Primary showdown: Polls close in Tennessee as conservative firebrand eyes governor’s office
The polls have closed in Tennessee as conservative firebrand Sen. Marsha Blackburn aims to change her work address from Washington D.C., to Nashville. The former longtime congresswoman and two-term senator with a robust national profile thanks to her regular cable news appearances is considered the front-runner in Thursday’s Republican gubernatorial primary, in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Bill Lee. The Republican face-off for governor of Tennessee, where Democrats haven’t won a gubernatorial election in two decades, takes top billing as the red-leaning southeastern state holds nominating contests for state and federal offices. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB Blackburn is running in a race that also includes four-term Rep. John Rose, who like Blackburn is a staunch Capitol Hill supporter of President Donald Trump, and state Rep. Monty Fritts. Even though the president handed out endorsements in other GOP gubernatorial primaries this cycle, Trump remained neutral in the Tennessee contest. “Unfortunately, she’s running for governor. She’s running for governor of Tennessee. I’d love her not to, I begged her,” Trump said in January. “‘I said, ‘Marsha, don’t. We don’t want to lose you in the Senate.’” But the president has said Blackburn would be a good governor, and also noted that Rose has been a staunch loyalist. Even though she didn’t land Trump’s endorsement, Blackburn has showcased her support for him. “As President Trump sends power and authority back to the states, I’m ready to deliver for the people of the Volunteer State and make our state America’s conservative leader,” she wrote on the eve of the primary in a social media post that included a photo of her and Trump. Five Democrats, including Memphis City Councilwoman Jerri Green, are bidding for their party’s gubernatorial nomination. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Tennessee’s other U.S. senator, Republican Bill Hagerty, is unopposed in the GOP primary as he seeks a second six-year term in the Senate. Five Democrats are vying to challenge Hagerty in the general election. Then-Sen. Al Gore’s re-election 36 years ago was the last time a Democrat won a Senate contest in Tennessee. In U.S. House battles, Memphis voters will cast ballots for their Democratic and Republican nominees using a new GOP-drawn congressional district map that created an extra right-leaning seat and forced longtime Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen to not seek re-election. Meanwhile, two-term Republican Rep. Andy Ogles, a major Trump ally in the House who is backed by the president, is facing a stiff primary challenge from Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, who was endorsed earlier this week by Lee. The race has seen a large infusion of money from outside groups.
EXCLUSIVE: Michigan House speaker calls for answers over $300M taxpayer-funded Rx Kids program
The Republican leader of Michigan’s House says a state-funded maternal health initiative has become something far different than lawmakers were promised, accusing Democrats of using more than $300 million in taxpayer funding to advance a broader guaranteed-income agenda. Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall made the remarks in an interview with Fox News Digital as House Republicans continue scrutinizing Rx Kids, a taxpayer-funded program that provides unrestricted cash payments to pregnant women and new mothers. Hall argued lawmakers believed they were funding a maternal and prenatal health initiative, not what he described as a broader experiment in guaranteed income. GUARANTEED INCOME PROGRAM TARGETS LOW-INCOME HOMES LED BY BLACK MOMS AS CASH HANDOUTS SURGE NATIONWIDE “I think the Democrats kind of slipped this in here under the idea that it was for prenatal care,” Hall told Fox News Digital. “Lawmakers did not have the complete picture.” Rx Kids launched in Flint in 2024 and provides expectant mothers with a $1,500 lump-sum payment during pregnancy, followed by $500 monthly payments after the child is born. According to materials provided to Fox News Digital by Hall’s office, the program has expanded to communities across Michigan with more than $300 million in taxpayer funding. Rx Kids has promoted the initiative as a maternal and infant health program designed to reduce financial stress for new families. According to podcast interviews and program materials, its leaders have also discussed expanding the model to communities across Michigan and beyond. EXCLUSIVE: VIDEO SHOWS MICHIGAN LAWMAKER TOURING DAYCARE IN $1.1M TAXPAYER FUNDING PROBE Hall argued the program lacks the eligibility requirements found in traditional public assistance programs. “We have a lot of social safety net programs in our country that are working very well,” Hall said. “They have eligibility checks. They look at citizenship. They look at income verification. “Rx Kids, by design, is given to anyone that has a child,” he continued. “They don’t look for citizenship. They just pay out anyone that has a child.” Hall’s office also provided Fox News Digital with video of legislative committee testimony in which program officials acknowledged payments had been made to individuals who were not legally present in the United States. CALIFORNIA ‘BASIC INCOME’ EXPERIMENT FAILS TO PROVIDE ‘FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE,’ STUDY FINDS Hall argued taxpayer-funded cash assistance should include income and legal status requirements similar to those used by existing public assistance programs. “What we prefer are the traditional welfare programs like Medicaid, the food stamp program and the WIC program,” Hall said. “They make sure you’re here legally, they make sure you’re not making a lot of money and then they give you the benefit. That’s not what Rx Kids is.” Hall also criticized the program’s unrestricted cash payments, noting recipients are not required to spend the money on diapers, formula, housing or other expenses related to pregnancy or caring for a newborn. “They give you this free cash and there are no strings attached by definition,” Hall said. MAYORS WANT TO KEEP HANDING OUT FREE CASH AFTER FEDERAL FUNDS DRIED UP Hall said caseworkers had told him they had seen recipients use the money for alcohol, drugs and gambling. Fox News Digital has not independently verified those claims. The speaker also pointed to public comments from Rx Kids leaders that he said reinforced Republican concerns that the initiative is intended to become something larger than a maternal health program. Hall’s office also shared podcast interviews in which Rx Kids co-founder Luke Shaefer discussed the expanded Child Tax Credit and the role he believes Rx Kids can play following the expiration of those federal payments. In a separate interview, Dr. Mona Hanna, the leader of Rx Kids, discussed her vision of expanding the initiative into a government-scale public program. DEM SENATE HOPEFUL ABDUL EL-SAYED RECOUNTS SMASHING VODKA BOTTLE AFTER BEARD CRITICISM Hall said those remarks aligned with his assessment of Rx Kids. “This is a progressive left-wing experiment toward basically a universal income,” Hall said. “They’re trying to move the welfare state down that lane.” Hall also questioned the program’s advisory network. Hall’s office also shared archived versions of the Rx Kids website that listed Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan Secretary of State and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson’s husband Ryan Friedrichs and Community Change official Dorian Warren as members of the program’s advisory circle. MICHIGAN’S TOP ELECTION OFFICIAL WINS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR GOVERNOR, ADVANCES TO BATTLEGROUND RACE The advisory circle page was removed from the organization’s website days after lawmakers questioned program leaders during a June 2 Michigan House Oversight Committee hearing. The timing of the removal does not establish why the page was taken down. “Our secretary of state’s husband is on the advisory board. Abdul El-Sayed is on the board,” Hall said. “It’s like a who’s who of radical left Democrats.” Hall’s office also pointed to an Rx Kids white paper examining voter turnout among recipients and the program’s promotion of Vot-ER, a physician-backed voter registration organization powered by TurboVote. Materials provided by Hall’s office also identified Hanna as an adviser to Vot-ER. Hall said those connections and the program’s research into voting behavior deserved additional scrutiny. “We’re trying to understand why are you so interested in the voting pattern of the people that are receiving your no-strings-attached welfare,” Hall said. “We aren’t getting good answers.” Hall said House Republicans did not include additional funding for Rx Kids in Michigan’s newly signed budget, though the program still has access to previously appropriated funds. TRUMP ADMIN PAUSING OVER $1B IN MEDICAID PAYMENTS TO MINNESOTA, CALIFORNIA OVER FRAUD, COMPLIANCE CONCERNS “The good news is that we cut off funding to this program in the new budget,” Hall said. “In the future, we’re going to try to put guardrails around it so that it goes to the people that truly need it.” Rather than eliminating assistance for struggling families, Hall said he wants taxpayer dollars directed toward existing programs that assess financial need and place restrictions on how certain benefits can be spent. “I think people support
Trump signs executive orders targeting birthright citizenship, birth tourism after Supreme Court setback
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed two executive orders targeting birthright citizenship and birth tourism, saying his administration is taking a new approach after what he called a “very unfortunate” Supreme Court ruling. “We’re making adjustments because it’s very unfair,” Trump said. “They’re building businesses around birthright citizenship. That’s not the way it was supposed to work. It’s a disgrace. They’re buying their way in, and we’re not going to let it happen.” The moves come after the Supreme Court blocked Trump’s earlier executive order seeking to limit automatic birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment. BIRTH TOURISM CRACKDOWN EXPANDS AS HOUSE CHAIRMAN RAISES CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY CASE White House officials said the new directives rely on existing executive and immigration authorities and are intended to narrow eligibility for automatic citizenship in certain cases while cracking down on foreigners who travel to the United States to give birth. White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller said the first order expands the categories of people the administration considers ineligible for birthright citizenship, including “alien enemies of the United States, members of foreign terrorist organizations, and large categories of people who lobby and act on behalf of foreign governments.” Miller said the second order was issued “for the first time ever in American history to ban birth tourism.” He said the administration will deny visas to people who seek to enter the United States “to have a child, to make that child an automatic citizen” as well as those who organize such trips. Citing Section 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, Miller called birth tourism “by definition, a fraud on the American system” and “a fraud against the American government.” TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FIGHT COMES ROARING BACK WITH ‘INVADERS’ PLAY AFTER KAVANAUGH ROADMAP Asked how the administration plans to enforce the order, Trump said, “We’re cracking down very big, very big, big crackdowns. … This will give us the right to do it in a much more forceful manner.” When asked whether the orders would survive court challenges, Trump replied, “I think it will.” Will Scharf, White House staff secretary, said the orders target organized birth tourism operations through visa denials and law enforcement, arguing the administration was relying on “legally validated means” that do not conflict with the Supreme Court’s ruling. The White House had not yet released the text of the executive orders as of publication time. The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for additional comment.
Foreign drunk drivers could face swift boot out of country under Trump’s ‘America first’ crackdown
The Trump administration is framing visa revocations as a national security measure, arguing that removing foreign nationals who commit crimes, including under the influence driving, is essential to protecting the American public. “Every visa decision is a national security decision,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott told Fox News Digital. “Of course, when we think of border security, we think about the Southwest border, but visa security is border security. It’s who we’re allowing into the country legally, and if they operate in a way that is grounds for revocation, we’re going to protect the American people.” The Trump administration has taken an aggressive approach to revoking visas, announcing in January that more than 100,000 foreign nationals’ visas were revoked in 2025 — more than double the number revoked during President Joe Biden’s final year in office. While a majority of those visas were revoked because travelers overstayed their visas, Pigott said many others lost their visas because of criminal activity, with drunk driving arrests accounting for many of those revocations. DHS BLASTS MINNESOTA BOARD FOR UNANIMOUSLY PARDONING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CONVICTED OF 3 ASSAULTS “Fundamentally, if you break the law, that is grounds for revocation,” Pigott said. “If you break law, you break terms of your visa, or you undermine the national security of the United States, that’s grounds for a revocation of your visas.” Pigott cited recent examples of visa revocations involving DUI offenses, including a foreign national who injured someone while driving drunk and another who showed up intoxicated to a court-mandated DUI program. “Driving drunk on streets is incredibly dangerous,” Pigott continued. “It’s part of a broader initiative from the Trump administration to make sure that our streets are safe. And that includes illegal immigrant drivers, that includes foreigners here on visas that are driving drunk on our streets. We’re not going to tolerate that. We are going to protect the Americans.” In May, Oklahoma authorities charged 27-year-old Michael Rosario-Cruz, who was living in the U.S. under DACA protections, with four counts of second-degree murder, alleging he drove drunk the wrong way and crashed into another vehicle, killing four young people. Authorities reported finding empty beer bottles inside Rosario-Cruz’s car. He also faces multiple DUI, firearm and other charges. ICE LODGES DETAINER FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ACCUSED OF TRYING TO DISARM VIRGINIA POLICE OFFICER The four victims were all between the ages of 18 and 20. “These young men and women had their whole lives ahead of them. This tragedy was completely preventable,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. “This illegal alien should has never been in our country. Join me in praying for the families, friends, and loved ones of these victims.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has placed a detainer on Rosario-Cruz, who is currently being held at the Canadian County jail in Oklahoma. The State Department revoking visas is just the first step in the process to remove a foreign national, according to Pigott. “When that visa is revoked, there’s a couple different elements that can happen,” Pigott told Fox News Digital, explaining that whether a foreign national is deported depends on whether the Justice Department pursues criminal prosecution. TRUMP ADMIN INVOKES 30-YEAR DORMANT TERROR COURT AS IT SEEKS TO DEPORT AFGHAN WOMAN TIED TO ELECTION DAY PLOT “You could see someone leave the country after serving a prison sentence, for example,” Pigott said. “Ultimately, DHS then makes the termination about the next step of appropriate action, whether that’s deportation, whether that is deportation after serving prison sentence, so it really is a case-by-case basis.” “But what the revoking of the visa does is that allows us to take appropriate action as a government to remove an individual from our nation based off of the conditions that they may be in currently and taking into other considerations such as the playing out of the judicial process,” Pigott continued. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Pigott said the administration’s visa policy is centered on continuous vetting and enforcement even after the visa is first issued. “We’re going to do what’s necessary to protect the American people, we’re going to enforce our immigration law and we’re gonna make clear when it comes to this visa process we are going to continuously vet people here on visas — we’re going to have an America first visa policy,” Pigott said.
El-Sayed win kicks Democrats’ Midwest ideological battle into high gear — and some Dems fear November fallout
The battle between the left-wing and the center-left establishment for the ideological future of the Democratic Party is staying put in the Midwest. After far-left candidate Abdul El-Sayed narrowly edged out more moderate Rep. Haley Stevens this week in battleground Michigan’s high-stakes Democratic Senate primary, the spotlight now shifts to nomination showdowns next week in Wisconsin and Minnesota. At stake: a top-tier Senate showdown in Minnesota that’s among a dozen races nationwide that will determine if the Democrats can win back control of the chamber from the GOP, and a gubernatorial face-off in crucial swing-state Wisconsin where Republicans are aiming to flip the governor’s mansion. “Michigan proved that working people are ready for something different, and Wisconsin is next,” Democratic candidate for governor Francesca Hong wrote following El-Sayed’s victory. EL-SAYED’S VICTORY GIVES DEMOCRATS’ LEFTWARD LURCH MORE LEGS Hong, a state representative and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member, is the polling frontrunner in a Democratic gubernatorial nomination showdown that’s been rocked this summer after two major contenders dropped out and another candidate re-entered the race. The primary winner will likely face off in the general election with Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, the overwhelming polling and fundraising frontrunner for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, in the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who decided against running for a third term. Hong, a former chef, is backed by top nationally known progressives, including Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Ro Khanna of California, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender. She is running on a platform that includes guaranteed paid leave and a one-year moratorium in Wisconsin on building AI data centers. Hong has faced scrutiny over years-old social media posts calling for defunding and abolishing the police. Hong says she no longer supports cutting police budgets or abolishing police departments. MEET THE FAR LEFT INSURGENTS WAGING WAR ON THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN THE 2026 MIDTERMS But Hong’s made national headlines in recent days over a resurfaced 2020 social media post that the country should “cancel Thanksgiving” in order to “stop celebrating colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed Indegenous folx [sic.] and women.” It’s a comment she has since walked back amid backlash, and now says that Thanksgiving is her “favorite holiday.” There’s a growing number of moderate Democrats who worry that if Hong captures the gubernatorial nomination, as many expect, it will give Tiffany a big boost in his bid to flip the governor’s office. A Wisconsin-based Democratic strategist who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely argued with Hong at the top of the ticket, “it will hurt Democrats down ballot, in key congressional and legislative races” in the Midwestern battleground. In Minnesota, which also holds primaries next Tuesday, the Democratic Party’s civil war is also on display as progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and more moderate Rep. Angie Craig are the top two contenders battling for the party’s nomination. The current senator, Democrat Tina Smith, is retiring at the end of this year. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB A primary victory by Flanagan, who is backed by progressive champions Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, may boost the GOP hopes of flipping the seat in a blue-leaning but competitive state. Michigan’s primary came in the wake of left-wing victories in Democratic primaries this spring and earlier this summer in deep blue congressional districts across the country, including in New York City and Denver, and in the extended race for Maine’s Democratic Senate nomination. More than $80 million was spent on the Michigan Senate primary, making it the most expensive Democratic Senate nomination contest in history. Much of the money came from outside groups supporting Stevens or opposing El-Sayed. The largest spender was United Democracy Project, a political action committee aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which is best known by its acronym AIPAC. Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a leading group on the left, referred to El-Sayed’s narrow margin over Stevens and told Fox News Digital that “any win against $60 million dollars of outside spending by AIPAC and corporate interests is a giant win and sets us on a path of proving our case in November to shake up the system.” El-Sayed’s razor-thin win was accompanied by two other progressive victories. William Lawrence, a co-founder of the Sunrise Movement climate advocacy group, edged out two more moderate Democrats in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, a Republican-controlled swing seat that is among roughly two dozen races expected to help determine control of the House. Lawrence, who was backed by Sanders and El-Sayed as well as several prominent progressive groups, will face Republican Rep. Tom Barrett in the general election. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER And in Michigan’s heavily Democratic 13th Congressional District, Rep. Shri Thanedar, who was supported by top House Democratic leaders, was narrowly defeated by state Rep. Donovan McKinney. McKinney was backed by Sanders, El-Sayed and “Squad” members Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania. There was a setback for the far-left: DSA member and former Squad member former Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri was crushed by Democratic Rep. Wesley Bell in their rematch, as she unsuccessfully tried to win back her old seat in Congress representing St. Louis. But El-Sayed’s victory and the potential wins by the left next week are further fueling the ongoing Republican push to characterize all Democrats on the ballot in the midterms as far left radicals, or as President Donald Trump calls them, “communists.” ONLY ON FOX DIGITAL: MIKE ROGERS ARGUES ABDUL EL-SAYED IS ‘A SPECIAL SAUCE OF CRAZY’ Vice President JD Vance, in an interview Wednesday on Fox News “The Ingraham Angle,” argued that “the base of the Democratic Party just wants radicals. It wants these DSA types, it wants people who hate even the idea of private property ownership.” Whether the GOP messaging is effective will be answered on Election Night, in November’s
FBI’s ‘clever’ Trump-Russia probe code name ignites suspicion something deeper was at play
The White House on Wednesday released declassified FBI memos showing the bureau investigated whether President Donald Trump’s firing of James Comey was tied to Russia under the oddly spelled code name “Oxferd Comma,” fueling speculation that the misspelling was intentional. Former acting Assistant Attorney General Jeff Clark alleged the code name was deliberately altered to make records of the investigation harder to find. “The FBI under James Comey and Christopher Wray was hopelessly corrupt. To penalize President Trump’s firing of Comey, they created a ridiculous investigation into Trump on the theory he was a witting or unwitting Russian agent,” Clark, who serves as vice president of litigation at the Oversight Project, told Fox News Digital. “They called it OXFERD C0MMA (note the zero for the second ‘o’ and the misspelling of the University). The FBI managers thought this was clever. They imagined themselves as Blofeld in a James Bond movie deviously defeating the Freedom of Information Act,” Clark added, referring to the James Bond supervillain. TRUMP ALLY DIGENOVA TAPPED TO LEAD DOJ PROBE INTO BRENNAN OVER RUSSIA PROBE ORIGINS Clark explained on social media that he “consulted with a document expert” who concluded the first “o” in “Comma” was actually a zero – further obscuring the probe’s name. Investigators on the “Oxferd Comma” case sought to determine whether Trump was “directed by, controlled by, and/or coordinated activities with, the Russian Federation in a manner constituting a threat to the national security of the United States and/or a violation of federal criminal statutes,” according to a May 16, 2017, FBI memo. Trump fired Comey in May 2017, with the White House initially citing Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. The FBI opened the “Oxferd Comma” probe days later to examine whether the firing was connected to Russia. “Additionally, let me speculate that James Comey was well-known by his associates as liking Oxford commas, so they named the operation (clearly motivated by revenge in response to Trump firing Comey) as a hommage (Fr.) to their beloved Comey,” Clark added. “But that doesn’t explain why it was deliberately misspelled as ‘Oxferd.’” Clark, who served in Trump’s first administration, argued that the misspelling could have made it more difficult for anyone searching for records related to the operation. He suggested that a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request using the correct spelling might not have returned the relevant documents, potentially allowing the FBI to say that no responsive records had been found. LEFT-WING GROUP CHASES PROOF OF KASH PATEL’S ALLEGED ‘EXCESSIVE DRINKING’ AS DEMS EYE FBI DIRECTOR’S OUSTER Fox News Digital reached out to Wray, Comey and the White House for comment. “It should be investigated as an obstruction of justice. You know, some real obstruction of an official proceeding,” Clark posted to X. The unusual spelling also drew attention on social media, where users resurfaced a 2017 Comey post about Oxford commas. “Check the actual cover. I’m all about Oxford commas,” Comey wrote in a 2017 X post about his then-forthcoming memoir, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership.” OBAMA-ERA ATTORNEY FLIPS SCRIPT ON COMEY INDICTMENT NAYSAYERS WITH WARNING NOT TO BURY DOJ YET The FBI did not directly address the code name when asked by Fox News Digital on Thursday. “The weaponization that occurred against President Trump under prior regimes was inexcusable and wholly un-American. Director Patel himself was the lead investigator who originally exposed the disgraceful Crossfire Hurricane scandal – and as Director, he has released over 40,000 pages of documents to the public exposing similar malfeasance from former FBI leadership – a three fold increase from both his predecessors combined,” Ben Williamson, assistant director of the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs, said. “As we’ve said repeatedly: any individual who is found to have acted unethically or engaged in weaponization has been or will be fired from the Bureau and held accountable under the law,” Williamson added.
WATCH: GOP split over Rand Paul’s DOJ strategy in Fauci contempt push
Republican senators debated Sen. Rand Paul’s, R-Ky., plan to send a criminal contempt referral against former White House COVID advisor Anthony Fauci directly to the Department of Justice, raising questions about the legal viability of the effort and the procedural path forward. Paul, the leader of the push, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that he was confident the votes would be there to move forward with holding Fauci in contempt of Congress, and that his next plan is to move forward with sending the referral directly over to the Justice Department. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Miss., said his office has already begun drafting a memo to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to urge the Justice Department to pursue a criminal contempt case against Fauci. RAND PAUL PREDICTS FAUCI CONTEMPT VOTE WILL PASS, VOWS SWIFT DOJ REFERRAL “My team is working right now on a memo to Blanche explaining why we think that he can be prosecuted for contempt of Congress,” Hawley told Fox News Digital. “He’s not entitled to immunity, taken the Fifth, when he already has a pardon. It’s one or the other. “ After the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted Thursday to hold Fauci in contempt, the next step is typically for a full Senate vote to be held. “It’s got to actually go through the full Senate,” Lankford said. “That’s the challenge.” But Paul’s more unusual plan to skip the vote in the Senate and send the criminal referral straight to the Justice Department could be a viable route. Vice President J.D. Vance, the President of the Senate, would have to certify the resolution and refer it to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. This would likely be make it easier to prosecute Fauci as it wouldn’t require 60 votes in the Senate. REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: WHY FAUCI’S 111 FIFTH AMENDMENT PLEAS COULD END UP BEFORE THE COURTS Lankford brought up the risk in utilizing this procedure as it could prompt a potential for Democrats to use it to their advantage in the future. “The vice president would have to make a decision if he wants to try to change the structure of what has been done in the Senate, because then that would make them vulnerable three years from now to a future, maybe, Democrat Senate,” Lankford said. Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., backed Paul’s decision to send the contempt referral to the Justice Department, as she believes it is “necessary” to be resolved in a court regardless. “I think Rand Paul feels very strongly that you can’t have him coming in and pleading the Fifth in this situation,” Moody said. “I think he also believes ultimately this will wind up in a court and that will be clarified by a court, and I think that’s probably necessary as we move forward.” CAN FAUCI HIDE BEHIND THE FIFTH? GAME-CHANGING BIDEN PARDON MAY NOT PROVIDE COMPLETE COVER, EXPERTS SAY Fauci is under a presidential pardon for all actions taken between Jan. 1, 2014, and Jan. 19, 2025, from former President Joe Biden, which has prompted widespread doubt on whether he is able to invoke his Fifth Amendment right to not self-incriminate. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital he questions whether there is a sufficient legal basis for holding Fauci in contempt, arguing that his invocation of the Fifth Amendment complicates the case. “The first thing you have to do is identify what it is that you would be holding him in contempt for,” Rounds said. “I think he took the Fifth. And doing so, I think it makes it more difficult for anybody to actually suggest that.” He also urged his colleagues to remember the fear they all shared during that time period, over the rapidly increasing death rate and the looming uncertainty. “Whether the advice was really good advice or if it was the best advice they had, it was a different time period,” Rounds said. “So I just hope we all remember that.”
Trump says US has ‘massive’ munitions stockpile, vows ‘treasonous’ leakers being hunted down
President Donald Trump declared Thursday that the U.S. has a “massive” munitions stockpile and “treasonous” leakers are “being hunted down” after reports emerged claiming the U.S. Army has burned through nearly all of its stockpiles of two of its primary long-range precision weapons. The Army has used “virtually all” of its inventories of Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) during the five-month conflict with Iran, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with internal U.S. military data. “The U.S. has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types. Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed. Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history,” Trump wrote on Truth Social early Thursday. “The ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down. Long term jail sentences will be sought!” the president added. ALARMING MISSILE REPORT DRAWS FORCEFUL RESPONSE FROM TRUMP AS IRAN WAR TESTS AMERICA’S ARSENAL Trump’s message was reposted on X by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. If accurate, the Reuters report underscores a long-standing Pentagon concern: America’s most sophisticated precision weapons can be expended in months but often take years to replace. Officials fear the drawdown could complicate the military’s ability to respond to future crises involving adversaries such as China and Russia, according to the report. WEAPONS STOCKPILE SHORTAGES IMPACTING MILITARY STRATEGY IN THE MIDEAST Reuters also reported that the conflict significantly reduced inventories of Patriot and THAAD missile interceptors, along with Tomahawk cruise missiles, though the Pentagon has maintained the U.S. military retains the capabilities needed to carry out operations worldwide. Exact U.S. weapons stockpile figures remain classified for national security reasons. Some estimates show the U.S. has used more than half of its stockpiles of some weapons systems in the war with Iran. The Center for Strategic and International Studies found the U.S. has enough missiles to continue fighting in Iran under any plausible scenario, but the group says the true issue with the shrinking stockpiles is future wars. “The depletion of munitions was a major topic and a major reason for the suspension of air attacks,” Mark Cancian, a retired U.S. Marine colonel and senior advisor with the CSIS Defense and Security Department, told Fox News’ Bret Baier. “Our inventories were getting way below what the war planners wanted. That might encourage China to do something.” CSIS notes many munition stockpiles are substantial but focused its analysis on seven key weapons that have been effective in Iran and would also be valuable in a possible Pacific conflict. Trump said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Wednesday, “We have far more munitions than anyone in the world, and far more than we need, despite the fact that an unprecedented amount was given away by Crooked Joe Biden and the Biden Administration to Ukraine and Europe at no cost, in one of many of their extremely dumb moves.” The Pentagon has also pushed back on the reporting. “America’s military is the most powerful in the world and has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President’s choosing. We have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring the U.S. military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests,” chief spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement. Fox News’ Bret Baier and Amy Munneke and Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
Sanders’ answer when asked if he will endorse socialist Hong in Wisconsin sparks instant mockery: ‘Says a lot’
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was asked if he would endorse Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) member Francesca Hong’s Wisconsin gubernatorial bid, and his response sparked immediate mockery on social media. “I don’t think so,” the Vermont socialist told “Pod Save America” host Jon Favreau when asked if he is going to endorse Hong’s campaign for governor. “I met Francesca a couple of years ago. I was in Wisconsin, and she seems very, very nice, but again this is a race I’m just not that familiar with.” Sanders added that “we have not gotten involved in many governors’ races” other than recently in Maine, where he endorsed Democrat Troy Jackson, who ultimately replaced disgraced Senate candidate Graham Platner, a candidate Sanders endorsed. Political commentators quickly chimed in on social media suggesting that Sanders not endorsing Hong shows the senator doesn’t think she can win, with many pointing to Sanders’ strident support of Platner despite all of his political baggage. AFTER PLATNER IMPLOSION, MAINE DEMOCRATS RUSH TOWARD NEW SENATE NOMINEE DESPITE FRESH WARNING SIGNS “Bernie says he’s not backing Francesca Hong because he’s focused on the Senate,” Washington Free Beacon reporter Chuck Ross posted on X. “Yet he’s endorsed in mayoral races, House races, and Troy Jackson’s failed governor race in Maine. That’s how whacky Hong is”. “Says a lot,” Politico reporter Will Steakin posted on X. “Guy with the Nazi Tattoo ‘hey everyone makes mistakes’,” conservative commentator Stephen L. Miller posted on X. “Crazy communist lady – ‘not my cup of tea sorry.’” SOCIALIST FRONTRUNNER IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER ‘CANCEL THANKSGIVING’ POST EMERGES ONLINE “This guy endorsed a guy with a natzi [sic] tat but thinks @FrancescaHongWi is not worth an endorsement……,” Jerry Ponio, legislative director for Americans for Prosperity – Wisconsin, posted on X. “Yikes.” “Well, I guess even Bernie enjoys celebrating Thanksgiving at one of his three houses,” an account ran by Hong’s likely general election opponent, Republican Tom Tiffany, posted on X. Tiffany’s post references a controversial quote from Hong that went viral on social media where she suggested canceling Thanksgiving. “Francesca Hong, who is a Socialist candidate for Governor of Wisconsin is too radical…even for Bernie Sanders,” Turning Point Action Northeast Manager Brandon Maly posted on X. Fox News Digital reached out to the Hong campaign and Sanders’ office for comment. Critics have argued that Francesca Hong’s politics are too far to the left for a swing state like Wisconsin, contending that her identification as a socialist and support for ambitious progressive policies could make her less competitive in a general election. Hong’s social media account is littered with far-left pledges like abolishing the U.S. Senate and defunding the police. Hong recently tried to walk back those positions in recent interviews ahead of Tuesday’s gubernatorial primary against Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, former Wisconsin Department of Administration secretary Joel Brennan, and Democratic state Sen. Kelda Roys. Polls suggest Hong is likely to comfortably win that contest, which will advance her to a race against Tiffany, the likely Republican nominee, in November.
Dem senator presses OpenAI, Anthropic for answers in AI hacking probe
Revelations of OpenAI and Anthropic artificial intelligence agents hacking third parties has drawn the “serious concern” of Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., who is now seeking answers from the two businesses incorporated as public benefit companies (PBC) in her state. In separate letters dated Thursday to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, viewed by Fox News Digital, Blunt Rochester has requested detailed timelines, model instructions, internal approvals, security logs and complete transcripts from the companies’ cyber evaluations. The member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee gave both companies until Sept. 6 to respond. AI KILL SWITCH BILL COULD SHUT DOWN ROGUE MODELS “These incidents mark the first publicly confirmed instances of a frontier AI model autonomously launching unauthorized attacks on real people and companies, underscoring the urgent need for federal oversight of frontier AI systems,” Blunt Rochester wrote to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, calling for federal testing standards, containment rules and disclosure requirements for evaluations of powerful AI systems. Her concern follows another letter Monday, as first reported by Fox News Digital, from a coalition of 15 red-state attorneys general warning Altman to preserve documents and halt certain high-risk cybersecurity tests after an experimental artificial intelligence agent allegedly escaped a controlled environment and carried out a multi-day hack into outside computer systems. One day later, the United Kingdom’s AI Security Institute (AISI) identified 19 cases in which AI agents took actions outside the authorized scope of testing. Two involved OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol, while 17 involved Anthropic’s Mythos 5. OPENAI’S SAM ALTMAN WANTS TO NEGOTIATE A 5% STAKE IN COMPANY FOR US IF COMPETITORS AGREE TO KEY PROVISION “Anthropic models’ repeated attacks on third parties with no knowledge of, or role in, Anthropic and AISI’s evaluations demonstrate an alarming pattern of malicious behavior,” Blunt Rochester’s letter to Amodei read. “Furthermore, the successful attempts by these models to gain unauthorized internet access across multiple sandbox testing environments meant to be cut off from the public internet highlight serious issues with Anthropic’s testing partnerships and procedures. READ THE AISI REPORT – APP USERS, CLICK HERE: “To be clear, ‘misunderstanding[s]’ and ‘misconfiguration[s]’ with sandbox partners are unacceptable when the stakes are this high. “We cannot wait for a more consequential incident before establishing federal testing standards, containment requirements, and disclosure obligations for frontier model evaluations. “Left unaddressed, these gaps could allow a future model, potentially one with greater capability or less oversight, to compromise critical infrastructure, financial systems, or sensitive data.” These investigations carry a distinct Delaware dimension: OpenAI and Anthropic are organized as Delaware PBCs — legal structures that allow them to operate for profit but require their directors to weigh more than shareholder returns. KARR BLUETOOTH FLAW EXPOSES 2.2M CARS TO THEFT RISK Under Delaware law, a PBC board must balance three things: its stockholders’ financial interests, the interests of people materially affected by the company’s conduct and the specific public benefit written into the company’s charter. READ THE LETTER TO OPENAI – APP USERS, CLICK HERE: “This incident marks an important moment for AI safety and we take the questions raised by the Attorneys General seriously,” OpenAI wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital after Monday’s letter from the state AGs. “We are conducting a thorough review along with external advisors and with oversight from the Safety and Security Committee of the Board of Directors. Once the review is complete, we will share a technical report with the Attorneys General and other relevant government authorities and publish our findings publicly.” Blunt Rochester wants records related to the AI agent hacking now, too. CLICKLOCK MAC MALWARE LOCKS APPS UNTIL YOU GIVE IN “I appreciate that OpenAI has published preliminary findings, is coordinating with third parties on remediation, and is reviewing its approach to model testing,” she wrote to Altman, adding to Amodei, “I appreciate Anthropic’s voluntary review of its cybersecurity evaluations and public disclosure of the findings, and I encourage other companies to follow suit. “However, these incidents demonstrate the potential risks of deploying pre-release models internally, particularly when safeguards are reduced, even when strictly for testing and evaluation,” she wrote to both CEOs. READ THE LETTER TO ANTHROPIC – APP USERS, CLICK HERE: OpenAI disclosed in July that GPT-5.6 Sol and an internal prototype escaped an internal sandbox while their normal cybersecurity restrictions were disabled. The models allegedly accessed Hugging Face’s database and other services, launched roughly 17,000 attacks, used stolen credentials and exploited at least one previously unknown vulnerability. A separate test conducted by contractor Irregular allegedly allowed an OpenAI model onto the public internet because of a configuration error. The model mistook a real website for a target in a simulated hacking challenge and exploited a live security vulnerability. “AISI identified 19 instances in which an agent took unsanctioned action beyond the scope of the evaluation. Seventeen of the 19 instances involved Anthropic’s Mythos 5; two involved OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol,” Blunt Rochester wrote. The institute’s most serious findings included an agent attempting to place malicious code into a widely used open-source project on GitHub, creating fake identities to pressure a human maintainer, contacting real people and leaving public instructions that other AI systems could use to continue the operation. The maintainer rejected the code, and investigators reported finding no resulting real-world harm. PAIDWORK BREACH EXPOSES 23M USER RECORDS Blunt Rochester’s Anthropic letter separately cites three incidents in which Claude models allegedly gained unauthorized internet access and attacked three undisclosed organizations during cyber evaluations conducted with standard safeguards disabled. Two of the Anthropic models reportedly recognized that they had reached the open internet and were interacting with real targets but continued their attacks. “It is particularly concerning that Anthropic’s first identified security breach dates back to April 2026 and was not identified until three months later,” Blunt Rochester wrote to Amodei. “This is precisely the kind of emergent, autonomous behavior and offensive cyber capability that Congress, the intelligence community, and experts have repeatedly warned could outpace existing safeguards and could