New Romanian law may have averted NATO clash with Russia after border strikes
Russia narrowly avoided an armed skirmish with Romania, a member of the NATO alliance, after striking just a half mile from its border. Romanian defense officials believe the new law passed by parliament explicitly allowing its armed forces to shoot down Russian drones that fly over its territory prevented the Kremlin from incurring on its territory. Russia struck a gas distribution center in the Ismail Area of Ukraine with Shahed kamikaze drones on Tuesday and Wednesday, so close to Romania’s border that Bucharest deployed F-16 aircraft to monitor. No unauthorized intrusions were reported. “They know we passed this law, and in the last two months they have avoided crossing into our airspace,” one Romanian defense source told Fox News Digital. NATO JETS SCRAMBLED AMID RUSSIA’S LARGEST DRONE ATTACK ON UKRAINE Ilie Bolojan, Romania’s then-acting president, signed the law, which Romanian parliament had passed in February in response to Russian drones spilling over into its territory during attacks on Ukraine. The law specifies that Romanian authorities must establish the drone’s position and identity, attempt contact, intercept and fire warning shots, before neutralizing it. Piloted vehicles can only be destroyed if they conduct an attack or respond aggressively. Romania shares a 380-mile-wide border with Ukraine, though at this time there is no evidence Moscow has deliberately targeted its territory. Ukraine typically receives gas through the Orlovka gas distribution center in Izmail from Greece, Turkey and Romania. RUSSIA LAUNCHED ITS LARGEST AERIAL ATTACK OF THE WAR, UKRAINE SAYS If Russia had incurred into Romanian territory and Romania responded by shooting down its drones, a tit-for-tat escalation risks drawing a NATO member state directly into the war. NATO allies agree to Article 5, a collective defense pact that states each would come to the aid of the other in the case of an attack. Earlier this week, drones believed to originate in Belarus, a client state of Russia, landed in Lithuanian territory. Other eastern European states have enacted new laws to fortify their borders from the threat of Russia: Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania pulled out of an international treaty banning the use of landmines over humanitarian concerns earlier this year. Lithuania this week asked NATO to help strengthen its air defenses after a Russian drone carrying explosives entered its territory. “This is not just Lithuanian airspace, not just Lithuania’s security — it is NATO airspace, NATO security and also EU security,” foreign minister Kęstutis Budrys said.
Trump blasts Schumer, Democrats as ‘country-hating thugs’ amid blockade on Senate nominees
President Donald Trump lashed out at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday, accusing the lawmaker of “extortion” for holding up Trump’s nominees in the Senate. Trump made the statement from his Truth Social account, arguing that never in U.S. history have so many of a president’s nominees been bottlenecked in the Senate. Senate Republicans had been negotiating with Schumer to speed up the nomination process this week, but the talks broke down. “Politically embattled Senator, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, wants the Republicans to pay, as extortion, two billion dollars in order for the radical left Democrats to approve the hundreds of Trump appointments who have been waiting for months, and are raring to go,” Trump wrote. “This has never happened before. There has never, in U.S. history, been such a delay. They are extortionists! Republicans must create legislation in order to get out of the grasp of these country-hating thugs. Move quickly!” he added. TRUMP TELLS SCHUMER TO ‘GO TO HELL’ OVER SENATE NOMINEE DEAL FUNDING DEMANDS AFTER NEGOTIATIONS COLLAPSE Lawmakers left Washington on Monday without a deal, leaving Republicans deeply frustrated with Schumer and Senate Democrats for their unprecedented filibustering of every one of Trump’s nominees. Only Secretary of State Marco Rubio received a smooth confirmation. Schumer and the Democrats had demanded that Trump free up billions in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and foreign aid, accounting for Trump’s claims of a $2 billion “extortion.” GRIDLOCK CRUMBLES AS SENATE ADVANCES SPENDING BILLS IN RACE AGAINST SHUTDOWN Republicans are now discussing a rule change that would block Democrats from filibustering the nominees, allowing them to clear the Senate with just a simple majority. “I think that way is going to happen anyways, because of what Schumer has done. He’s forced this, and it’s ridiculous that he’s doing this,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said Tuesday. “And so, whatever, we’re at this point, and we’ll do, you know what they say, every action requires an equal [reaction], and that’s what we’re at right now.” Currently, over 1,200 positions go through Senate confirmation. Senate Republicans have been able to confirm over 130 of Trump’s picks so far, but there are over 140 nominees still pending on the Senate’s calendar. “I think they’re desperately in need of change,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Tuesday. “I think that the last six months have demonstrated that this process, nominations, is broken. And so I expect there will be some good robust conversations about that.” Fox News’ Alex Miller contributed to this report
Mamdani’s past ‘visceral disdain’ for police ‘scares a lot of New Yorkers’ for good reason: NYC crime expert
New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s past stances on policing are a legitimate reason for New Yorkers to be concerned, despite his recent walkbacks, according to a New York City crime expert who spoke to Fox News Digital. “I think what scares a lot of New Yorkers about the policy positions taken by Zohran Mamdani over the years is that he has exhibited not just a lack of appreciation for the men and women that stand on that [police] line, but a visceral disdain for them, which has led him to push for things like defunding and dismantling the police,” Rafael A. Mangual, senior fellow and head of research for policing and public safety at the Manhattan Institute, told Fox News Digital, shortly after a gunman killed four people in midtown Manhattan, including a NYPD police officer. “It’s not so much as just that he said, well, I wanna allocate some of this money to other places. He has gone so far as to say that we should dismantle the entire department.” Mamdani recently attempted to walk back some of his past anti-police comments during a press conference in the aftermath of the shooting, but Mangual, who wrote an op-ed on the walkback for the New York Post, says he still has concerns despite the attempt to clarify past comments. MAMDANI PREACHES FROM PULPIT OF RADICAL PASTOR PUSHING REPARATIONS, ABOLISHING POLICE: ‘BROTHER AND FRIEND’ “Even if he doesn’t necessarily follow through on the most radical positions that he has taken in the very recent past, he has expressed support for a lot of initiatives that would erode public safety in lots of different ways, including and especially in the communities that deal with the brunt of our nation’s gun violence problem,” Mangual said. Mangual pointed to several possible scenarios under a Mamdani mayorship that could lead to problems for security in the city, including potentially working with the city council to eliminate the NYPD gang database, which Mangual said would be an “absolute disaster” for the city. NEW YORK LAWMAKER SOUNDS ALARM ON POTENTIAL ‘DEVASTATING’ EFFECTS OF MAMDANI VICTORY: ‘CHAOS’ “The other thing that Mamdani mayoralty might get us is an NYPD that’s even less equipped than the current NYPD, which is certainly operating well below the ideal level in terms of force size,” Mangual explained. “It’s approaching skeleton crew status. The NYPD at the turn of the century had about 41,000 officers in its ranks, whereas now I think below 33,000 are just right around that mark. That’s a really big change, especially given how many more 911 calls that department is fielding on an annual basis and how much more it has to do in a post-9/11 world where the department kind of took on these additional counter-terrorism and intelligence aspects to it. So, you run the risk of creating a situation in which a department that is already starved for recruits is going to become even more unattractive to people who are considering work in that department.“ Mangual explained that Mamdani was part of a “legislative landscape” as a state assemblyman that pushed bail reform and discovery reform that “have essentially made it significantly less likely that perpetrators who are arrested will be, A, prosecuted and B, held to account in a meaningful way.” Mangual said he is concerned that Mamdani’s resume will hurt police recruiting and eventually make the city less safe as the NYPD struggles to achieve full staffing. “So, now you have a situation in which you might have a mayor who has just set himself up for a terrible relationship with the police department who is signaling that he’s going to cooperate with an increasingly radical city council who wants to take even more away from that police department, who is then going to send a signal that, ‘Hey, you are not going to have a good time working here,’” Mangual said. Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign for comment.
Vance, Bondi, Patel to huddle at VP residence for Epstein strategy meeting
Vice President JD Vance is hosting senior Trump administration officials at his residence in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday evening for a strategy dinner to discuss how the administration should handle the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein fallout and move forward, Fox News has learned. Vance has invited U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to dinner at the sprawling, 12-acre vice-presidential residence in Northwest Washington. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles is also expected to be in attendance, according to sources familiar. News of the dinner was first reported by CNN. It comes after weeks of unsuccessful attempts by senior Trump officials to quell mounting public pressure to release more information related to the Epstein investigation — underscoring the sticking power of the Epstein scandal despite a fast-moving news cycle. Trump supporters have been among the leading voices demanding the release of additional information. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WEIGHS RELEASE OF GHISLAINE MAXWELL INTERVIEW The Justice Department and the White House have also struggled to coordinate their messaging on the ongoing fallout from the Epstein scandal, following the release of an unsigned July 7 memo that said they did not plan to release additional information about the investigation. Most recently, the White House and DOJ have been at odds over whether to release an audio file and transcript from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s interview with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell late last month, senior administration officials confirmed. COMER SUBPOENAS THE CLINTONS, TRUMP’S DOJ IN HOUSE OVERSIGHT’S EPSTEIN PROBE It is unclear how long the audio footage and transcripts from the interviews between Blanche’s interview with Maxwell are, but they do exist, Fox News Digital reported yesterday, and discussions remain underway today involving whether — and when — to release the transcript. Fox News Digital reported yesterday that DOJ officials have both the audio and transcript from Blanche’s interview with Maxwell, which took place over two days at the U.S. Attorney’s office near the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, Florida, where Maxwell had been serving out a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking. Maxwell was transferred last week without explanation to a new, minimum-security women’s federal prison camp in Texas. Anything released by the Trump administration would almost certainly involve heavily redacting any identifying information of individuals named in the transcript in order to protect victims — something Bondi has stressed in public on multiple occasions. News of Vance’s dinner prompted fresh concerns from family members of one Epstein victim, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who committed suicide earlier this year. “We understand that Vice President JD Vance will hold a strategy session this evening at his residence with administration officials,” Giuffre’s sibling said in a statement Wednesday shared with Fox News Digital. “Missing from this group is, of course, any survivor of the vicious crimes of convicted perjurer and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Their voices must be heard, above all,” they said. “We reiterate that Ghislaine Maxwell should have remained in a maximum security prison and does not deserve the luxuries currently afforded her.” Pressure to release information has been unrelenting in the weeks since July 7, when the Justice Department said in an unsigned memo that it did not plan to release more information about the investigation. The Justice Department and FBI also said that investigators had not found a so-called “client list” from Epstein, as had been suggested widely online, and by some Trump officials earlier this year. Asked on Fox News in February about news that the DOJ would release “the list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients,” and when that would happen, Bondi replied, “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later said Bondi had been referring more broadly to all the files related to Epstein, and not a single list.
GOP governor nominee pushes redistricting to oust state’s lone House Dem
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., is calling on his state to join the growing fight over the country’s congressional maps – with eyes on the one Democrat in his delegation. Norman told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that he wants the South Carolina General Assembly to redraw its district lines, which he argued is more in line with the Palmetto State’s Republican majorities in the statehouse and state Senate. “We have Republican supermajorities in South Carolina. Let’s use them to create more competition in our congressional seats. I have no doubt Republicans can be successful in every part of our state,” Norman said. Norman, who is running for governor, said that would make South Carolina’s seats in the House of Representatives “more competitive” and that it would “move our House delegation from 6-1 to 7-0.” BETO O’ROURKE DROPS F-BOMB AS HE URGES DEMS TO ‘MEET FIRE WITH FIRE’ AGAINST GOP REDISTRICTING PLANS IN TEXAS “That will help increase Republican control of Congress and help President Trump pass his agenda. Every vote counts toward a conservative Speaker Mike Johnson rather than a liberal Speaker Hakeem Jeffries of New York City,” Norman said. And while he did not give further details about how he’d want that map to look, he did mention the lone Democrat, longtime Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., by name. “Jim Clyburn is a nice man and I respect him. But he is a liberal Democrat who helped put Joe Biden in the White House,” Norman said. “That’s not the kind of representation South Carolina needs.” Clyburn is indeed a close ally of former President Joe Biden. His support was critical to Biden winning the 2020 Democratic primary in South Carolina, a victory that was decisive in putting Biden at the front of the crowded race. He’s also represented South Carolina’s 6th congressional district since 1993. SCHWARZENEGGER PUSHES BACK AGAINST NEWSOM IN REDISTRICTING FIGHT The 6th congressional district was first gerrymandered to give Black South Carolinians greater representation in the early 1990s, resulting in the only majority-Black district in the state. South Carolina’s congressional map has seen some partisan fighting in recent years, however. In 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that said a Republican-led redraw of district lines unfairly diluted Black voters’ power, primarily in South Carolina’s 1st congressional district, which neighbors Clyburn’s. The high court’s conservative majority ruled 6-3 that the district was redrawn along partisan lines, rather than racial, and therefore could be legally upheld. Redistricting is traditionally done following the U.S. census, which is taken every decade, to account for population shifts in various states. Norman’s call to redraw the lines again comes after Texas Republicans’ push to create a new congressional map that would give the GOP as many as five new seats in the House of Representatives. It’s ignited a political firestorm across the country, with liberal states like New York and California pledging to follow suit. There are now discussions in multiple states about potentially redrawing district lines as well. Fox News Digital reached out to Clyburn’s campaign for comment, as well as representatives in the South Carolina General Assembly.
Senate Democrats are feverishly recruiting top candidates to win back majority in 2026 midterms
As they mount their uphill effort to win back the Senate majority in next year’s midterm elections, Democrats feel that they’re on a roll. Late last month, they landed their biggest recruit to date, when former two-term Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina declared his candidacy in the 2026 race to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis. Democrats view the open Senate seat in the crucial southeastern battleground state as a top pick-up opportunity next year as they try to win back control of the Senate, which the Republicans currently hold with a 53-47 majority. “It’s hard to overstate the importance of getting Gov. Cooper to run for the Senate in North Carolina, and already we are seeing a potential for a ripple effect,” longtime Democratic strategist Chris Moyer told Fox News Digital. THIS REPUBLICAN JUST JUMPED INTO BATTLEGROUND GEORGIA’S HIGH-PROFILE SENATE RACE Moyer, a veteran campaign communicator, said that Cooper recruitment is “giving more faith to potential candidates who are questioning whether there’s a chance for a Democratic majority in the Senate next year.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, after landing Cooper, said he “is a formidable candidate who will flip North Carolina’s Senate seat.” Top Democrats now have their eyes on former Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who lost last year’s re-election bid in a onetime top swing state that’s become reliably red over the past decade. WHAT A TOP POLITICAL HANDICAPPER SAID ABOUT THE DEMOCRATS’ CHANCES TO WIN BACK SENATE IN 2026 Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, trekked to Ohio this summer in hopes of convincing Brown to take on Republican Sen. Jon Husted, Fox News confirmed. Brown, who served over three decades in the House and later the Senate, is viewed by Democrats as the only candidate who could potentially topple Husted, who was named at the beginning of this year to fill the seat left vacant when then-Sen. JD Vance stepped down to become vice president. Democrats landed the candidate they were hoping for in swing state New Hampshire in the race to succeed retiring longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Four-term Rep. Chris Pappas’ announcement in early April that he would run to succeed Shaheen has cleared the Democratic primary field, as of now, of any potential rivals for the party’s Senate nomination. Meanwhile, a Republican primary in the state – where the GOP hasn’t won a Senate race in 15 years – is heating up between former Sen. Scott Brown and state Sen. Dan Innis, with the possibility of more candidates entering the race. In battleground Georgia, which President Donald Trump narrowly carried in last year’s White House race, Republicans view first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat incumbent up for re-election next year. But Ossoff is off to a very hot fundraising start, and a GOP primary between Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter, and former college and professional football coach Derek Dooley, is starting to turn combustible. Of potential concern for the Democrats is Michigan, where the dynamics appear to be the opposite of Georgia, in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. Former Rep. Mike Rogers, the 2024 GOP Senate nominee who narrowly lost last year’s race, appears to have cleared the Republican, thanks in great part to Trump’s endorsement and likely arm twisting by the president’s political team. Democrats, meanwhile, have a very competitive primary on their hands. The primary race includes three well-known Democrats: Rep. Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, and former gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who enjoys the backing of progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. And popular Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is running for the Senate as an independent, which could potentially hurt Democrats in the general election. While Texas has long been a reliable red state, and conservative firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz comfortably won re-election last year, Democrats are optimistic about their 2026 chances to potentially flip a red seat to blue. That’s because longtime GOP Sen. John Cornyn is facing a serious primary challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a MAGA world rockstar. Paxton has long been surrounded by scandals, and is now dealing with a headline-grabbing divorce with his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxtom. And Democrats believe if Paxton topples Cornyn in next March’s GOP primary, he’ll be toxic in the general election. But Democrats could have a competitive primary in Texas as well. Former Rep. Colin Allred, who lost to Cruz last November, launched a second straight campaign earlier this year. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who came close to ousting Cruz in the state’s 20218 Senate election before unsuccessfully running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and losing the 2022 Texas gubernatorial race to GOP Gov. Greg Abbott, is taking a hard look at a 2026 Senate run. State Rep. James Talarico, who grabbed national attention recently for his appearance with popular podcaster Joe Rogan, and Rep. Joaquin Castro, are also mulling bids. Democrats also feel they may have a shot in Iowa – a onetime swing state that’s become firmly red in recent election cycles – if Republican Sen. Joni Ernst decides against seeking a third term in the Senate. But they’ll likely have a much better chance of flipping a GOP-held seat in blue state Maine if longtime Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins decides against seeking re-election.
EXCLUSIVE: Trump admin nixes giant wind farm approved ‘last-minute’ by Biden team
FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump’s Interior Department is canceling what would have been one of the largest land-based wind farms in the United States after former President Joe Biden’s “last-minute” push to approve the project during his final weeks in office. The Lava Ridge Wind Project, approved in December 2024 by the Biden administration’s Bureau of Land Management, was expected to be a 1,000-megawatt wind farm with up to 231 wind turbines across nearly 57,447 acres in southern Idaho. Following a review of the project by the Trump administration, officials at the Interior Department claimed to find “crucial legal deficiencies” with Biden’s approval of the project, including certain statutorily binding criteria that were ignored, according to a press release announcing the decision to terminate the wind farm project. GARGANTUAN ‘BIRD CEMETERIES’ IN BURGUM’S CROSSHAIRS AS DOI LOOKS TO CURB GREEN WIND PROJECTS “Under President Donald Trump’s bold leadership, the Department is putting the brakes on deficient, unreliable energy and putting the American people first,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “By reversing the Biden administration’s thoughtless approval of the Lava Ridge Wind Project, we are protecting tens of thousands of acres from harmful wind policy while shielding the interests of rural Idaho communities. This decisive action defends the American taxpayer, safeguards our land, and averts what would have been one of the largest, most irresponsible wind projects in the nation.” The Interior Department’s action follows a Day One executive order signed by Trump that moved to place a temporary moratorium on the controversial wind project. The order was followed up by another executive directive from Idaho GOP Gov. Brad Little, which directed state agencies to comply with Trump’s order to halt the Lava Ridge project and other wind energy leasing in all areas within the Offshore Continental Shelf. In Trump’s executive order, the president also requested a new review be conducted by the Interior Department, citing the fact that the Biden administration may have skirted certain legal obligations associated with approving the Lava Ridge project. TRUMP ADMIN REBUFFS SCHIFF, REOPENING MASSIVE PACIFIC OIL RESERVE CAPABLE OF 80% OF REGIONAL PRODUCTION Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador previously accused the Biden administration of not adequately reviewing the wind farm’s potential risk to low-flying aircraft. According to Labrador, Federal Aviation Administration rules dictate that any structure over 200-feet tall must be evaluated for low-level flight hazards. Labrador has also asserted that the Lava Ridge project would have mainly shipped generated power to California, as opposed to Idaho. Meanwhile, Idaho GOP Congressman Mike Simpson accused the Biden approval process in a June op-ed of failing to “genuinely engage with stakeholders to address concerns about the Minidoka National Historic Site, grazing, wildfire response, and more.” “For four years, the Biden administration demonstrated that it would rather prioritize renewable wind power over multiple-use mandates directed by Congress,” Simpson added. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In a press release put out Wednesday, the Interior Department said it was “restoring common sense to American energy policy by reversing the Biden administration’s misguided, last-minute push to approve the Lava Ridge Wind Project.” “Under President Donald J. Trump, the Department of the Interior will no longer provide preferential treatment towards unreliable, intermittent power sources that harm rural communities, livelihoods and the land,” the press release concluded. “The Department of the Interior will continue its review of wind energy leasing and permitting practices, with a focus on assessing the impact these developments have on our nation’s natural resources and communities.”
SCOOP: Trump admin, OpenAI partner to unleash artificial intelligence on federal government
FIRST ON FOX: The federal government is stepping into the future and embracing artificial intelligence, specifically ChatGPT, across its agencies, which proponents say will streamline productivity while solidifying President Donald Trump’s pledge to keep the U.S. in the driver’s seat of the cutting-edge technology, Fox News Digital exclusively learned. The U.S. General Services Administration announced Wednesday that OpenAI’s ChatGPT Enterprise is now available to all federal agencies to incorporate into their workflow at a $1 per agency cost, the GSA told Fox Digital. The deal with OpenAI, the tech company behind ChatGPT, is part of GSA’s OneGov Strategy that aims to modernize “how the federal government purchases goods and services” under the Trump administration. “The use of this tool has been deployed and tested with responsible policy makers, with responsible legal folks,” GSA Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum told Fox News Digital of integrating AI into the federal government. “It’s not just auto-piloting and saying, ‘go machine’ and we just respond. … It’s automation, it’s ease of processes, but it’s also thinking about … the typical waste, fraud and abuse that we’re also focused on with this administration.” ChatGPT is a wildly popular AI chatbot that can hold conversational discussions, provide research accompanied by citations, automate routine tasks such as data entry or file processing, summarize books or lengthy files, and even assist with brainstorming project ideas or problem-solving tasks. DETAILS OF TRUMP’S HIGHLY ANTICIPATED AI PLAN REVEALED BY WHITE HOUSE AHEAD OF MAJOR SPEECH “Open AI just announced the ChatGPT has over 700 million weekly users, so the amount of commercial adoption is quite astounding,” OpenAI’s Joseph Larson told Fox Digital Tuesday of the partnership. “What we didn’t want to see was a gap between the tools available for artificial intelligence to the federal workforce, a gap between what is available in … the private sector or available to the public. So with this GSA partnership, what the administration is doing, which we believe to be in line with the AI action plan, is to make ChatGPT Enterprise, which is … the most advanced AI tools available to the entire federal government will now be available to all agencies of the federal government at the nominal cost of $1 per agency.” OPENAI UNLEASHES CHATGPT AGENT FOR TRULY AUTONOMOUS AI TASKS How federal agencies employ the technology will likely range from department to department, with employees offered access “to a new government user community and tailored introductory training resources” as well as “custom training platforms and guided learning, either directly or through partner-led sessions” to best fit their needs. “One of the best ways to make sure AI works for everyone is to put it in the hands of the people serving our country,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said of the partnership in a Wednesday press release. “We’re proud to partner with the General Services Administration, delivering on President Trump’s AI Action Plan, to make ChatGPT available across the federal government, helping public servants deliver for the American people.” The Trump administration rolled ut its AI Action Plan in July after Trump ordered the federal government in January to develop a plan of action for artificial intelligence in order to “solidify our position as the global leader in AI and secure a brighter future for all Americans.” The AI Action Plan includes a three-pillar approach focused on American workers, free speech and protecting U.S.-built technologies. “We want to center America’s workers, and make sure they benefit from AI,” AI and crypto czar David Sacks told the media in July of the AI plan. “The second is that we believe that AI systems should be free of ideological bias and not be designed to pursue socially engineered agendas,” Sacks said. “And so we have a number of proposals there on how to make sure that AI remains truth-seeking and trustworthy. And then the third principle that cuts across the pillars is that we believe we have to prevent our advanced technologies from being misused or stolen by malicious actors. And we also have to monitor for emerging and unforeseen risks from AI.” CHINA IS EXPLOITING OUR GOVERNMENT’S TECH WEAKNESS. WE NEED A RAPID REBOOT Gruenbaum told Fox Digital that when the GSA reviewed the administration’s AI action plan, it jumped at rolling out “widespread adoption” for the government to help answer Trump’s call for the U.S. to stay on top of the artificial intelligence race on the global stage. “Where we see ourselves playing, obviously, is through a lot of the Federal Acquisition Service, which is the largest procurement arm in the federal government,” he said. “And as we kind of examined the President’s AI action plan, heard the call to action of, ‘Hey, this is a race, and we are going to win this race.’ From our perspective, all that meant, synonymously, was widespread adoption. Those were the words, quite frankly, that the OpenAI team used to us in our very first call. And their call to action was, ‘we need to get this into the hands of as many federal workers as possible.’ We at the GSA took that extremely seriously.” OPENAI CHIEF DECLARES LOVE FOR US WHILE LAMENTING DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S RADICAL TURN AGAINST ‘TECHNO-CAPITALISM’ “Everything’s kind of leading to the place of having us poised for this AI revolution,” he added. The Trump administration has notched massive wins in the artificial intelligence race, which has pitted the U.S. against China to develop the most high-tech artificial intelligence systems, including Oracle and OpenAI announcing in July that the companies will further develop the Stargate project, which is an effort to launch large data centers in the U.S. The two companies’ most recent announcement promises an additional 4.5 gigawatts of Stargate data center capacity, a move expected to create more than 100,000 jobs across operations, construction, and indirect roles such as manufacturing and local services. The Stargate project includes a commitment from OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank and MGX to invest $500 billion in U.S.-based artificial intelligence infrastructure throughout the
GOP congressman vows ‘all options are on the table’ to stop US-wide redistricting war
Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., is promising that “all options are on the table” to try and stop states from creating a nationwide fight over redistricting congressional maps. “It creates a lot of instability if you’re just constantly shifting the lines on the map around so that, you know, representatives are losing constituents, losing communities, gaining new ones. People elect one person as their representative, and then suddenly that person is representing an entirely different area,” Kiley told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday. “It’s just total chaos. It’s not good for representative government. It’s not good for constituents. It is not good for Democrats or Republicans.” The California Republican spoke with Fox News Digital hours after introducing a bill that would block states from shifting the boundaries of their current congressional districts ahead of the 2030 census. BETO O’ROURKE DROPS F-BOMB AS HE URGES DEMS TO ‘MEET FIRE WITH FIRE’ AGAINST GOP REDISTRICTING PLANS IN TEXAS Texas Republicans are currently mounting a push to redraw the Lone Star state’s congressional map. President Donald Trump, who supports the effort, said it would give the GOP as many as five new seats in the House of Representatives. California Democrats have launched their own redistricting bid in response, with Gov. Gavin Newsom signaling he’s ready to wield the Democratic supermajority in the state legislature to push a special election for voters to decide on new congressional maps. Several states, both with Republican and Democratic majorities, have since followed suit in threatening their own redistricting efforts. When asked if he thought the issue began with Texas, however, Kiley pointed out that Newsom’s bid would require sidelining the state’s independent redistricting commission. California is one of eight states that has an independent commission charged with redrawing state maps, according to a chart by Loyola Law School. GOP LAWMAKERS CLASH OVER STRATEGY TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CRISIS “What Newsom is doing is unique because he is actually trying to abolish an independent commission that currently exists and exercise a power that he doesn’t actually have, and to override the will of voters in the process,” Kiley said. “That being said, I don’t love what’s happening in Texas, or I don’t like the idea of this happening anywhere else in the country.” Kiley said he’d already spoken with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., about his bill, but would not discuss the details of their conversation. “I made it very clear my view on this and what I think he needs to do. And I’m hoping that he’ll do the right thing,” Kiley said. He said at another point, “This is an issue that affects our Republican conference – and all of this is not popular among Republican members of our conference – but it’s also a matter of the House as an institution. And he, as the leader of the House, I think, needs to show some leadership.” Johnson, for his part, has yet to weigh in on Texas and California, as well as the wider redistricting fight across the country. The Louisiana Republican has been on a congressional delegation trip to Israel for several days while the issue exploded onto the national stage. But when asked if he saw a realistic path to getting his bill passed, Kiley told Fox News Digital, “I’m ready to use any and all legislative tools available to get the bill to the floor.” SCHWARZENEGGER PUSHES BACK AGAINST NEWSOM IN REDISTRICTING FIGHT “The easiest way to do that would be for the speaker to do the right thing and get behind it. But I’m going to fight in every way I can to get it approved, because this is a matter that’s of tremendous importance for the country,” Kiley said. “It’s of particular importance to my state, and I’m not a lot about to let the governor, you know, go down this incredibly destructive road that will do grave damage to democracy in California.” He did not rule out mechanisms to force a vote on his bill, like a discharge petition or a privileged resolution, if House leaders did not act. “We need to get this passed. We need to stop Newsom. And we need to bring this chaos to an end,” Kiley said. Any such action would have to wait until early September at the earliest, however. Congress is currently in its annual August recess, when lawmakers are back in their home districts connecting with constituents. Kiley said he was not “super concerned about my own seat,” noting he won re-election by a healthy margin. Indeed, Kiley won re-election in California’s 3rd congressional district by double-digits in November 2024 – even outpacing Trump, who won the area by 3% over former Vice President Kamala Harris. But Kiley said he was confident his bill would pass and argued House colleagues on both sides of the aisle disapprove of what’s happening in California, Texas and nationwide. “People almost universally do not like the idea of suddenly overhauling district lines in an unscheduled mid-decade redistricting,” he said. “I mean, I know that’s true of the Republican members in Texas, that they don’t want to see their district, you know, completely changed overnight, communities that they’ve represented, that have repeatedly chosen them as their representatives. And that’s pretty universally true.” Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson and Newsom’s offices for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Detroit mayoral race is set: councilmember vs. pastor
A longtime city council member and a popular pastor will face off to become the next mayor of Detroit in November as the top two vote-getters in Tuesday’s primary contest. Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield received 50.82% of the vote on Tuesday, while Pastor Solomon Kinloch received the second-highest amount at 17.37%, according to unofficial election results published by the City of Detroit website. November’s general election will decide which of the two will succeed popular three-term Mayor Mike Duggan, who is running as an independent for Michigan’s open governor’s seat in 2026. Sheffield and Kinloch bested a field of seven others, including former police Chief James Craig, former City Council member Saunteel Jenkins and current member Fred Durhal III. Voter turnout was 16.69% out of a total of 518,314 registered voters. NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR’S RACE: DEMOCRAT SHERRILL LEADS REPUBLICAN CIATTERELLI BY SIX POINTS IN 2026 BELLWETHER If elected, Sheffield would be the first woman to hold the role of Detroit mayor. She was first elected to the City Council in 2013 at age 26 and has been council president since 2022. Her father, Horace Sheffield III, is an activist and pastor of New Destiny Christian Fellowship church. Kinloch has been senior pastor at Triumph Church for about 27 years. The Detroit-based church has more than 40,000 members across a number of campuses. Kinloch was also an autoworker and member of the United Auto Workers union. “Detroit, we made this moment together,” Sheffield told supporters at a downtown rooftop venue Tuesday night after easily taking the top spot in the crowded field. “We claimed it together, and, Detroit, I believe that our best days are ahead of us.” She said the primary win belongs to every boy or girl told to “dream small,” every neighborhood where people feel left behind, every senior who “paved the way” and every college student who wants to stay in the city. “This is our moment,” she said. Kinloch said that despite Detroit’s resurgence, prosperity has not trickled down to enough of its residents. “Until we reach the whole town, we have not done nearly enough,” he told supporters Tuesday night before being declared the second highest vote-getter. “I didn’t enter this race to chase power. I came to serve with a purpose. If we want a city that shines, we cannot ignore what’s in the shadows. If we want Detroit to rise, we cannot celebrate billions in investment downtown, but poverty in the neighborhoods.” Kinloch also said crime still needs to be addressed. “It’s time we reckoned with reality, that far too many Detroiters feel left out,” he said. ALLEGED ‘SERIAL CRIMINAL’ NABBED IN MICHIGAN TRAFFIC BUST AFTER BIDEN ADMINISTRATION RELEASED HIM INTO US President Donald Trump campaigned in Detroit last October on the promise of revolutionizing U.S. auto-making and pointed to the city’s former manufacturing might as a broader symbol of an American industrial comeback. The president has said his tariffs policy is pressuring automakers to move investments and onshore production to the U.S., but automakers are facing initial uncertainties regarding the costs of imported auto parts and aluminum and steel. Stellantis, the maker of Jeep and Ram vehicles, has two facilities in Detroit. The automaker said last month that its preliminary estimates showed a $2.68 billion net loss in the first half of the year due to U.S. tariffs and some hefty charges. Dearborn-based Ford Motor Co., meanwhile, reported in June that second-quarter results fell $800 million due to tariffs, but Ford CEO Jim Farley said the company was in daily contact with the White House and expected “a lot of upside” longer term as the administration continued tariffs negotiations, Reuters reported. Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer – a potential 2028 presidential candidate who often clashed with Trump during his first term – made her second visit to the White House on Tuesday to discuss tariff relief for the state’s auto industry. Duggan, who is running for Michigan’s governor in 2026 as an independent, led Detroit as it exited the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history and surged back to respectability following decades of economic hardship. The former prosecutor and medical center chief has overseen a massive anti-blight campaign and pushed affordable housing developments across the city. The next mayor will inherit a city on much firmer footing than the one Duggan was elected to lead in 2013, when an emergency manager installed by the state to oversee the city’s flailing finances filed for bankruptcy on its behalf. Perhaps the most visual example of the city’s turnaround has been the renovation of the Michigan Central train station. For decades, the massive building just west of downtown symbolized all that was wrong with Detroit. Ford Motor Co. stepped in and bought the old station and adjacent properties. It reopened in 2024 following a six-year, multimillion-dollar renovation that created a hub for mobility projects. Detroit shed or restructured about $7 billion in debt and exited bankruptcy in December 2014. A state-appointed board managed the city’s finances for several years. Detroit has had 12 consecutive years of balanced budgets. Developers have built hundreds of affordable housing units in the city, and more than 25,000 vacant and derelict homes and buildings have been demolished. The next mayor will be under pressure to maintain that progress and continue to keep the city’s financial and population growth going. In 2023, the census estimated that Detroit’s population rose to 633,218 from 631,366 the previous year. It was the first time the city had shown population growth in decades. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Detroit is also becoming a destination for visitors. The 2024 NFL draft, which was held downtown, set a record with more than 775,000 in attendance. New hotels are popping up in and around the downtown area. The Associated Press contributed to this report.