Montana Dem running as blue-collar smokejumper spent years lobbying for far-left groups
A Democrat running in a key Montana House race as a “smokejumper” and working-class outsider previously worked as a registered lobbyist opposing state-level bills that would have restricted drag performances in public schools and libraries, banned gender-transition procedures for minors and cracked down on sanctuary policies, records reviewed by Fox News Digital show. Sam Forstag, the Democratic nominee in Montana’s 1st Congressional District, has leaned into a blue-collar campaign message, saying constituents like him “know how to work” and “know how to swing a tool.” His campaign has focused on affordability, corruption and working-class frustrations, but his lobbying record puts him on the record on several hot-button issues that could undercut his effort to appeal to more centrist voters in a heavily Republican state. Between 2021 and 2023, Forstag was listed as a registered lobbyist for groups and entities such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, the Montana Library Association and the City of Missoula. During that time, he testified against or was tied through lobbying records to opposition against bills involving drag performances in schools and libraries, transgender-related medical treatments for minors, boys competing in girls’ sports, voter ID and local cooperation with federal immigration authorities. FOUR MONTHS TO MIDTERMS: 12 RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE MAJORITY “This bill is the latest of a series that I expect you’ll see that are intended to stir up fear and distrust of our fellow citizens,” Forstag told Montana lawmakers in 2023 as Republicans considered a bill restricting minors from attending drag performances in public schools and libraries. Forstag argued the measure was overly broad and could affect people who are transgender or nonbinary participating in library programming, saying he hoped lawmakers did not intend to “prohibit an entire class of people” from serving in public libraries. Forstag also opposed SB 99, a bill banning certain gender-transition procedures and medications for minors. In testimony on the bill, Forstag urged lawmakers to “leave personal and medical decisions to families and their chosen health care providers.” While representing the ACLU of Montana, Forstag was tied to opposition against HB 112, which required student athletes to compete based on biological sex, and SB 169, a measure to increase scrutiny around voter ID protocols. TRUMP HOLDS WASHINGTON HOSTAGE OVER SAVE ACT AS MIDTERM CLOCK TICKS ON GOP CONTROL Forstag also opposed bills involving sanctuary policies and local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities, including measures aimed at requiring local officials to comply with immigration detainers. Forstag did not directly dispute the lobbying record when asked by Fox News Digital, instead defending his work in the state capital as a fight for working people and individual freedom. “Between fire seasons, I fought for working people in a state capital that too often ignores us,” Forstag told Fox News Digital. “Instead of accepting a system where the extremes and the rich have the loudest voice, I worked my tail off to defend Montanans’ constitutional rights and freedoms and fight for policies that actually improve our lives.” Forstag framed his opposition to bills involving transgender medical procedures as part of a broader belief that government should stay out of personal decisions. UNEARTHED RECORDS REVEAL DEM MAYOR SOUGHT TAX HIKE TO FUND DEI ROLE AHEAD OF KEY HOUSE RACE “I believe the government’s got no place getting involved in peoples’ private, personal decisions,” he said. “Politicians have no place coming for our guns, and no place inserting themselves into medical decisions that should be up to patients, parents, and doctors.” On immigration, Forstag, who is backed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said local police should not be forced to carry out federal immigration responsibilities. “Laws that force local law enforcement to do the federal government’s bidding make our communities less safe and put police in a bad spot,” he said. “Immigration enforcement should be left to federal officials so our local police can keep Montanans safe.” Jake Eaton, a longtime Montana Republican strategist whose clients have included Gov. Greg Gianforte and Attorney General Austin Knudsen, told Fox News Digital that Forstag’s lobbying record could undercut his effort to appeal to blue-collar and swing voters in the district, noting that issues involving transgender policies, schools and immigration “cut across” demographics. RED-STATE SENATOR DROPS HAMMER ON DEM MAYOR OVER NEW ‘WOKE’ DEI ORDINANCE WHILE VIOLENT CRIME SURGES Meanwhile, Eaton described Forstag as emblematic of the leftward shift of Montana Democrats. “There aren’t a lot of moderate Democrats, if any, left,” Eaton said. “The days of Brian Schweitzer, when you had Democrats that were pro-gun and pro-coal, they don’t really exist anymore.” But Eric Koch, a longtime Democratic consultant, rejected that criticism, arguing that Forstag’s record fits his broader message about keeping government out of personal decisions. “Sam’s record is about keeping government out of your business,” Koch told Fox News Digital. “No amount of divide-and-distract will change that.” The consultant argued Republicans would rather focus on culture-war issues than Forstag’s economic contrast with his Republican opponent Aaron Flint. Forstag will face Flint, an Army veteran and conservative radio host, in the Nov. 3 general election for the open western Montana seat currently held by GOP Rep. Ryan Zinke, who announced earlier this year he would not seek re-election. Forstag won the Democratic primary after defeating former 2024 gubernatorial nominee Ryan Busse, Russell Cleveland and Matt Rains, while Flint emerged from a Republican primary field that included Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, former state Sen. Al Olszewski and educator Ray Curtis.
Trump derailed his intel chief pick’s confirmation. Now he gets another shot.
President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the nation’s intelligence agencies will get a second shot in the Senate on Wednesday, weeks after the president sabotaged the initial confirmation hearing. U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, who currently serves in the Southern District of New York, was tapped by Trump to be the permanent nominee as the director of national intelligence (ODNI) after former DNI Tulsi Gabbard stepped down from the role last month. He’ll get his shot before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. TRUMP’S DNI PICK WILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR HIS CONFIRMATION HEARING AFTER TRUTH SOCIAL BOMB “Jay Clayton is a patriot and highly qualified nominee,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said on X. “In his service to the people of New York, Mr. Clayton has deep experience combatting a wide range of national security threats,” he continued. “I look forward to his hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee tomorrow.” But Clayton, who served as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during Trump’s first term, was caught in a political firestorm roiling through the Senate last month that he had no part of. SENATE PUSH TO REAUTHORIZE NATION’S SPY POWERS STUMBLES OVER CONTROVERSIAL TRUMP DECISION And if he survives the process — several Democrats still serving in the Senate voted to confirm him as SEC chair — lawmakers are hopeful that it will again set up a path to turn a key counter-terrorism tool back on. Democrats were enraged at Trump for tapping Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to be the acting DNI, arguing that he was unqualified and could weaponize the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies at Trump’s bidding. “Why is Mr. Pulte being promoted? Beyond the fact that just the kind of outright insult to the intelligence community, that he can suddenly do the mortgage banking job and the intelligence job at the same time, it’s absurd,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said at the time. TRUMP NAMES BILL PULTE ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE In return, they refused to support reauthorization of the nation’s top counter-terrorism tool, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), causing the program to gradually go dark. Clayton’s nomination was seen by Democrats as an olive branch from the administration designed to ensure that Pulte would never get into the DNI role, and that consideration of a FISA reauthorization could restart. But then Trump blew up the process, demanding that the hearing be halted in a fiery Truth Social post. He argued that Democrats “broke the deal” with FISA, and that until Clayton’s replacement in the Southern District, James McDonald, was confirmed, the nomination would not go forward. And to “add a slight bit of intrigue,” Trump demanded that Republicans tie the SAVE America Act to FISA, effectively killing the legislation for Democrats. “Not complicated, actually, the Republicans fell into a trap,” Trump said at the time.
Biden special counsel’s ‘runaway train’ scooped up sensitive lawmaker info: ‘Abuse of power’
Former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump swept up text messages from nearly 50 members of Congress, bypassing a required review process in what one victim alleged is a direct constitutional violation. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said the situation is more proof Smith’s probe was a “runaway train” of abuses of power, and the elder statesman and Senate Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., jointly released their filings Tuesday evening. Grassley and Johnson’s findings were from a full-scale probe of Operation Arctic Frost, the code name for Smith’s endeavor to investigate Trump for alleged corruption and election malfeasance, an operation top Senate Republicans call “worse than Watergate.” LEGAL WAR ON TRUMP’S AGENDA GAINS FIREPOWER AS FEDERAL LAWYERS DEFECT TO DEMOCRATS Forty-four members of Congress had the contents of their text messages obtained and reviewed by Smith’s team in a way that bypassed protocol. A “filter team” was tasked with reviewing millions of documents in the case and should have had first crack at determining whether such messages were relevant or potentially violated statute or ethics. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., one of the lawmakers whose texts were swept up in this way, said Tuesday such reviews amounted to clear violations of the Constitution’s speech and debate clause that protects lawmakers from being questioned in “any other place” than the Capitol for legislative acts. Internal communications have been historically included in that clause in the courts as technology has advanced. SUPREME COURT JUSTICES HEAD TO CAPITOL HILL FOR FIRST CONGRESSIONAL APPEARANCE SINCE 2019 Stefanik said in a statement that the new records prove Smith’s team “unlawfully and unconstitutionally accessed my private text messages, along with 43 other Members of Congress, in clear violation of the Constitution.” She said she long suspected there had been “unconstitutional spy[ing] on members of Congress.” The records were provided by the Trump Justice Department to Grassley and Johnson, which the chairmen said indicated Smith’s team had “circumvented its own filter review process.” The process is additionally meant to protect attorney-client privilege, they said in a statement. OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE TORCHES TRUMP ADMIN IN LATEST COURTROOM SHOWDOWN, REFERS ATTORNEY FOR BAR REVIEW The news also complicated some of Smith’s prior depositions under oath, including an excerpt in which he answered “no” to a question from a congressional counsel whether records he requested from congresspeople included text messages. Johnson called the situation a “grotesque example” of Biden-era “weaponization” of the executive branch. “Jack Smith’s criminal investigation of President Trump was a runaway train that had no brakes,” Grassley added Tuesday. “Based on the information that’s been produced to me and Senator Johnson, Biden DOJ and FBI investigators apparently ignored their own routine investigative protocols to obtain and review work-related messages from me and dozens of my Republican and Democrat colleagues who were outside the scope of the government’s investigation.” Grassley added that he hopes Democrats caught up in the otherwise bipartisan text tranche will finally discard their partisanship and recognize the severity of the alleged violations by Smith. He also indicated he planned to recall Smith before Congress to “hold him accountable.” Of the 44 members swept up in the text reviews, several were Democrats, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington. Grassley, Johnson and Stefanik were also swept up in the situation, along with top figures like senators Mike Lee, R-Utah; Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska; Rand Paul, R-Ky., former Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.; and the late Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Former House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., was one of the victims, along with current House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, as well as House Freedom Caucus member Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin of New York, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins of Georgi, and prominent Trump critic Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Several lawmakers sounded off on the news soon after Grassley announced his findings, including Hawley, who called for “everyone involved [to] be prosecuted.” “Joe Biden’s DOJ not only tapped my phone; I just learned they illegally obtained my texts with members of President Trump’s administration,” the Missourian fumed. Paul called the allegations a “blatant abuse of power and exactly what our Founders warned about,” while citing Smith’s past denial under oath. Fox News Digital reached out to a representative for Smith for comment.
Congressman sounds the alarm on China: ‘We’re sleepwalking through this competition’
During four terms in Congress, South Dakota’s Dusty Johnson has emerged as a leading voice on American agricultural policy, U.S.-China relations and fiscal responsibility. Often known as the “problem solver,” he recently sat down with Fox News Digital at Freedom Fest in Las Vegas to discuss his congressional career, his South Dakota gubernatorial bid and his future plans as his time in the U.S. House draws to a close. Long respected for his detailed analysis of China policy, Johnson believes the United States is routinely underestimating the geopolitical and economic threat posed by Beijing. REP. DUSTY JOHNSON INTRODUCES GET AMERICANS BACK TO WORK ACT “I think the biggest mistake is that we’re basically sleepwalking through this competition. I mean, every day the leaders of China get up, and they try to figure out how to beat America, how to destabilize our country, how to get an advantage. “And we’re, frankly, in this country spending more time fighting one another than we are trying to think about how to compete with the Chinese Communist Party.” Johnson is the former leader of the Republican Main Street Caucus, a group of center-right Republicans focused on commonsense governance and pragmatism. He has approached his career aspiring to break the famed Washington gridlock. However, recently Johnson lamented that “it’s a tough time to be normal,” observing that the loudest and angriest voices seem to be increasingly dominating the national conversation. “Well … looking a little further than the New York primaries last week, where just an insane bunch of really out there democratic socialists beat some pretty liberal but still kind of mainstream American political thought Democrats, I just think you see that happening in both parties. “Primary turnout is rarely great. Those who do turn out are generally the most interested in purity rather than in progress. And, so, when you’re trying to swim upstream, when you are trying to deliver a message of nuance and thoughtfulness, that sometimes doesn’t go over as well as just saying, ‘Let’s go fight.’” Even as the GOP has controlled the White House and both chambers of Congress on several occasions over the past generation, it has been perennially unable to tackle the problem of balancing budgets and reducing the national debt. Johnson argues that only a bipartisan approach has hope of offering a solution. “Well, everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die,” he said. “I’ve certainly rolled out a number of plans that would have some pretty substantial reforms to our entitlement programs. I’m not looking to take away grandma’s Social Security or Medicare. But we simply are not going to restore solvency to those programs with a status quo approach. “And, unfortunately, candidate Harris, candidate Biden, candidate Trump … they damn near swore on a stack of Bibles that they were not going to touch Social Security or Medicare. That approach guarantees failure. “The other thing we have to acknowledge is one party’s not going to get this done. And I know that’s hard for Republicans to hear because so many Republican office holders have sold the American people a bill of goods that this can be done with one party alone. It cannot. “The last time we made much-needed reform to Social Security in 1983, it took Democratic Speaker Tip O’Neill and Republican President Ronald Reagan to get it done. If we do not start thinking about avoiding fiscal calamity as a bipartisan problem, we will fail.” Johnson entered the 2026 South Dakota GOP gubernatorial primary as the frontrunner but ended up placing third in a tight race behind real estate executive Toby Doeden and incumbent Gov. Larry Rhoden. He acknowledges that a congressional pedigree, once seen as a boost in a bid for a higher office, now appears to be something of an albatross. SOUTH DAKOTA GOVERNOR SURVIVES CROWDED PRIMARY — FOR NOW “Well, I think an absolute onslaught of negative ads the last three or four weeks against me, they really worked. Told people I was a career politician, that I was a RINO, that I was a liberal, and we saw in the polling that that was resonating. Those ads worked so well because they tapped into kind of the spirit of the times. “I have 13 of my colleagues in Congress who have lost their races for governor or senator. Normally, running as a House member, that gives you a bit of an advantage if you’re running for a different office. That’s no longer the case. People are fed up with Washington, D.C. And that clearly is a drag on my many colleagues like me who’ve lost their races.” Despite the outcome of the crowded primary, Johnson looks to his future plans with optimism, not bitterness, and pledges that his work is not yet finished, citing previous success in the business and non-profit sectors. “Well, I don’t know yet. Of course, I’ve got to spend most of my time focused on my day job, which is being South Dakota’s only voice in the U.S. House of Representatives. I’ll do that until January, but listen, I know you can lead a life of consequence. “You can make a better society in business. I’ve done that before. In the nonprofit sector, in lesser elected office or government office. So, I don’t really know yet, but I do know that I’m surely not ready to retire. I’m 50, but I feel like a real young 50, and I’m still filled with plenty of piss and vinegar. Let’s go get it done.”
House passes daylight saving time reform as Trump signals support for ending clock change
A bipartisan effort to make daylight saving time permanent is one step closer to becoming law after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the measure on Tuesday. Lawmakers voted 308-117 to pass the Sunshine Protection Act, which would allow states to voluntarily observe daylight saving time year-round as a growing mass of lawmakers push to extend daylight into the evening hours. “For decades, we have accepted this ritual of springing forward and falling back, even though it disrupts routines, throws off our sleep and creates unnecessary frustration for families across the country,” Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., said Tuesday, detailing how the clock changes have disrupted her infant son’s sleep schedule. “Let’s stop asking Americans to reset their clocks every March and November,” she continued. “Let’s provide some certainty and consistency and a little more sunshine at the end of the day.” TRUMP-BACKED DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME BILL CLEARS KEY HOUSE HURDLE The legislation divided lawmakers in both parties, with members largely from coastal areas, such as Louisiana, Florida and New Jersey, supporting permanent daylight saving time and others from the Midwest and agriculture-heavy states opposing it. Democrats were nearly evenly split, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., opposing it. Just 22 Republicans voted in opposition, including Reps. Bryan Steil, R-Wis.; Rick Crawford, R-Ark.; Ryan Zinke, R-Mont.; and Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo. The measure now heads to the Senate, where its prospects remain uncertain amid skepticism from members of both parties. President Donald Trump, who has long called for ending the twice-a-year clock changes, is expected to sign the bill if it reaches his desk. The White House urged lawmakers to support the Sunshine Protection Act in an internal memo sent to Hill offices Tuesday, calling it a “popular, common-sense reform.” Nearly every state follows the practice of setting clocks forward one hour in March to preserve more evening daylight before “falling back” one hour in November. But nearly 20 states have already approved legislation to make daylight saving time permanent if Congress authorizes the practice. Hawaii and most of Arizona, however, do not observe daylight saving time. Proponents argued the legislation, authored by Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., was necessary to end disruptions caused by switching clocks, including to children’s routines and road safety, while arguing longer daylight would boost tourism and outdoor recreation. “More evening sunshine means more time with family and more time to enjoy our local restaurants, shops, and everything Florida has to offer,” Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., wrote on social media. “It’s common sense. Let’s get it done.” Some lawmakers, however, argue that year-round daylight saving time would delay winter sunrises until after 9 a.m. in some parts of the country, raising safety concerns about darker morning commutes and economic challenges for farmers who would likely have to start work later. SLEEP DOCTOR REVEALS THE BRUTAL HEALTH DOWNSIDE OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME Detractors have also stated that permanent standard time — meaning more light in the mornings — better aligns with circadian rhythms. “If we’re going to make a permanent change that affects every American, we should follow the science and prioritize Americans’ health, particularly that of the children,” Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., who favors permanent standard time, said during debate Monday. Scanlon also pointed to the nation’s brief experiment with year-round daylight saving time in 1974, which Congress reversed after widespread public backlash. Tuesday’s vote comes as the semiannual clock change remains widely unpopular with Americans, according to recent polling. An AP-NORC survey released in December found that just 12% of Americans favor the current daylight saving time system, with nearly half opposed. Another 40% of respondents had no opinion. The survey also found that more Americans support having daylight saving time year-round compared to standard time by a 14-point margin. The Senate previously passed year-round daylight saving time legislation in 2022, but the measure failed to clear the House.
WATCH: Elissa Slotkin says SAVE America Act would make it ‘hard for any Democrat’ to win an election
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE) America Act would make it harder for Democrats to win elections, prompting Republicans to argue she had finally said “the quiet part out loud” about Democrats’ opposition to stricter election laws. Slotkin made the remarks in a video recently unearthed by Breitbart News that was recorded the day after the Senate narrowly rejected the SAVE America Act in June. The bill failed 50-48 after four Republicans joined Democrats in voting against it. The SAVE America Act has become one of the biggest legislative fights in Congress, and President Donald Trump has made its passage his top priority. Trump refused to sign a housing bill Friday to protest Congress’ failure to pass the SAVE America Act. WATCH: HAWLEY FUMES AFTER 4 GOP SENATORS HELP SINK TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID LAW During a June 6 address to Indiana’s state Democratic Party, Slotkin celebrated the Senate’s rejection of the SAVE America Act, in which she claimed the bill would allow the Trump administration to “rig our democracy.” “It would be hard for any Democrat in any state to win any election,” Slotkin said of the SAVE America Act. Slotkin did not explain how the legislation would hurt Democratic politicians. The SAVE America Act would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and photo identification to cast a ballot in federal elections and mandates that states take additional steps to remove noncitizens from voter rolls. Trump argued for months that Democrats opposed the SAVE America Act because it would make it harder to “cheat” in elections, claiming the party benefits politically from weak voter verification measures and the votes of people who are not eligible to vote. During his Feb. 24 State of the Union address, Trump urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, arguing Democrats oppose voter ID because “the only way they can get elected is to cheat.” TRUMP UNLOADS AFTER SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS LATE MAIL-IN BALLOTS IN MISSISSIPPI “And the reason they don’t want to do it — why would anybody not want voter ID? One reason: Because they want to cheat. There’s only one reason. They make up all excuses,” Trump said. “They say, ‘It’s racist.’ They come up with things — you almost say, ‘What imagination they have.’ They want to cheat, they have cheated and their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat, and we’re going to stop it.” But the Center for Election Innovation & Research, a nonprofit election policy group that describes itself as nonpartisan, has found that voter registration of noncitizens is rare. “When investigations do turn up rare instances of improper registration or voting, officials take swift action to ensure that American elections remain secure,” according to the Center for Election Innovation & Research. OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S ELECTION ORDER AS SAVE AMERICA ACT FIGHT INTENSIFIES Slotkin also alleged that the SAVE America Act would make it more difficult for married women to vote, saying a woman would have to show her birth certificate at the polls. Critics of the bill argue the requirement could create additional hurdles for some married women who changed their last names after marriage because the name on their birth certificate may not match their current identification. In those cases, voters may need to provide additional documentation, such as a marriage certificate. Republican congressional members slammed Slotkin. “Democrats are saying the quiet part out loud,” Rep. Tony Wied wrote on X Tuesday. “They know they can’t win on their own merit.” “This talking point from the Left is not only false, but it also paints women as incapable, which we all know is not the case,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., also wrote on X Tuesday. “Showing up to the polls to vote with an ID that proves you’re an American citizen – whether you’re married or not – is common sense. We need to pass the SAVE America Act.” “By that same logic, no married woman in America could fill out an I-9 form — which every American must do when starting a new job,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote on X on Tuesday. “This is absurd. And it highlights why we need to pass the SAVE America Act.” Slotkin’s office referred Fox News Digital to a June video of Slotkin in which the Michigan Democrat said Trump told Congress that if Republicans lose the 2026 midterms, the election was “rigged.” “In the State of the Union, while we were all sitting on the House floor, he said again that if his side doesn’t win in November 2026, the election was rigged,” Slotkin said in the video, referring to Trump. A Fox News Digital review of Trump’s State of the Union address found Trump did not make that statement. Instead, Trump argued Democrats “want to cheat” and that “the only way they can get elected is to cheat.” He also said Republicans could face impeachment if they lose the midterms. “They want to cheat, they have cheated and their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat,” he said. “And we’re going to stop it.” In the video, Slotkin also accused Trump of trying to federalize elections, pointing to an unsigned draft executive order drafted after the 2020 election that proposed using the National Guard to seize voting machines. The order was never signed or carried out. The White House dismissed Slotkin’s claims about SAVE America hurting Democrats. “If securing America’s elections — through commonsense methods like voter ID and proof of citizenship — will make it impossible for Democrats to win elections, perhaps they should reconsider the methods they’re using to ‘win,’” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Trump revives his decades-old Iran warning as US ramps up military pressure: ‘remarkably consistent’
President Donald Trump’s decades-old comments on Iran resurfaced Tuesday in a 1980 interview clip in which he argued America needed to project strength during the hostage crisis. “When you get the respect of the other countries, then the other countries tend to do a little bit as you do … and then you create the right attitudes,” Trump said in the resurfaced clip during an interview with reporter Rona Barrett about the Iranian hostage crisis. When asked during the interview whether the U.S. should send troops into Iran during the hostage crisis, the real estate mogul didn’t hesitate. Trump shared the clip on Truth Social on Tuesday. “I absolutely feel that, yes,” Trump responded. “I don’t think there’s any question.” TRUMP SAYS HE LEFT INSTRUCTIONS TO ‘BOMB’ IRAN ‘AT LEVELS’ NEVER SEEN IF HE IS ASSASSINATED The clip has been circulating on social media amid escalating tensions with Iran after the U.S. resumed strikes after the collapse of a ceasefire agreement. Trump was discussing the Iran hostage crisis, during which Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. “The Iranian situation is case in point that they hold our hostages is just absolutely and totally ridiculous that this country sits back and allows a country such as Iran to hold our hostages, to my way of thinking is a horror,” he added. TRUMP SAYS IRAN CEASEFIRE IS ‘OVER’ AFTER IRANIAN ATTACKS TRIGGER MASSIVE US RESPONSE After lengthy negotiations over a memorandum of understanding with Iran collapsed, the U.S. resumed military operations against Iranian targets. CENTCOM said U.S. forces would resume blocking maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports Tuesday afternoon. “Long before he was elected, President Trump has been remarkably consistent in his belief that Iran — a nation that chants ‘Death to America’ — can never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital. “The United States and our allies are already safer for President Trump’s bold actions to obliterate Iran’s nuclear facilities in Operation Midnight Hammer and decimate their military in Operation Epic Fury. The successful Trump policy is defined by American strength, and President Trump will always unapologetically advance America’s interests.” Trump said Monday that Tehran’s military capabilities have been badly weakened and warned of continued “major attacks.” “If we didn’t do it, they would have had a nuclear weapon. If they had a nuclear weapon, Israel would no longer be with us. The Middle East probably would no longer be with us,” Trump said. TRUMP HAS IRAN ON THE ROPES — AND CRITICS STILL DON’T GET HIS EDGE While answering questions from reporters Monday, Trump said his administration has taken a tougher stance with Iran than previous administrations. “This is what they’ve done for 47 years,” Trump said. “The difference is nobody negotiated like I do. And this should have been done by Bush and Obama and Biden and people before them.” He also accused Iran of dragging out negotiations for decades.
‘This is not normal’: AOC unloads on McConnell’s prolonged absence
Sen. Mitch McConnell’s disclosure of new details about the medical issues that have kept him away from the Senate has sparked fresh scrutiny on Capitol Hill, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., questioning whether his prolonged absence is “legal at this point” even as Republicans insist he’ll return when the Senate needs him. “How is everyone pretending this is normal?” Ocasio-Cortez said to Fox News Digital. “This is not normal. At all.” “How is it that we have sitting elected members of Congress going missing for months at a time?” MITCH MCCONNELL BREAKS SILENCE ON MYSTERY HOSPITALIZATION AFTER GRAHAM’S DEATH The Kentucky senator broke his silence on his previously undisclosed medical conditions that have kept him absent from the Senate since he was first hospitalized on June 14. He posted to social media claiming that his childhood fight with polio contributed to the fall that left him “briefly unconscious” and hospitalized last month, and then was hit with a “mild case of pneumonia” in the midst of his recovery. “Leader McConnell is tough as nails,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said. “This guy survived polio. For days on end, he went through therapy. People have no idea how tough he is. “ McConnell’s silence fueled online speculation about his condition, with unsubstantiated rumors ranging from cardiac arrest to claims that he had died. “When you’re not very forthcoming with a lot of information, whether it’s personal or professional information, you do leave the conclusion up to conspiracy theorists,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said. “And people’s imagination is far greater than reality almost every time.” Even after McConnell released his statement on his medical absence, including a photo of him with his wife in the hospital, rumors circulated about the senator, claiming he could be in a vegetative state. MCCONNELL FACES FRESH CALLS TO COME CLEAN ABOUT HEALTH ISSUES The statement also did not address specifically when McConnell would return to the Senate, only stating that he would not “be able to return to the Senate floor to vote quite yet.” But Republican senators seemed confident that McConnell would return to the Senate floor for key votes, with Cramer even claiming GOP leaders have been in “regular” contact with him throughout his absence. “Enough of our leadership have regular conversations with him for me to be comfortable,” Cramer said. “I don’t have any doubt if there was a vote for a Supreme Court justice tomorrow that he’d find a way to be here for that,” Marshall said. “I think he’ll be here when we need him, and I just would never count him out. He’ll be back.” McConnell, 84, is set to retire next year at the end of his term, but has promised he will be “finishing the job” he was elected to do until then. “I think that Mitch McConnell has always been exactly who he is right now,” Cramer said. HOUSE DEM URGES TRANSPARENCY BY PUBLIC OFFICIALS AFTER GOP COLLEAGUE REVEALS REASON FOR EXTENDED ABSENCE “He’s not the most transparent person in the world. He thinks strategically, tactically. He thinks about what serves the institution best — what serves his political ambitions and his political priorities.” Ocasio-Cortez told Fox News Digital that while medical emergencies can often be inevitable, she believes there needs to be some regulations pertaining to the length of absences, as well as potentially some legislation passed to prevent lawmakers from being able to be absent for long periods. “Listen, things do happen,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “People get into medical incidents. If you’re in the hospital, you’re in the hospital. But I do think that there should be some sort of… there’s a line here. And I think almost everyone can agree that it’s been crossed.”
Amy Coney Barrett recalls heartbreaking question from 12-year-old son over bulletproof vest
Justice Amy Coney Barrett told the House Appropriations Committee the uptick in threats waged against her and fellow Supreme Court justices have taken a toll on her children. “They have required my children to think about and see things that children should not have to see or think about,” Barrett testified Tuesday. Barrett shared how her security detail gave her a bulletproof vest to wear, and one day when she brought it into her bedroom, her 12-year-old son asked what it was. “And I didn’t know how to respond because maybe I lack imagination, but I didn’t expect that performing this service was going to put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was and why I had to wear one,” Barrett told the committee. SUPREME COURT JUSTICES HEAD TO CAPITOL HILL FOR FIRST CONGRESSIONAL APPEARANCE SINCE 2019 Barrett and Justice Elena Kagan’s testimony before Congress came as the Supreme Court seeks a 10% budget increase for fiscal year 2027, with roughly $16.6 million of the $20.7 million increase dedicated to expanding security for the justices. Barrett, who was the target of a swatting incident in May, recounted how her and her family’s lives drastically changed following the leaked Dobbs decision in 2022, which ruled that abortion was not a constitutional right, causing threats on her life to intensify. In that incident, someone falsely reported gunshots at her home, Barrett testified, saying her teenage son and his friends were the first to discover the street filled with police. AMY CONEY BARRETT DRAWS BACKLASH FROM CONSERVATIVE CRITICS WHO WANT HER TO BE A TRUMP PARTISAN “I was very, very grateful that I had Supreme Court police outside my home because they were able to stop and meet with and explain to the county police that it had been a false alarm, and so the police did not actually attempt to enter our home,” Barrett said. She also shared that her and other justices are receiving anonymous packages being sent in the name of Daniel Anderl, the 20-year-old son of U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas, who was killed in 2020. The gunman was an attorney posing as a delivery driver. Judge Salas was his target. Salas’ husband was seriously injured as well. MORNING GLORY: THE SUPREME COURT OFFICIALLY CLOSES THE BOOKS ON ANOTHER TERM “I think the message on these deliveries being sent in his name is clear,” Barrett said. “As Justice Kagan said, federal judges across the country, throughout the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, continue to do their jobs without fear or favor, but the threat level is really high.” The testimony underscored the urgency behind the Supreme Court’s push for more security funding during its first appearance before Congress since 2019. In total, the Supreme Court is requesting roughly $89 million to cover personal security costs, which Kagan said is necessary given that the justices have experienced a 35% increase in threats just in 2026, compared to a 25% increase in threats the year prior. Kagan noted how recent growth in the budget can be entirely attributed to security expenses. “For some of us, those threats have come very close, and all of us live with the knowledge that they may again materialize,” Kagan testified. She recalled that when she arrived at the Supreme Court in 2010, justices did not receive around-the-clock personal protection. Instead, the court’s police primarily guarded the building, and she only had security accompanying her during work-related public events. But Kagan said the heightened focus on justices’ security began after Justice Antonin Scalia’s death in 2016. Scalia died while on a hunting trip in Texas, where he was hours away from security personnel after declining a private security detail for the trip. Kagan recalled that Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and the late Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., went to Chief Justice John Roberts to push them to step up security. “This was how the chief described it to us — they said, kind of like, ‘We think you’re crazy, you know, that you have less security than the director of the Office of Personnel Management does. And we think that you have to do better.’ “Then, of course, the Dobbs leak happened, and that really increased the urgency of the entire thing,” Kagan said. “But we’ve been working on this now for about a decade and actually, I think, are grateful to Congress for coming to us and saying, ‘You have to up your game in this area.’”
Senate Dems draw rare line against must-pass Pentagon bill
Senate Democrats drew a rare line in the sand against a yearly, must-pass defense package in an act of rebellion against President Donald Trump. Democrats blocked a procedural hurdle for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a perennial bill that opens up funding for the Pentagon and military. Many were already frustrated by the overall funding target of the package and pushed over the edge by the renewal of the Iran war. “It’s very disappointing,” Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Fox News Digital. REPUBLICANS BREAK WITH TRUMP TO REBUKE IRAN WAR — BUT IT WON’T CHANGE POLICY “It’s about supporting our troops, supporting our military, and it’s disappointing when Democrats play games with that,” he continued. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., charged on the Senate floor that Republicans wanted the upper chamber to take up the bill “as though none of this is happening.” “The president is waging an unauthorized war, defying bipartisan majorities in Congress, refusing to level with the American people at the cost of the mission or the endgame,” Schumer said. “The NDAA cannot become a permission slip for that recklessness that we see occurring in Iran.” CLOSED-DOOR OUTBURST TURNS INTO VICTORY FOR TRUMP’S IRAN NEGOTIATIONS Early signs of trouble for this year’s NDAA first appeared during the Senate Armed Services Committee’s vote to advance the legislation. The majority of Democrats, nine out of 13 on the panel, voted against it. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., was one of the “no” votes, something he acknowledged was a rare move. He said guardrails needed to be added to Trump’s war authorities in Iran and a deeper explanation provided of where exactly the staggering $1.15 trillion authorized by the bill would come from. IRAN WAR’S PRICE TAG HITS $80B — MORE THAN DOUBLE WHAT CONGRESS WAS TOLD “The Iran war issue is, I think, one of the major issues about the NDAA, but it’s not the only issue,” Kaine said. “The absence of knowing where this money is coming from to do this dramatic top-line increase? That still has to get resolved.” Republicans, however, contended that taking the first step on the bill would allow for an amendment process to modify it. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who also sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Fox News Digital, “It’s pretty frustrating, people need to come together and act in the best interest of the country.” “We have to, you know, we have to have a strong military,” Scott said. “Whether we like it or not, people decide to be our enemies. They want to destroy us. So I think we ought to, you know, get on the bill and if we need to do amendments, let’s start amending it.”