Trump hails US war tech as key to Ukraine’s defense in meeting with Zelenskyy
President Donald Trump, meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday, praised the strength of America’s military-industrial base and stressed that U.S. weapons are key to Kyiv’s resistance against Russia. “You mentioned the Patriots—how good are they?” Trump asked Zelenskyy, referencing Raytheon’s missile system. “They’re literally 100% fool-proof. It’s really like two bullets hitting each other in the air,” Trump said, describing the Patriot’s hit-to-kill technology. TRUMP SAYS US WILL SEND PATRIOT MISSILES TO UKRAINE, ADDS THAT PUTIN ‘TALKS NICE AND THEN HE BOMBS EVERYBODY’ Trump said that during his administration, U.S. policy has focused on selling military technology to European allies instead of directly financing weapons packages. He estimated that under former President Joe Biden, Washington supplied Kyiv with more than $300 billion in U.S. military equipment. “We’re not giving anything now,” Trump clarified when asked how much the U.S. will continue to give to Ukraine. “We’re selling weapons.” Zelenskyy thanked Trump for the opportunity to buy American-made defense equipment and noted that Europe and NATO allies have helped Ukraine cover the costs. “Nobody in Europe has air defense [systems] like Patriot, for example. We need it very much,” Zelenskyy said, referencing U.S. weapon production capability. America’s Patriot missile system, built and bred for war by Raytheon, has become the cornerstone of Ukraine’s air defense, particularly around Kyiv and other major cities. The Patriot system—short for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target—is designed to intercept incoming short-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones, making it well-suited to defend Ukraine against near-constant Russian strikes. Ukraine has received several Patriot missile batteries so far, with at least three from the U.S., two from Germany and another one from Romania. “The good news is that we make the best military equipment in the world by far,” Trump added. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the U.S. has provided nearly $67 billion in military assistance, according to the State Department. The U.S. has invoked the emergency Presidential Drawdown Authority 55 times since 2021, supplying Ukraine with about $31.7 billion in weapons and equipment drawn directly from Defense Department stockpiles.
Trump spars with European leader during Ukraine talks over key step to peace
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz broke with the generally optimistic tone of European leaders during their meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump on Monday, stating that peace talks could not continue without a ceasefire. This follows Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday and a meeting with Zelenskyy on Monday. Merz, who has been in office since May, issued an impassioned call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, despite Trump having repeatedly expressed his belief that a ceasefire is not necessary to achieve a permanent peace between Russia and Ukraine. Merz thanked the president for arranging the meeting at the White House, calling it “extremely helpful.” However, he said that “the next steps ahead are the more complicated ones.” TRUMP: ZELENSKYY MEETING NOT ‘END OF THE ROAD’ FOR US SUPPORT IN SECURING A PEACE DEAL “Now the path is open. You opened it last Friday, but now the way is open for complicated negotiations,” he said, adding, “And to be honest, we all would like to see a ceasefire at the latest from the next meeting on.” “I can’t imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire,” he went on. “So, let’s work on that.” He urged leaders to pressure Russia to agree to a ceasefire, saying, “Let’s try to put pressure on Russia, because the credibility of this effort, these efforts we are undertaking today are depending on, at least, a ceasefire from the beginning of the serious negotiations from the next step on. So, I would like to emphasize this aspect and would like to see a ceasefire from the next meeting, which should be a trilateral meeting wherever it takes place.” In response, Trump, who has said he is determined “to go directly to a peace agreement” without a ceasefire, said, “Well, we’re going to let the president [Zelenskyy] go over and talk to the president [Putin], and we’ll see how that works out.” ‘OUR POSITION IS CLEAR:’ ZELENSKYY AND EU DISMISS CEDING UKRAINIAN LAND TO RUSSIA Trump pointed to his recent successes in helping to broker peace deals between other countries without a ceasefire. “I will say, and again, I say it, in the six wars that I’ve settled, I haven’t had a ceasefire,” he said. “We just got into negotiations and… one of the wars was, as you know, in the Congo, was 30 years, 31 years long. Another one that we settled last week was two great countries, was 35 years going on, and we had no ceasefire.” “So, if we can do the ceasefire, great. And, if we don’t do the ceasefire because many other points were given to us, many, many points were given to us. Great points,” he added. PRESIDENT TRUMP TOUTS SOLVING ‘MAJOR WARS’ MEDIA DOESN’T COVER Trump has previously said that if his meeting with Zelenskyy went well, they will work to schedule a trilateral meeting with Putin, presumably to get a peace agreement finalized and signed.
Trump: Europe will ‘take a lot of the burden’ in providing security guarantees for Ukraine
President Donald Trump predicted Monday that European allies would bear the brunt of responsibility providing Ukraine certain security guarantees to prevent Russian aggression, but that the U.S. would also help them. Trump’s comments come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, along with other European leaders, visited Washington, D.C., to advance peace talks to end the war in Ukraine just days after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “President Putin agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine. And this is one of the key points that we need to consider,” Trump said Monday during a meeting with European leaders at the White House. “And, we’re going to be considering that at the table. Also, like who will do what? Essentially, I’m optimistic that collectively we can reach an agreement that would deter any future aggression against Ukraine.” ZELENSKYY HEADS INTO CRUCIAL TRUMP MEETING AS US WEIGHS SECURITY GUARANTEES FOR KYIV “I think that the European nations are going to take a lot of the burden,” Trump said. “We’re going to help them, and we’re going to make it very secure. We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory, taking into consideration the current line of contact. That means the war zone, the war line center. Pretty obvious. Very sad, actually, to look at them and negotiating positions.” Trump said Sunday that Ukraine could end the war immediately if it agreed to cede Crimea to Russia, and abandon its bid for NATO membership. Meanwhile, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff also said Sunday that Putin has agreed to allow the U.S. and other European allies to provide additional protection for Ukraine, similar to protections included in NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause. ZELENSKYY ARRIVES IN WASHINGTON, DC FOR TRUMP MEETING, URGES LASTING PEACE WITH RUSSIA Likewise, Trump said earlier Monday that he hadn’t ruled out the possibility that U.S. troops could be dispatched to Ukraine following a peace negotiation to deter Russian aggression to support other European allies bolstering security for Ukraine. Although he refrained from sharing specific details, Trump said that the U.S. is “going to help them out also. We’ll be involved.” For his part, Zelenskyy said U.S. backing on security guarantees is critical to delivering stability to Ukraine. “Security in Ukraine depends on the United States and on you and on those leaders who are with us in our hearts,” Zelenskyy said Monday. “We spoke about it and we will speak more about security guarantees,” Zelenskyy said. “This is very important that the United States gives such strong signal and is ready for security guarantees.” EUROPEAN LEADERS WILL JOIN TRUMP-ZELENSKYY MEETING, SIGNALING SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Europe is aware that it will shoulder much of the weight of responsibility tied to various security guarantees — and acknowledged it is necessary in order to preserve each respective country’s safety. “In order to have such a long-standing peace for Ukraine and for the whole continent, we do need the security guarantees,” Macron said. “And the first one is clearly a credible Ukrainian army. For the years and decades to come. And the second one is our own commitments. All of us… You can be sure that the Europeans are very lucid about the fact that they have their fair share in the security guarantees for Ukraine, but their own security is clearly at stake in this situation.”
Potential Pelosi successor re-ups bill to ban ICE from obscuring identities: ‘Shut this mask s–t down’
A high-profile California Democrat erupted at ICE after agents showed up at California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press conference announcing his redistricting plans were meant to confront the Trump administration and Texas Republicans. California state Sen. Scott Wiener, of San Francisco County, expressed his outrage on Reddit, reposting a tweet from Newsom’s press office that mocked President Donald Trump’s all-caps custom. “I’m authoring legislation to shut this ski mask s–t down,” Wiener wrote in bolded letters above an image of Newsom’s office’s tweet, which read: “BORDER PATROL HAS SHOWED UP AT OUR BIG BEAUTIFUL PRESS CONFERENCE! WE WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED!” (sic). Wiener went on to call Texas’ redistricting process “rigged” and accused “Trump and his cronies” of initiating it. CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS ACCUSE NEWSOM OF ‘SINISTER REDISTRICTING SCHEME’ AFTER TRUMP MOCKERY “Trump’s thugs showed up with ski masks. This situation — California leaders rallying for democracy and Trump’s secret police showing up to intimidate people — encapsulates exactly where our country is right now,” Wiener said. “I’m proud of California for standing up for our democracy, and I look forward to voting for the California redistricting plan next week.” Wiener’s bill would enforce misdemeanor charges against law enforcement who wear any “personal disguise while interacting with the public in performance of their duties, except as specified.” CALIFORNIA’S TOP REPUBLICAN RIPS DEMS BLOCKING ‘OIL GOLDMINE’ AFTER NEW TRUMP PROJECT REBUFFS SCHIFF “By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would additionally state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to ensure that Special Weapons and Tactics team officers can utilize gear necessary to protect their faces from physical harm while they perform their duties, and to enact legislation to require local, state, and federal law enforcement officers to include their name or badge number on their uniforms.” California Democrats, including Newsom, previously enforced the opposite during the coronavirus pandemic, ordering Californians to wear face masks in public. Wiener also filed paperwork earlier this summer to run as a candidate in the 2028 election for the congressional district now represented by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. KRON, which also reported on the fiery Reddit post, asked the lawmaker about the filing. Wiener told the outlet that he intends to run for Pelosi’s seat whenever she vacates it, whether it be in 2026 or the following cycle. “This filing is a critical step to prepare for the serious work of running to succeed one of the icons of American politics.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The 11th Congressional District is rated D+37 by the Cook Political Report, one point more Republican than it was in 2023. Therefore, the Democratic primary election is often indicative of the general’s result. “In a potential race against extremely wealthy candidates who can self-fund, I’ll have to work very hard to prepare to go toe to toe,” Wiener told KRON, citing a “fight for democracy.” Pelosi is 85 years old and has held the seat since she won a special election to succeed the late Rep. Sala Burton, D-Calif., in 1987. Millennial businessman Bruce Lou garnered 19% of the vote in November as Pelosi’s most recent Republican opponent. Lou also slammed the state’s redistricting plans on Friday, calling them a “Gavin-mander.”
Trump announces he’ll helm movement to eliminate mail-in voting and voting machines: ‘FIGHT LIKE HELL’
President Donald Trump declared that he will spearhead a push to eliminate the use of mail-in voting and voting machines in U.S. elections. In a lengthy Truth Social post on Monday, President Trump asserted, “I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS” as well as “Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES.” He said he would sign an executive order in advance of the 2026 midterm elections. “Remember, the States are merely an “agent” for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do,” he claimed. Trump claimed that nixing the use of mail-in balloting is necessary to ensure elections are on the level, declaring that he and the GOP will battle to restore election integrity. “ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING, and everybody, IN PARTICULAR THE DEMOCRATS, KNOWS THIS. I, AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, WILL FIGHT LIKE HELL TO BRING HONESTY AND INTEGRITY BACK TO OUR ELECTIONS. THE MAIL-IN BALLOT HOAX, USING VOTING MACHINES THAT ARE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER, MUST END, NOW!!!” he exclaimed. “REMEMBER, WITHOUT FAIR AND HONEST ELECTIONS, AND STRONG AND POWERFUL BORDERS, YOU DON’T HAVE EVEN A SEMBLANCE OF A COUNTRY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!!!” the president asserted. GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene heartily agreed with the president’s push to nix mail-in voting. “I strongly support President Trump in ending mail in voting!! Elections have been stolen for decades with this practice that is ripe for fraud. Save America by saving our elections!!!” Greene declared in a post on X.
Tariff uncertainty threatens $490B in US manufacturing investment, report warns
FIRST ON FOX: A new report from the Joint Economic Committee Minority warned Monday that fallout from President Donald Trump‘s trade policy could slash U.S. manufacturing investment by as much as $490 billion by 2029. Such investments that businesses may defer because of trade uncertainty include capital expenditures on new factories, plants, and production facilities, along with research and development and purchases of advanced manufacturing equipment. POWERFUL MANUFACTURING ASSOCIATION PENS REGULATION REBALANCING PLAN FOR TRUMP ADMIN The report, compiled by Democrats, cautions that delaying these kinds of investments not only slows innovation but also risks fewer factory jobs, weaker supply chains, and diminished U.S. competitiveness against global powerhouse rivals like China. “Strengthening American manufacturing is critical to the future of our economy and our national security,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), ranking member of the Joint Economic Committee. “While President Trump promised that he would expand our manufacturing sector, this report shows that, instead, the chaos and uncertainty created by his tariffs has placed a burden on American manufacturers that could weigh our country down for years to come.” The Republican Joint Economic Committee Majority did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. TRUMP CALLS TARIFF WINDFALL ‘SO BEAUTIFUL TO SEE’ AS CASH SAILS IN The committee drew parallels between U.S. tariff ambiguity and the U.K.’s economic experience after Brexit. Its analysis relies on long-term projections of nonresidential fixed investment from the Congressional Budget Office, released in January 2025, and Bank of England research on how prolonged trade policy confusion curbed business investment in the U.K. from 2016 to 2021. Brexit refers to the U.K.’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union, then a 28-member political and economic bloc that set common rules on trade, immigration, and regulation. “This had long-term consequences for growth: Economists have estimated that, in the years following the Brexit vote, the U.K.’s real gross domestic product (GDP) was 4 to 8% lower than it would have otherwise been, primarily due to businesses pulling back on investment amidst high uncertainty,” the Joint Economic Committee Minority wrote in the report. The group calculates that a similarly prolonged period of trade instability in the U.S. could reduce manufacturing investment by 13% annually, totaling about $490 billion by 2029. The committee adds that even if trade fears were resolved immediately, the damage already inflicted on the sector would linger. The report noted that the turmoil businesses faced in just one month — April — could still lower investment by an average of 1% annually through 2029, equal to about $42.2 billion in lost manufacturing spending. Manufacturers are especially vulnerable to policy swings because decisions like building factories or purchasing advanced equipment require years of planning and carry significant costs that are difficult to reverse. Here is the full report from the Joint Economic Committee Minority:
Rubio’s State Department yanks more than 6K student visas due to assault, burglary, support for terrorism
EXCLUSIVE: The State Department has yanked more than 6,000 student visas in 2025 for overstays and law violations — including support for terrorism, Fox News Digital has learned. The Trump administration has launched multiple initiatives aimed at cracking down on immigration and revoking visas of those attending academic institutions in the U.S. Those who’ve publicly protested supporting Palestine have faced heightened scrutiny, as one example, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in May that the administration was reviewing the visa status of students who participated in pro-Palestine protests. The roughly 6,000 visas that were pulled primarily were due to visa overstays or encounters with the law, including assault, DUIs, burglary and support for terrorism, the State Department told Fox News Digital. “Every single student visa revoked under the Trump Administration has happened because the individual has either broken the law or expressed support for terrorism while in the United States,” a senior State Department official said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “About 4,000 visas alone have been revoked because these visitors broke the law while visiting our country, including records of assault and DUIs.” STATE DEPARTMENT TO RAMP UP SCREENING, SOCIAL MEDIA VETTING FOR STUDENT VISA APPLICANTS AS INTERVIEWS PAUSED Those who had their student visas yanked due to assault — roughly 800 students — either faced arrest or charges stemming from assault, according to the State Department official. Those whose visas were pulled due to support for terrorism — between 200 people to 300 people — engaged in behavior such as raising funds for the militant group Hamas, which the U.S. State Department has designated as a terrorist organization, the official said. Altogether, the State Department told Fox News Digital that approximately 40,000 visas have been pulled in 2025, in comparison to the 16,000 that were revoked during the same time frame under the Biden administration. “Even if the previous administration was doing less, they were still revoking visas,” the State Department official said. “It’s not something that just started on January 20 … So this has happened for years.” Rubio told lawmakers in May that he estimated “thousands” of student visas had been rescinded since January. “I don’t know the latest count, but we probably have more to do,” Rubio told lawmakers on the Senate appropriations subcommittee overseeing foreign affairs May 20. “We’re going to continue to revoke the visas of people who are here as guests and are disrupting our higher education facilities.” However, Democrats have pushed back on the Trump administration’s effort to revoke visas, asserting it is a violation of due process. “I do think it’s a fundamental attack on freedom, because due process is the guardian of the gate to keep a government from taking away people’s life or liberty, and liberty is what happens when you take away a visa without due process,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., told Rubio May 20. RUBIO SPEARHEADS MASSIVE STATE DEPT REORGANIZATION SET TO ELIMINATE, MERGE MORE THAN 300 OFFICES A student visa permits those outside the U.S. to study in the country for a set amount of time at an academic institution. It’s different from a green card, which allows an individual already in the U.S. who is not an American citizen to remain in the country. The crackdown on student visas aligns with several executive orders President Donald Trump signed in January, aimed at safeguarding the U.S. from foreign terrorists and other national security threats, along with combating antisemitism. RUBIO OVERHAULING ‘BLOATED’ STATE DEPARTMENT IN SWEEPING REFORM One of the executive orders instructed the State Department, and the Department of Homeland Security, attorney general and director of national intelligence, to “vet and screen to the maximum degree possible all aliens who intend to be admitted, enter, or are already inside the United States, particularly those aliens coming from regions or nations with identified security risks.” A separate executive order Trump signed ordered the U.S. to use “all available and appropriate legal tools, to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence.”
Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown makes it official, challenging Trump ally in key Senate battle
Former Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio on Monday launched his 2026 bid to return to the U.S. Senate, following last year’s bitter re-election defeat at the hands of now-Sen. Bernie Moreno. “Standing up for workers. Treating everyone with dignity and respect. Working as hard as possible for the people of Ohio. I’ve tried to live my life by those principles. But these days that’s not what’s happening in Washington—so I’m running for Senate,” Brown said in a social media post as he highlighted his longtime working class and populist themes. Brown, who spent over three decades representing Ohio in the House and later the Senate, was highly recruited by top national Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who made two trips to the Buckeye state to try and convince Brown to run again. FOUR KEY SENATE SEATS REPUBLICANS AIM TO FLIP IN 2026 MIDTERMS Brown is seeking the seat held by Republican Sen. Jon Husted, the former Ohio lieutenant governor who was appointed in January to fill the seat left vacant when then Sen. JD Vance stepped down to become vice president in President Donald Trump’s administration. SENATE DEMOCRATS LAND SOME BIG FISH IN BID TO WIN BACK MAJORITY IN 2026 Husted has Trump’s endorsement as he runs next year to fill the final two years of Vance’s six-year term. “I didn’t plan to run for office again, but when I see what’s going on, I know I can do something about it for Ohio,” Brown said in a campaign launch video. “That’s why I’m running for Senate. Because even in these challenging times, I still believe if you stand up for workers, treat people with respect and always fight for Ohio, you can actually make a difference,” he added. Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), argued in a statement that “no one fights harder for Ohio than Sherrod Brown. From securing Ohioans’ retirement and Social Security benefits to cracking down on fentanyl from China and Mexico, Sherrod will always do what’s right for Ohioans.” FIRST ON FOX: EX-SENATOR’S PAC SPLURGES ON LUXURY PERKS But the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) accused Brown of being a “liberal sell-out” and pointed to his defeat in last year’s election. “Ohioans just rejected Sherrod Brown’s radical agenda of allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports, fueling mass illegal immigration, and failing to protect Ohio’s good-paying manufacturing jobs,” NRSC regional press secretary Nick Puglia claimed. And Alex Latcham, executive director of the Senate Leadership Fund, which is the top super PAC supporting Senate Republicans, charged that “Brown built his disgraceful career on the backs of hardworking Ohio families while he supported the woke Left’s agenda, including amnesty for criminal illegal immigrants, men in girls’ locker rooms, and sticking seniors with higher taxes. Ohioans gladly sent him packing last year, and they’ll not hesitate to toss him aside again.” Ohio was once a top general election battleground state, but has turned increasingly red over the past decade. Trump carried the state by 11 points over then-Vice President Kamala Harris. But Brown outperformed the top of the ticket, losing to Moreno by less than four points. Brown is the second top recruit Senate Democrats have landed this year as they work to try and win back the chamber’s majority next year. The GOP currently holds a 53-47 majority in the Senate. Last month, former two-term Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina declared his candidacy in the 2026 race to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.
Trump, Abbott vs. Newsom: Mad dash to redo congressional maps in California, Texas
The high-stakes battle between Republicans and Democrats over congressional redistricting ahead of next year’s midterm elections resumes on Monday in California and Texas, the nation’s two most populous states. In Austin, Texas, state lawmakers gather for a second straight special session called by conservative Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. At the top of their to-do list is passing a GOP-crafted redistricting map that would create up to five Republican-leaning congressional districts at the expense of currently Democrat-controlled seats. The Republican push in Texas, which comes at President Donald Trump’s urging, is part of a broader effort by the GOP across the country to pad their razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats. TEXAS HOUSE SPEAKER VOWS RUNAWAY DEMS WILL BE ARRESTED IF THEY TRY TO SNEAK HOME OVER WEEKEND Trump and his political team are aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House, when Democrats stormed back to grab the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections. Republicans in red state Texas enjoy a supermajority in the legislature and the state Senate passed the new congressional maps. Dozens of Texas Democrats had fled the state to prevent a quorum in the Texas legislature, effectively preventing Abbott and Republicans from moving forward with new maps. But Democratic leaders announced on Monday that they would return for the second special session following California’s plan to redraw its maps to soften the blow from the Lone Star State, the Associated Press reported. CALIFORNIA UNVEILS NEW CONGRESSONAL MAPS TO WIPE OUT FIVE GOP-CONTROLLED SEATS AND COUNTER TRUMP The fleeing Democrats, who set up camp in the blue states of Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, late last week signaled that they would return to Texas after the adjournment of the first special session, and after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and other top California Democrats unveiled their playbook to counter the push by Trump and Republicans to enact rare – but not unheard of – mid-decade congressional redistricting. The end of the walkout by the Democrats will lead to the passage of the new maps, but Texas Democrats vow they’ll fight the new state maps in court and say the moves by California are allowing them to pass “the baton.” “Now, as Democrats across the nation join our fight to cause these maps to fail their political purpose, we’re prepared to bring this battle back to Texas under the right conditions and to take this fight to the courts,” Texas state House Democratic leader Rep. Gene Wu said on Thursday. Abbott, who’s running next year for a fourth four-year term steering Texas, pledged to “continue to call special session after special session until we get this Texas first agenda passed.” And the governor, in a statement on Friday, charged that “delinquent House Democrats ran away from their responsibility to pass crucial legislation to benefit the lives of Texans.” Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows on Friday vowed that runaway Democrats who tried to return home over the weekend would not have a “peaceful weekend” and instead would be arrested and “compelled to this chamber.” SCHWARZENEGGER’S NEW ROLE: ‘TERMINATING GERRYMANDERING’ Burrows also said at the start of the second special session on Friday that he expected to reach a quorum on Monday, with the likely return of the fleeing Democrats. Abbott and state Attorney General Ken Paxton have been pushing to remove from office some of the Democratic state lawmakers who fled, and all the lawmakers who walked out and left the state face fines of up to $500 per day for their absence. While the Republican push in Texas to upend the current congressional maps doesn’t face constitutional constraints, Newsom’s path in California is much more complicated. The governor is moving to hold a special election this year, to obtain voter approval to undo the constitutional amendments that created the non-partisan redistricting commission. A two-thirds majority vote in the Democrat-dominated California legislature would be needed to hold the referendum. The legislature is back in session in Sacramento on Monday, and Democrats in both chambers are expected to approve the maps – which would create up to five more left-leaning congressional districts at the expense of the Republican minority – by the end of this week. Democratic Party leaders are confident they’ll have the votes to push the constitutional amendment and the new proposed congressional maps through the legislature. The proposal was submitted to the state legislature by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which is the re-election arm of House Democrats. “Here we are in open and plain sight before one vote is cast in the 2026 midterm election and here [Trump] is once again trying to rig the system,” Newsom charged on Thursday. Last week’s appearance by Newsom, who is considered a likely contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, also served as a fundraising kickoff to raise massive amounts of campaign cash needed to sell the redistricting push statewide in California. The non-partisan redistricting commission, created over 15 years ago, remains popular with most Californians, according to public opinion polling. That’s why Newsom and California Democratic lawmakers are promising not to scrap the commission entirely, but rather replace it temporarily by the legislature for the next three election cycles. But Republican former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who represented a congressional district in California’s Central Valley for 17 years, argued in an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that “when you think about how they drew these lines, there wasn’t one hearing. There is no debate. There’s no input. Even the legislature in California doesn’t have input. The DCCC is just ending it. That is why we need to stop Newsom’s power grab. McCarthy, who is helping to lead the GOP fundraising effort to counter Newsom and California Democrats leading up to the likely referendum this autumn, said that “November 4th will be the election that people could actually have a say,”
Bill Barr, former Trump attorney general, arrives to face House investigators in Epstein probe
Former Attorney General Bill Barr arrived to appear before House investigators on Monday as part of the House GOP’s probe into Jeffrey Epstein. He was one of the many officials subpoenaed by House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., earlier this month to appear before the panel and is part of a broader, bipartisan push in the House to uncover more information on the late financier and convicted pedophile. “We’re very excited. This will be our first deposition in the bipartisan investigation into the entire Epstein Island saga, so we’ve got a lot of questions for former Attorney General Barr,” Comer told reporters shortly before the closed-door deposition began. “I appreciate his willingness to come in, and hopefully this will be the first of many.” COMER SUBPOENAS THE CLINTONS, TRUMP’S DOJ IN HOUSE OVERSIGHT’S EPSTEIN PROBE The Kentucky Republican also hinted the scope of Monday’s questioning could go beyond Epstein, but maintained the late pedophile would be his main focus. “The subpoena was just for Epstein. There are some other things that I’m curious about, so we’ll see how it goes,” Comer said in response to a question by Fox News Digital. “But obviously the purpose of this deposition is on Epstein.” Two Democrats on the committee, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, and Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., were also witnessed entering the room by Fox News Digital. Barr served as attorney general during President Donald Trump’s first term and helmed the Justice Department when Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City after being indicted on charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. He became embroiled in investigations into Epstein’s death in August 2019 in the immediate aftermath, given that the Department of Justice (DOJ) oversees the Bureau of Prisons. “I can understand people who immediately, whose minds went to sort of the worst-case scenario because it was a perfect storm of screw-ups,” Barr told the AP in 2019. HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE VOTED IN FAVOR OF SUBPOENAING BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON OVER GHISLAINE MAXWELL CONNECTION Barr arrived for his closed-door hearing just after 9 a.m. on Monday, and told reporters the “early bird gets the worm” before beginning his testimony. Flash forward over six years later, and interest in the case, particularly over the Trump administration’s handling of it, has reignited a public and political firestorm. The renewed interest stemmed from a memo from the FBI released last month when the agency revealed it would not release new documents from the case and that their review of it was closed. In the memo, the FBI found there was “no incriminating ‘client list,’” nor was there “credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions.” “We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties,” the agency stated. SCHUMER CLAIMS TRUMP ADMIN WITHHOLDING EPSTEIN FILES, THREATENS TO SUE Though Barr was a prominent figure at the time, he is not the main target of Comer and the committee. Several others, including former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, were also subpoenaed by Comer to appear before the committee. “Everybody in America wants to know what went on in Epstein Island, and we’ve all heard reports that Bill Clinton was a frequent visitor there, so he’s a prime suspect to be deposed by the House Oversight Committee,” Comer told Newsmax. Comer’s decision to subpoena the Barr and the Clintons, along with former FBI directors James Comey and Robert Mueller, ex-Attorneys General Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Jeff Sessions, and Alberto Gonzales, came after the Oversight panel voted to compel people with possible links to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former associate, to testify. Along with the list of former officials, Comer also subpoenaed the DOJ for records related to Epstein’s case. The deadline for those files is Aug. 19, but Comer did not say whether that will materialize by then when asked by reporters on Monday. “You could imagine how many documents there are,” Comer said. “I think we’ll receive the documents very soon. They’re compiling everything together, I think. We’re working together in a good faith effort and everything’s coming along.”