DOJ backs Texas in Supreme Court fight over Republican-drawn map
The Department of Justice threw its support behind Texas on Monday, arguing the new map the state’s Republican-led legislature approved was not an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Solicitor General John Sauer, who represents the Trump administration, wrote in an amicus brief that a lower court’s decision to block the map through the 2026 midterms was wrong and that the Supreme Court should intervene and reverse the decision. “This is not a close case,” Sauer wrote. TEXAS FILES EMERGENCY SUPREME COURT PETITION AFTER TRUMP-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL MAP BLOCKED BY FEDERAL JUDGES Sauer said the lower court misunderstood what drove the Texas legislature to shift five districts in favor of Republicans. He said the move was not based on race, which could violate federal voting laws and the Constitution. “There is overwhelming evidence — both direct and circumstantial — of partisan objectives, and any inference that the State inexplicably chose to use racial means is implausible,” Sauer wrote. Sauer also defended a letter Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon wrote to Texas this year demanding that it address “coalition districts” that favor Democrats, which the challengers to the map have seized on as evidence of race-based motives. Days after the letter, Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, added redistricting to the legislature’s agenda, leading to a stunning boycott in which state Democrats temporarily fled the state. The lower court “misinterpreted the letter’s meaning; and more importantly, the court misunderstood the letter’s significance to the legislature’s adoption of the 2025 map,” Sauer said. The plaintiffs in the case, who include numerous voting and immigrant rights groups, argued that Dhillon’s letter demanded dismantling the coalition districts and packing Black and Latino voters into other districts. “The DOJ letter, riddled with legal and factual errors, incorrectly asserted that these districts were ‘unconstitutional coalition districts’ that Texas was required to ‘rectify’ by changing their racial makeup,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote. REAGAN-APPOINTED JUDGE TORCHES COLLEAGUES IN TEXAS MAP FIGHT Texas’ mid-cycle redistricting dispute is one of several that have cropped up across the country as President Donald Trump stares down the possibility of losing an acquiescent Republican-led House in 2026. California voted in favor of an eleventh-hour ballot measure that would cancel out the five Republican gains in Texas. Utah’s map has changed in favor of Democrats, Virginia has taken steps to redraw its map and Louisiana’s is pending before the Supreme Court. The DOJ recently sued Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, over California’s redistricting efforts, arguing that unlike in Texas, those were unconstitutionally race-based. Texas has asked the Supreme Court to pause the three-judge panel’s ruling in the Western District of Texas that found 2-1 last week that race was too much of a factor in its redraw. “This summer, the Texas Legislature did what legislatures do: politics,” Texas’ attorneys argued in their request, disputing all notions that the redistricting process used race as a factor. In a lengthy and wild tirade, Judge Jerry Brown, a Reagan appointee and the lone dissenter, called the three-judge panel’s decision the “most blatant exercise of judicial activism” he had ever seen and a work of “fiction.” Justice Samuel Alito has administratively paused the panel’s ruling, but the Supreme Court could now make a more lasting decision on the map at any time. Texas lawyers have also argued the high court should block the panel’s decision because it interfered with the 2026 midterms, for which candidates were already filing to run based on the new map.
‘Waddle’ the turkey faces press questions in White House briefing room ahead of presidential pardon
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt introduced “Waddle” the turkey to reporters in the briefing room before President Donald Trump is scheduled to pardon him and his friend, “Gobble,” on Tuesday. A representative of the National Turkey Federation (NTF) who accompanied Leavitt confirmed to reporters that Waddle weighs over 50 pounds. Reporters peppered Waddle with questions ranging from his opinion on the peace negotiations in Ukraine to what crime he had committed to require a pardon. The NTF spokeswoman told reporters that after Waddle and Gobble are pardoned, they will move to North Carolina State University, where they will serve as “Turkey ambassadors for our industry.” Trump’s White House is kicking off Thanksgiving week with some classic White House holiday traditions, including the turkey pardon and the arrival of the official White House Christmas tree, marking the start of the season at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. AMERICAN TRUCKER SAYS TRANSPORTING CAPITOL CHRISTMAS TREE 3,000 MILES TO WASHINGTON, DC, IS ‘HUGE HONOR’ First lady Melania Trump held a poll on X to name this year’s turkeys, resulting in Waddle and Gobble. THANKSGIVING TRAVEL RUSH IS UNDERWAY AT AIRPORTS NATIONWIDE Last year’s pardoned turkeys, “Peach” and “Blossom,” and the ones before them, “Liberty” and “Bell,” all came from Minnesota. North Carolina, Indiana, Iowa, South Dakota, Ohio, California, Virginia and Missouri have all sent turkeys to the White House. Meanwhile, this year’s tree comes from Korson’s Tree Farms in Sidney Township, Michigan, which is about an hour northeast of Grand Rapids. The Fraser fir, which will stand in the Blue Room of the White House, will be presented by farm owners Rex and Jessica Korson. The two will also supply a smaller tree for the Oval Office. The family earned the honor by winning the National Christmas Tree Association’s National Tree Contest in July, the competition that selects the farm supplying the White House Christmas tree each year.
CCP-linked firms quietly hold stakes in US solar companies fueling Dems’ green push
A pair of major North American solar companies, including one touted by Senate Democrats in 2023, could face scrutiny over their ties to China. While the feds have created barriers to Chinese firms flooding the solar market, many have found ways to localize operations in the U.S. or North America in a manner that allows for public investment and even deferential press coverage at times. After then-President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, Senate Democrats praised the law for its substantive investments in “green” energy, including solar. One company that received top billing was an Ontario-based firm that was founded by a Chinese entrepreneur and keeps much of its assets in China. “The Inflation Reduction Act is already paying huge dividends for the American people,” blared a topline from Senate Democrats in 2023 after investments were being made in several companies. ARREST OF CHINESE NATIONALS IN SWING STATE, ISRAEL’S FIGHT WITH IRAN ARE ‘WAKE UP’ CALL ON CCP THREAT: EXPERTS The release cited a Reuters report that Canadian Solar – based in Guelph, Ontario, but founded by Qu Xiaohua and with its main operating arm listed on Shanghai’s SciTech board – committed to $250 million to a 5GW module facility in Texas after the IRA took effect. Trina Solar North America president Steven Zhu boasted to China Daily, a Chinese state-run propaganda outlet, that the project represents “a significant investment in American manufacturing that will bolster the U.S. solar market in addition to positioning Texas as a leader in the transition to a sustainable future.” Canadian Solar saw a 34% spike in its stock performance in the first half of 2022, according to a Benzinga analysis, which quoted company CEO Shawn Qu as saying he was “excited to see the [IRA] in the U.S. coming into effect.” The report said “alternative energy companies” like Canadian Solar stood to get a leg up thanks to about $370 billion in subsidies from the IRA. THINK TANK FOUNDER FACES SCRUTINY OVER CHINA CORPORATE TIES DESPITE DECOUPLING ADVOCACY A 2025 company filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) referenced that due to the company’s business in China, the CCP “may intervene or influence the operations of our PRC subsidies at any time” and that the firm is “exposed to legal and operational risks associated with having a significant portion of our manufacturing operations in China.” The Canadian-based company with a large Chinese manufacturing footprint – praised by Democrats – extends China’s state-backed dominance, yet can still qualify for IRA tax incentives meant for American allies – something that Congress has been focused on. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, recently sounded the alarm on companies affiliated with China that receive or are qualified for federal subsidies – including through Biden’s IRA. TOP HOUSE REPUBLICAN THREATENS TO EXPOSE CCP OFFICIALS IF CHINA INVADES TAIWAN Moolenaar previously focused on another Chinese firm called Gotion, telling The Midwesterner there are “about 30 tax credits” in the law “Biden calls his Inflation Reduction Act [that] will go to companies who are manufacturing, in some way, green energy.” Moolenaar’s “No Gotion Act” would ensure no subsidies go to firms based in officially designated politically-concerned countries like China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. He also inserted language in the 2024 funding bill for the Department of Energy that would prohibit the agency from awarding contracts to companies tied to the CCP. 4 WAYS AMERICAN STATES AND CITIES CAN MEET THE CCP THREAT TO OUR WAY OF LIFE Fox News Digital reached out to Moolenaar for additional comment. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., chair of the House Homeland Security Transportation Subcommittee, said at the time that the U.S. cannot continue “ceding dominance over our critical supply chains to our greatest geopolitical rival.” Gimenez, who was born in communist Cuba and fled to the U.S. as a child, said Western nations were too slow to recognize threats from Huawei and TikTok, and that doing business in China ensures the CCP will get a cut; “a steep cost.” WHITE HOUSE FINALIZES RULES INCREASING CLEAN ENERGY SUBSIDIES FIVEFOLD IN BID TO SUPPORT GREEN JOBS Canadian Solar had about 12,000 employees in China at the beginning of the year with less than 6,000 in the rest of the world combined. The Coalition for a Prosperous America raised red flags in a report last year on Chinese dominance in the solar industry, and the fact that they’re largely kept afloat by “massive financial support” from the Chinese government – with reports citing as much as Y1B ($140M) in subsidies in recent times. Those subsidies, CPA argued, threaten all solar firms in the West. BIDEN FINALIZES CRACKDOWN ON US MILITARY TECH INVESTMENTS IN CHINA WITH ONE WEEK TO LAME DUCK SESSION In 2024, Trina Solar, then a subsidiary of a Chinese solar giant by the same name, forged an agreement to sell its Texas-based manufacturing assets to another U.S.-based but Chinese-tied company, which is now known as T1 Energy. Trina Founder Gao Jifan is also a Chinese National People’s Congress delegate. Gao has several links to CCP-connected organizations, as a profile on the Chinese-controlled search giant Baidu lists several curriculum vitae, including a former vice president of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products – a semi-governmental trade association made up of representatives from several industrial and green-energy corporations like Huawei and Trina Solar. More recently, in 2023, Gao was vice president of the China Association for the Promotion of Industry-Academic-Research Cooperation, a group under the auspices of the CCP’s Ministry of Science and Technology that connects research universities and manufacturing outfits in the fields of nanotechnology, material manufacturing and green energy. TRUMP IS TAKING THE FIGHT TO THE CCP. IT’S LONG PAST TIME WE PROTECTED OUR BASES AND CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE On its homepage, T1 bills itself as “building domestic solar and battery supply chains to invigorate America with scalable, reliable, and low-cost energy,” and saying that “America needs advanced manufacturing capacity to unlock our
‘Full-blown battle’ brewing in Dem party as Mamdani-style candidates rise in key races
The far-left push within the Democratic Party, highlighted by mayoral victories by socialist candidates in New York City and Seattle, is poised to be a major factor in several key battleground House races as several candidates carrying the progressive mantle hold strong positions in Democratic primaries. Several of the most competitive House races in the country feature candidates putting to the test whether progressive policies can appeal to voters outside deep blue urban centers, including in California’s 22nd Congressional District, where Democrat Randy Villegas is running to unseat Republican Rep. David Valadao. “Bernie and I share the same goal: to make life more affordable for working families,” Villegas said in a statement after being endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a self-described “democratic socialist.” “He has dedicated his life to putting power in the hands of ordinary Americans instead of the ultra-rich, and I’m excited to work together to fight for our communities here in the Central Valley and across the country.” In addition to being endorsed by Sanders, who endorsed New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Villegas has employed the Fight Agency advertising firm, among others, which is led by operatives who also helped Mamdani cruise to victory earlier this month. SOCIALIST WAVE SPREADS COAST-TO-COAST AS PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS RALLY AROUND ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S NYC WIN Fox News Digital reported this week that Fight Agency is also working to defeat two vulnerable House Republicans in Pennsylvania, Reps. Rob Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie. Villegas, endorsed by the progressive Working Families Party that endorsed Mamdani, is currently running in a Democratic primary against California state Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains, who was recruited by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and currently is sitting on less cash on hand than Villegas. “Here in the Central Valley, we couldn’t care less about political labels,” Villegas said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “We care about being able to see a doctor without going bankrupt and being able to feed our families without needing a second job. We’re sick of politicians in both parties selling us out to billionaires and corporations. Any politician who isn’t fighting for working families like our lives depends on it needs to get out of the way.” In Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, GOP Rep. Gabe Evans is being challenged by another progressive Democrat, Manny Rutinel, in what is expected to be one of the tightest House races next November. Rutinel, who serves as a Colorado state representative, who was reportedly spotted alongside Mamdani and holds a large fundraising lead over his Democrat opponents, has associated himself with a variety of far-left groups and politicians, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Townhall reported. Rutinel has been endorsed by progressive groups like CHC Bold PAC and Latino Victory Fund. The race to unseat GOP Rep. Darrell Issa in California’s redrawn 48th Congressional District features Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, who describes himself as a “working-class progressive” and was endorsed by the Sanders-linked group Our Revolution. Campa-Najjar, who volunteered for Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and appears to be the front-runner in the Democratic primary, was endorsed in 2020 by the Working Families Party as well as Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Courage to Change PAC. CHARLIE KIRK’S WARNINGS ABOUT SOCIALISM RESURFACE AS MAMDANI, TRUMP FOCUS ON AFFORDABILITY GOP Rep. Tom Barrett is up for re-election in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, and one of the Democrats running to replace him is William Lawrence, who co-founded the progressive Sunrise Movement. Lawrence’s policies have drawn comparisons to Mamdani, including from the Lansing City Pulse, who wrote that his “campaign is built on a community movement, a message of ‘real representation’ that takes ‘political control away from the establishment and puts it back in the hands of the people.’ It’s like how Zohran Mamdani won in New York City.” Peter Chatzky is running as a Democrat challenging GOP Rep. Mike Lawler in New York’s 17th Congressional District, and although he is running in a crowded primary, he has the ability to self-fund and is viewed as a formidable contender in a district ranked by Cook Political Report as “Lean Republican.” Chatzky has defended Mamdani’s agenda on social media and praised the young socialist for running “an effective campaign that consistently focused on affordability, fairness, and opportunity in New York City.” Chatzky, the only Democrat in the field who has called for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to step down, has expressed support for “universal healthcare.” Like Mamdani, Chatzky has also faced criticism for his positions on Israel and defended Mamdani against allegations of antisemitism. In Nebraska, John Cavanaugh, a state senator, is running as a Democrat to replace retiring GOP Rep. Don Bacon in the 2nd Congressional District with the endorsement of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which he said he is “grateful” for and that he plans to join them on the “front lines.” As Democratic leadership in Washington, D.C. begins to face calls for new faces, Republicans across the country have made the argument that the socialist push in recent months is reshaping key House races and changing the landscape of the way the Democratic Party operates going forward. Mike Marinella, national spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), told Fox News Digital the rise of progressive candidates is a “full-blown battle for the soul of the Democrat Party” and concluded that the “socialist stampede is winning.” “Democrats aren’t focused on helping working families, they’re too busy tearing each other apart.” In a statement to Fox News Digital, DCCC spokesperson Viet Shelton touted the Democrats across the country who are focusing on affordability. “Because of House Republicans, everything is too damn expensive and working families are struggling. Republican operatives in D.C. know they can’t win on the issues, so we’re seeing them melt down in real time,” Shelton said. “Even President Trump is in the Oval Office desperately bear hugging the Mayor-elect. It’s embarrassing. While they waste their time, Democrats across the country are laser focused on lowering prices and fighting for everyday Americans, which is why we will re-take the majority.”
Trump pushes peace in Europe, pressure in the Americas — inside the two-front gamble
In one corner of the world, the U.S. is trying to end a war. In another, it may be preparing to start one. While Washington pushes proposals aimed at easing Russia’s terms for a cease-fire with Ukraine in Europe, it’s taking a far tougher stance in the Western Hemisphere — moving to label Venezuela’s military-linked Cartel de los Soles a terrorist organization and quietly expanding its military footprint in the Caribbean. Sporadic strikes on alleged cartel boats off Venezuela’s coast have grown into the largest U.S. military presence in Southern Command’s area in a generation, with the world’s biggest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, steaming toward the Caribbean Sea. President Donald Trump has reportedly approved CIA covert measures inside Venezuela — operations that often precede military force — and U.S. planners have already drawn up target lists for cartel sites, according to The New York Times. Many believe the U.S. could soon launch direct strikes on Venezuelan territory aimed at pushing Nicolás Maduro out of power. TRUMP’S STRIKE ON CARTEL VESSEL OFF VENEZUELA SENDS WARNING TO MADURO: ‘NO SANCTUARY’ At the same time, a top Russian commander, Colonel General Oleg Makarevich, has been reassigned from the Ukrainian front to head Russia’s Equator Task Force in Venezuela, overseeing roughly 120 troops training Venezuelan forces, Ukrainian intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov told The War Zone. Fox News Digital has not independently verified Budanov’s claim. Seth Krummrich, a retired U.S. Army colonel and vice president at Global Guardian, said Russian military advisers are indeed operating inside Venezuela but doubted Moscow would back Maduro militarily. “They’re there, full stop,” Krummrich said. “But Russia needs to stop the massive blood-letting of its young men in Ukraine. They’re not going to go toe-to-toe with us militarily.” He added that the relationship is long-standing: “There is a long history of Russian military advisers in Cuba and in Venezuela that goes on for decades.” Many in Washington see a strategic payoff in forcing out Maduro: it would strip Russia of its last firm foothold in the Western Hemisphere — a loss comparable, in some analysts’ view, to Moscow’s waning influence in Syria. “Venezuela, for the longest time, has been a launch pad for Chinese, Russian, and Iranian influence in the Western Hemisphere,” Krummrich said. “These chess pieces are all tied together when you arch your great-power competition.” Other experts caution against assuming the U.S. escalation in Venezuela and its peace overtures in Europe are part of a single coordinated plan. Ryan Berg, director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), spoke with Fox News Digital and said any overlap may be more coincidence than strategy. “We’ve been zigging and zagging in Venezuela,” Berg said. “Trump has gone back and forth between build-ups and calls for dialogue, while the Russia timeline has only recently become parallel to these events. Anything that looks coordinated is likely coincidence.” Berg recalled that during Trump’s first administration, some advisers floated an “Ukraine-for-Venezuela” concept — asking Russia to relinquish its stake in Caracas in exchange for U.S. concessions in Eastern Europe — but the idea was quickly abandoned. “Russian power in Venezuela is important,” Berg said, “but it’s not so overwhelming that it’s the reason Maduro survives.” HOW TRUMP’S STRIKES AGAINST ALLEGED NARCO-TERRORISTS ARE RESHAPING THE CARTEL BATTLEFIELD: ‘ONE-WAY TICKET’ Russia’s footprint in Latin America has grown only modestly since the early 2000s, dwarfed by China’s economic expansion. Moscow’s closest partners remain Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Beyond them, its influence is exercised mainly through media and selective economic pressure. “If you look at Russia’s trade profile with the region, it’s small,” Berg said. “But Moscow is very good at using those few trade points for leverage.” He cited examples: when Ecuador considered sending old Russian-made equipment to Ukraine in exchange for U.S. military aid, Russia threatened to block Ecuadorian banana exports — nearly $1 billion annually — by imposing new phytosanitary checks. The deal collapsed within a week. Similarly, Moscow has kept Brazil and Argentina largely muted on the Ukraine invasion by leveraging its control over nitrate fertilizer exports, crucial to both agricultural giants. “They use whatever levers they have — bananas, fertilizer, spare parts — to coerce quietly,” Berg said. Russia also continues to service aging equipment across the region. “They sell a lot of kit here,” Berg added. “Many countries still operate Russian-origin systems that need maintenance and parts. That creates dependency.” If U.S. forces strike Venezuelan targets, most observers expect Russia to limit its response to intelligence sharing and disinformation, not combat support. “The Russians are pretty tied down in Ukraine,” Berg said. “We saw during the 12-day war, when Iran appealed for help, Moscow stayed silent. They simply don’t have the capacity.” Berg described a recent episode in which a sanctioned Ilyushin cargo plane landed in Caracas. Russian lawmakers briefly claimed it carried air-defense systems and technicians to assist Maduro, but Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later denied it. “He essentially said, ‘We have no mutual-defense treaty,’” Berg noted. “That was widely read as: we’re not coming to Venezuela.” John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, also spoke with Fox News Digital and said there is little evidence of a coordinated link between the U.S. buildup in the Caribbean and Washington’s peace overtures in Europe. “I don’t see any immediate connection,” Hardie said. “Russia’s ability to influence events in Venezuela is pretty limited.” He said Moscow’s power-projection capacity in the Western Hemisphere remains constrained. “They can take limited action — fly some bombers into the region, sail submarines to Cuba — but major operations in Latin America are beyond their capacity,” Hardie said. Hardie also noted reports of the Russian Ilyushin transport aircraft visiting Venezuela and suggestions it could have carried air-defense systems, but said any such transfer would have little strategic effect. “Even if Russia slipped in some air defenses, it wouldn’t make much difference,” he said. “The Venezuelan military would still
War on badges: House GOP targets anti-police rhetoric amid ICE attacks
FIRST ON FOX: The House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing Dec. 3 examining anti-law enforcement rhetoric — and how it might be tied to an increase in violence against law enforcement officers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. The hearing comes in response to several attacks against ICE officers and as the Department of Homeland Security reports that violent encounters against federal immigration officials have surged in recent months. “It is unacceptable that the brave men and women of law enforcement, who risk their lives daily to secure the homeland and protect the public, are facing targeted violence from radicals and international gangs on U.S. soil,” House Homeland Security Committee Chair Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., said in a Monday statement to Fox News Digital. “With assaults against officers skyrocketing and heightened threats of political violence across America, Congress must support the mission of law enforcement and ensure our federal agencies have the tools, resources, and partnerships needed to keep these dedicated professionals safe on the job as they work to protect our communities,” Garbarino said. FROM WORDS TO BLOODSHED: DEMOCRATS BLASTED FOR RHETORIC AFTER DEADLY ICE SHOOTING Those who will appear before the committee Dec. 3 for the hearing, titled “When Badges Become Targets: How Anti-Law Enforcement Rhetoric Fuels Violence Against Officers,” include Michael Hughes, executive director of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association; Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police; and Jonathan Thompson, executive director and CEO of the National Sheriffs’ Association. HOUSE REPUBLICANS WARN ANTI-ICE RHETORIC FROM DEMOCRATS IS DRIVING VIOLENT ATTACKS ON AGENTS There have been a series of shootings at ICE facilities in 2025, and the Department of Homeland Security said in July that assaults against ICE officers and other federal immigration agents have increased nearly 700% in comparison to 2024. Although the agency reported 10 assault incidents between Jan. 1, 2024, and June 30, 2024, that number increased to 79 reported assaults in the same period of time in 2025. Recent cases of violence against law enforcement include a shooting near ICE’s Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, Texas, in July, where an Alvarado Police Department officer was shot in the neck. On Wednesday, five people pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges stemming from the attack. SANCTUARY POLITICIANS’ RHETORIC LED TO 1,150% SURGE IN VIOLENCE AGAINST ICE AGENTS: DHS More recently, a shooter opened fire at an ICE facility in Dallas in September, and two detainees died. At the time, the FBI said it would investigate the matter as a “targeted attack” against ICE, and the Department of Homeland Security said it had identified shell casings with “anti-ICE” messages. “Federal law enforcement agencies play a critical role in upholding the rule of law, protecting our national security, and supporting both state and local authorities,” Rep. August Pfluger, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee’s counterterrorism and intelligence subcommittee, said in a Monday statement to Fox News Digital. “The recent deadly shooting at a Dallas ICE facility wasn’t an isolated attack — it was part of a broader pattern of violence spurred on by anti-law enforcement rhetoric and heightened political extremism perpetrated by radicals on the Left,” said Pfluger, who is from Texas. Meanwhile, the White House previously has urged Democrats to tamp down their language toward ICE as they challenge the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda. For example, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., blamed ICE for acting “like a terrorist force” in June. She later stood by her comments in a CNN interview, after the White House pressed her for an apology.
Former House Speaker McCarthy warns Marjorie Taylor Greene is ‘the canary in the coal mine’
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s decision to leave Congress early next year should serve as a warning to her colleagues. “She’s almost like the canary in the coal mine. And this is something inside Congress, they’d better wake up, because they are going to get a lot of people retiring, and they’ve got to focus,” the former Republican House speaker said in an interview on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime.” Greene, a three-term representative from a solidly red district in northwest Georgia, a MAGA firebrand and strong supporter of President Donald Trump, announced on Friday night that she would step down from the House. Her stunning news came amid Greene’s very public falling out with Trump over a handful of key issues, and in her statement and video announcing her decision, she made a sweeping indictment of the president and her party. HEADED FOR THE EXITS: WHY 3-DOZEN HOUSE MEMBERS AREN’T RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION Greene is one of nearly 40 current members of the House who are either leaving before their current two-year terms end, or who have said they won’t seek re-election in next year’s midterms. And the surge in retirements may impact next year’s midterm elections, when Republicans are aiming to protect their fragile House majority. “We’re above average,” noted David Wasserman, a senior editor and elections analyst at the non-partisan political handicapper “The Cook Report,” as he pointed to the pace of House retirement announcements so far this cycle. And we’ve still got five weeks left until the calendar hits 2026. Waves of retirement announcements traditionally come in the final month or two, amid the holiday season, in the year before congressional elections. The party breakdown so far on the retirements: 16 Democrats and 22 Republicans. A handful of the Democrats headed for the exits are in their 70s and 80s and retiring after long tenures in the House. The most prominent is 85-year-old former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION FROM CONGRESS AFTER PRESIDENT TRUMP WITHDRAWS ENDORSEMENT But in a continued sign that the bitter partisanship in the House has made the lower chamber of Congress far from a pleasant work environment, most of the members who are passing on re-election are much younger. Among those forgoing re-election next year is 53-year-old Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, the House Budget Committee chair who shared his retirement news first with Fox News Digital. “I have a firm conviction, much like our founders did, that public service is a lifetime commitment, but public office is and should be a temporary stint in stewardship, not a career,” Arrington said. Also on that list is moderate Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, 43. SENIOR REPUBLICAN SAYS HE’LL ‘MISS THE CLOWNS,’ NOT ‘THE CIRCUS’ AS HE EYES LIFE AFTER CONGRESS “After 11 years as a legislator, I have grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness that are now common from some elements of our American community — behavior that, too often, our political leaders exhibit themselves,” Golden wrote earlier this month in an op-ed for the Bangor Daily News, where he revealed his unexpected decision. “I don’t fear losing. What has become apparent to me is that I now dread the prospect of winning. Simply put, what I could accomplish in this increasingly unproductive Congress pales in comparison to what I could do in that time as a husband, a father and a son,” Golden said. Pointing to Golden’s comments, Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska noted: “He said something I was feeling. The thought of winning was unattractive this cycle. If it feels like it’s a little bit depressing to win, then better let somebody else run.” “I think that’s where this hyper-partisan ugliness fits in. The thought of winning and going through another two years of this was not a fulfilling thought,” added Bacon, who earlier this year announced he wouldn’t seek re-election in 2026. Bacon won nine heavily contested GOP primary battles and general elections over the past decade in his swing district. But the retired Air Force general and moderate Republican who represents an Omaha, Nebraska-anchored congressional district told Fox News Digital last week that “the fire wasn’t there” anymore. Former Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire, who retired a year ago after serving a dozen years in the House, said the dysfunction and political tension in Congress was “definitely a factor” in her decision to leave. “It had gotten so much more difficult over 12 years to work across the aisle,” Kuster told Fox News Digital. “It had gotten much more fractured, partisan, less congenial.” TOP HOUSE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN REVEALS HE WON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION IN 2026 Kuster said “a big factor for me was that most of the moderate Republicans that I worked with all the time had left Congress. The people who were coming in were more hard right partisans.” Bacon, who describes himself as a Ronald Reagan-style, old-fashioned Republican, joked that he was “stuck in the middle” with “crazies on the right and crazies on the left.” TOP HOUSE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN REVEALS HE WON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION IN 2026 While some, like Bacon and Arrington, are taking a break from politics, most of those not seeking re-election to their House seats are running for statewide offices next year. Wasserman said that “on the Republican side, there’s a sense that not much will get done beyond OBBBA in the next two years of Trump’s presidency.” OBBBA is the acronym for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the massive GOP domestic policy bill passed along partisan lines this summer by the Republican-controlled House and Senate that is the centerpiece of President Donald Trump‘s second-term agenda. “They’ve made the heavy lift and now there are opportunities to be more impactful elsewhere,” Wasserman said. The bitter battle between Republicans and Democrats over the measure was another sign of the vicious partisan climate on Capitol Hill. That partisan fighting was only amplified during this autumn’s showdown between Democrats and Republicans during
FBI scheduling interviews with 6 lawmakers who encouraged military members to refuse ‘illegal orders’
The FBI and Department of Justice have contacted Capitol Police to schedule interviews with the six members of Congress who appeared in a controversial video urging service members to ignore orders they may deem illegal, Fox News has learned. Last week, a group of Democratic lawmakers with military and intelligence backgrounds, including Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.; Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa.; Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H.; Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.; and Rep. Jason Crow released a video directed at service members and intelligence officers stating: “Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders.” In response to the video, President Donald Trump said the lawmakers should be arrested and tried for “seditious behavior.” “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” he said. SIX DEMOCRATS URGE MILITARY MEMBERS TO ‘REFUSE ILLEGAL ORDERS’ IN VIRAL VIDEO; HEGSETH RESPONDS On Monday, the Department of War announced that it has opened a formal review into allegations of misconduct against Kelly over the video. The Pentagon said it may even call Kelly, a retired Navy captain, back to active duty to face court-martial proceedings or other administrative actions under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Four of the other Democrats are former military, but not retired and therefore are not subject to the UCMJ, according to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Slotkin is a former CIA officer. Hegseth on Tuesday posted on X that the video “may seem harmless to civilians — but it carries a different weight inside the military.” RETIRED GENERAL BLASTS DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS’ ‘IRRESPONSIBLE’ VIDEO URGING TROOPS TO REFUSE ‘ILLEGAL’ ORDERS He called the video a “politically-motivated influence operation” and listed reasons for his conclusion, including how the lawmakers never named a specific “illegal order,” which “created ambiguity rather than clarity.” He added that the video used “carefully scripted, legal-sounding language” and argued that the lawmakers “subtly reframed military obedience around partisan distrust instead of established legal processes.” “In the military, vague rhetoric and ambiguity undermines trust, creates hesitation in the chain of command, and erodes cohesion,” Hegseth wrote. “The military already has clear procedures for handling unlawful orders. It does not need political actors injecting doubt into an already clear chain of command.” He continued: “As veterans of various sorts, the Seditious Six knew exactly what they were doing — sowing doubt through a politically-motivated influence operation. The @DeptofWar won’t fall for it or stand for it.” Fox News’ Digital’s Morgan Phillips and Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
GOP senator probes 18 blue states, DC over Trump’s transgender athlete order
FIRST ON FOX: A top Senate Republican is launching an investigation into over a dozen blue states over whether they’re in compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order, “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports.” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., is taking a microscope to schools across the country for alleged infractions against Trump’s order, which was designed to undo several changes made under former President Joe Biden to Title IX, the decades-old law that bars sex-based discrimination in education programs and activities that receive federal funding. His investigation is specifically targeting the inclusion of transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports, and the promotion of policies that allow shared access to facilities, like locker rooms and bathrooms. 130 DEMOCRAT CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES URGE SCOTUS TO SIDE WITH TRANS ATHLETE IN TITLE IX LEGAL BATTLE The scope of Cassidy’s investigation is broad and includes California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, D.C. In 19 letters to various heads of state and collegiate education departments, Cassidy alleged that many recipients of federal funding “continue to interchangeably enroll males and females in sports teams that differ from their biological sex,” and that the recipients push policies that allow shared access to facilities. “Under the current and correct interpretation of the law, this is a clear violation of Title IX,” Cassidy wrote. NEWSOM SIGNS LAW TO APPROVE ATHLETE EQUITY STUDY AS MORE CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS OPPOSE MALES IN GIRLS’ SPORTS The lawmaker’s investigation also comes as the Supreme Court considers a pair of cases that could have wide-ranging implications on Title IX enforcement across the country, and whether biological male athletes can participate in women’s sports. Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, noted that under Biden there were several changes and expansions to Title IX that he believed were unlawful, including changing the definition of sex to include gender identity, undermining protections for female athletes. Trump’s executive order from earlier this year changed that and returned Title IX to its 2020 version. It also ordered that the Department of Education and its Office for Civil Rights “enforce all sex-protective laws to promote the reality that there are two sexes, male and female, and that these sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” Cassidy wrote. GOP WRESTLES WITH OBAMACARE FIX AS TRUMP LOOMS OVER SUBSIDY FIGHT “As Chairman, it is my priority to ensure women and girls have every opportunity to succeed on the field and in the classroom,” Cassidy said. “This means ensuring that states receiving federal financial assistance for educational programs comply with federal law and federal agency directives.” Cassidy has given the state education agencies and colleges until Dec. 8 to provide several pieces of information for his investigation, including state and institutional Title IX policies on gender identity, state laws protecting biological females, steps taken to comply with Trump’s order, revisions to definitions of sex, policies on athletic participation and facility access by biological males, and complaint records, parental notifications, and disciplinary actions involving students objecting to shared spaces.
Biden-era regulation on the chopping block as Trump-aligned legal group warns of ‘DEI lens’
FIRST ON FOX: The Trump-aligned lawfare group founded by White House aide Stephen Miller is petitioning two of the government’s top federal health agencies to immediately repeal a Biden-era regulation they claim promotes organ transplantation allocation based on race, not medical need. Initially, the proposed rule from the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) had an equity performance adjustment, but that part of the rule was scrapped before it was finalized. The Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) Model in question scores selected hospitals, which are required to participate, across three domains as it relates to kidney organ transplantation: achievement, efficiency and quality. Based on the scores, hospitals will either get money for their efforts, owe money back to the federal government for not meeting expectations, or neither receive nor owe anything. Rather than an explicit score adjustment, the rule’s equity agenda was embedded more subtly through a “voluntary” health equity plan that mandatory participating hospitals are encouraged to complete. The plan pushes hospitals to identify “health disparities” and identify “equity goals to monitor and evaluate progress in reducing targeted health disparities,” which will be measured by “one or more quantitative metrics that the IOTA participant uses to measure the reductions in target health disparities arising from the health equity plan interventions.” DOCTORS ON KEY US HEALTH TASK FORCE ACCUSED OF PRIORITIZING DEI OVER EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE “A federal rule cannot invite or normalize discrimination—not even under the guise of improving ‘equity,’” stated an America First Legal (AFL) press release accompanying the group’s petition. “Although CMS ultimately made Health Equity Plans ‘voluntary,’ the agency embedded them inside a mandatory federal model that encourages hospitals to integrate race and identity into transplant decision-making.” The six-year mandatory payment program builds on earlier payment experiments, testing whether financial rewards and penalties can improve care and expand access for Medicare and Medicaid patients. The rule was published in the Federal Register on Dec. 4, and began operating on July 1, Meanwhile, according to AFL, 67 of the 103 hospitals mandated to participate in the IOTA Model are “still engaging” in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts. The conservative lawfare group argues this is normalizing “identity-based preferences” within the nation’s organ transplant system. RUBIO ORDERS RESTITUTION FOR HUNDREDS OF STAFFERS DENIED PROMOTIONS UNDER BIDEN DEI RULE “The IOTA Model is a leftover remnant of an unlawful equity agenda that encouraged hospitals to view lifesaving care through a DEI lens,” said AFL attorney Megan Redshaw. “Federal law requires that organ allocation be based on established medical criteria, not race or identity, and no rule should push hospitals to pursue transplant volume while layering race-based pressures onto a system already plagued by ethical failures.” Just days after Biden took office in 2021, he signed Executive Order 13985, directing all federal agencies to conduct “Equity Assessments” to determine whether “underserved communities and their members” faced systemic barriers to accessing federal programs. The order also required federal agencies to develop an action plan to address those barriers. As part of this effort, in December 2021, CMS issued a request to the public for comments on how the agency could “Advance Equity and Reduce Disparities in Organ Transplantation.” “CMS is focused on identifying potential system-wide improvements that would increase organ donations, improve transplants, enhance the quality of care in dialysis facilities, increase access to dialysis services, and advance equity in organ donation and transplantation,” the agency said at the time. “Black Americans are almost four times more likely, and Latinos are 1.3 times more likely, to have kidney failure compared to White Americans. Despite the higher risk, data shows that Black and Latino patients on dialysis are less likely to be placed on the transplant waitlist and have a lower likelihood of transplantation. Because of these stark inequities, CMS’ [Request For Information] asks the public for specific ideas on advancing equity within the organ transplantation system.” Trump officials and allies, including AFL, have questioned the role outside groups played during the process of drafting the final IOTA Model rule, prompting AFL to file FOIA requests as part of a broader investigation into the new IOTA model and the Biden administration’s alleged push to infuse DEI into the nation’s organ transplant framework. One example AFL has pointed to is a “modernization initiative” for the national organ transplant system under the Biden administration, which included plans to strengthen “equity, and performance in the organ donation and transplantation system.” The Biden admin also announced changes to the “labeling of race and ethnicity information for organ donors,” on numerous data reports used by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). The nation’s organ transplant system has also recently been targeted for prematurely initiating organ retrievals while patients were still alive, or improving. In July, HHS released a statement announcing an initiative to reform the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), following a federal investigation that found “disturbing practices by a major organ procurement organization.” AFL argues that the IOTA Model final rule, specifically, violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, the equal protection clause, precedent established by the U.S. Supreme Court, and executive orders issued by President Donald Trump. The lawfare group added that the rule also exceeds CMS’ statutory authority under the Social Security Act, and is “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedure Act. “The Biden Administration built this kidney transplant policy on the false premise that fairness requires discrimination,” Redshaw said. “This rule treats race as a substitute for medical judgment, and it risks condemning patients to die on waitlists based on immutable traits instead of clinical need. Every American deserves equal treatment under the law, especially when life and death are at stake.” HHS and CMS didn’t reply to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment on this story in time for publication.