Trump’s ambitious energy bet could be a winning hand as the world burns more oil, gas than ever
The world consumed more energy than ever before in 2025, with fossil fuels still supplying the vast majority of global energy despite record growth in renewable power, according to a new report. The findings come as President Donald Trump pushes to expand U.S. oil and gas production, arguing domestic energy is key to lowering prices, strengthening national security and boosting economic growth. The Energy Institute’s 2026 Statistical Review of World Energy found oil, natural gas and coal accounted for 86% of global energy use last year, underscoring that despite years of investment in wind and solar power, the world continues to rely overwhelmingly on fossil fuels to power homes, businesses, transportation and industry. Overall, the world consumed more energy than at any point on record. GAS SURGE TIED TO IRAN CONFLICT HITS SWING STATES, TESTING TRUMP’S LOW-PRICE PITCH The findings align with the Trump administration’s argument that expanding domestic oil and gas production is critical to lowering energy costs, strengthening U.S. energy security and fueling economic growth ahead of next year’s midterm elections, where both parties are expected to make the economy and inflation central campaign issues — but for very different reasons. America’s dominant position in global energy markets was on full display in the report — and Trump is taking a victory lap. “Even left-wing studies are finding that President Trump’s energy dominance agenda has been undeniably successful in unleashing reliable, affordable, and secure energy,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital. “Thanks to the President, U.S. oil, natural gas, and coal production has increased – which benefits American families and businesses by lowering prices, creating jobs, and strengthening our energy security,” she added. “America has abundant resources—President Trump is unleashing them.” WHY THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ MATTERS AS TRUMP ISSUES FRESH ULTIMATUM TO IRAN U.S. oil production reached a record 21.1 million barrels a day in 2025, nearly matching the combined output of Saudi Arabia and Russia. The U.S. also remained the world’s largest natural gas producer and the world’s leading exporter of petroleum products. The report also comes as the conflict with Iran has renewed concerns about energy security and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Although its data predate the conflict, the report underscores how geopolitical tensions can threaten global energy supplies. Few places are more important to global energy markets than the Strait of Hormuz. About 20 million barrels of oil and one-fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas pass through the waterway each day, along with shipments of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Economist Steve Moore said the latest conflict illustrates why the U.S. should continue expanding domestic energy production. “Every time we’ve had flare-ups in the Middle East, this has caused a lot of disruption to the energy markets,” he told Fox News Digital. Moore said the conflict has once again exposed the world’s dependence on oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, putting upward pressure on energy prices. BBQ LOVERS BEWARE: MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT MIGHT DISRUPT YOUR SUMMER PLANS THIS YEAR Heritage Foundation chief economist EJ Antoni said the conflict underscores the need for the U.S. to move beyond energy independence and embrace what Trump has called “energy dominance.” “The Iran war has shown us it’s not simply enough for America to be pumping at current levels. America needs to be not just energy independent, but energy dominant,” Antoni told Fox News Digital. He said the U.S. should continue expanding domestic energy production and refining capacity to strengthen its energy security. The White House has argued that increasing domestic oil and natural gas production will help shield Americans from geopolitical shocks while lowering energy costs, a key pillar of Trump’s broader economic agenda. Read the full report here:
Sen. Lindsey Graham dead at 71 after ‘brief and sudden’ illness, office says
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., died Saturday evening following a “brief and sudden” illness, according to a statement from his office. He was 71. “On the evening of Saturday, July 11, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away from a brief and sudden illness,” his office said. “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period,” it continued. DEM GOVERNOR ESCALATES MCCONNELL HEALTH DEMANDS, CITES RESPONSE TO PAST TRUMP HEALTH CONCERNS President Donald Trump reacted to Graham’s death, calling the longtime South Carolina senator a “true American Patriot.” “Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!! DETAILS AND ARRANGEMENTS TO FOLLOW. So sad!” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster released a statement early Sunday morning expressing that he is “devastated” by the news of Graham’s passing. “Peggy and I – and our children – are devastated,” he said in a statement. “Lindsey Graham is irreplaceable. The fiercest of fighters for South Carolina and America – and a loyal and steadfast friend. We grieve with Darline, his family and his developed staff. May God hold him gently in the palm of his hand. We shall not see his likes again.” Graham was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and won re-election three times. He was seeking a fifth Senate term after winning the Republican primary last month. Graham served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and sat on the Appropriations, Judiciary, and Environment and Public Works committees. Before joining the Senate, Graham was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994, becoming the first Republican to represent South Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District since 1877. MCCONNELL’S WIFE, ELAINE CHAO, SAW NO NEED FOR ‘IMMEDIATE RETURN’ FROM CHINA AS FORMER GOP LEADER HOSPITALIZED Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Graham was a steadfast advocate for the United States and its allies, adding that his influence on the federal judiciary, national defense and his home state of South Carolina “will be felt for generations.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had “lost one of its greatest friends” with Graham’s death, calling the senator “a great friend of Israel and a cherished friend of mine.” “Lindsey understood that the security of Israel and America are inseparable,” Netanyahu said. “Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend.” HOUSE DEMOCRAT RO KHANNA SAYS HE WAS DETAINED BY ARMED ISRAELI SETTLERS IN WEST BANK Graham, who frequently visited Ukraine, had just met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Friday. He was scheduled to appear on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning. Israeli President Isaac Herzog mourned Graham’s death, calling the South Carolina senator a “great American patriot” and a “great friend of Israel.” “Senator Graham was a beacon of moral clarity and a true leader of the U.S.-Israel partnership,” he said in a statement. “We will never forget how he stood by the people of Israel in our most difficult moments, and we will remain eternally grateful for his sense of justice, truth, and loyalty. “The people of Israel mourn his loss, and I will miss my great friend very dearly,” he added. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz remembered Graham as “an unwavering voice in support of Israel’s security and its right to defend itself.” He noted that Graham repeatedly visited Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, calling him “an exceptional leader, a man of principle, and a dear friend whose legacy will endure for generations.” Graham served 33 years in the U.S. Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, retiring as a colonel in 2015. An Air Force lawyer, he served in Germany during the Cold War, was called to active duty during the Gulf War, and later completed multiple Reserve deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan during congressional recesses. Graham’s office confirmed his death in a statement to Fox News Digital. This is a breaking news story; check back for updates.
‘Die Hard’ actor Robert Davi blasts Mamdani after NYC map omits Little Italy
“Die Hard” actor Robert Davi blasted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani Friday after a city map highlighting immigrant enclaves omitted Little Italy. The “New York City Immigrant Enclaves” map resurfaced on social media earlier this week after users pointed out it omitted Little Italy, as well as historically Jewish and Irish neighborhoods, despite highlighting 30 immigrant communities across the five boroughs. Following criticism from Italian-American groups, the city said it plans to update the map to include Little Italy. MAMDANI DEFENDS CONTROVERSIAL NYC MAP AFTER OMITTING ICONIC LITTLE ITALY, JEWISH AND IRISH NEIGHBORHOODS Davi, who was born in Astoria, Queens, lashed out at Mamdani in a video posted on X, calling him a “jerk” for snubbing Little Italy. “I hope every New York Italian American and Irish American spits on you when they see you,” Davi said. “I would spit on you if I saw you. Shame on you, you garbage man. Shame on you. Respect the city you’re in and understand the people who helped build it.” “My grandparents came from Sicily and Naples and they taught me, speak the English. This is America. God bless America,” the 75-year-old “Licence to Kill” actor said. ZOHRAN MAMDANI PRAISED FOR ‘FANTASTIC’ QUESTION-DODGING ON PRESIDENTIAL ELIGIBILITY “My grandfather enlisted in World War I and got wounded three times … he helped build New York City as an immigrant, an Italian immigrant,” he continued. The veteran actor also suggested the mayor, whom he described as a “leftist Marxist Communist,” leave the United States. “Go back to where you were born, Mamdani,” Davi said. “You don’t belong in America.” MAMDANI BLASTS ICE AGENTS, ELON MUSK AND ‘SUPREMACY’ IN AMERICA 250 SPEECH AHEAD OF JULY 4 WEEKEND Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, and moved to the United States when he was 7 years old. Davi also suggested there should be a constitutional amendment preventing Mamdani from running for public office. “You should spend time in America, at least a generation, especially those of you that come from a country that has a totally different philosophical ideology bent,” he said. The mayor’s office previously directed Fox News Digital to remarks Mamdani made during an unrelated press conference Friday, where he defended the map and said it had originally been created under the previous administration in 2023. “This map was initially created by the prior administration in 2023, and when we inherited it, we added a few additional neighborhoods,” Mamdani said. “It’s clearly not an exhaustive list of the more than 200 ethnic communities that call our city home, and we’re going to be making additional changes in the future to reflect that and that includes Little Italy.” Fox News Digital has reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment. According to the Library of Congress, more than 4 million Italians immigrated to the United States between the 1880s and 1924, with roughly one-third settling in New York City. Fox News Digital’s Brittany Miller contributed to this report.
Dem governor escalates McConnell health demands, cites response to past Trump health concerns
Democrat Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear escalated his pressure campaign against Sen. Mitch McConnell on Saturday, demanding the longtime Republican senator from the Bluegrass State reveal his undisclosed medical condition as questions mount over the 84-year-old’s ability to serve. In a post on X, Beshear connected his recent push for the lawmaker’s transparency to past national debates, writing, “I publicly and privately urged the last administration to address the public’s concerns with the former president’s health. I’m calling on Sen. McConnell to do the same and provide voters an update on his own health.” Beshear ended the post by urging McConnell to “end the crazy speculation” and “just tell us what’s going on.” MCCONNELL FACES FRESH CALLS TO COME CLEAN ABOUT HEALTH ISSUES The governor’s public comments follow a formal letter he sent to McConnell on Wednesday requesting a full health update on behalf of constituents who are “increasingly concerned” about the senator’s wellbeing and “ability to hold office in the United States Senate.” Beshear argued public officeholders have a commitment to represent constituents with “clear communication about one’s ability to serve.” MCCONNELL WAS FOUND ‘UNCONSCIOUS’ IN HOME LAST MONTH AS CONDITION REMAINS UNKNOWN McConnell has been absent from the Senate for three weeks and was first hospitalized in early June for an undisclosed condition. His office has declined to release specific details or a timeline for his return, though leaked emergency dispatch audio from a June 14 call revealed he was seemingly found unconscious at his home and may have suffered a heart attack. McConnell’s wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in Beijing following the hospitalization, and her office claimed his condition “did not warrant an immediate return to the U.S.“ Both Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso said they have since spoken with McConnell at length about Senate business, recent Supreme Court decisions and the ongoing Graham Platner campaign scandal. However, when asked about McConnell’s condition aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said, “I have no idea how he’s doing.” The White House and McConnell’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Trump-aligned House holdouts accused of holding ‘life-saving’ veterans bill ‘hostage’ over SAVE America Act
A sweeping veterans package supporters describe as the largest expansion of veterans’ health care and benefits in more than a decade is expected to return to the House floor when lawmakers return from the July recess. But backers warn the legislation could once again become collateral damage in the Republican standoff over the SAVE America Act. The Take Care of American Veterans Act rolls roughly 60 veterans bills into a package that would dramatically expand veterans’ health care and benefits. At its core, the legislation would cement veterans’ access to community care outside the VA while increasing benefits for combat-wounded veterans, caregivers and Gold Star families, expanding mental health services and enacting dozens of additional reforms. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., told Fox News Digital he intends to bring the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act back for a vote as soon as the House reconvenes next week. HOUSE CONSERVATIVES DERAIL GOP AGENDA IN SAVE AMERICA ACT SHOWDOWN The legislation was held up last month after a group of House Republicans joined Democrats to defeat a procedural vote, stopping the House from taking up the bill. “I’m feeling good as long as my members stay with us on the rule,” Bost said. “Right now, there’s some politics being played, not about this bill, but just in general.” The bill became entangled in a broader House Republican fight over the SAVE America Act, legislation championed by President Donald Trump that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. On June 30, the House voted on H. Res. 1398, the procedural rule governing floor consideration of several bills, including the National Defense Authorization Act and the Take Care of American Veterans Act. The rule failed after 14 Republicans joined Democrats in opposition, preventing the House from taking up the veterans package and bringing floor business to a standstill. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., claimed to have voted against the rules vote in protest against House leadership’s handling of the SAVE America Act. As a result, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson sent the members home early. Bost accused the holdouts of effectively putting veterans legislation on hold. ‘IT’S A MESS’: GOP TURNS ON HOUSE CONSERVATIVES AS VOTER ID BLOCKADE STALLS TRUMP’S AGENDA “They’re holding all bills hostage,” Bost said. “They’re not voting for any rule. Any bill that has to pass a rule before it comes to the floor — which this bill does because of its size — can’t move.” Although Bost said he supports the SAVE America Act and has voted for it three times, he argued the Senate’s failure to act should not stop the House from advancing unrelated legislation. “I agree with that bill,” Bost said. “But the Senate still has to do their work. We don’t stop our work because the Senate isn’t doing it.” With 23 legislative days left in the congressional session, Concerned Veterans for America Strategic Director John Byrnes, a supporter of the bill, said time is of the essence. “There are lots and lots of things that have to get done,” Byrnes told Fox News Digital. “There’s also the National Defense Authorization Act, which is a must pass every year, so these things eat up time. There’s requirements to have debate on these, which eat up session time.” Byrnes argued that every procedural delay pushes other legislation further down the calendar. “This bill will save lives in 2027,” Byrnes said. “If we lose veterans because they could have had faster, better access to health care, we’re never going to get those veterans back.” TRUMP’S SAVE AMERICA ACT SHOWS SIGNS OF LIFE IN THE SENATE DESPITE REPUBLICAN REVOLT But Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who also voted no on the procedural vote, told Fox News Digital he has concerns about how the bill is financed. “I appreciate what the chairman’s trying to do in some respects, but there’s a few issues,” Roy said. Among them, Roy pointed to provisions offsetting new spending through changes affecting other veterans. “You’re taxing certain veterans to provide some sort of benefits and changes to other veterans,” Roy said. “There are concerns about some of the pay-fors.” Veterans of Foreign Wars has also taken issue with Section 108 of the bill, warning that it would codify changes to future disability ratings for tinnitus and sleep apnea to help finance other veterans’ priorities. But Bost said this is inaccurate. “No veteran is going to have their benefits reduced,” Bost said. “If you’re receiving a benefit right now, that’s not going to be reduced at all.” Roy, who previously served two years on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said he supported a lot of what the bill was seeking to accomplish but said other pieces of legislation are priorities, too. “There is a block of us for whom border security, the SAVE Act and demonstrating our leadership on major issues is critical,” Roy said. “Some of these other bills may or may not get hung up based on a desire of many in the conference to see movement on other things.” Fox News Digital reached out to Luna’s office and the White House for comment.
Harvard astronomer tapped to lead White House UFO council says US government ‘baffled by what they are seeing’
Avi Loeb, the Harvard astronomer chosen last month by the White House to lead a UFO advisory council, believes he was brought on because federal officials are “baffled” by the many unidentified objects the U.S. military has captured over the past several decades. Loeb, known for arguing that alien spacecraft may have already reached Earth, said his newly formed team of more than a dozen scientists is combing through four batches of public UFO sighting disclosures released by the Trump administration in recent months. His mission began in early June when an official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) visited his home and asked him to form a group of experts to make sense of UFOs, now referred to by the U.S. government as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). This is an umbrella term that accounts for objects seen zipping underwater and in space. “The U.S. government had me at hello,” Loeb told Fox News Digital in an interview Saturday. “The fact that they are reaching out to scientists like myself indicates, in my mind, that they are baffled by what they are seeing, and they think that maybe it’s not human-made.” NASA CHIEF CONFIRMS AGENCY HAS UNEXPLAINED UFO IMAGERY: ‘WE DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS’ Loeb’s council will report its findings to the UAP Governing Board, a recently established body under the direction of ODNI. According to the council’s website, Loeb and his colleagues will only be reviewing already-declassified materials on UAPs. However, Loeb told Fox News Digital he has asked the Pentagon and other agencies for 50 videos, images and other documents related to known UAP incidents. Those materials haven’t been given to him yet, with the custodian agencies citing national security concerns. “It’s not so much the targets that are the issue. It’s that the sensors that were used were for national security purposes. The U.S. government doesn’t want to reveal to adversarial nations the kind of sensors being used. So, that’s the main obstacle right now,” Loeb said. NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON DARES GOVERNMENT TO ‘JUST SHOW THE ALIEN,’ AS DISCLOSURE FERVOR CONTINUES TO GROW Loeb’s goal is to figure out whether UAPs that have been captured by the U.S. military originate from other nations or if they don’t come from humans at all. “In the second case, if it’s not human-made, then that’s the biggest discovery ever made by science, and the U.S. government has the privilege of ushering in this new realization that we have a neighbor visiting us,” Loeb said. Loeb sought to temper expectations, saying that many of the phenomena they are studying could turn out to be mundane. Often, he said, the strange looking objects people see in the sky are merely space junk or broken satellites. “Unless they maneuver in ways that cannot be explained by gravity, you should assume that they are space junk,” Loeb said. DECLASSIFIED APOLLO MISSION UFO FILES CHALLENGE LONG-RUNNING MOON LANDING CONSPIRACY THEORIES Nonetheless, he praised the White House for its push for transparency on this issue. In February, President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon and other agencies to declassify files related to aliens and UAPs because of “tremendous interest.” One of the most important aims of Loeb’s council is to recommend better sensors so that the government can capture UAPs with more confidence in the future. “If we are dealing with drones of some unusual qualities that the Chinese are using, it’s good for the U.S. to have better sensors that can help it identify those. Right now, they are reported as orbs. They may not be drones, but I’m saying that, at the very least, we will help national security,” Loeb said. Loeb made the remarks after the Department of War on Friday released the fourth and latest batch of UAP materials to the public. Loeb commented on one of the most sensational releases from the first batch, which were photos from the Apollo 12 mission on the Moon in 1969. One of the photos has five “unidentified phenomena,” but Loeb said federal authorities have now officially concluded that those blue flashes are most likely cosmic rays. Until 2020, Loeb headed up Harvard University’s astronomy department, where he studied black holes, the formation of the universe’s first stars and extraterrestrial life. In 2017, when scientists discovered a remnant of a Pluto-like world in the solar system, Loeb disputed those findings, arguing that the object was possibly a light sail from an alien civilization. After this claim earned him widespread respect in the UFO community, Loeb founded the Galileo Project at Harvard to search for artifacts from extraterrestrial civilizations.
House Democrat Ro Khanna says he was detained by armed Israeli settlers in West Bank
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., claims to have been detained by Israeli settlers armed with U.S.-made firearms while visiting the West Bank. Khanna and his team were surrounded by a group of West Bank settlers near the Palestinian village of Khirbet Zanuta on Wednesday, his office told The New York Times. The settlers were armed with American-made M4 machine guns, Khanna’s office said. When soldiers from the Israeli Defense Forces arrived, Khanna claimed they sided with the settlers. The situation only defused after Israeli police officers arrived and dispersed the settlers and their vehicles blocking the U.S. congressional group’s path, according to the Democrat’s office. DOZENS OF DEMS FLIP ON ISRAEL, VOTE TO BAN ARMS SALES IN PROTEST OF IRAN WAR “If they will do this to an American congressman, imagine what is happening to Palestinian families who are just trying to live,” Rep Khanna told Fox News Digital in a statement. “I am grateful to David Brownstein of the American embassy for helping rescue us. I expect Israel will prosecute the violent settlers and IDF soldiers who detained American citizens,” Rep. Khanna said. The Times first reported details of the alleged incident on Saturday. Reached by Fox News Digital, a representative for Khanna’s team said she could confirm the details reported by the Times. Khanna also spoke to Reuters about what allegedly transpired. “I’m certainly probably the first American politician who’s been detained by the IDF and Israeli settlers,” Khanna said in a Reuters video. “We were at a village that Israeli settlers had destroyed,” Khanna said. “And these hoodlums come in with machine guns, an M4, an American-made machine gun, and they detain us. They block off the road, and then they call the IDF and the IDF is on their side, not on the side of the Americans.” WATCH: GOP SENATOR WARNS ‘HAMMER-AND-SICKLE’ POLITICS WILL DEFINE DEMOCRATS’ 2028 PRIMARY Khanna, a frequent critic of Israel and potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, claimed the incident reframed his thinking on a potential White House run. “I’m strongly considering it,” he told Reuters on camera of a potential U.S. presidential run, “and I’m more resolved to consider it after this trip. We need a new moral direction in our party. A new moral vision that respects the dignity and human rights of people around the world.” Khanna added to the Times, “No American would support this if they knew the details of what was going on here.” The Israeli military told Reuters that troops and police officers intervened after receiving a report of settlers blocking vehicles near the village of Khirbet Zanuta. “Upon their arrival, the troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way,” the military told Reuters. Fox News Digital also reached out to the IDF, State Department and U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem for more information.
Trump-appointed judge permanently ends Proud Boys’ Jan 6 case, says Constitution left him no choice
A Trump-appointed federal judge on Friday reluctantly dismissed the Jan. 6 prosecution of four Proud Boys members, saying the law left him no authority to block the Justice Department’s request. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly granted the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the case with prejudice against Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola after a federal appeals court had already vacated their convictions. In a seven-page opinion, Kelly said longstanding separation-of-powers principles leave charging decisions to the executive branch, meaning he could not require the Justice Department to maintain a prosecution it had decided to drop. DOJ SEEKS TO VACATE JAN 6 CONVICTIONS IN SWEEPING MOVE TIED TO TRUMP ORDER “Because the decisions to issue the Executive Order and to abandon this prosecution — even after the Government secured convictions for serious crimes relating to the attack on the Capitol on January 6 — are solely the Executive’s, no one should mistake the Court’s granting of the Government’s motion for its agreement with those decisions,” Kelly wrote. Pezzola, who was convicted of assaulting police, robbery and destroying government property, was found guilty of stealing a Capitol Police riot shield before using it to smash a Capitol window, creating what prosecutors said was the first breach point through which hundreds of rioters entered the building. He was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted on multiple other felony counts. Nordean, Biggs and Rehl were convicted of seditious conspiracy and several other felonies related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, including conspiracy to obstruct Congress’ certification of the 2020 presidential election, obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and destruction of government property. FORMER INDIANA REP STEPHEN BUYER RECEIVES FULL PARDON FROM TRUMP FOR 2023 INSIDER TRADING CONVICTION The Justice Department first moved in April to vacate the convictions and dismiss the case against the four men, arguing that doing so was “in the interests of justice” in light of President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025, executive order commuting their sentences and issuing full pardons to former Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio and hundreds of other Jan. 6 defendants. The D.C. Circuit had already erased the men’s convictions before returning the case to Kelly’s courtroom to consider the Justice Department’s request to dismiss the indictment. “There is little mystery about why the Government is moving to dismiss this case, or whether dismissal is in fact what the Executive seeks,” Kelly wrote. “President Trump’s views about the prosecution of those who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6 — whether those views are based on fact or fiction — are well known, as is his intention to extend clemency to them.” Kelly cited longstanding precedent holding that charging decisions belong to the executive branch and that judges cannot reject a dismissal simply because they disagree with the government’s reasoning. LEGAL WAR ON TRUMP’S AGENDA GAINS FIREPOWER AS FEDERAL LAWYERS DEFECT TO DEMOCRATS And because the convictions had already been vacated and prosecutors have broad authority to decide whether to pursue criminal charges, Kelly said he lacked the power to force the Justice Department to continue the prosecution. “Indeed, it is hard to see how any course other than granting the motion in full could make practical sense. Denying the motion would not somehow revive the convictions that the Court of Appeals vacated,” Kelly wrote. “Nor would denying it mean a retrial would follow, because the Court lacks the authority to compel the Executive to pursue a prosecution, full stop — but especially when an executive order explicitly requires that the Government seek dismissal with prejudice.” But Kelly sharply rebuked the actions of the Jan. 6 rioters, calling it an attack on the people, Congress and the “Constitution’s mechanism to facilitate the peaceful transfer of power.” “Moving forward, if this Nation’s experiment in self-government is to last another 250 years, the American people — no matter their partisan preferences — will have to act together to preserve, protect and defend that miracle through our constitutional framework,” Kelly wrote. Tarrio, who was also pardoned for criminal charges stemming from his role in the Jan. 6 riots, celebrated Kelly’s dismissal on X. “We took the worst they threw at us the raids, the solitary, the lies and we stood tall,” Tarrio wrote. “Trump dropped the pardons and now the rest is crumbling. Justice is SERVED! Proud Boys don’t lose. We WIN. This is OUR victory. THANK YOU PRESIDENT DONALD J TRUMP and all of you that fought for us!”
WATCH: GOP senator warns ‘hammer-and-sickle’ politics will define Democrats’ 2028 primary
FIRST ON FOX: One Senate Republican warned that the “radical leftist” surge in the Democratic Party today will be the roadmap for Democrats in 2028, when candidates will jockey for the White House. “You get this hammer-and-sickle wave we saw in New York — that is not going to be an isolated incident,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital. “That is a flashing red light. It is a red flag.” “Their primaries now are going to be dominated by these people who want to go to war with Western civilization,” he continued. “I mean, I’m not making this up, this is what they say they want to do. And so their [2028] presidential primary will be defined by this ideology.” MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALISTS LOOK TO TAKE NEW YORK PLAYBOOK NATIONWIDE AFTER PRIMARY VICTORIES Several insurgent progressive and far-left candidates have toppled more moderate incumbents in primary contests during this midterm election cycle. In New York City, as Schmitt pointed out, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s chosen candidates made a clean sweep in June. Two incumbents, Reps. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., and Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., were felled by progressives with the Mamdani stamp of approval — Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier, respectively. And in the race for the majority in the Senate, one of the most notable far-left candidates is Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, who is locked in a messy primary fight with Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich. DEMOCRATS’ CIVIL WAR HEADS TO MICHIGAN, WHERE PROGRESSIVES FACE BIGGEST TEST YET IN HIGH-STAKES SENATE SHOWDOWN Schmitt contended that it was Democrats’ position on immigration, in particular, that was defining their policies and candidates moving forward. “I think they’ve just decided that their only chance of being successful electorally is through their immigration policy, and so, they’ve completely dismissed the arguments of Bill Clinton and even Harry Reid,” Schmitt said. “I mean, it sounds crazy to even say that, but they were at least, I guess what you would make a centrist argument on that they’ve totally abandoned.” Specifically, Senate Democrats are bucking an old policy that was once championed by former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. In the 1990s, Reid pushed legislation that would have changed birthright citizenship — just like how Schmitt and other Republicans are doing now after the Supreme Court’s decision upholding birthright citizenship earlier this month. DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA LEADER SAYS ‘MANY’ IN GROUP WOULD BE ‘THRILLED’ AT AOC IN 2028 Schmitt said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who was mentored by Reid, was on notice by his own party given the further left the political winds were blowing. His main political adversary could be one of the poster children of the progressive movement: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. “You know, Chuck Schumer, if he survives to even be minority leader again, you know, next term, there’s just no way he’s not going to have a primary challenge by AOC or somebody else,” Schmitt said. “I mean, I think he’s probably going to chair the ‘AOC for president campaign’ so … she doesn’t run against him, but there’s going to be somebody else. And the money and the energy on the Democrat side right now are these radical leftist communists.”
Trump’s EPA chief pushes back on climate skeptics being labeled ‘science deniers’
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin argues that climate projections represent a range of possible outcomes — not certainties — and warned against labeling those who disagree with them as “science deniers.” “When someone looks at 2050 or 2100 and they say ‘This is exactly what the sea level is going to be. This is what the temperature is going to be,’ it doesn’t acknowledge correctly that there really is a range from the optimistic to the pessimistic,” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head told Fox News Digital. Zeldin’s comments at the Great American State Fair on Thursday come as he was asked what climate predictions made during under President Joe Biden’s administration he believes have been disproven by new evidence. BIDEN-ERA ENVIRO RULE ACCUSED OF STRANGLING TRUCKERS, SQUEEZING AMERICANS LANDS ON TRUMP CHOPPING BLOCK Rather than take a the layup on the former president by citing a specific prediction, he argued that climate projections, especially those decades in the future, should be interpreted as evolving estimates that need to be regularly updated as new data emerges. “Relying on present day facts rather than bad assumptions from the past is incredibly important,” Zeldin insisted. “Every day that goes by we learn what the reality is at that point in the future, and we’re able to compare it to what the predictions are,” he added. Zeldin emphasized the importance of hearing out newer perspectives on climate change, alluding to the idea that using both long-term forecasts and current real-world data can more accurately estimate the present implications and impacts of climate change. BIDEN-ERA ENVIRO RULE ACCUSED OF STRANGLING TRUCKERS, SQUEEZING AMERICANS LANDS ON TRUMP CHOPPING BLOCK He argued that people who disagree with these climate projections, which could possibly reflect outdated research or data, should not automatically be labeled “science deniers.” “I don’t think it’s a good idea that if someone disagrees with someone else’s prediction of exactly what the temperature’s gonna be in the year 2100, that all of a sudden that person is just automatically some science denier,” Zeldin said. “Hear them out,” he advised. “Maybe they have an opinion on some other study that they looked on, or other studies they looked on, because there really is a range of predictions, especially when you look further in the future.” BIDEN-ERA ENVIRO RULE ACCUSED OF STRANGLING TRUCKERS, SQUEEZING AMERICANS LANDS ON TRUMP CHOPPING BLOCK The Trump administration has moved to revisit several climate-related regulations, including efforts to reconsider the EPA’s 2009 Endangerment Finding, which serves as the legal basis for many federal greenhouse gas regulations, as well as other greenhouse gas emissions rules. Since taking over the EPA, Zeldin has spearheaded re-evaluating the agency’s 2009 Endangerment Finding and is revisiting a number of climate-related regulations adopted under previous Democratic administrations.