Senate GOP braces for test vote on Trump’s $9.4B clawback package
Senate Republicans are gearing up to advance a multibillion-dollar clawback package from President Donald Trump, but dissent among the ranks threatens to stymie the process. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., intends to put Trump’s $9.4 billion rescissions package, which would scrape back congressionally approved funding for a variety of so-called “woke” programs that fund foreign aid and public broadcasting. ‘GUT CHECK TIME’: DISSENT AMONG SENATE GOP RANKS THREATENS TO REDUCE TRUMP’S SPENDING CUT DEMAND However, a handful of Senate Republicans have raised a fuss over $8.3 billion in cuts from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and over $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the government-backed funding arm for NPR and PBS. The bill is expected to have its first test vote on Tuesday, but questions remain about whether Thune has the votes. Senate Republicans are set to meet with Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, who became a near-constant presence on the Hill during the budget reconciliation process, in a bid to shore up support among concerned lawmakers. ‘BAIT AND SWITCH’: SCHUMER WARNS OF BITTER FUNDING FIGHT OVER GOP CUTS PLAN Publicly, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Mike Rounds, R-S.D., have all expressed reservations about the package, particularly over proposed cuts to the Bush-era President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the public broadcasting fund. Thune can only afford to lose three votes and will receive no help from Senate Democrats in another hyper-partisan process. TRUMP’S PLAN TO SLASH ‘WOKE’ FOREIGN AID, NPR FUNDS CLEARS HOUSE AS SENATE BATTLE LOOMS An amendment process coming in the form of another vote-a-rama is expected, but changing the bill could have consequences in the House, where Republicans are warning their colleagues in the upper chamber to stomach the clawbacks as proposed by the White House. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Thune said he and his leadership team have been discussing issues with the package and trying to make possible changes to the legislation before it hits the floor. “I’m fine with it as is, but I think we have colleagues who would like to see some perhaps modest changes made, so we’re trying to find out if there’s a path forward that gets us 51 and stays consistent,” he told reporters.
Anthony Bernal: Who is Jill Biden’s top aide ordered to testify about alleged cover-up?
House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., subpoenaed Anthony Bernal, who served as chief of staff for first lady Jill Biden and as an assistant to President Joe Biden, to testify at a deposition Wednesday. Bernal refused to appear for a transcribed interview on June 26 as part of the Oversight Committee’s investigation into the alleged cover-up of Biden’s mental decline and potentially unauthorized use of autopen for pardons and other executive actions. He had previously confirmed he would appear for the interview, but when the White House Counsel’s Office notified him it was waiving executive privilege, Bernal said he would no longer appear for the interview. “It’s abundantly clear that Anthony Bernal – Jill Biden’s so-called ‘work husband’ – never intended to be transparent about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and the ensuing cover-up. With no privilege left to hide behind, Mr. Bernal is now running scared, desperate to bury the truth,” Comer said. EX-DNC INSIDER REVEALS ‘PUPPET MASTERS’ WHO RAN THE BIDEN WHITE HOUSE Two recent books about the Biden administration have painted an unflattering picture of Bernal’s political rise. FORMER BIDEN AIDE ANTHONY BERNAL SUBPOENAED BY HOUSE COMMITTEE AFTER REFUSING TO APPEAR FOR DEPOSITION By proxy, the first lady’s top aide became one of the most influential people in the White House, according to “Original Sin,” a book by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios political correspondent Alex Thompson. “He would not be welcome at my funeral,” a longtime Biden aide told the authors. Operating in a White House anchored in loyalty, Bernal wielded loyalty as a weapon to weed out the defectors, Tapper and Thompson said. And Bernal earned a reputation for trash-talking fellow aides, as “some even described him as the worst person they had ever met,” Tapper and Thompson said. Jill Biden and Bernal worked in tandem, keeping score of “who was with them and against them,” according to Tapper and Thompson. A former White House staffer fired back against Tapper and Thompson’s allegations about Bernal in a statement to Fox News Digital. “A lot of vignettes in this book are either false, exaggerated, or purposefully omit viewpoints that don’t fit the narrative they want to push. Anthony was a strong leader with high standards and a mentor to many. He’s the type of person you want on a team – he’s incredibly strategic, effective, and cares deeply about the people he manages,” the former White House staffer said in May. “2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,” released last week by Josh Dawsey of The Wall Street Journal, Tyler Pager of The New York Times and Isaac Arnsdor of The Washington Post, outlines how Bernal’s political influence grew alongside Jill Biden. WHO IS ANTHONY BERNAL?: THE ‘INDISPENSABLE’ BIDEN AIDE DITCHING HOUSE OVERSIGHT PROBE ON HIS MENTAL DECLINE “He quickly bonded with Jill Biden and never left her side, becoming unflinchingly loyal to her and using his proximity to her to exert power wherever he decided. It was often unclear if the opinion he was expressing was his own or the first lady’s. Sometimes, when donors or voters asked her questions, Bernal would jump in to answer,” the authors said. Lindy Li, a former DNC fundraiser and Democratic insider who had a front-row seat to Biden’s presidency, told Fox News Digital, “People like Anthony Bernal. I saw him running the White House like he was in charge, like he was a king. It’s just so amazing now to see him dodge a subpoena and completely dodge accountability. He can run, but he can’t hide. His name is going to go down in infamy forever.” Li said Bernal “followed Jill around like a dog.” However, Li clarified that he ran the East Wing more than the West Wing. She said Bernal was among those running the White House during Biden’s presidency. Democratic strategist Michael LaRosa, who served as press secretary to Jill Biden, told Fox News Digital that, “No one spent more time, whether it was in the motorcade, on the plane, in the private residence at the White House, Camp David, and at both houses in Delaware, nobody spent more personal time around them and their family and the Biden family than Anthony.” Bernal and a Biden spokesperson did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on this article. Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
Hegseth abruptly pulls Pentagon officials from ‘globalist’ Aspen conference
Secretary Pete Hegseth pulled senior Defense Department officials from the Aspen Security Conference for promoting the “evil of globalism.” Military commanders were set to speak at the conference, which begins on Tuesday, as has been tradition through Republican and Democratic administrations. But Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson told Just the News the secretary’s office believes the conference “promotes the evil of globalism, disdain for our great country, and hatred for the President of the United States.” Wilson added that DoD “has no interest in legitimizing an organization that has invited former officials who have been the architects of chaos abroad and failure at home.” HEGSETH TEARS UP RED TAPE, ORDERS PENTAGON TO BEGIN DRONE SURGE AT TRUMP’S COMMAND The forum will host other Trump administration officials: Adam Boehler, presidential envoy for hostage response, and Tom Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Syria. It will also hear from some contentious Biden administration officials – Jake Sullivan, former national security advisor, and Brett McGurk, a former National Security Council coordinator. HEGSETH ANNOUNCES NAVY OIL TANKER NAMED AFTER GAY RIGHTS LEADER RENAMED AFTER MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT Mark Esper, Trump’s former acting defense secretary, and David Petraeus, who was briefly CIA director under President Barack Obama, will also be speaking, along with Condoleezza Rice, a national security advisor and secretary of state during the Bush years. “Senior Department of Defense officials will no longer be participating at the Aspen Security Forum because their values do not align with the values of the DoD,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement. “The Department will remain strong in its focus to increase the lethality of our warfighters, revitalize the warrior ethos, and project Peace Through Strength on the world stage. It is clear the ASF is not in alignment with these goals.” The Aspen Institute said in a statement on the Pentagon withdrawal: “For more than a decade, the Aspen Security Forum has welcomed senior officials – Republican and Democrat, civilian and military – as well as senior foreign officials and experts, who bring experience and diverse perspectives on matters of national security.” “We will miss the participation of the Pentagon, but our invitations remain open.”
RNC Chair Michael Whatley claims Zohran Mamdani is the ‘face of the new Democratic Party’
EXCLUSIVE – Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani’s stunning Democratic Party primary victory in the nation’s most populous city appears to be the gift that keeps on giving for Republicans aiming to paint Democrats as extreme radicals. When asked if Mamdani is giving the GOP extra ammunition in their messaging battle, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley answered “absolutely.” “I mean, this is the face of the new Democratic Party,” Whatley said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. Whatley argued that “everybody who wants to lead that party wants to lead it to the left….they’re moving away from the American public right now at a pretty rapid clip.” REPUBLICANS RELENTLESSLY USE MAMDANI AS ‘SOCIALIST’ CUDGEL TO BASH VULNERABLE DEMOCRATS Mamdani, who convincingly topped former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates last month to capture the New York City Democratic mayoral nomination and take a big step toward becoming the city’s first Muslim mayor, is giving Republicans plenty of fodder. He’s proposed eliminating fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children up to age 5 and setting up government-run grocery stores. TRUMP ARGUES NYC FACES DIRE CONSEQUENCES IF ‘COMMUNIST’ MAMDANI BECOMES MAYOR Also fueling the Republican attacks are recent news items that have gone viral. They include a 2020 photo Mamdani posted online that shows him flipping off a statue of Christopher Columbus, stories about comments Mamdani made last December when he said as mayor he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his recent comments in a cable news interview that “I have many critiques of capitalism.” Republicans have been relentless in trying to anchor Mamdani to Democrats across the country who are running in competitive races in elections this year and in next year’s midterms. “He certainly is going to fit right into that upper echelon of Democrats who are vying for a lead in that party,” Whatley said of Mamdani. He claimed that “they’re just unabashedly in that radical woke part of the party.” Pointing to last year’s elections, when the Republicans won back the White House and Senate and held onto their razor-thin House majority, Whatley argued that “every single candidate right now on the Democratic side of the aisle is buying into the same failed agenda that they lost with in 2024.” ‘IN IT TO WIN IT’: CUOMO REFUSES TO BACK DOWN IN HEATED NYC MAYORAL RACE AGAINST ZOHRAN MAMDANI Democrats question the effectiveness of the GOP push. They argue that there’s a world of difference between heavily blue New York City, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a roughly six-to-one margin, and some key battleground states and swing districts across the country. Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, a Democrat, told reporters the day after Mamdani’s victory that “I love New York, but it’s a very liberal place, and I don’t know that you can necessarily apply that to the rest of the country.” In the high-profile 2026 race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Republican candidate and former Sen. Scott Brown went up last week with a digital ad that edits a picture of Rep. Chris Pappas, the Democratic candidate in the race, alongside photos of Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive rock star who backed Mamdani. Pappas, speaking with Fox News Digital last week, said, “Republicans have spent tens of millions of dollars running attack ads against me through the years trying to paint me as someone that I’m not.” “People know me. They know the work that I’ve been doing. They know that I’m one of the most bipartisan members of the House of Representatives because I believe in solving problems and getting things done,” Pappas said. “I’m a New Hampshire Democrat. I’m proud of my track record in Congress.” Pappas was joined on the campaign trail by longtime Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who spent plenty of time in New Hampshire ahead of her third-place finish in the state’s 2020 Democratic presidential primary. “It’s about New Hampshire. They’re going to do this in all these races across the country. They try to attach people. People have never even met some of these people. And they keep doing it,” Klobuchar told Fox News when asked about the Republican ad anchoring Mamdani to Pappas. “To me this is about what’s going on for the people of this state.” Fox News’ Emma Woodhead contributed to this report
‘Better access’: Bipartisan Senate push to fund farmers suicide prevention fund gains steam
A bipartisan Senate duo want to ensure that a suicide prevention and mental health resource for farmers stays funded. Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, have joined forces to introduce legislation that would see millions in new funding for the Farm and Ranch Assistance Network, a program the pair first collaborated on in the 2018 Farm Bill. The program is designed to help create a network for farmers, ranchers and other agriculture workers to have access to stress assistance and mental health programs. There are four regional hubs in Washington, New York, Illinois and Tennessee that act as conduits to aid farmers through the grant-funded program. RICKETTS, FETTERMAN TEAM UP FOR CRACKDOWN ON CHINA’S ATTEMPTS TO PURCHASE US FARMLAND “Too often, the stress, isolation, and physical demands of this job leave them with nowhere to turn when it all gets to be too much,” Baldwin said of the stress and mental health struggles faced by farmers and agriculture workers. Indeed, Farmers are about three and half times more likely to die by suicide than the average U.S. population, according to a study from the National Rural Health Association. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MOVES DECISIVELY TO BLOCK CHINA FROM ‘WEAPONIZING’ AMERICAN FARMLAND Their bill, called the Farmers First Act of 2025, would boost funding for the program by $75 million over the next five years, of which $15 million will be made available each fiscal year starting in 2026 through 2030. The money would go toward hiring more behavioral health specialists, establish crisis lines, and build referral relationships with health care providers, health centers and critical access hospitals. ‘DOWN TO ZERO’: VETERAN SUICIDE CRISIS TARGETED IN VA BILL BY BIPARTISAN HOUSE COALITION “Iowa farmers work tirelessly from sunrise to sundown – rain or shine – to feed and fuel the world,” Ernst said. “Their work isn’t easy, and mental health issues, including suicide, are too common in our agriculture community, which is why I’m working to ensure farmers have better access to mental health resources.” The program got a reup in funding in 2020, when a three-year tranche of over $28 million was made available to the regional hubs. That funding was again boosted during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Congress injected an additional $28 million to allow states to maintain their own stress assistance programs. The latter funding was made available through grants of up to $500,000 to the state programs. The bill is a bicameral effort, too. Reps. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, and Angie Craig, D-Minn., are pushing the bill in the House to bolster the program’s funding. Feenstra argued that refilling the program’s cash coffers would provide “farmers with real support in times of crisis.” “Agriculture is the economic engine of Iowa, and our farmers and producers work long hours and make unseen sacrifices to feed and fuel our country and the world,” he said. “Those sacrifices can take a toll on our farm producers, especially when commodity prices tumble or severe weather destroys crops.”
Socialist Mamdani’s supermarket plan would be ‘bullet to the heart’ of blue-collar America, lawmaker warns
A House Republican who’s had experience with his own family grocery store chain is criticizing New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s call for government-owned markets. “This will be a bullet into the heart of the U.S. grocery industry, if this caught on,” Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital in an interview. Mamdani, a self-declared democratic socialist, has proposed a pilot program of five government-owned grocery stores – one in each New York City borough – in a bid to reduce food insecurity in underserved areas and bring down grocery costs. COMER DISMISSES BIDEN DOCTOR’S BID FOR PAUSE IN COVER-UP PROBE: ‘THROWING OUT EVERY EXCUSE’ But skeptics like Rulli note that grocery stores already operate on razor-thin profit margins, generally between 1% and 3%. His family owns and operates Rulli Brothers, a small chain of two grocery stores in the Youngstown, Ohio, area. “My brothers run that store, our family store…they have gone between [1.25%] and 1.7 net in the last five to six years,” Rulli said. And while the pilot program only calls for five stores now, the Ohio Republican argued the idea could affect businesses both large and small if widened. “Say you’re going to Cleveland, Ohio. And the mayor opens up ten government-run stores, half the cost of all the other different stores,” Rulli posed. “Whether it’s a mom-and-pop or…a Kroger, or you can have a Harris Teeter, all these different players – all of them would go out of business, and you’d only have the government-run business. So once you have only government-run business, there’s no incentive for there to be creativity, competition, variety.” He said costs could eventually go up as well if competition was muted. And Rulli argued that would affect working-class Americans the most with a loss of affordable variety, as well as the small corner stores in New York City colloquially known as “bodegas.” Rulli referenced a famous photo of former Russian leader Boris Yeltsin making an unscheduled stop at a Texas grocery store while in the U.S. and marveling at the selection of products. “You have the options on different size, amounts…There’s so many different things. And you’re going to have 15 or 20 kinds of varieties. That makes for a good quality of life,” Rulli said. Then, directed at Mamdani, he said, “You want to limit the amount of things that they could buy at the grocery store? One of the few things that the blue-collar American, the populist American, can actually take comfort in is the variety of [items] at the grocery store.” Mamdani is a 33-year-old member of the New York State Assembly whose success in the New York City Democratic primary stunned politicos who expected at least an initially strong showing by former Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo. His far-left ideas and support from national-level Democrat firebrands like Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have made Mamdani an effective boogeyman for Republicans. FAR-LEFT FIREBRAND SAYS SHE ‘NEVER HAD A CONCERN’ ABOUT BIDEN’S MENTAL STATE AS HOUSE PROBE HEATS UP Several Republicans from the Empire State told Fox News Digital last month that Mamdani winning the race in November could be politically beneficial for the GOP, though they also maintained that they would work against that outcome. Mamdani is running against Republican Curtis Sliwa and current Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who is running as an independent candidate in the race. Cuomo is rumored to be eyeing his own bid as an independent as well. Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s campaign for a response to Rulli.
SCOOP: Fiscal hawks fire warning shot at Senate GOP for pushing changes to Trump’s $9.4B spending cuts bill
FIRST ON FOX: A group of House conservatives is warning the Senate to leave President Donald Trump’s rescissions package intact as the deadline to consider the spending cuts looms large. Republicans have until the end of Friday to deal with the bill, the legislative version of the White House’s request to claw back roughly $9.4 billion in funds already allocated by Congress. Senate Republicans have signaled the bill could change somewhat, however, after passing the House last month. “In order to facilitate President Trump’s voter mandate, the Senate must pass the entire $9.4 billion of spending cuts in the rescission bill. Weakening any of these provisions would undermine both his leadership and the discipline our budget urgently demands,” the letter said. 148 DEMOCRATS BACK NONCITIZEN VOTING IN DC AS GOP RAISES ALARM ABOUT FOREIGN AGENTS “This week, the Senate has a chance to prove its commitment to the voters by passing the long-overdue cuts targeting wasteful, ideologically driven spending programs that have no place in a responsible budget.” The letter is being led by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., a former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, and signed by 14 other Republican lawmakers. The bill that passed the House in mid-June would rescind $1 billion in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which doles out federal funding to NPR and PBS. The remaining $8.4 billion targets the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The cuts are part of some $190 billion that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), formerly led by Elon Musk, identified as part of its mission to slash government waste. Trump allies are viewing it as a test run of sorts for what kind of spending cuts Congress’ perilously slim GOP majorities can stomach. It barely passed the House in a 214 to 212 vote, with four House Republicans voting against it over various concerns, including the impact to local public news stations and funding for HIV/AIDS research in Africa, known as PEPFAR. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters last week the bill “needs some significant changes.” “For example, I want to strike the rescission of funds for PEPFAR, which has an enormous record of success, having seen some 26 million lives over the course of the program,” Collins said. “I can’t imagine why we would want to terminate that program or the maternal and child health program, which is aimed at providing malnourished pregnant women with important vitamins that they need to deliver healthy babies.” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., meanwhile, said he was “looking at radio stations in some of the rural areas that do a lot of emergency services” when discussing what changes he’d want in the bill. TAX CUTS, WORK REQUIREMENTS AND ASYLUM FEES: HERE’S WHAT’S INSIDE TRUMP’S BILL Biggs’ letter warned, “This rescission package just scratches the surface. The Left will howl, but this package only trims around the edges of a bloated federal spending apparatus. If Congress can’t even support modest clawbacks, fiscal doom isn’t speculative, it’s inevitable.” “President Trump has made it clear: Wasteful, unnecessary, or ideologically driven programs and spending must go. The House acted on this mandate. Now, the Senate must do the same. The House—and more importantly, the American people—will be watching,” the lawmakers wrote. “This is a defining moment. Will the Senate stand firm, reject pressure to preserve the status quo, and reaffirm its commitment to leadership and fiscal responsibility? The answer will shape both the future of President Trump’s presidency and the direction of our nation. Respect the President’s plan. Preserve the cuts passed by the House.” The rescissions process allows the president to request Congress block some of the discretionary funds it appropriates every fiscal year. A rescissions package must pass the House and Senate within 45 days of introduction to allow those funds to remain blocked, otherwise they must be released. However, the process also gives the party in power a fast track by lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51. House and Senate Republicans are both still dealing with razor-thin majorities of three votes each with full attendance, however, meaning any such vote is almost guaranteed to be close. When reached for a response, Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office pointed Fox News Digital to comments the South Dakota Republican made to reporters on Monday. “We’re hearing people out, and we are obviously weighing what an amendment process on the floor might look like – what, if any, changes could be made in advance of the floor, but we’re hoping to have a vote to proceed to it tomorrow, and the motion to discharge vote tomorrow, so we’ll have to finalize some of the conversations we’re having with our colleagues about an amendment process prior to that,” Thune said.
Former Obama staffer rips Cuomo campaign video: ‘No message, no charisma’
A former staffer of former President Barack Obama shredded a campaign video by New York City mayoral hopeful Andrew Cuomo, who lost the Democratic primary to socialist Zohran Mamdani last month. “This is one of the least compelling campaign videos that I have ever seen,” Dan Pfeiffer, a former Obama White House deputy communications director and advisor, wrote on X. “Just a visibly annoyed man wearing an ill-fitting shirt saying things he clearly doesn’t believe,” Pfeiffer said, stating that Cuomo had “No message,” “No charisma,” and that the video did not have any “compelling visuals.” Cuomo released the campaign video formalizing his independent mayoral bid on Monday, with the accompanying comment, “In it to win it.” ‘IN IT TO WIN IT’: CUOMO REFUSES TO BACK DOWN IN HEATED NYC MAYORAL RACE AGAINST ZOHRAN MAMDANI Reached by Fox News Digital, a Cuomo campaign spokesman noted that the video had accrued more than 12 million views in less than a day since it was published online. “If the insular pod saves America guys don’t like something, it must mean we’re in the right track,” the spokesman added of Pfeiffer, who co-hosts the leading progressive podcast titled, “Pod Saves America.” MAMDANI’S FAILURE TO WALK BACK THESE POSITIONS COULD CAUSE RECKONING IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY: ‘FIVE-ALARM WARNING’ Cuomo’s video begins with him standing in a New York City park saying that “unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that the Democratic primary did not go the way that I had hoped.” “To the 400,040 New Yorkers who voted for me, a sincere thank you. Thank you for believing in me and in my agenda and experience,” the former three-term governor turned mayoral candidate said. “I am truly sorry that I let you down. But as my grandfather used to say, ‘when you get knocked down, learn the lesson and pick yourself back up and get in the game, and that is what I’m going to do.” Cuomo delivered his message while footage played of him shaking the hands of people on the street and in the subway system. “The fight to save our city isn’t over. Only 13% of New Yorkers voted in the June primary,” Cuomo said. “The general election is in November, and I am in it to win it. My opponent, Mr. Mamdani, offers slick slogans but no real solutions. We need a city with lower rent, safer streets, where buying your first home is once again possible, where childcare won’t bankrupt you. That’s the New York City we know. That’s the one that is still possible.” “You haven’t given up on it, and you deserve a mayor with the experience and ideas to make it happen again. And the guts to take on anyone who stands in the way,” Cuomo added. “Everyday I’m going to be hitting the streets, meeting you where you are to hear the good and the bad, problems and solutions. Because for the next few months, it’s my responsibility to earn your vote. So let’s do this. I’ll see you out there.” Mamdani’s primary victory over Cuomo and nine other candidates three weeks ago rocked the Democratic Party, and boosted the Ugandan-born 33-year-old state assemblyman from Queens toward becoming the first Muslim mayor of the nation’s most populous city. Mamdani surged to a primary victory thanks to an energetic campaign that put a major focus on affordability and New York City’s high cost of living. Mamdani made smart use of social media platforms, including TikTok, as he engaged low-propensity voters. He proposed eliminating fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children up to age 5, and setting up government-run grocery stores. Thanks in part to the efforts of a massive grassroots army of volunteers, he rode a wave of support from younger and progressive voters to catapult into first place over Cuomo, who had been the front-runner. In deep blue New York City, the Democratic primary winner is largely favored to win the general election. If Mamdani wins in November, he will be the first Muslim and millennial mayor of New York City. Mamdani was raised in Uganda and then Cape Town, South Africa, until moving at age 7 to New York City, where he attended Bronx High School of Science. Mamdani’s father is a Columbia University professor who sits on the advisory council of an anti-Israel organization that supports boycotts and sanctions of Israel, routinely accuses the Israeli government of committing “genocide”, and has expressed sympathy for suicide bombers. His mother is a celebrated Indian filmmaker. Mamdani notably declined in a June interview to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” sparking serious concern from Jewish New Yorkers facing increased antisemitism in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas terrorists in Israel. Also on the general election ballot is Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped his primary bid earlier this year amid sinking poll numbers in the wake of numerous controversies. Adams is running as an independent. Other candidates in the general election are Jim Walden, a former federal prosecutor running as an independent, and Guardian Angels co-founder Curtis Sliwa, who, for a second straight election, is the Republican mayoral nominee. Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser, Andrew Mark Miller and Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report.
Federal judges refuse to permanently appoint interim US attorney in NY
A panel of federal judges declined to permanently appoint an interim U.S. attorney who reportedly claimed just days ago that his extension was approved. The term of John Sarcone — who was appointed to the role of United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York on an interim basis by Attorney General Pamela Bondi in March – is set to expire Tuesday, according to WXXI. “The Board of Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York declines to exercise the authority granted pursuant to 28 U.S. Code § 546(d) to appoint a United States attorney for the Northern District of New York,” the panel said in a statement Monday, without elaborating further. Last month, Sarcone told Fox News that he feared for his life after allegedly being confronted by a knife-wielding illegal immigrant in Albany, the capital of New York. The Department of Homeland Security said on June 17, Saul Morales-Garcia, who is from El Salvador, “lunged at Sarcone with a knife while yelling aggressively in a foreign language.” KNIFE-WIELDING ILLEGAL MIGRANT ACCUSED OF THREATENING US ATTORNEY ON ALBANY, NY STREETS In the lead-up to the panel’s statement, Sarcone said Friday he received word that the federal judges had voted to extend his appointment, WNYT reported. However, the panel later issued a statement to the station saying “The Board of Judges of the Northern District of New York has taken no action with respect to U. S. Attorney Sarcone.” Sarcone’s hopes of returning to the position on a permanent basis now rely on being formally nominated by President Donald Trump and then being confirmed by the Senate, WXXI reported. The Northern District of New York stretches from central New York all the way to the Canadian border and includes the cities of Albany, Syracuse and Binghamton. US ATTORNEY NARROWLY ESCAPES KNIFE ATTACK BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT, BLAMES NEW YORK’S SANCTUARY POLICIES “Thank you, Attorney General Bondi, for trusting me to carry out this important mission and most importantly thank you President Trump for once again having faith and confidence in me to do my part to accomplish one of your most important tasks – to restore public confidence and trust in our government and the Department of Justice,” Sarcone said when he was appointed on an interim basis in March. The Department of Justice said Sarcone would be based in Albany and “has been a dedicated public servant and lawyer for many years. “From 2018 to 2021, Mr. Sarcone served as Northeast and Caribbean Regional Administrator for the U.S. General Services Administration, overseeing a large team responsible for federal buildings and facilities, procurement, and IT initiatives, and working with dozens of federal agencies and courthouses, including in the Northern District of New York. Earlier in his career, he served as Town Attorney in Eastchester, New York, and General Counsel to the United Federation of Special Police Officers, Inc. and to the Association of Commuter Rail Employees,” it said. “Mr. Sarcone also founded and built a general practice law firm, providing advice to small businesses and family-owned corporations, handling large real estate transactions, and litigating and arbitrating in areas including business and construction disputes, insurance defense, and toxic torts,” the Department of Justice added. In the Western District of New York, U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo was permanently appointed last month before his interim appointment expired, according to WXXI.
Hawley urges DHS Secretary Noem to declassify all Trump Butler rally assassination attempt documents
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is urging Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to declassify all documents related to the assassination attempt on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. Hawley’s request comes a year after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired off several shots at Trump from a rooftop near the presidential rally grounds. The gunman had a clear shot and grazed the president’s ear. Even after a year, though, questions still remain about how Crooks was able to get a clear shot. In his letter to Noem, Hawley mentions the one-year anniversary of the first assassination attempt on Trump. RAND PAUL SAYS WE ‘AREN’T GOING TO KNOW’ THE MOTIVE OF TRUMP’S WOULD-BE ASSASSIN “This occasion marks a deeply troubling chapter in our nation’s history and serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency in preserving public trust during moments of national crisis,” he wrote. “To that end, I urge you to take the necessary steps to declassify all documents within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) related to the events of July 13, 2024. “As you know, assassination attempts against current and former presidents are rare but profoundly consequential events in American life,” Hawley continued. “And the American people rightly expect full transparency from their government.” The senator pointed to investigation stonewalling tactics from the Biden administration’s Secret Service and DHS, which he said ultimately denied basic facts to the American people. COULD BUTLER HAPPEN AGAIN? FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENTS WEIGH IN ON POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN 2025 “The public learned far more from whistleblowers than they did from public officials, and I released a report documenting these disclosures, many of which have been corroborated to date,” Hawley wrote. “In October of last year, in a unanimous vote, the Homeland Security Committee passed my legislation requiring the Secret Service release to the public all pertinent documents. “Now, I am requesting that you immediately declassify and release all documents relating to the first assassination attempt on President Trump within the full extent of your authority, subject only to the narrowest possible redactions necessary to protect ongoing operations or individual safety,” he said. “The public deserves a full and accurate account of this event, the circumstances that allowed it to happen, and the steps the government has taken since to strengthen protective measures.” Hawley requested a complete inventory of all classified or non-public materials related to the first assassination attempt on Trump, including reports, internal communications, threat assessments, after-action reviews and coordinated records with other agencies. CRITICAL SECURITY LAPSES BY SECRET SERVICE EXPOSED IN NEW REPORT ON TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT He also requested a formal explanation for the continued classification of materials Noem believes must remain restricted, as well as a proposed plan and timeline for the immediate declassification and public release of all remaining documents, all by July 30, 2025. Fox News Digital has reached out to DHS for comment on the matter. Hawley released a report in September, detailing the failures of the Secret Service in connection with the attempted assassination of Trump in July, which included whistleblower allegations that are “highly damaging to the credibility” of the agency. The report uncovered a “compounding pattern of negligence, sloppiness, and gross incompetence that goes back years, all of which culminated in an assassination attempt that came inches from succeeding.” ONE YEAR AFTER TRUMP RALLY SHOOTING, WITNESSES SAY INVESTIGATIONS LEAVE MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS Hawley accused the Secret Service, FBI and DHS of all trying “to evade real accountability.” “These agencies and their leaders have slow-walked congressional investigations, misled the American people, and shirked responsibility,” the report states. After the first of two assassination attempts against Trump in just over two months, Hawley visited the Butler rally site to interview whistleblowers and opened up a whistleblower tip line, encouraging those with relevant information to share with officials. Documents subpoenaed by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs also show major failures among the six U.S. Secret Service (USSS) agents who were suspended without pay in response to the assassination attempt. The documents were based on interviews with the agents and their colleagues and revealed that several agents admitted the existence of major security concerns at the Butler rally, but none of them elevated the concerns or helped produce a plan to properly cover the roof that provided Crooks a clear shot of Trump. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The documents show that some agents in charge never even conducted walk-throughs of the site. For example, the lead advance agent, documents show, never did a final security walk-through of the rally site because she was in the hospital for heat exhaustion, the special agent in charge said when questioned. Some of the agents were suspended without pay for various terms, though none of the agents were fired.