Sean Duffy faces family dilemma over embattled Ivy League school and Christian values
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy accused Harvard University of indoctrinating students with ideas that run counter to his Christian values, raising concerns about whether his own daughter should attend the prestigious Ivy League school. “I don’t want them to get one viewpoint,” Duffy said on an episode of the Department of Transportation-sponsored YouTube series “The Great American Roadtrip.” “I want them to get a lot of different viewpoints, but I don’t want them fed only one viewpoint that’s contrary to the way my kids were raised.” The comments come as Duffy’s daughter, Paloma, expressed interest in attending Harvard University, saying she couldn’t turn down the opportunity if accepted. CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST CALLS OUT ANA NAVARRO’S CLAIM ABOUT SEAN DUFFY’S ROAD TRIP IN HEATED CLASH “But mom and I can,” Duffy said, referring to his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, a Fox News host. The couple has been married since 1999 and shares nine children. Like her husband, Campos-Duffy also expressed concern about Paloma attending Harvard, saying she could be exposed to perspectives contrary to the teachings of the Catholic faith, which Campos-Duffy described as the bedrock of their family’s life. The episode was released Wednesday, less than a week after U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit against Harvard University, which accused the school of violating Title VI by failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students from antisemitic harassment on campus. Following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023, Harvard University was one of dozens of colleges that faced anti-Israel encampments and protests. HARVARD PRESIDENT CALLS STUDENTS ‘IGNORANT’ ON ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT Harvard Jewish students reported being harassed, intimidated and excluded from campus spaces. The Trump administration has been engaged in a contentious battle with Harvard since the early months of Trump’s second term, freezing research funding for the school and attempting to revoke Harvard’s ability to participate in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. President Donald Trump has called Harvard’s handling of the rise of antisemitism on its campus a “disgrace” and said the Ivy League school is a “total disaster.” Duffy further explained his concerns about Harvard University to his daughter. “If I send you there, I think what happens is they have professionalized figuring out how they can take good young girls like you and I think corrupt their minds,” Duffy said. “You don’t have to believe what I believe. You don’t have to have the political viewpoints that I have, but I do think it’s important that you make those choices for yourself and you have a fair representation of what they are.” “And I don’t think the Harvards of the world give you that kind of well-rounded picture,” Duffy continued. Despite his qualms about Harvard, Duffy and his family traveled to Cambridge to visit the university as part of the limited road-trip series. While there, the family met with a Catholic priest who discussed campus life for young Catholic students, prompting Duffy to soften his stance on Harvard. “I think a smart good girl can completely navigate what is a really good school,” Duffy said. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER “Should Paloma have the opportunity to go to Harvard? I am more open,” Duffy continued. “In some ways, we need to trust that what we armed her with will hopefully be enough for her.” Fox News Digital reached out to Harvard University for comment.
Democrats who ‘never voted Republican’ back Rogers over El-Sayed in razor-close race
EXCLUSIVE – DETROIT, MI – Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers has a message for Democrats who are far from happy with their party’s nominee in battleground Michigan: “You have a home with us.” Rogers, a former congressman and former FBI agent who is running a second straight time for the Senate after losing by a slim margin two years ago, on Thursday stood alongside a group of voters as he unveiled his “Democrats for Mike Rogers” coalition during a campaign event at a residence in a western Detroit neighborhood. After a combustible and divisive Democratic Senate primary, where Abdul El-Sayed narrowly edged more moderate Rep. Haley Stevens for the nomination, Rogers is heavily courting Democrats disaffected with their left-wing nominee, as he works to flip a crucial Democrat-held Senate seat in the midterm elections. “To Democrat voters who feel their nominee doesn’t represent them and their values, all hope is not lost. I’m not asking you to be a Republican. I’m asking you for the opportunity to earn your trust… our door is open,” Rogers said as he referred to Democratic voters uncomfortable with some of El-Sayed’s controversial past comments and far-left policy positions. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB A new public opinion survey from AARP indicated El-Sayed and Rogers locked in a margin-of-error race. And in a Fox News poll conducted Aug. 6-10 and released last week, Rogers held a slight four-point edge. Rogers’ advantage in the Fox News poll was fueled largely by stronger party unity among Republicans. Nearly all Republicans (96%), including both MAGA (99%) and non-MAGA Republicans (89%), backed Rogers, the poll indicates. El-Sayed’s support among Democrats was slightly lower, at 91%. While 98% of self-described Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) supporters backed El-Sayed, that number dropped to 69% of non-DSA Democrats and independents. “We definitely think it’s an opening. This is going to be a tight race. It’s Michigan,” Rogers said in an exclusive Fox News Digital interview following the campaign event. “We’re going to take advantage of the fact that people are pausing to think if he [El-Sayed] represents their values.” Rogers highlighted that Democrats “who have never voted for a Republican in their life, they’re going to vote for me. We take encouragement in that. It’s inspiring. It’s going to show that… values do matter in this election, and we’re going to be talking to a lot of people that would not normally have…an opening with a Republican.” One of those Democrats who stood alongside Rogers identified herself as Chelsea from West Bloomfield, Michigan. “I’m a lifelong Democrat. I voted for Obama. I voted for Hillary. I voted for Biden. I voted for Slotkin. I heavily supported Haley Stevens throughout her race and now I’m voting for Mike Rogers because sometimes the election calls for us to look at something bigger than our party lines,” Chelsea explained. CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL IN MICHIGAN’S BLOCKBUSTER SENATE RACE Pointing to El-Sayed, she emphasized that “the Democratic nominee that we’ve been given does not share my values and he does not agree with a world that I want my children to grow up in.” Responding to the event, the El-Sayed campaign highlighted Rogers’ ties to President Donald Trump, who is supporting the GOP nominee. “Mike Rogers will put Donald Trump ahead of Michigan every single time. Just like he carried water for Trump’s dangerous election lies, he’ll rubber-stamp Trump’s reckless agenda — driving up gas prices and sending your tax dollars to fight foreign wars,” El-Sayed campaign spokesperson Cole Wozniak charged in a statement to Fox News. Wozniak added, “Abdul’s the only candidate with a coalition that can win this November and will get right to work in the U.S. Senate getting money out of politics and putting money in your pockets.” A former Wayne County Health Department director, El-Sayed, if elected in November, would make history as the nation’s first Muslim senator. He is an epidemiologist who unsuccessfully ran for governor as an insurgent candidate in 2018. He has made support for “Medicare-for-all” a major component of his campaign. El-Sayed, who was endorsed and joined on the primary campaign trail by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, has also called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is a vocal critic of Israel during its war with Hamas — characterizing Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” against Palestinians. WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE MIDTERM RACES SHOW Rabbi Asher Lopatin of Huntington Woods, Michigan, who also joined Rogers at the campaign rollout, told Fox News Digital, “I do have a lot of issues with a lot of policies of the Trump administration. I do have concerns about the Supreme Court. But it’s more important to make a statement that we cannot let someone like Abdul El-Sayed get into the Senate.” Lopatin said Jewish voters who “normally vote Democrat are going to vote for Mike Rogers, and I’m hearing that. And there’s a growing movement like that. And I think the more they meet him… the more they’re going to feel comfortable voting for a Republican, sometimes the first time in their lives.” The rabbi also pointed to a state Democratic Party convention in April, where there was hostility toward anyone who openly supported Israel. Stevens, a strong Israel supporter, was booed at the convention. “Many people I talked to, many super progressive people, are really traumatized by the way they were treated, and the way Haley Stevens was booed, and the way other candidates were treated. It’s a violent, uncivil kind of setup for politics, and that’s the biggest danger: taking away civility from politics,” Lopatin said. Asked about concerns from Jewish voters, Rogers told Fox News Digital, “I’ve talked to two young women who were at University of Michigan, who were afraid to walk to class. They couldn’t display their Star of David. To say that they’re afraid is probably an understatement.”
Trump could face impeachment if Democrats seize House majority, GOP leader warns
A top House Republican is arguing that Democrats would upend work in Washington by impeaching President Donald Trump immediately if they win the majority in November. “Democrats aren’t even being shy about it. They’re telling you what they would do. I mean, they’ll impeach the president day one,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital. House Democrats successfully impeached Trump twice the last time they held the House majority, though both efforts failed to get him convicted by the Senate. PUSH TO OUST TRUMP EXPOSES CRACKS AMONG DEMOCRATS ON STRATEGY, TIMING Their party leaders have not openly called for impeaching Trump again if they win in November, but progressive lawmakers have already introduced a flurry of impeachment resolutions targeting both the president and his Cabinet. And while the Democratic establishment has not endorsed any impeachment efforts — and even went so far as to join Republicans in killing one on the House floor in June 2025 — Scalise and other Republicans are warning that it’s the far left that will soon have the reins of the party. GOP LAWMAKER UNVEILS HISTORIC MOVE TO ‘EXPUNGE’ BOTH ‘MALICIOUSLY FALSE’ IMPEACHMENTS AGAINST TRUMP It comes after a wave of socialist insurgents toppled Democratic incumbents and establishment-backed candidates in primaries across the country. Republicans have seized on the turmoil, arguing their candidates and vulnerable incumbents are much closer to where Americans currently are than those leading the leftward shift on the other side. “These are tough members. And these are members who have been working with President Trump to make life more affordable for families all across America, running against socialists,” Scalise said. “Socialists who wanna raise taxes, open the border back up again, bring criminals back in.” SCALISE WARNS ‘BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION’ TAKING OVER DEM PARTY AFTER SOCIALIST PRIMARY WINS Citing part of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) policy platform, he said, “Defunding prisons? Where are those prisoners gonna go? You know, are they going to take them in their house? This is insane.” “And we’ve got seats, by the way, we have a real chance to flip. You know, go look at [Gov. Paul] LePage in Maine, poised to flip a Democrat seat over to Republican,” Scalise said. “We’ve got seats in Texas and Ohio and Florida — so many other places where we have an opportunity to flip seats from Democrat to Republican because people are rejecting this crazy extreme socialism on the left.” Fox News Digital reached out to House Democrats’ campaign arm for a response to Scalise’s impeachment comments.
FBI seizes Swalwell’s devices at airport as sexual misconduct investigation escalates: sources
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized disgraced congressman and former California gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell’s electronic devices at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday night, two sources familiar with the incident confirmed to Fox News Digital. Swalwell’s home in Washington, D.C., was subsequently searched on Sunday, a source said. DOJ OPENS INVESTIGATION INTO ERIC SWALWELL OVER SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS The devices seized included at least one cell phone. The devices were taken from the ex-lawmaker related to a probe into sexual misconduct, according to the sources. He was not arrested or detained. Fox News Digital reached out to Swalwell’s attorney. The Democratic former congressman and left-wing television news darling resigned from his seat in Congress in April. At the same time, he dropped his bid to become California’s next governor. This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Blue-city drug gear exposes hypocrisy as cleanup group faces probe, leader cries foul
The founder of a Seattle nonprofit that cleans up discarded drug paraphernalia distributed through city and county harm reduction programs says she was stunned to learn her organization is now under state investigation over how it handles those same supplies. Andrea Suarez is the founder of We Heart Seattle. She rallies volunteers to pick up and dispose of needles, smoking supplies such as pipes and foil, and other drug-use items distributed through King County “harm reduction” programs. Critics argue the policies can enable continued drug use rather than moving people toward treatment and recovery. “One of the biggest advocacy work I have done is that I go to the needle exchange and I get what they call the ‘party kit,’ and I demonstrated that our King County ‘Health’ Department is handing out cookers and tourniquets and glass pipes and paraphernalia to do drugs,” Suarez told Fox News Digital. “I was referring to this ‘party kit’ as a ‘suicide kit’ with very little, if no information on where to get medical detox.” SEATTLE CLEANED UP FOR THE WORLD CUP BUT ONLY WHILE THE WORLD WAS WATCHING, COMMENTATOR SAYS Suarez has been working on her mission of cleaner streets, parks and playgrounds for seven years, and We Heart Seattle has logged more than 50,000 hours of volunteer service. Founded in 2020 as a solo operation, Suarez has built an army of hundreds of volunteers over the past six-and-a-half years. The group is now facing a state workplace-safety investigation, which Suarez says is its first government probe. We Heart Seattle is under investigation by the Washington Department of Labor & Industries following a complaint alleging “improper handling and collection of hypodermic needles and fentanyl paraphernalia,” according to documents sent to Suarez from the Washington Department of Labor & Industries and viewed by Fox News Digital. SEATTLE MAYOR GRILLED ON PUBLIC SAFETY CRISIS AS RESIDENTS DEMAND ANSWERS Suarez denied wrongdoing and said the group uses gloves, grabbers and sharps-disposal procedures, while pointing to safety guidance posted on We Heart Seattle’s website. That plan includes guiding supporters on what to wear to protect themselves from potential hazards, including wearing long pants and sleeves and closed-toed boots. The website also provides guidance for volunteers to stay safe while picking up debris. Suarez argued there is a double standard in the state scrutinizing how her group handles discarded drug-use supplies while local harm reduction programs distribute some of the same types of materials. SEATTLE MAYOR SAYS SOBRIETY WON’T BE REQUIRED AT NEW HOMELESS SHELTER “We have been out here for… going on seven years every day, every weekend we’re out there picking up needles and trash. And for my ‘thank you’ letter from the government, it was this letter saying, ‘You’re under investigation for allegedly improperly handling this very equipment that they hand out with no instructions.’” Suarez said that after learning of the investigation, she visited a harm reduction site and asked for specific guidance on handling “fentanyl foil” and other dangerous drug supplies, but said staff did not provide her with such instructions. The Washington Department of Labor & Industries told Fox News Digital that the investigation stems from a complaint made by someone outside of the organization. TAXPAYER-FUNDED ‘METH MANSION’ UNDER FIRE AS CRIME CONCERNS MOUNT AROUND HOMELESS CAMPUS Spokesman Matt Ross said inspections can take up to six months, and that once complete, the results are made available to the public. He said there’s a related probe into a temporary staffing agency, but declined to provide specifics. “Inspectors may issue violations if an organization isn’t meeting those requirements, and may also issue violations for other safety hazards they observe in the course of an inspection,” he said. “The inspectors also work with the organizations on the best way to address the hazards they find. Potential penalties will depend on the specifics of the violations.” Suarez criticized state and local harm reduction policies, arguing they contribute to the conditions her volunteers are cleaning up. SOCIALIST MAYOR KATIE WILSON SILENT AMID PROTESTS OVER ‘HUMAN DUMPING GROUND’ AHEAD OF US WORLD CUP MATCH “You have to look at the optics of a state, a county, a city level that allows people to openly use lethal and illegal narcotics like methamphetamines and fentanyl, and they give you the paraphernalia to use those drugs on our taxpayer dime, to use in public spaces with no consequences… and then I’m over hear trying to manage the problem, clean up our dog parks, clean up our children’s merry-go-rounds, ensuring our playgrounds don’t have needles and foil sticking up through the grass, and I’m the one under investigation,” said Suarez. “The optics are egregious,” she said. She also painted a gruesome picture of life in Seattle’s public spaces. SEATTLE SENIORS BEG CITY FOR HELP AS ‘ABSOLUTE ANARCHY’ ERUPTS OUTSIDE LGBTQ HOUSING COMPLEX “I think I’m going to go after the state to say, ‘Why aren’t you training me before I go into our city library when there’s drug addicts slumped over in all of the computer chairs, using our bathrooms, shooting drugs and leaving their paraphernalia all around the perimeter, putting me or my child or dog at risk of picking something up and getting a blood-borne pathogen infection of sorts,’ right?” she said. “So this whole city is a blood-borne pathogen risk for everybody. I think that’s why people don’t go to these public places anymore, and they really frankly have been overtaken by drug users.” Suarez said she plans to look into whether her group was unfairly targeted. She described herself as relatively apolitical before starting the nonprofit, but said its cleanup work has increasingly drawn the organization into political disputes over Seattle’s drug and homelessness policies. King County defended its harm reduction approach, saying it is intended to reduce overdoses while connecting people with treatment and other services. “The influx of fentanyl led to a sharp rise in fatal overdoses across the U.S. and in King County. Our comprehensive approach to overdose response and recovery focuses on
Dem’s ‘sexist’ remark against cancer survivor provokes Republican to go scorched earth: ‘Guy’s got a problem’
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Mike Collins is going scorched earth, accusing his Democratic opponent Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., of making a “sexist” and “misogynist” viral remark involving a female cancer survivor working in the Trump White House. Ossoff, a 39-year-old freshman senator running for re-election in Georgia, drew criticism after making a remark about White House aide Natalie Harp during an Atlanta campaign rally Sunday. Ossoff suggested that President Donald Trump has been neglecting his duties, saying, “He doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar.” Though the comment earned immediate cheers from the crowd, conservatives criticized it as sexist and defended the 35-year-old aide as simply doing her job. Ossoff sought to clarify his remarks Monday, saying, “I’ve heard this particular aide referred to as his security blanket. And I think we could say that about any number of the senior aides in the White House. They’re not telling him what he needs to hear. They’re telling him what he wants to hear.” In an interview with Fox News Digital, Collins criticized Ossoff’s remarks. “It’s sexist, misogynist. This guy has a problem, the way he has treated women, and it’s all coming out in the open now.” JON OSSOFF DODGES ON WHY HE INVOKED TRUMP AIDE’S NAME DURING GEORGIA CAMPAIGN RALLY Collins said Ossoff’s remarks about Harp reinforced his concerns about how the senator views women. “with what he said about Natalie is just one more nail in the coffin on how this guy actually feels about women,” said Collins. “When he will say that about someone who is out there doing a fantastic job and to suggest those types of things. Yeah, he owes not only her an apology, but the American people an apology.” Ossoff led the race in a July AARP poll, which showed him ahead by nine percentage points. Speaking with Fox News Digital, however, Collins emphasized that the polls “have been tightening” as remarks such as this have shown his “true colors.” “There is a clear problem with him and females, and he needs to explain that. He needs to tell us why he is attacking a young lady like Natalie Harp personally like that,” he said. “I mean, what he is a trust-fund kid who’s never had a job, who’s out there denigrating women, and the vulgarity that he is insinuating and talking about this young lady, Natalie Harp, who has overcome so many odds. It’s just unbecoming.” Harp rose to prominence in 2019 after crediting Trump’s Right to Try Act with helping her access experimental treatment for a rare bone cancer. She later joined Trump’s 2020 campaign and became a special assistant to the president. WHITE HOUSE TEARS INTO OSSOFF WITH BRUTAL TAKEDOWN AFTER JAB AT KEY TRUMP AIDE: ‘LIGHTWEIGHT LOSER’ She has earned the nickname the “human printer” in Trump’s orbit, providing the president with printouts of news articles, emails, social media posts and other material. Collins defended Harp as someone who overcame the odds and “does a great job,” adding that “there’s a pattern here with this guy and it’s out of control.” “You can take that further. The fact that he wants to allow men to participate in girls’ sports, the fact that he doesn’t mind if they use women’s restrooms, this guy’s got a problem,” he said, adding, “He can’t even define a woman.” Collins also said Democrats “are nothing but hypocrites when it comes to these types of issues.” DSA’S GROWING GRIP ON DEM PARTY HITS NEW TERRITORY AS ESTABLISHMENT FALLS IN LINE SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER “For him to stand up there and denigrate her and to talk about her, this is nothing but him trying to make sure that he gets his social media-based platform raised and make sure he kind of tries to gin up the public out there.” Fox News Digital reached out to Ossoff’s campaign for comment.
Battle over federal courthouses erupts as GSA warns against giving judiciary more control
EXCLUSIVE: The agency overseeing U.S. courthouses is pushing back against a new bill that would give the judicial branch more property control, arguing that the judiciary has a history of mismanaging its buildings. The General Services Administration (GSA), which serves as landlord for most federal courthouse space, said the bill would allow the judiciary to assume real property authority over facilities in up to 10 federal judicial districts from the GSA, including responsibility for repairing and maintaining facilities. The bill, the Judicial Space and Facilities Management Effectiveness Act, was introduced July 30 by U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and John Boozman, R-Ark. Proponents of the bill argue that it is necessary because the GSA itself has poorly maintained judicial facilities. Pointing to a building-management delegation program approved as a pilot in 1988, the GSA said participating courts encountered significant repair costs after assuming greater facilities responsibilities. Judiciary records say GSA changed the program in 2004 to make participating agencies responsible for additional repair costs, including major and unforeseen repairs, and that the Judicial Conference voted in 2005 to withdraw from the program as a cost-saving measure. VIDEO EXPOSES DISREPAIR LURKING BENEATH TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER AS $257M RENOVATION LOOMS Only one courthouse, the Hugo Black Federal Courthouse in Birmingham, Alabama, remained under the judiciary, the agency said. The Judicial Conference later approved continued delegated management authority for the Birmingham courthouse under specified cost limits and provisions for catastrophic repairs. The building reportedly deteriorated significantly and accumulated $57.7 million in delinquent maintenance costs. An analysis revealed extensive safety hazards, including improper chemical storage, inoperable elevator emergency phones and poorly maintained fire protection systems, among other issues, according to the GSA. “The facility’s unique repair needs reflect poor maintenance practices that have shortened the useful life of expensive, critical systems, including elevators, chiller plants, and boilers,” the agency said. Despite holding autonomy over the courthouse, the judiciary repeatedly turned to the GSA for technical assistance with complex repairs, the agency said. The judiciary also relied on GSA service contract templates to assist with its own contracting needs, according to the agency. After GSA shifted additional maintenance responsibilities to participating courts, the Judicial Conference endorsed ending the judiciary’s participation in September 2005 “as a cost-savings measure,” according to Judiciary records. KENNEDY CENTER DISPUTES ALLEGATIONS ON CONTRACTOR BIDS DESPITE DEMOCRAT SENATOR’S CLAIMS The judiciary strongly disputed those claims in a statement to Fox News Digital. During a Senate hearing, Judge Julia S. Gibbons and then-Sen. Jeff Sessions both “enthusiastically praised” the property management results at the Birmingham courthouse, the judiciary said. “There simply was no suggestion of failure at that hearing, and in fact the Judiciary manages repairs in the Birmingham courthouse, with no GSA involvement, to this day,” an Administrative Office spokesman said. “The courts have a long history of managing complex business operations, such as budgets, finances, and information technology.” The judiciary also pointed to the current GSA-managed maintenance backlog, which it said has ballooned to more than $8.3 billion, leaving federal courthouses to cope with broken elevators, severe storm damage and undrinkable water. GSA has also acknowledged having courthouse repair and alteration liabilities. “The Judiciary has endured 15 years of sustained failure to maintain our nation’s courthouses. We are seeking Real Property Authority for one reason—we have no choice,” the Administrative Office spokesman said. WHITE HOUSE SEIZES ON DELAYED OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER OPENING TO CROWN TRUMP ‘BUILDER-IN-CHIEF’ The GSA attributed the maintenance backlog to a “broken Congressional authorization and appropriations process,” pointing to delays and funding shortfalls. The agency said GSA Administrator Edward Forst has already made unprecedented efforts to address the backlog. “The fundamental issue at hand is outdated Congressional funding and approval rules,” Forst said. “I’m leading an unprecedented effort to reimagine federal building management by raising the prospectus threshold and expanding access to the Federal Buildings Fund with support from 22 cabinet members and agency heads. Those changes — not Judiciary management — are what’s necessary to remediate and renew America’s federal facilities and courthouses.” Separately, the GSA said it successfully completed construction on the new U.S. Courthouse in Huntsville, Alabama, in 2024. The project was completed $7 million under budget and features state-of-the-art security, energy efficiency and operations technology. Forst claimed that the agency is “the most experienced and efficient building manager in the federal government.” “Multiple Government Accountability Office (GAO) studies show that breaking our model apart would not make courthouse projects faster, cheaper, or better-built. It would make them more fragmented, more expensive, less accountable, and less safe,” Forst said. “Trials and audits have shown that the Judiciary struggles with basic upkeep and maintenance of their facilities, doesn’t effectively utilize its vast space, and is not equipped with the financial resources or expertise to manage their own buildings,” GSA added. GAO has separately found that congressional funding constraints have contributed to deferred maintenance in federal buildings and has cautioned that transferring real property authority to the Judiciary would not itself provide additional funding and would require sufficient real property expertise. Defending the branch’s capability, an Administrative Office spokesperson argued that basic facilities upkeep is inherently tied to their work. “Maintaining a safe, functional environment is essential to the administration of justice,” the spokesperson said. “Starting with the proposed pilot program, the Judiciary has the capacity to make property management decisions that better serve the public and the courts.”
Trump urged to stop targeting fellow Republicans as GOP fights to keep majority
FIRST ON FOX: Some Senate Republicans worry that their secret weapon on the campaign trail, President Donald Trump, isn’t making a strong enough case to voters that there needs to be more Republicans in the upper chamber. There are only a handful of primary races left between now and November, when the balance of power in the Senate could slip from the GOP’s grasp, with several seats on the line and Senate Democrats hungry to regain control. And there’s a major issue bogging Republicans down that has spurred internal animosity: the SAVE America Act. Trump’s pressure to pass the election integrity measure and his tendency to bash Republicans for not getting it done has placed vulnerable incumbents in between a rock and a hard place. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital in an interview that while some Republicans are making promises to voters that the bill could pass right now, the better tact would be to push why more Republicans are needed in the Senate. INSIDE THE SENATE’S CHAOTIC ALL-NIGHTER THAT LEFT TRUMP’S SAVE AMERICA ACT ON THE SHELF “The president made the argument, ‘Well, pass the Save America Act, it will motivate our base,’” Thune said. “Yeah, but I think the base can be plenty motivated by other issues, and particularly by the president getting out there on the campaign trail and telling them why it’s important that they elect Republicans to the Senate.” “Everybody has their own ideas about how best to communicate our message, but I think our message between now and November ought to be why the Democrats are completely out of step with the American people and why we need to elect more Republicans so we can do things like the SAVE America Act,” he continued. Anxious Republicans hope to see a shift in messaging from shooting inward at their own to turning their fire on Democrats, who themselves are undergoing a messy ideological change on the campaign trail. Republicans see prime messaging targets with candidates like Dr. Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota pushing left-leaning policies. SCHUMER SAID ‘DEMOCRATS SUPPORT VOTER ID’ — THEN EVERY SENATE DEMOCRAT VOTED AGAINST GOP BILL But the SAVE America Act has consumed much of the oxygen heading into the penultimate stretch of the election cycle. The legislation has produced an online dogma that punishes any Republican, including Thune, who tries to convey the political reality in the Senate that Democrats continue to block the bill, and there just aren’t enough Republican votes to pass it as is. It’s caused private disagreements to take a new life on social media, where proponents, like Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, are sniping at their colleagues for the bill’s failure to launch, despite five attempts at trying to pass it throughout the year in various iterations. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee (NRSC), warned that division would sow disaster for the GOP heading into November. “There’s no doubt that the road to socialism runs right through a divided Republican Party,” Scott told Fox News Digital. “I hope every American understands that, remembers that, and hears it several times between now and Election Day.” And with a Senate midterm map with more vulnerable Republicans in play than Democrats, it will be a difficult task for the GOP to maintain and grow their thin, 53-seat majority in the upper chamber. TRUMP KEEPS CALLING THUNE DESPITE PUBLIC FIGHT OVER SAVE AMERICA ACT Republicans know that Trump will be the key to motivating their base, just as he’s motivated voters in years past, and some hope he’ll stop dragging Republicans through the mud. Thune isn’t the only one that wants to see Trump push more on the road. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., reportedly questioned members of Trump’s political operation during a closed-door meeting last week on when the president would start attacking Democrats instead of members of his own party. Daines, who helmed the Senate GOP’s campaign arm before Scott in 2024 when they flipped the upper chamber, told Fox News Digital that Trump would be “one of the most important voices in the 2026 election.” He contended that Trump would be a powerful influence on showing the contrast between “common sense versus crazy” that’s been developing in the Democratic Party. “We’re seeing the Democrats are just running so far to the left that it’s frightening where the center of gravity is now a Democrat Party,” Daines said. “And this has been one of the more compelling arguments for ‘26, and the president can make that as well as anybody.” When pressed on Trump’s involvement on the campaign trail, Daines noted that midterm election cycles tend to boil down to complacency versus motivation. “I think he’s a very important voice here, because in midterm elections, it’s about turning out your base. In midterm elections, the party that’s not in power tends to be angry, and they’re motivated, and they do vote,” Daines said. “The party that is in powers base tends to be a bit more complacent. We’ve got to get our happy, complacent Republican voters out to the polls, because we cannot allow Democrats to take control.” Meanwhile, Thune said, “Why not turn [the SAVE America Act] into a campaign issue,” and argued that the key to winning out this cycle will be independent voters who aren’t moored to either party. But the Beltway issues, like nuking the filibuster and squabbling over legislation that has stalled since March, aren’t helping make the case to those voters, for now, that Republicans should be in charge. “If you look at Maine, in North Carolina, in Ohio, in Iowa, in Alaska, you know, it’s the Indy voters, it is the middle of the electorate, and we are not talking to them when we are arguing with each other over whether or not to eliminate the filibuster,” Thune said. “I mean, that’s just not an issue that’s going to win the hearts and minds
Illegal immigrant released under Biden accused of stabbing Virginia mother, dousing her in gasoline
The man accused of stabbing a Virginia mother to death in Fairfax County is an immigrant in the country illegally who was admitted by the Biden administration, a federal source tells Fox News. Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos, a 19-year-old Salvadoran national, was caught and released at the southern border during the Biden administration. The source said Cedillos-Campos was allowed into the U.S. at El Paso, Texas, in April 2024. “[Former President Joe] Biden and [former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas hand-delivered alleged killer Cedillos-Campos to the streets of Fairfax County. They recklessly unleashed millions of unvetted illegal aliens into American communities and abused the law to do so,” DHS said in a statement to Fox News. “President [Donald] Trump and [DHS] Secretary Markwayne Mullin are now enforcing the law, arresting illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country — and have reversed Biden’s deadly catch and release policy.” Fairfax County Police arrested Cedillos-Campos Wednesday in connection with Monday’s stabbing death of 42-year-old Carmen Lizet Puch. He is being held in the Prince George’s County jail pending extradition to Fairfax County, where he faces a second-degree murder charge, according to police. FIRST ON FOX: MAN FOUND DEAD ON STREET TRIGGERS ICE ACTION AFTER SHOCKING HIT-AND-RUN A jogger spotted Puch unconscious just off a popular trail in the affluent Northern Virginia suburb. When police arrived, they found stab wounds on her body and saw that the victim had been doused in gasoline. She was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. “The way that she was treated by this killer was reprehensible, to say the least,” said Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis, who confirmed at a news conference that the two had an intimate relationship and worked together. “We have video footage of our suspect at the restaurant where he worked with our victim arming himself with a fixed blade knife, taking a pair of black latex gloves, taking a water bottle, and then off he goes with the intent to do harm and kill the victim,” Davis said. Fairfax County, one of the most affluent counties in America, has seen a series of violent and sexual crimes involving immigrants in the country illegally, including several who were admitted under the Biden administration. Puch was from Reston, a suburb of Washington, D.C. She was the mother of a young daughter and worked at a nearby restaurant, according to NBC Washington. The outlet reported that “people who knew her … said she was soft-spoken and worked hard to support her young daughter.” After the jogger called police at about 6:45 a.m. Monday, officers found Puch lying beside her car. NBC Washington reported that sources familiar with the investigation said she was stabbed inside the car. Puch is not the only Fairfax County victim of violent crime involving an immigrant in the country illegally who was admitted under the Biden administration. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ISRAEL FLORES ORTIZ GETS 360 DAYS FOR GROPING GIRLS AT FAIRFAX COUNTY VA. HIGH SCHOOL One case involved 18-year-old Salvadoran immigrant Israel Flores Ortiz, who entered the country illegally in 2024 and was convicted this year of assault and battery involving the groping of several underage girls at Fairfax High School. Fox News Digital also reported on several homicides and other violent crimes involving immigrants in the country illegally in Fairfax County earlier this year. Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has faced criticism over immigration enforcement policies affecting immigrants in the country illegally. ICE CALLS OUT ‘DEPRAVED FREAK’ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT DEPORTED AFTER HEINOUS CRIME IN DEM-RUN STATE On her first day in office, Spanberger rescinded an executive order by her predecessor, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, that directed state law enforcement agencies to assist federal immigration authorities. She also ordered state and local law enforcement agencies to terminate all 287(g) agreements with ICE and signed an order prohibiting ICE from using state property as a staging area, processing location or operations base for federal civil immigration enforcement. On Wednesday, the White House blamed the Biden administration’s immigration policies for Cedillos-Campos’ presence in the country. “This brutal killing of this mother was 100% preventable,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Fox News. “The Biden administration released this illegal alien MURDERER into our country.” Bis added that “extreme Democrat politicians’ open border policies have consequences,” pointing to murders, rapes and other violent crimes committed against Americans. Fox News Digital reached out to Biden and Spanberger for comment.
How one NYC suburb could decide which party controls the House
The question of which party controls the House majority for the latter half of President Donald Trump’s term could come down to a group of suburbs just north of New York City. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., the first Republican to represent the area in roughly 40 years, is facing off against Democrat Army veteran Cait Conley in his bid for a third term in New York’s 17th Congressional District. The expected close margins and dwindling number of battleground districts mean the race has garnered national attention, but Lawler is accusing Conley of ducking national-level debates. HOUSE REPUBLICANS AIM TO TURN DEMOCRATIC CIVIL WAR INTO MIDTERM WEAPON “It is, you know, vitally important for the voters in my district to hear from us — and I think, frankly, nationally, folks would benefit from it because it’s one of a handful of seats that really is going to make the difference and decide control of Congress,” Lawler told Fox News Digital. “So, to me, if you’re running for public office, you should be able to stand on your own two feet and answer the questions from reporters, but moreover, make the direct and compelling case to voters about why you should be elected.” Lawler said he challenged Conley to six debates after she won the primary to take him on, but that she has so far agreed to only two that are hosted by local networks. When reached by Fox News Digital for comment, Conley’s campaign confirmed that she agreed to two debates with Lawler and accused him of running cover for fellow Republicans. “Mike Lawler will do anything to avoid delivering for his constituents, like last week, when he went on CNN to defend domestic abuser Max Miller. While he continues to act like a spoiled brat begging for more national air time to lie about his record, Cait is focused on hearing directly from voters, who are sick of being represented by a career political hack and ready for someone who puts country over party,” Conley’s communications director, Maddy Rosen, said. “Cait looks forward to their two scheduled televised debates where she will hold Mike Lawler accountable for failing the Hudson Valley, voting with Trump 100% of the time, and being a spineless, self-serving politician.” Lawler said her refusal to agree to more debates showed that Conley was “not prepared” for the House and accused her of not even residing in the district she’s running to represent. Conley’s communications director did not address the claims of her residency, but the candidate’s website touts her as a “fourth-generation Hudson Valley native.” Lawler was born and raised in the district. Tying the GOP lawmaker to Trump is likely to be an oft-used attack by Democrats as the election season wears on, with Lawler being one of three House Republicans in the entire country who won their seats despite their districts voting for Kamala Harris in 2024. But Lawler, who has sought to forge a reputation as a moderate, is in turn accusing Conley of pushing the same ideological issues as the far-left reaches of her party, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. JOHNSON TURNS DEMOCRATS’ SOCIALIST CIVIL WAR INTO NEW WEAPON FOR MIDTERMS “The fact is, she can try to obfuscate here, and she can try and hide, but she stands shoulder to shoulder with them, and she refuses to denounce any of them,” Lawler said, referring to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). “In fact, she praised Zohran Mamdani throughout the primary campaign. So to me, at the end of the day, whatever she calls herself doesn’t really matter. It’s the policies.” Republicans are pointing to Mamdani and other DSA figures as a warning sign of where the Democratic Party is headed, arguing they’ll push the country further left if they win in the midterms. In Lawler’s district just outside the Big Apple, that warning could be critical to his keeping the seat red. Lawler defeated former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., to win the seat in 2022. He then defended it against former Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y. With just a handful of swing districts on either side, the race for the House majority is almost guaranteed to be close. Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to win the majority back from Republicans in November.