will conclude within the next few days,” the attorney general’s spokesperson added in their statement to The Boston Globe. “At this time, we are unable to comment further on this matter as it relates to personnel issues.” Flanagan has reportedly worked in the attorney general’s office for seven years and works on appeals cases in criminal court. She was ultimately charged with willful trespass and issued a summons to appear in court. In addition to Flanagan’s arrest, the other female in the video, seen yelling at officers and escaping from their handcuffs at one point, was also arrested, according to the Globe. That individual, identified as Veronica Hannan, was reportedly charged with willful trespass, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Justice Barrett teases new memoir in abrupt conference exit
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett knows how to command an audience. This was crystallized Monday night at the Swissôtel in Chicago, where she spoke for just three minutes to several hundred judges and legal professionals gathered for the Seventh Circuit Judicial Conference. Her remarks, though short, were optimistic and warm. She urged the courts to keep their sense of “camaraderie and professionalism” despite inevitable, sharp disagreements. This, she said, is “what enables the judicial system to work well.” Barrett smiled fondly as she remembered her time on the 7th Circuit, where she served for several years prior to her nomination to the Supreme Court. She introduced the next speaker, who took the stage to another standing ovation. And just as quickly as she entered the packed ballroom, she was gone. BARRETT EVISCERATES JACKSON, SOTOMAYOR TAKES ON A ‘COMPLICIT’ COURT IN CONTENTIOUS FINAL OPINIONS “Barrett, 53, is the youngest justice on the bench, and her nearly five-year record on the Supreme Court has been the subject of furious speculation — and, at times, outright fury.” Conservatives have panned her record as more moderate than that of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, for whom she once clerked. Liberals have been incensed by her reluctance to side more consistently with the court’s left-leaning justices on abortion, federal powers and other seminal cases. Barrett’s voting record is more moderate than Scalia’s, according to a June New York Times data analysis that found she plays an “increasingly central role” on the court. Barrett used her time Monday to implore the group of judges to maintain a sense of grace, decorum and respect for colleagues, despite the inevitable, heated disagreements that will occur. The warm, if somewhat lofty, sense of idealism on display is one that is expected to be echoed further in her forthcoming memoir, “Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution,” slated for publication next month. The theme of Monday’s remarks, to the extent there was one, stressed working toward common goals, accepting ideological differences and embracing disagreement while keeping a broader perspective — a point echoed by Barrett and earlier speakers who cited David Brooks repeatedly in praising purpose-driven public service. The upside of so many hours spent in disagreement, Barrett said, is learning how to strike that balance. “We know how to argue well,” she said. “We also know how to argue without letting it consume relationships.” CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS SOUNDS ALARM ON DANGEROUS RHETORIC AIMED AT JUDGES FROM POLITICIANS This has been especially true during Trump’s second term, as the Supreme Court presided over a record blitz of emergency appeals and orders filed by the administration and other aggrieved parties in response to the hundreds of executive orders signed in his first months in office. The high court has ruled in Trump’s favor in the majority of emergency applications, allowing the administration to proceed with its ban on transgender service members in the military, its termination of millions of dollars in Education Department grants and its firing of probationary employees across the federal government, among many other actions. Even so, it is Barrett who has emerged as the most-talked-about justice on the high court this term, confounding and frustrating observers as they tried and failed to predict how she would vote. She’s been hailed as the “most interesting justice on the bench,” a “trailblazer” and an iconoclast, among other descriptions. On Monday, she stressed that the commonalities among judges, both for the 7th Circuit and beyond, are far greater than the issues that divide them. As for her own work, Barrett offered few details — her remarks began and ended in less time than it takes to microwave a burrito. It’s unclear if, or to what extent, Barrett’s schedule may have changed at the eleventh hour, a reflection of the many demands placed on sitting Supreme Court justices whose schedules are often subject to change or cancellation at a moment’s notice. The 7th Circuit did not immediately respond to Fox News’s questions as to what, if anything, had changed on Barrett’s end. Questions swirled as she exited. Had she planned longer remarks? Was the agenda misread? Or is she saving details for her memoir and looming book tour as one reporter suggested? Her appearance, full of irony, left observers with more questions than answers. Whether she addresses them in the weeks ahead remains to be seen.
Schiff launches legal defense fund in response to claims Trump is ‘weaponizing’ justice system
Sen. Adam Schiff launched a legal defense fund as the California Democrat faces a federal investigation for alleged mortgage fraud and President Donald Trump repeatedly condemns him for years of allegedly promoting the “Russiagate” hoax. “It’s clear that Donald Trump and his MAGA allies will continue weaponizing the justice process to attack Senator Schiff for holding this corrupt administration accountable,” a spokeswoman for Schiff told Fox News Digital on Tuesday evening. “This fund will ensure he can fight back against these baseless smears while continuing to do his job.” The legal fund, dubbed “Senator Schiff Legal Defense Fund,” was filed with the Internal Revenue Service Thursday, according to the New York Times. Trump and Schiff have long been political foes, stretching back to the president’s first administration, when Schiff — who was serving in the U.S. House at the time — oversaw the first impeachment trial against Trump in 2020 for alleged abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and for repeatedly promoting the narrative that Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. SEN ADAM SCHIFF UNDER FEDERAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION FOR ALLEGED MORTGAGE FRAUD VIOLATIONS “Russia, Russia, Russia. Totally phony, created by Adam Schiff, Shifty Schiff, and Hillary Clinton and the whole group of them,” Trump said from the Kennedy Center Wednesday. Trump was referring to recently declassified documents alleging the Obama administration “manufactured and politicized intelligence” to create the narrative that Russia was attempting to influence the 2016 presidential election, despite information from the intelligence community stating otherwise. “It made it very dangerous for our country because I was unable to really deal with Russia the way we should have been,” Trump continued from the Kennedy Center, referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi. “And I’m looking at Pam because I hope something’s going to be done about it.” White House spokesman Harrison Fields called Schiff a “fraud” and “corrupt politician” when approached for comment on Tuesday regarding the legal fund. “Adam Schiff is a sleazy and corrupt politician who betrayed his oath to the Constitution by prioritizing his selfish and personal animosity toward the President over the interests of the American people. No amount of money can shield Adam from the truth that he is a fraud,” Fields told Fox News Digital. Schiff also came under fire earlier in August when documents released to Congress by FBI Director Kash Patel reported that a Democratic whistleblower who worked for Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee for more than 10 years told the FBI in 2017 that Schiff allegedly approved leaking classified information on Trump that “would be used to indict President TRUMP.” Schiff denied the allegations as “absolutely and categorically false.” Schiff notably served on the Jan. 6 committee, which investigated the day in January 2021 when Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol, and was among lawmakers who were granted preemptive pardons on President Joe Biden’s final day in office in 2025. HOW TRUMP’S ‘NO SHRINKING VIOLETS’ DOJ IS DIGGING IN ON SCHIFF’S MORTGAGE DEALINGS AS LEGAL PERIL LOOMS Schiff, however, had publicly condemned the prospect of Biden doling out preemptive pardons as “unnecessary” and setting a bad precedent. “First, those of us on the committee are very proud of the work we did. We were doing vital quintessential oversight of a violent attack on the Capitol,” Schiff said during a media interview in December 2024. “So I think it’s unnecessary.” “But second, the precedent of giving blanket pardons, preemptive blanket pardons on the way out of an administration, I think is a precedent we don’t want to set,” he added. TRUMP INVOKES RUSSIA COLLUSION HOAX WHILE CALLING FOR LONGTIME FOE SCHIFF TO FACE JAIL TIME The California Democrat also is facing a federal investigation for mortgage fraud, Fox Digital previously reported. Schiff has denied any wrongdoing, claiming the matter is a “baseless attempt at political retribution.” The U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) sent a criminal referral to the Department of Justice in May claiming that in “multiple instances,” Schiff allegedly “falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, impacting payments from 2003-2019 for a Potomac, Maryland-based property.” Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Conservative ‘playbook’ to beat Democrats in court outlined in senator’s new book
FIRST ON FOX: One Senate Republican has crafted a blueprint for how conservatives can take on Democrats in the courts and win. Before he was in Washington D.C., Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo. served as Missouri’s attorney general during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. And during that time, he filed lawsuit after lawsuit challenging the Biden administration, Dr. Anthony Fauci and even going so far as to sue China. And more often than not, be it through uncovering discrepancies during the discovery process or winning multibillion-dollar settlements, Schmitt was mostly successful in challenging Democratic “lawfare.” SENATE SIGNALS READINESS TO HIT RUSSIA WITH HARD SANCTIONS IF PEACE DEAL FAILS “The fact of the matter is, what our fights were, were about restoring individual liberty and pulling back the expanse of government,” Schmitt told Fox News Digital in an interview. “What the Left is trying to do now with their lawfare machine was, number one, they’re trying to put their opponents in jail, but then also to defend the expanse of government, to defend the administrative state. And I think if we have the right arguments, we can win.” Schmitt detailed how to secure those winning arguments through his own experiences in his latest book “The Last Line of Defense: How to Beat the Left in Court.” He described the book as “a field manual from the front lines of the battles that were fought against the left-wing law machine.” Indeed, Schmitt outlined a guide for attorneys general across the country to take on challenges at all levels, from local to federal. “Our playbook really is … really in response to what their playbook was, to create a manufactured emergency, a real or manufactured emergency, to aggregate power, to exercise it in ways that never were imagined to other folks who disagree and silence dissent,” Schmitt said. “That’s what they were really trying to do.” TEXAS DEMS END WEEKSLONG QUORUM STANDOFF IN REDISTRICTING FIGHT In some cases, he went beyond the country’s borders and sued a foreign country, as Schmitt did to China. He argued in the book that the Chinese Communist Party had withheld information on the COVID-19 virus, and was actively hoarding high-quality personal protective equipment (PPE) while producing and selling lower-quality PPE for the rest of the world. That case resulted in an eventual $24 billion judgment earlier this year. From there, Schmitt challenged former President Joe Biden’s student loan debt cancellation plan by focusing his case on a local student loan servicing company, a plan that was ultimately blocked by the Supreme Court just months into Schmitt’s first year as a lawmaker in 2023. Through it all, the pandemic was the “inflection point,” Schmitt said, and his biggest target became Fauci. He got an opportunity to depose Fauci, who served as the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and medical advisor to Biden, as part of his lawsuit taking on censorship and suppression by social media platforms like Facebook. BILL BARR, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY GENERAL, ARRIVES TO FACE HOUSE INVESTIGATORS IN EPSTEIN PROBE “He wanted to silence anybody who talked about it being a lab leak,” Schmitt said. “Which, of course, we know is that’s exactly what it was now. It wasn’t some bat mating with a penguin, you know, this was actually in the Wuhan Institute of Virology is where this thing came from.” Schmitt, who is a fan of both former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas — particularly Scalia’s usage of originalism, or interpreting the Constitution as it was written rather than as a living document — noted in the book that there has been a “complete shift” in the courts. In particular, conservative-leaning justices have the majority on the Supreme Court, and courts across the country are being filled, albeit slowly, with President Donald Trump’s picks. When asked if he was at all concerned about partisan politicking coming to the bench, Schmitt countered that courts are returning to a legal system that had been “disrupted by the progressive era, beginning with Woodrow Wilson and the rise of the administrative state, FDR, who threatened to pack the court.” “The Constitution means exactly what it says, nothing more, nothing less, just like our laws,” he said. “They mean what they say, nothing more, nothing less.” “I don’t want a judge to necessarily agree with my politics,” he continued. “I just want a judge to adhere to the Constitution.”
MS-13 gang member arrested in DC as Bondi touts admin’s ‘extraordinary’ crime crackdown
An MS-13 gang member previously convicted of driving while intoxicated and drug possession was one of the 52 arrests in Washington, D.C., on Monday night as the Trump administration fires back at critics who have been downplaying their effectiveness. “At the direction of [President Donald Trump], our nation’s capital is a SAFER place—and we are just getting started. 52 arrests were made last night, including an MS-13 gang member, and 9 firearms were taken off the streets,” Bondi posted to X on Tuesday morning. “Since our mission began, there have been a total of 465 arrests, 68 guns seized, and charges for homicide, narcotics, and firearm offenses. Nearly half of these arrests occurred in the high-crime areas of DC. Residents and tourists alike appreciate this extraordinary effort by our DC and Federal law enforcement partners,” she continued. “Make DC Safe Again!” HUNDREDS ARRESTED AS TRUMP’S WASHINGTON, DC, CRIME CRACKDOWN HITS FULL STRIDE Other arrests included ones for assault with a deadly weapon, federal parole violation for robbery, murder, a warrant for attempted murder, assaulting a federal law enforcement official, felony assault, and carrying a pistol without a license, according to the White House. Four homeless encampments were also cleared out on Monday, bringing the total to 48. A White House official told Fox News on background that over 450 arrests have been made since Thursday, Aug. 7. Out of the 212 non-immigration arrests, 101 were in the high-crime Wards 7 and 8, Axios reported regarding a White House analysis of the data so far. The White House said the data counteracted a map “tracking troops” in the capital city from The Washington Post. “Facts are stubborn things,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson posted to X on Tuesday morning. On Friday, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is playing a critical role in the federal police takeover of the city. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS COULD DOMINATE DC ARRESTS UNDER FEDERALIZED POLICE FORCE, SAYS EXPERT “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, ICE law enforcement is being unleashed to keep America safe from dangerous criminals. As the secretary has announced, ICE and CBP have been deployed to help clean up the streets of our nation’s capital,” McLaughlin stated. “Our message is clear: Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States,” she continued. Amid Trump’s crime crackdown in D.C., the Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser has been critical of the federalization of the city’s police force. “This is a time where community needs to jump in. We all need to, to do what we can in our space, in our lane, to protect our city and to protect our autonomy, to protect our home rule, and get to the other side of this guy, and make sure we elect a Democratic House so that we have a backstop to this authoritarian push,” Bowser said during town hall with community leaders, which was livestreamed on X, last week. She continued by calling Trump’s effort “an intrusion on our autonomy.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE The National Guard has been deployed throughout the city, but the White House says that they are not currently the ones making arrests. Last week, Bondi issued an order superseding the capital city’s sanctuary policies to allow compliance between local police and federal immigration authorities. BONDI ANNOUNCES NEARLY 200 ARRESTS ‘AND COUNTING’ AS FEDERAL AGENTS SWARM NATION’S CAPITAL “At my direction, [the Metropolitan Police Department] will now fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities,” Bondi tweeted on Friday. “[President Donald Trump] remains in control under the law to determine what is necessary and appropriate.” The federal takeover has gotten significant pushback from Democrats, including local leaders who say it’s an act of overreach despite D.C.’s unique legal governing status. “Let us be clear: armed soldiers should not be policing American citizens on American soil. Instead of making DC more secure, it undermines public safety and endangers our democracy. It’s DC today, but the same dangerous strategy can be deployed to occupy any American community,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb tweeted on Tuesday morning.
Trump admin slams ACLU for comparing ICE center to Japanese internment camp: ‘Deranged and lazy’
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) invoked President Franklin Roosevelt’s internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II as the Trump administration was set to open a massive detention center at Fort Bliss in Texas on Monday. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) torched the comparison, with a top official left wondering why an organization with such a name “care[s] more about illegal aliens than U.S. citizens,” in comments to Fox News Digital. “Comparisons of illegal alien detention centers to internment camps used during World War II are deranged and lazy. The ACLU’s smears against our brave ICE law enforcement are no doubt contributing to the more than 1,000% increase in assaults against them,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “[The ACLU] should change their name. The facts are ICE is targeting the worst of the worst—including murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles, and rapists. 70% of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens who have been convicted or have pending charges in the U.S. — that doesn’t even include known or suspected terrorists, foreign gang members, convictions for violent crimes in foreign countries, or INTERPOL notices.” BIDEN TEAM LEFT THOUSANDS OF MIGRANT KIDS WITH UNVETTED SPONSORS, RECORDS REVEAL On Sunday, before Fort Bliss’ “Camp East Montana” center was to open at the historically pivotal military base near the U.S.–Mexico and New Mexico borders, the ACLU’s regional affiliates released a joint statement calling the move “another shameful chapter” in the base’s history. “The renewed use of this base to detain immigrants and stage deportations comes as the Trump administration continues to misuse military resources to deport long-standing residents and other immigrants,” the release read, calling the president’s mass-deportation agenda “dystopian.” “President Trump’s use of Fort Bliss for the nation’s largest immigrant detention site is cruel and a reminder of a shameful detention legacy,” added Sarah Mehta, a top official in the ACLU’s Equality Division – who also called on Congress to stop DHS’ agenda. “Thousands of people, including our neighbors and loved ones, will be torn from their communities while this administration enlists the military to rubberstamp its abusive agenda.” Fort Bliss — named after the son-in-law of Mexican-American War hero and later President Zachary Taylor — also held a small number of German and Italian immigrants during World War II. UNION BOSS COMPARES ICE TO AL PACINO MOBSTER AS MORE DEMS PILE ON IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT In 1942, Roosevelt initiated an executive order targeting Americans descended from countries representing the Axis powers. The Democrat ushered in the incarceration of about 120,000 Japanese-Americans and smaller numbers of Italian and German descendants. While Fort Bliss was not a main “internment camp,” it did hold small numbers of interred U.S. citizens, including as many as 70 “Issei,” or first-generation Japanese-Americans living along the Pacific Coast. After the war, German scientist Wernher von Braun – a former Untersturmführer in the S.S. — and other former Axis power-players worked there with the Americans to develop what eventually became the U.S. Space Program, now run by NASA. Considered a 38,000-soldier “megabase,” it has also been a crucial staging ground for the War on Terror. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, toured Fort Bliss’ new detention facility last week and told El Paso’s NBC affiliate that the people who will be held there are already on their way out of the U.S. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “These are people under final orders of deportation … They have no legal right to be here,” Cornyn said. El Paso’s member of Congress, Democrat Veronica Escobar, disagreed. Escobar argued the $1 billion price tag would “enrich” private contractors and siphon funds from other needs in her district. As many as 5,000 detainees will be held at Fort Bliss, according to reports.
Here are the 5 GOP House seats that could be wiped out with Newsom’s California redistricting plan
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his fellow state Democrats are threatening a redistricting plan that would eliminate more than half of the current GOP-held congressional districts amid a nationwide battle over gerrymandering. Republicans currently hold nine seats in California, compared to the Democrats’ 43. Under Newsom’s proposed plan, Democrats would pick up five more seats. “We strongly believe that this map serves the best interest of California voters, while also attempting to push back against the corrupt scheme occurring in Texas and other Republican-majority states where Republicans – doing the bidding of their DC party bosses – are considering adopting a clearly racially gerrymandered, partisan map at the expense of their voters,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Commission (DCCC) said last week. Here are the Republicans whose districts would likely become unwinnable under the plan. DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST SAYS PARTY LACKS ‘MORAL AUTHORITY’ ON TEXAS REDISTRICTING FIGHT Rep. Doug Lamalfa’s northern congressional district is currently mostly rural, leading to a +17 Republican voter registration advantage. Under the proposed redistricting plan, however, that would swing to a +10 advantage for Democrats. This would be accomplished by reclassifying a vast section of the district’s northernmost territory. CALIFORNIA LAUNCHES REDISTRICTING FIGHT TO ‘NULLIFY’ TEXAS GOP PLAN, WITH DEMS POISED TO GAIN 5 SEATS Rep. Kevin Kiley’s third congressional district currently has a +6 Republican advantage by voter registration, but that would flip to a +8 Democrat advantage under the new plan. This is accomplished by stretching the district to include portions of the deep-blue suburbs around Sacramento. Rep. David Valadao is one of the few Republicans in California who was able to win a district that already has a slight Democratic advantage. Under the new plan, however, Democrats would tack a six-point advantage on top of the current voter registration match-up. Rep. Ken Calvert’s 41st congressional district would face a massive swing toward Democrats, with the GOP losing its voter registration advantage and Democrats picking up a +20 advantage. “64% of Californians oppose Gavin Newsom’s power grab. It’s clear there is bipartisan support for keeping the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission and not allowing politicians to draw their district maps behind closed doors to choose their voters,” Calvert wrote of the plan on X. Rep. Darrell Issa’s district would pick up a section of Calvert’s former district in Palm Springs, a deep blue voting area that promises to swing Issa’s district to a +4 Democrat advantage. Based on the 2024 presidential election, Issa’s district went +15 in favor of Trump, but under the new boundaries it would have gon +3 in favor of former Vice President Kamala Harris, according to the Cook Political Report. Of the five seats impacted, Valadao’s and Issa’s would be turned into lean-Democratic districts that may still be winnable by Republican candidates, but the others would be flipping firmly to the Democrats.
Conservative roadmap targets Medicaid, student loans for Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ sequel
FIRST ON FOX: A conservative think tank that played a key role in shaping President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” is circulating a new roadmap of recommendations for Republicans’ second act. The Economic Policy Innovation Center, which styles itself as “EPIC For America,” has been circulating a new memo with key congressional GOP figures in recent days, a source familiar with the group’s plans told Fox News Digital. The memo, which was obtained by Fox News Digital, advises lawmakers to broadly push for further Medicaid and regulatory reforms, crack down on federal dollars for government pensions and student loans, and use fiscal policy to extend conservative goals on abortion and transgender treatment. Passing Trump’s massive agenda bill despite razor-thin majorities in the House and Senate was a major victory for Republican leaders. EPIC, which hails the bill as a success, argues that continued reforms are needed for meaningful fiscal reform. GOP LAWMAKERS CLASH OVER STRATEGY TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CRISIS “Unfortunately, even with the victories for the American people in the OBBB, our work is far from done. We must rebuild an economy that truly works for every American, while protecting the nation’s financial foundation to ensure lasting resilience,” the memo said. “The federal government is rapidly running out of fiscal space. Maintaining sufficient fiscal space is critical in order to respond appropriately to a crisis. Without space between the fiscal limit and the current level of debt, elected officials will not have room to maneuver in the event of war, a natural disaster, or a recession.” On Medicaid, the memo advises further cuts to the cost-sharing burden on the federal government – known as the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) – for “large, wealthy states” as well as Washington, D.C. FMAP refers to the rate at which the federal government matches state Medicaid payments, which is currently 50%. The memo calls to “end the special Medicaid subsidy FMAP treatment” for D.C., whose minimum is 70%. Republicans’ first budget reconciliation bill reduced certain FMAP expansions permitted under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including for emergency care for states that provide Medicaid coverage to illegal immigrants. In turn, EPIC advises lawmakers to enhance personal and employer-based healthcare, like Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Medicaid cuts were one of the largest sticking points during talks for the initial bill and will likely be just as politically fraught for Republicans in the second round. Meanwhile, Democrats have been using those reforms as a political cudgel, accusing the GOP of trying to take healthcare from millions of Americans. But conservatives have viewed Medicaid as fraught with waste, fraud, and abuse – insisting their reforms better protect the program for vulnerable people who truly need it. The memo also advises congressional Republicans to use the budget reconciliation process to “reform federal bureaucrat compensation and retirement” and “eliminate public sector student loan forgiveness,” among other goals. On the social conservative policy front, EPIC appears to view an extension of the ban on taxpayer funds to abortion providers as critical to a second reconciliation bill. The first bill was viewed as a victory for pro-life advocates in its ban on Medicaid funds for large healthcare providers that perform abortions, which would affect Planned Parenthood and other similar organizations. But that ban is only effective for a year. THOM TILLIS ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM SENATE AFTER CLASH WITH TRUMP In a section titled “Protect Life and American Values,” EPIC urges lawmakers to “extend the prohibition of taxpayer funding for big abortion providers” as well as block Medicaid funds for gender transition care. It also calls on lawmakers to “invest in election security” and “impose an excise tax on higher education institutions that allow males to participate in women’s sports.” EPIC was founded by Paul Winfree, who served as director of budget policy during the first Trump administration. The group also has close ties to Capitol Hill, which it flexed during talks for Trump’s first agenda bill by both recommending policy initiatives and tailoring its advice through the various steps of the budget reconciliation process. 148 DEMOCRATS BACK NONCITIZEN VOTING IN DC AS GOP RAISES ALARM ABOUT FOREIGN AGENTS Budget reconciliation, which can be used three times during a given congressional term, allows the party in power to enact broad fiscal policy changes while sidelining the opposition – in this case, Democrats – by lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51. Brittany Madni, EPIC executive vice president and a former congressional aide, confirmed the memo’s veracity to Fox News Digital. She said the group would use the same “playbook” it did during the first reconciliation process. She said EPIC is looking to offer “an initial suggestion to lawmakers on what to target, and is readying to work with Republicans through the various steps of the process as details change and evolve.” “Mandatory spending reform is an essential target for actual fiscal change in order to stave off a debt spiral. This is why a second reconciliation bill building on the wins in the OBBB is important,” Madni said. Two sources told Fox News Digital that the group’s efforts so far have included a staff-level briefing with the Republican Study Committee (RSC), a 189-member-strong House GOP group that serves as its own de facto think tank for the Republican conference. Many of the aforementioned proposals were discussed at that meeting, Fox News Digital was told, with EPIC being invited to speak as part of the RSC’s new initiative to workshop a second reconciliation bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has already publicly stated his goal of passing further reconciliation bills. But what a second bill would look like is still unclear.
Veteran who served in Middle Eastern wars launches campaign against Sen. Susan Collins
More than a year before voters take to the polls, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has a new challenger. Early Tuesday morning, Graham Platner entered the race as a Democrat. The combat veteran served in the U.S. Army and Marine Corps during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, according to his online biography, and is now the owner-operator of Waukeag Neck Oyster Co. His campaign Facebook page says he is a “friend of the working Mainer, foe of the oligarchy.” He already has more than a dozen town halls scheduled across the New England state. “[E]very where I’ve gone, it seems like the fabric of what holds us together is being ripped apart by billionaires and corrupt politicians,” Platner, 40, said in a campaign launch video. SENATE DEMOCRATS ARE FEVERISHLY RECRUITING TOP CANDIDATES TO WIN BACK MAJORITY IN 2026 MIDTERMS “Profiting off of destroying our environment, driving our families into poverty and crushing the middle class,” he said. Platner went on to say he supports universal healthcare, aiding veterans and stopping funding for foreign wars. The video was produced by Morris Katz, a top advisor to the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, according to the New York Times. “Being a Bernie Bro and Kamala Harris donor is a profile to appeal to Portland progressives, not centrist and conservative voters in rural Maine,” Jason Savage, the executive director of the Maine Republican Party said, according to the Times. TRUMP ALLY MIKE COLLINS LAUNCH KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE BID TO FLIP DEMOCRAT-HELD SENATE SEAT Platner, a political newcomer, told Politico that he also brought on Joe Cavello, a former senior aide to Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., to help with his campaign. “To call me a liberal, I think is fairly amusing. I mean, I’m a competitive pistol shooter. That’s what I do on the weekends,” he told the media outlet. “I’m a firearms instructor. I spent multiple years, obviously, in the service utilizing firearms. I also grew up in rural Maine, where guns are a part of our existence.” The Democratic challenger list against Collins is growing, and reports say those already in office are trying to tap Janet Mills, the state’s 77-year-old Democratic governor, for the seat. Republicans currently control the majority of the Senate by a 53-47 margin. Democrats would need to flip four seats in the 2026 midterm elections to take the majority. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP A spokesperson for Collins told Fox News Digital that Platner is “just another progressive entering the race.”