Federal judge blasts Rubio’s 75-country visa freeze as ‘Orwellian,’ strikes down policy
A federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s freeze on immigrant visas from 75 countries Friday, ruling Secretary of State Marco Rubio lacked the legal authority to order denials for applicants otherwise found eligible to enter the United States. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, a Biden appointee in Manhattan, vacated the State Department policy and any visa refusals based solely on it, directing the government to revisit those cases. “The Court holds that the Policy is contrary to law and was issued in excess of Secretary Rubio’s statutory authority,” Vargas wrote in her 61-page opinion. The State Department enacted the policy in January, suspending immigrant visa issuance to nationals of 75 countries the department deemed at high risk of becoming dependent on public benefits. The list spans Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. BOASBERG DELIVERS FRESH IMMIGRATION SETBACK TO TRUMP IN FREE-SPEECH CLASH Rubio’s policy instructed consular officers to review each applicant individually. But even applicants who passed that review showed “additional evidence that demonstrates he or she overcomes the public charge refusal” and had no other reason to be denied were still refused visas if they came from one of the 75 designated countries. “While the Policy permits consular officers to exercise their normal functions up to a point, whatever determinations they make as to eligibility for the applicants subject to the Policy are ultimately irrelevant,” Vargas wrote. “The outcome is predetermined. The visa will be refused.” The judge said the directive effectively imposed a nationality-based ban on immigrants from nearly 40% of the world’s countries and sidelined the consular officers Congress charged with deciding whether individual applicants qualify for visas. FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN TRUMP’S $100K H-1B VISA FEE, RULING IT AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL TAX “The Policy thus displaces consular officers from the role Congress assigned them in the visa issuance process,” Vargas wrote. “In addition to its other defects, the Policy also exceeds the statutory authority that the INA vests in the Secretary of State,” Vargas continued. “Specifically, Secretary Rubio’s Cable directing consular officers that they ‘must refuse’ immigrant visas to nationals of certain countries cannot be reconciled with Congress’s express limitation on his authority as Secretary of State.” The Trump administration argued the refusals were lawful because officers formally issued them under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, an existing provision governing visa refusals. Vargas rejected that rationale, saying the government had failed to identify a law allowing an officer to deny a visa to an applicant already found eligible. “The Government engages in what is best described as an exercise in Orwellian logic,” Vargas wrote. She found the policy violated the INA’s bar on nationality-based discrimination in immigrant-visa issuance, as well as provisions allowing visa refusals only when an applicant is legally ineligible. The administration’s approach, she wrote, drew “pernicious distinctions based upon nationality.” Vargas also rejected the administration’s argument that the policy preserved consular officers’ authority because they still entered the denials themselves. “The fact that the mandatory visa refusal is ultimately effectuated by the consular officer hardly means that the consular officer’s role in the statutory scheme has not been usurped,” she wrote. TRUMP ADMIN SUED OVER VISA TIME RESTRICTIONS FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS, JOURNALISTS The judge distinguished the policy from the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling upholding Trump’s first-term travel ban. That case involved presidential authority over who may enter the country, Vargas noted, while this case centered on whether the State Department could refuse immigrant visas to applicants otherwise eligible under the law. The ruling does not invalidate visa denials based on other independent grounds of ineligibility, but it wipes out refusals based solely on the 75-country freeze and returns those cases to the government for further proceedings consistent with the decision. The lawsuit was brought by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC); African Communities Together (ACT), a Harlem-based immigrant advocacy group; five prospective employment-based immigrants; and six U.S. citizens seeking to bring family members to the country. Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment.
FBI asked ‘Sammy the Bull’ if ex-Gambino mob prosecutor Comey knew meaning of ’86’: court filing
The FBI interviewed Salvatore Gravano, the former underboss of the Gambino crime family known as “Sammy the Bull,” to ask if ex-FBI Director James Comey likely knew what the term “86” means, according to court documents. Gravano, who had familiarity with Comey due to Comey’s role as the lead prosecutor in United States v. John Gambino et al. in the 1990s, told an FBI case agent during a May 2026 phone call that Comey “had to know” what 86 meant, according to a sworn affidavit from his lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald supporting Comey’s motions to dismiss the case. Comey is facing a case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Eastern Division, accusing him of threatening President Donald Trump through his May 2025 “86 47” seashell Instagram post. JAMES COMEY ’86 47′ SEASHELL CASE PROSECUTOR SUDDENLY STEPS DOWN, ASSISTANT US ATTORNEY STEPS IN “On May 8, 2026, the case agent had a telephone conversation with Salvatore ‘Sammy the Bull’ Gravano, the former Gambino crime family underboss who was one of the cooperating witnesses at the United States v. John Gambino trial,” the affidavit, filed last month, states. “During the telephone conversation to discuss the logistics of his forthcoming interview, Mr. Gravano stated his belief that Mr. Comey had to know what the term ’86’ meant ‘as it related to killing someone.’” The U.S. Department of Justice brought two federal charges against Comey of threatening the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce in April for a social media post Comey made displaying a photo of seashells arranged on a beach to say “86 47.” BLANCHE TURNS THE TABLES ON COMEY INDICTMENT CRITICS: ‘REST ASSURED’ CASE GOES BEYOND INSTAGRAM POST Prosecutors alleged the photo was a reference to killing Trump, with “86” referring to a slang term for killing and “47” referring to Trump as the 47th U.S. president. Comey’s defense lawyer cited the FBI’s interview with Gravano to challenge the claim that Comey’s Gambino prosecution meant he understood “86” as a reference to killing. Though Gravano told agents Comey “had to know” the term’s mob meaning, he said he did not recall ever discussing it with Comey. The filing also says FBI searches of the Gambino case materials found no references to “86.” “During the recorded interview, which lasted 25 minutes, Gravano said that ’86’ generally means to ‘get rid of’ and to him, as a ‘gangster,’ it means ‘to kill,’” the affidavit said. SAMMY GRAVANO REVEALS THE MOMENT HE DECIDED TO COOPERATE WITH THE GOVERNMENT AGAINST JOHN GOTTI “While Gravano claimed that the post was a call for violence against President Trump (‘let’s kill Trump’), Gravano did not claim Mr. Comey’s seashell post to be a statement threatening that Mr. Comey would personally kill President Trump,” the affidavit says. Comey has claimed that he found — and did not arrange — the seashell display and did not realize some people interpreted “86 47” as a violent message. FORMER FBI AGENT SAYS COMEY CHARGES HINGE ON INTENT EVIDENCE AND JURY INTERPRETATION “I don’t see it the way some people are still saying it is, but again, I don’t want any part of any violence. I’ve never been associated with violence, and so that’s why I took it down,” Comey told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace in May 2025, alluding to the fact that he removed the post shortly after putting it up on Instagram. Comey said he didn’t think it had any dark intentions. “I actually didn’t think of it as political speech by me, but I thought, ‘What a clever way to express a political view.’ The shells were the same color for each of the letters. … It took a lot of work. “Somebody with artistic flair did that, and I have a hard time believing it was anybody with a dark intention, and it certainly was no dark intention on my part or my spouse’s part.” Fox News Digital contacted the FBI and a legal representative for Comey for further comment.
The Will of 100: Trump’s SAVE America Act sidelined after Senate unanimously agreed to August exit
The Senate has been out of session for about two weeks. It’s convened in brief “pro forma” sessions for just a couple of moments on four occasions since senators called it quits for more than a month at 4:57 a.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 8. Pro forma sessions are where the Senate huddles for just a few seconds, gaveling in and gaveling out with a skeleton crew. It’s rare that more than one senator is even in the chamber. The Senate truly isn’t back for debate and votes until the afternoon of Monday, Sept. 15. REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: INSIDE THE SENATE SHOWDOWN OVER TRUMP’S PUSH TO SCRAP AUGUST RECESS But what about all of that sturm and drang about “cancelling the August recess?” Remember that President Donald Trump and conservatives – ranging from Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to Rick Scott, R-Fla. – wanted the Senate to remain in session for the month to debate the SAVE America Act. That’s the chief legislative demand of Trump. It requires voter ID and proof of citizenship to vote. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., was on the floor when the Senate cut town a little more than two weeks ago. Did Thune hornswoggle his fellow Republicans into recessing the Senate for five weeks in the dead of night? Hardly. In fact even those Republicans who would have liked senators to remain in Washington to debate the SAVE America Act were in on Thune’s plan, allowing the Senate to abandon town for most of August and nearly half of September. Huh? Believe it or not, Thune and all other 99 senators agreed to leave Washington. In fact, that’s the only way it could have happened. The Senate was meeting at 2:07 a.m. that Saturday, on the verge of commencing a vote series to confirm Attorney General Todd Blanche and approve the Russia sanctions bill. That’s when Thune asked the following on the Senate floor: “When the Senate completes its business on Aug. 8, to meet for pro forma sessions only at 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. 8 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026,” requested Thune. The majority leader then continued, rattling off a host of dates on Mondays and Thursdays for the Senate to convene in those pro forma sessions. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, was presiding over the Senate at the time. “Without objection?” asked Moreno of the body when Thune concluded. There was none. INSIDE THE SENATE’S CHAOTIC ALL-NIGHTER THAT LEFT TRUMP’S SAVE AMERICA ACT ON THE SHELF In other words, the Senate would soon depart Washington. There would be no August debate about the SAVE America Act. The Senate would simply meet for abbreviated sessions over the next few weeks. And shortly before 5 a.m., Thune requested the following from the floor: “Madam President, I ask unanimous consent when the Senate adjourns on Thursday, Sept. 10, it stand adjourned until 3 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14. And following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved and the Morning Hour be deemed expired,” asked Thune. The South Dakota Republican then threw in some more boilerplate, parliamentary language, to tee up a test vote on an unresolved cryptocurrency regulation bill for the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 15. “Without objection,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wy., who was presiding over the Senate at that ungodly hour. Thune paused briefly. But no one said boo from the floor. That’s because the chamber was bereft of senators — except for Thune and Lummis. Everyone bailed and was heading for the airport. “Madam President, if there’s no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order,” Thune asked. “The Senate stands adjourned until 10 a.m. ET on Monday,” declared Lummis, rapping the Senate’s unique hourglass shaped gavel on the dais. No objection. No roll call vote. The Senate was done. So let me filet this for you. The Senate conducts much of its business via “unanimous consent.” The Senate is a body of equals. All 100 senators wield nearly the same power. The Senate relies on “unanimous consent,” the blessing of all 100 members, to conduct quotidian tasks, like going in and out of session or what time to meet. The Senate occasionally approves bills — sometimes even big ones — by unanimous consent if all senators agree. But unanimous consent is just that. All 100 members must be on the same page. And if you have 99 senators in agreement and one holdout, well, that’s not unanimous consent. All it takes is the objection of a solitary member to sidetrack a “unanimous consent” request on the floor. And note that despite the advocacy by some Republican senators for the body to remain in session during August, no one lodged an objection. That’s because Thune pre-baked a series of unanimous consent requests offstage before he came to the floor. Late in the evening of Friday, Aug. 7, Thune ran what’s called a “hotline” in the Senate. He proposed a series of votes to confirm Blanche, OK Russia sanctions and consider a few other items. If any senator had a problem with Thune’s hotline, they should let leadership know before 11:30 p.m. that night. Otherwise, Thune would go to the floor and “propound” the unanimous consent request for the upcoming vote sequence. Thune would also propound a unanimous consent request for what the Senate would address when members returned in September, This package included a plan for those aforementioned pro forma sessions. And, for the Senate to hold off on any votes until Monday, night, Sept. 14. Thune also locked in the procedural vote on the cryptocurrency measure for Sept. 15. Anyone could have objected offstage. They didn’t. That would have scuttled the entire enterprise. Anyone could have objected on the Senate floor when Thune made the unanimous consent requests in real time. That didn’t happen either. That’s why both Moreno and Lummis asked the body if there was “an objection.” Or, they declared “without objection, so
USPS publishes rule to block mail-in ballots from states that don’t provide voter lists
The United States Postal Service (USPS) published a rule Friday that would require states to provide lists of voters who received mail-in ballots to the agency. The USPS rule, first proposed on June 2, moves to align the agency with President Donald Trump’s March 31 executive order, which, among other things, ordered the agency to mandate that all states that plan to use USPS to send mail-in ballots notify the agency at least 90 days before an election and to send USPS a list of eligible voters the state plans on providing a mail-in ballot to at least 60 days before the election. “Any state that intends to receive mail-in or absentee ballots from individual voters through the Postal Service must ensure that such individuals have been enrolled with the Postal Service for inclusion on the state’s Mail-In and Absentee Participation List,” the new rule reads. In order for an individual to be included on the list, their state must submit to the USPS the individual’s name and address and include a “uniquely serialized Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb)” on both the outbound federal ballot and the return ballot sent to the individual. DHS PLANS COSTLY CRACKDOWN ON STATES THAT DON’T COOPERATE ON ELECTION SECURITY The finalized rule, however, cannot go into effect under an outstanding federal injunction against Trump’s March executive order. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama, issued an initial preliminary injunction against the executive order in June, ruling that two sections – including the section pertaining to USPS and mail-in ballots – were unconstitutional. In July, siding with the plaintiffs in League of Women Voters of Massachusetts v. Trump, Talwani renewed the injunction, barring the USPS from enacting the rule. DHS APPROVES PLAN TO VERIFY VOTER CITIZENSHIP, MONITOR MAIL BALLOTS AS TRUMP PUSH INTENSIFIES The rule, which USPS will officially publish on Aug. 26, would only take effect for the upcoming midterm elections if a federal court lifted its injunction on Trump’s executive order. In a filed opposition to the renewal of the injunction, the Trump administration argued that the judicial review was premature under the ripeness doctrine, claiming that the plaintiffs cannot demonstrate any harm from the proposed law until it takes effect. “Plaintiffs cannot demonstrate they suffer any particularized injury from ongoing policymaking deliberations within the Executive Branch. Instead, their concern is with possible ‘action that the [government] might take in the future,’ the objection, filed by the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division, read. USPS Postmaster General David Steiner defended the rule when it was first proposed in June, arguing that the USPS is making sure “we match the ballots that a state believes they’re sending out to what actually gets sent out.” USPS WOULDN’T DELIVER BALLOTS IN STATES THAT REFUSE TO FORK OVER MAIL-IN VOTER INFO UNDER PROPOSED RULE After the most recent injunction was issued, White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said, “The entire Trump Administration will continue lawfully enacting the agenda President Trump was elected to enact – which includes the safety and security of American elections.” Fox News Digital contacted the White House, the DOJ, USPS and the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts for further comment. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Teacher who battled union fears she’s being targeted after shirt complaint: ‘I’m afraid’
Stacy Adair, an award-winning teacher from Colorado, is facing scrutiny after a complaint that accused her of spreading anti-transgender messaging by wearing an “XX ≠ XY” chromosome t-shirt to a professional development training event earlier this month. “They get an anonymous complaint — nobody said anything that day,” Adair, who was named teacher of the year at the 2025 Teacher Freedom Summit, said. “I would say people don’t even know what it means, honestly.” “I told one of my friends that yesterday about getting in trouble and she goes, ‘that’s math.’ I said, ‘well, no, it’s actually genetics.’” A week after the meeting, Adair was called in, given a questionnaire about why she had worn the shirt and was instructed not to wear clothing with controversial messaging going forward. The reprimand has made Adair fearful for her job and worried that she might receive heightened scrutiny down the road. But beyond her individual case, onlookers like Ryan Walters, the CEO of the Teachers Freedom Alliance (TFA), an organization advocating for alternatives to teacher unions, believe her situation is emblematic of larger power struggles in schools over ideology. EXCLUSIVE: INDIANA SCHOOL COUNSELOR FIRED FOR SPEAKING OUT ON GENDER IDENTITY POLICY SETTLES LAWSUIT FOR $200K “It’s not an isolated incident,” Walters said. “These are the types of teachers that when you talk to parents around the country, they go, ‘I want my kids in a teacher’s class like that.’ And yet you see the way that they’re treated by the districts.” Adair’s case began when she selected one of her many “word” shirts to the professional development event — a routine training for teachers during the back-to-school season. She noted that her shirts aren’t out of the ordinary for her. In fact, she threw on a “Math facts” t-shirt to meet a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet — Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. She noted that the school district has a policy against apparel that is political or “disruptive to the educational environment.” But Adair said she didn’t see her shirt as overtly political or disruptive — especially as there were no students present at the training event. “I mean I just grab a shirt I feel like wearing that day,” Adair said. “I just wear these shirts because they’re facts. I just feel like someone has to be stating the truth,” she added. Asked why she thinks she might face future repercussions for the XX ≠ XY shirt, Adair said she’s been expecting this for some time. Long before the write-up, she helped strip the teacher union’s grip on her district. JONATHAN TURLEY: ARKANSAS SCHOOLS TEACHERS UNIONS AND PROVES EDUCATION CAN BE IMPROVED In 2021, she helped topple two members of her school board who were backed by the union. Without them, the board allowed the district’s contract with the teachers union to lapse by not voting to renew it. “It basically dictated how the administration could run the school district,” Adair said of the contract. “So, if the superintendent wanted to pay teachers extra money for having better scores or outcomes, he had to ask the union first. The union basically controlled the school district rather than the elected board.” Since helping flip the seats and speaking out against the union’s influence, Adair said she has felt like there was a target on her back — sometimes literally. “One time a local plumber wrote me a veiled, threatening email to my district email right after I went against the union during a school speech on a Wednesday night,” Adair said. “And I got to school, and district security had to have me file a police report.” “You don’t mess around with the union. So, am I surprised? No. Yes, I’m afraid. I know this is the beginning of them coming after me,” she added. Adair noted that she doesn’t have evidence that the teachers unions are behind the anonymous tip that sparked the review. NEWLY ELECTED SEATTLE TEACHERS UNION PRESIDENT UNDER INVESTIGATION OVER ALLEGED ABUSE OF AUTISTIC CHILD Even so, Walters, the CEO of the Teachers Freedom Alliance, said it is emblematic of some of the pressure he’s seen firsthand in other cases across the country applied to teachers who question their authority. He believes cases like Adair’s are a key reason he says schools have become proxies for political control. “It’s like, well, you tally up these types of incidents across the country over two decades and guess what you’ve got? You’ve got a lack of other viewpoints in the staff and the employees,” Walters said. “And so that’s where we’ve seen this ideology being pushed in schools, even in red states where people go, ‘how did this happen?’ Well, take this incident, multiply it by a thousand and apply it on a daily basis.”
WATCH: Father of three outraged over advice his family received amid trans teacher fight
Parents at a North Carolina elementary school are fighting for the ability to keep their children in public school while opting them out of a music class taught by a transgender teacher, as one father says critics have responded by telling families to homeschool instead. The dispute at Middle Creek Elementary School in Wake County has centered on parents who say they were not given advance notice about the teacher and want an alternative for children whose families object on religious or personal grounds. Parents speaking before the school board this week said children have come home “upset, confused and uncomfortable,” while others said requests for alternatives have been ignored or dismissed and called on the district to provide an opt-out. The controversy spilled into a heated Wake County Board of Education meeting Tuesday, where speakers were sharply divided over whether accommodating those families amounts to protecting parental rights or discriminating against a teacher because of gender identity. One speaker argued that religious and conscientious exemptions effectively amount to parents demanding that their children not encounter people they dislike, while others said families should not have to leave the public-school system to avoid a class they object to. PORTLAND PARENT BANNED FROM SCHOOL EVENTS AFTER OPPOSING GENDER IDENTITY ASSIGNMENT FILES LAWSUIT Aaron Driver, a father of three children at Middle Creek Elementary and member of Middle Creek Parental Rights, told the board that parents “shouldn’t have to pass an ideological test to participate in public education.” “Here’s what our detractors are telling us,” Driver said. “You don’t support school hiring a trans teacher. Maybe public school isn’t for you or your family. Maybe homeschool. Maybe private school.” BRAZIL PARENTS FACE PRISON SENTENCE FOR HOMESCHOOLING AFTER COURT ACCUSES THEM OF ‘INTELLECTUAL NEGLECT’ “That’s right,” he continued. “Maybe pay taxes into the school system and then pay again to escape from it.” Later in the meeting, another public commenter, Katrina Day, offered a striking response from the other side of the fight, proposing a free homeschooling curriculum because it would “keep the bigots away from my grandchildren.” She also suggested the district “relocate the children of bigots if needed” or “expel the children of bigots if needed.” The fight at Middle Creek has been building prior to Tuesday’s contentious board meeting. State Rep. Erin Paré, R-Wake, publicly raised concerns in late July after hearing from parents about the possibility of a transgender teacher at their southern Wake County elementary school, floating the possibility of a state law requiring sex-based professional attire for public-school employees, according to WRAL. Parents opposed to the arrangement have framed their objections as a request for advance notice and alternatives rather than a personal attack on the teacher. During Tuesday’s meeting, one speaker said parents should receive “advanced notice and the option to opt out” when a teacher’s presentation conflicts with their religious or personal beliefs, while another said families had requested alternatives and called on the board to “provide reasonable alternatives to families who object.”
Dem Senate hopeful racked up hundreds of missed votes during stops at multiple taxpayer serving jobs
FIRST ON FOX: Democratic Senate nominee and former Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, missed nearly one in five votes in the Alaska House of Representatives and more than a third of Bethel City Council meetings during her time in office, records show. Peltola missed 794 of 4,265 state House votes, or 18.6%, during her five terms from 1999 to 2009, according to legislative records, and 22 of 60 city council meetings, or 36.67% from 2011 to 2013, according to city records. Her attendance record is now raising questions about her commitment to public service as she advances to Alaska’s four-candidate general election, a closely watched race that could affect control of the U.S. Senate. “Alaskans deserve an all-the-time workhorse like Dan Sullivan, not someone like Peltola who knifes Alaskans in the back when she even bothers to show up,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Nick Poche said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital. MORNING GLORY: ALASKA’S ‘REAL’ SENATOR DAN SULLIVAN STOOD UP OVER CHALLENGER Records show Peltola’s highest number of absences came during the 23rd Legislature from 2003 to 2004, when she missed 334 of 1,019 Alaska House votes. She also missed nine of 22 council meetings in 2013 and 11 of 32 council meetings in 2012, according to city records. Peltola has also faced criticism from conservatives for missing votes while serving in the United States Congress from 2022-2024 where she missed 235 of 1,370 roll-call votes, or 17.2%, according to GovTrack data. In addition to missed votes, Peltola’s critics have also pointed to her time in Congress not resulting in any bills or resolutions for which she was the primary sponsor becoming law, compared to Sullivan who has had several bills signed into law. “She couldn’t even get a single bill signed into law,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) posted on X in January. “Now, she wants a promotion.” In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Peltola campaign spokesperson defended the absences, saying Peltola, a mother of seven, took maternity leave after giving birth to three of her children while serving in the state House. The spokesperson added that, excluding excused absences, Peltola missed only about 6% of votes and continued to advance bipartisan measures throughout her tenure. “Three of Mary’s children were born during her time in the state legislature and she took maternity leave. That didn’t stop her from working hard for Alaskans, from passing bills to improve public safety in rural Alaska to increasing Alaska energy production,” the Peltola campaign said. The campaign also said Peltola spent summers at fish camp and that some city council absences occurred during fishing months or because of other council priorities. GOP SENATOR, EX-HOUSE DEM EMERGE FROM ALASKA’S ‘JUNGLE PRIMARY’ DESPITE FAR-LEFT MEDDLING Turning to Sullivan’s attendance record, the spokesperson said he has missed a significant number of votes and committee hearings, calling his absences “an insult to Alaskans” and saying that Sullivan has been “slacking off” missing fisheries subcommittee hearings. Peltola announced her Senate bid in January to represent Alaska and unseat two-term Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who is backed by President Donald Trump and also advanced to the general election in November. She finished ahead of Sullivan in Tuesday’s primary. FOUR MONTHS TO MIDTERMS: 12 RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE MAJORITY Peltola announced her Senate bid in January to represent Alaska and unseat two-term Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who is backed by President Donald Trump and also advanced to the general election in November. She finished ahead of Sullivan in Tuesday’s primary. Alaska’s unique election system uses a nonpartisan top-four primary, in which candidates from all parties appear on the same ballot, followed by ranked-choice voting in the general election.
Democrats face ‘do-or-die’ split with key voting bloc in razor-close Senate race
DETROIT — After falling just 20,000 votes shy of winning the U.S. Senate election in battleground Michigan two years ago, Republican Mike Rogers is urging Democrats, including Jewish voters, to cross party lines and vote for him as he makes a second straight Senate bid. After a combustible and divisive Democratic Senate primary in which Abdul El-Sayed narrowly edged more moderate Rep. Haley Stevens for the nomination, Rogers is heavily courting Democrats disaffected with their left-wing nominee as he works to flip a must-hold seat for the Democrats in the midterm elections. A key part of Rogers’ pitch is directed toward Jewish Democrats, who are uneasy with El–Sayed’s vocal criticism of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and who are outraged by El-Sayed’s association with controversial online streamer Hasan Piker, who has repeatedly railed against Israel to his massive online audience. “I usually vote Democrat, but I’m going to be voting for Mike Rogers,” Rabbi Asher Lopatin said as he stood next to Rogers this week as the former congressman and former FBI agent unveiled his Democrats for Mike coalition at a campaign event on Detroit’s west side. DEMOCRATS ‘WHO NEVER VOTED REPUBLICAN’ BACKING THIS GOP SENATE NOMINEE A former Wayne County Health Department director, El-Sayed, if elected in November, would make history as the nation’s first Muslim senator. The epidemiologist who unsuccessfully ran for governor as an insurgent candidate in 2018 has made support for Medicare-for-all a major component of his campaign and has also called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But it’s El-Sayed’s stance and comments on Israel that have offended some Jewish people in Michigan, a state that also has a large Arab and Muslim population. El-Sayed used the word “bloodthirsty” to characterize Israel’s military moves in Gaza in an MS NOW interview this month and accused Israeli leadership of genocide against Palestinians. He has argued against unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel, as have other progressive politicians. And El-Sayed has repeatedly declined to directly answer whether Israel has the right to exist. But El-Sayed has also stated that he stands “in solidarity with my Jewish sisters and brothers” to “condemn antisemitism.” Lopatin, a rabbi in suburban Detroit who has made trips to the Middle East in search of peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors, argued that El-Sayed “has shown contempt for the Jewish community and, frankly, for American values by making Hasan Piker, a vicious antisemite and racist, his campaign surrogate and somebody he buddies up with.” Piker, who endorsed El-Sayed in the nomination battle, appeared at some of the candidate’s campaign events, including the primary night party in Detroit. Piker, who has repeatedly stood by his comments critical of Israel, was also with El-Sayed at a party in Detroit on the eve of the primary. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB “I do have a lot of issues with a lot of policies of the Trump administration,” Lopatin told Fox News Digital. “But it’s more important to make a statement that we cannot let someone like Abdul El-Sayed get into the Senate.” Lopatin said Jewish voters who “normally vote Democrat are going to vote for Mike Rogers, and I’m hearing that. And there’s a growing movement like that. And I think the more they meet him … the more they’re going to feel comfortable voting for a Republican, sometimes for the first time in their lives.” Stacy, a Jewish voter from suburban Detroit who asked that only her first name be used, told Fox News Digital she’s also going to vote for Rogers. “The Democratic Party is going way too far to the left for us moderates,” Stacy, who backed Stevens in the Senate primary, emphasized. Asked specifically about her party’s nominee, Stacy said, “Abdul El-Sayed has been campaigning by putting a target on all Jews’ backs.” CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL IN MICHIGAN’S BLOCKBUSTER SENATE RACE Some Jewish leaders in Michigan are circulating an open letter urging Jewish Democrats and independents in the Great Lakes battleground state to sign their names in support of Rogers. The news was first reported this week by the Jewish Insider and confirmed by Fox News Digital. “This is sort of a do-or-die moment,” a person involved with the letter who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely told Fox News Digital. “There are many lifelong Democrats who are feeling homeless. … It’s not just a leftward drift but has turned into an anti-Jewish drift as well.” But Joan Lowenstein, endorsement chair of the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus, doesn’t condone the letter and told Fox News Digital her group is keeping its distance. “We are a part of the Michigan Democratic Party, and are not going to advocate that anyone vote for a Republican,” she said. But Lowenstein, who also sits on the Michigan Democratic Party Central Committee, said those behind the letter “are passionate about this and feel it’s an existential issue, and I think that represents a lot of people. And, so, they have to do what they have to do. “It’s sort of 50/50. Half the people I talk to say, ‘I could never vote for Abdul El-Sayed because of things he’s said about Israel and, consequentially, the Jewish community. And the other 50% say ‘it is so important for Jews as Americans to have an Democratic Senate that I could never vote for Mike Rogers.’” Rogers and El-Sayed are running to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. The race is among a dozen that will determine if the Democrats win back the Senate majority from the GOP. Rogers, in an interview with Fox News Digital, reiterated that he’s not asking Democratic voters to become Republicans. And he highlighted concerns he’s heard from Democratic Jewish voters in Michigan. WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE MIDTERM RACES SHOW “I’ve talked to two young women who were at University of Michigan who were afraid to walk to class. They couldn’t display their Star
Klobuchar’s fraud fight claim takes hit after GOP opponent combs through receipts: ‘Where were you?’
Minnesota Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Klobuchar is facing heat from her Republican opponent and critics on social media for campaigning on addressing the massive fraud scandal in her state despite not mentioning it a single time in any press release since the crisis emerged. A Fox News Digital review found that Klobuchar’s Senate office repeatedly issued press releases addressing other forms of fraud between 2022 and 2025, but a review of 1,000 of her official press-release archive found no release directly addressing or offering solutions to fix Minnesota’s sprawling social-services fraud scandal or Feeding Our Future. The $250 million Feeding Our Future scandal, that has ballooned into an overall social services scandal that prosecutors say could total over $9 billion, broke in late January of 2022. In more than 1,000 press releases from Klobuchar’s office from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2025, the Feeding our Future scandal was not mentioned in Klobuchar’s releases, nor were the terms “Minnesota fraud,” “social services fraud,” “Medicaid fraud,” “autism fraud,” “Housing Stabilization Services,” “child nutrition fraud,” “DHS fraud,” or “nonprofit fraud.” “As Feeding Our Future was breaking and all of the fraud that was being talked about, the absent voice that I was noticing was Senator Klobuchar,” Minnesota Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth told Fox News Digital in an interview on Friday. FINAL WALZ FRAUD REPORT RIPS ‘CULTURE OF TOLERANCE’ AS MINNESOTA TAXPAYERS FACE BILLIONS IN ALLEGED LOSSES “She with her extended time, twenty years as a senator, could have held hearings but not only did she not hold hearings, the hearing that took place a few months ago about fraud here in the state of Minnesota she didn’t even attend and so i think that speaks very loudly to the people of Minnesota that we have a twenty-year senator, the most explosive fraud that has taken place a theft of our tax dollars here and yet, there was no mention.” Demuth drew attention to the Klobuchar press releases not mentioning the scandal earlier this week during a speech where she released her plan to fight fraud and criticized Klobuchar for not doing enough. “Billions of our tax dollars stolen,” Demuth posted on X. “It’s time for change.” Since announcing her run for governor, Klobuchar has focused on fraud, including in a campaign ad released earlier this month promising a state audit on her first day in office that will “root out waste fraud and abuse.” “It’s time for results, not excuses,” Klobuchar posted on X. MINNESOTA AG ELLISON LASHES OUT WHEN GRILLED ON FRAUD SCANDAL: ‘I’M DONE TALKING TO YOU’ Klobuchar breezed through the primary election and heads to November as the favorite to replace Gov. Tim Walz, who dropped his re-election bid amid the fraud scandal, but Demuth says that voters will have a hard time ignoring Klobuchar’s record on combatting fraud as well as her ties to Walz. “My question is, where were you for the last 10 years, but absolutely the last eight years?” Demuth said. “She could have done press conferences, she could have partnered with Governor Walz. She has called Governor Walz an exceptional governor, ‘he’s a great governor.’ Back when he was running for vice president, she was giving all of his accolades. Where was she to help him where our state was falling apart? I think it’s a little bit too late for her to say that this was really a priority.” Republican candidates in Minnesota have been making the case that voters of all political parties are motivated and upset by the fraud scandal, including Senate hopeful Michele Tafoya who told Fox News Digital earlier this month that voters are “ready for a change.” Demuth touted her fraud efforts in the legislature and said that as soon as she became Minnesota House Speaker in 2025 she immediately took steps to make sure cracking down on fraud was front and center, including setting up the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee. “Who are Minnesotans gonna trust for their next governor?” Demuth said. “Somebody that has just decided to talk about fraud now that they’re running for office or someone that has been fighting fraud this entire time? And I think I am the most trustworthy when it comes to ending fraud and respecting taxpayer dollars as your next governor.” Fox News Digital reached out to Klobuchar’s campaign for comment.
Senator launches assault on illegal immigration gaps as GOP races midterm clock to lock in key wins
EXCLUSIVE: Republicans risk seeing some of President Donald Trump’s signature immigration priorities erased by a future Democratic administration unless Congress acts now to lock them into law, Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital as he presses the Senate to take up a package of seven immigration bills. Banks said his immigration package is needed as Republicans approach the midterms with control of Congress at stake and a shrinking window to deliver legislative wins to voters. The bills target birthright citizenship, visas, commercial driver’s licenses and other immigration policies Banks wants Congress to codify. “I don’t just fear a Democrat majority. I fear a Democrat-Socialist majority because the [DSA] who control today’s Democrat Party support wide open borders, they support eliminating ICE, they are anti law enforcement, they want to defund the police,” Banks said. While current Senate Democratic leaders are not aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, Banks argued a future Democratic-led Senate would be “owned by the socialist wing of their party.” TRUMP ADMIN INVESTIGATING 75 TRUCK DRIVER SCHOOLS FOR FRAUD, HELPING NON-CITIZENS GET LICENSES “I cannot believe that the Democrats are so radical and extreme today that they’re OK with what’s happened to our country [with] illegals taking jobs for Americans or allowing illegals to be behind the wheel of semi-trucks,” Banks said, pointing to his “Dalilah Law.” The bill honors Dalilah Coleman, a first-grader who was critically injured when an illegal immigrant driving a big rig caused a multi-car pileup on an Indiana highway. Partap Singh, an Indian national licensed in California, was driving the truck. Coleman suffered catastrophic injuries, spent months in the hospital and had a craniectomy. The Dalilah Law, described by supporters as the CDL equivalent of the Laken Riley Act, would require states to stop providing commercial driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants and certain foreign nationals. It would also require states to revoke certain existing licenses and administer commercial driving tests only in English. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKERS ACCUSED OF MOWING DOWN AMERICANS IGNITE FURY OVER LOOPHOLES UNLEASHING DEADLY ROADS Banks compared the CDL measure to Congress’ Reagan-era push to raise the drinking age by threatening federal transportation funds. He argued that several Hoosiers have been injured or killed in crashes involving foreign drivers licensed by “states that hand CDLs out like candy,” including California, Pennsylvania and New York. He also wants Congress to take greater control over Temporary Protected Status authority, which he said previous Democratic administrations abused. “If we legislate it and give Congress power to determine when TPS is appropriate when it’s not, then we’ll be able to address these issues long after President Trump leaves the White House,” Banks said. ILLEGAL TRUCKER CASES FUEL GOP PUSH TO CRACK DOWN ON CDL MILLS AS DEMS LARGELY SILENT The American Tech Workforce Act would raise the minimum salary threshold for many H-1B visa positions from $60,000 to $150,000. Experts have said the change would significantly alter incentives for companies seeking to hire young foreign workers. Immigration attorneys argued Banks’ bill would make the U.S. “far less attractive as a study destination” and encourage foreign talent to look to Canada instead. “Many employers would be unable or unwilling to meet this threshold, effectively limiting H-1B hiring to top tech companies or highly specialized roles,” Texas firm Reddy Neumann & Brown said on its website. AMERICA’S BROKEN LEGAL IMMIGRATION SYSTEM IS REPLACING US WORKERS BY DESIGN Proponents have argued such changes would give American graduates a better chance of entering the job market after college. Other bills in the package would provide additional border security funding to the War Department, restrict chain migration and target grants to colleges employing illegal immigrants. “These seven bills are common sense, everything from stopping illegals from driving semi-trucks to banning birthright citizenship, to stopping chain migration, to cracking down on those who misuse the H-1B visas for cheap labor,” Banks said. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Fox News Digital reached out to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., for comment on the package and to ask whether any of the bills will be expedited ahead of the midterms. Fox News Digital’s Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.