Harris risks losing crucial battleground state due to Biden’s gas export pause, as Dems plead to change course
Vice President Kamala Harris is facing growing pressure from within her own party to lift the Biden administration’s pause on liquified natural gas (LNG) exports amid growing fears that the moratorium could cost the Democratic Party presidential nominee the crucial battleground of Pennsylvania — a natural gas powerhouse. Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes are considered critical to winning the White House. Its reputation as a slightly left-leaning swing state, which former President Donald Trump carried by a razor-thin margin of just 0.7% in 2016, is complicated somewhat by its status as a major producer of fossil fuels. “It’s obvious that the pathway to the presidency goes through Pennsylvania,” Amanda Eversole, the chief operating officer of the American Petroleum Institute, told Fox News Digital. FOX NEWS MEDIA PROPOSES TRUMP-HARRIS PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE IN PENNSYLVANIA The chorus of Democrats now criticizing the moratorium is something of an about-face from January, when the Biden administration first ordered its temporary halt on new LNG exports, citing a need to better evaluate the environmental and economic impacts of such projects. Now, nine months later and less than a month away from Election Day, Harris is under pressure from some Democrat lawmakers and industry leaders to lift the pause completely. Critics of the pause argue that removing or delaying U.S. LNG supplies from the market deprives European buyers of a cleaner, lower-emission form of energy — forcing some countries to turn to Russian gas or coal instead. It could also affect U.S. relationships, American energy leadership and investments in massive domestic projects in the years ahead. Pennsylvania is the second-largest producer of natural gas in the U.S., behind Texas. Its gas reserves are contained behind shale rock and must be extracted by fracking — a technology viewed as controversial at best by many on the left and one that Harris has only recently endorsed. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: THE BIGGEST SURPRISES COME AFTER OCTOBER The fossil fuel industry supports more than 423,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, and contributes more than $75 billion to its economy, according to estimates from PwC. Therefore, the future of the LNG industry carries outsize importance to most voters, industry group leaders and former DOE officials told Fox News in a series of interviews. In fact, Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate delegation, Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman, were among the first lawmakers to criticize the LNG pause following Biden’s announcement earlier this year. Their counterparts in the House have also followed suit as they seek reelection in competitive districts. Meanwhile, Dave McCormick, the Republican candidate hoping to flip Casey’s seat this fall, has lambasted the Democrat incumbent for failing to do enough to protect energy interests in the state. A spokesperson for Casey’s office pointed Fox News to the senator’s earlier letters and remarks opposing the LNG pause. A recent poll published by API this month found that 85% of voters in Pennsylvania wanted to hear more from both Harris and Trump about their energy polices. To date, Harris has declined to comment on whether she will lift the LNG pause, and neither the campaign nor the White House responded to Fox News’ requests for comment. FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS CITE HIGH PRICES AS BIGGEST MOTIVATOR TO VOTE If Harris does intend to break with Biden or push for an end to the pause and unleash more production, API’s Eversole said Harris needs to make that clear — and fast. “If she, in fact, is going to be different from the Biden administration,” Eversole said, “then specifically how?” Rhetoric, she said, is not enough. Especially when private investors in the U.S. have also backed out of some projects in recent months, citing regulatory uncertainty. “We need to get shovels in the ground,” Eversole said. “We need to be able to build more infrastructure, can move safely, move our product, and we need to be able to make long-lived investments.”
Vance’s Midwestern roots appeal to Michigan swing-county voters despite Buckeye ties
Voters in a critical county in the swing state of Michigan believe that Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s Midwestern roots help him appeal to people in Michigan, even if the Republican nominee for vice president is a graduate of a hated rival. “Besides being a Buckeyes fan, he’s got a good story. He grew up kind of truly in poverty and was able to overcome that,” one voter in Detroit told Fox News Digital ahead of a Vance event in the city Tuesday, adding that Vance’s story shows how people can accomplish the “American Dream.” The comments come as the presidential election hits the home stretch, with the venue event in Detroit coming exactly four weeks before Election Day. Michigan figures to play a key role in determining the eventual winner, having narrowly gone for former President Donald Trump in 2016 before another close race swung the state to President Biden in 2020. MELANIA TRUMP ADMITS SHE’S WORRIED ABOUT HER HUSBAND’S SAFETY AS NOVEMBER ELECTION LOOMS: ‘TOXIC ATMOSPHERE’ The 2024 version of the race is shaping up to be close again, with the Real Clear Politics polling average showing Vice President Kamala Harris with a slim 0.5 point lead over Trump as of Wednesday. Wayne County, which includes Detroit and is Michigan’s most populous county, could play a key role in determining who emerges with the victory in the state. While the county has traditionally supported Democratic candidates, Republicans have made inroads with voters in Wayne County since Trump’s 2016 campaign. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, captured just over 26% of the vote in the county during his 2012 campaign, while the late Sen. John McCain was only able to capture just under 25% during his 2008 White House bid. But Trump has performed better during his two runs, garnering over 29% and over 30% of the vote in Wayne County in 2016 and 2020. The Trump campaign is hoping its appeal to working class voters will help it make even more inroads with Wayne County voters, a strategy that Vance is at the center of. “I think that JD Vance is an incredible statesman, effective communicator,” one voter attending the rally told Fox News Digital, adding that the Ohio Senator’s Ohio roots also help shore “up support in the Midwestern states.” HOWARD STERN TELLS HARRIS SUN WILL ‘GO OUT’ IF SHE LOSES: ‘WE’RE IN FOR THE DARKEST SKIES ON THE PLANET’ “He kind of gets the concerns of the country people. Smart as a whip. He knows tech,” the voter said. “Absolutely, even though Ohio and Michigan have a rivalry,” another voter said when asked if Vance’s roots help him in Michigan. “I know that the Midwest Rust Belt states feel very strongly about Vance and of course about Trump.” “JD Vance is a gentleman. He’s energetic. He certainly is a patriot. He served in the Marines for four years… He’s really proved that he is a true American,” the voter added. “I don’t know about them U of M fans. I don’t know how deep that Buckeye traditions go,” another voter quipped, adding that at the end of the day he believes people from Ohio and Michigan are similar and that they will “come together.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Other voters in Detroit praised Vance’s demeanor, arguing that he provided a contrast to his more brash running mate. “He is very well balanced and he’s younger, and he comes from a different upbringing than Trump,” a voter told Fox News Digital. “He’s engaging… He’s got great points.” “JD Vance brings us a lot of great common-sense thinking. He can formulate his answers a lot better than I could,” another voter said. “He can bring the facts to the case so we can bring more people to the table.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Biden and Netanyahu speak after report US president called Israeli counterpart a ‘bad f—ing guy’
President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone on Wednesday for the first time in more than 50 days. It came after fresh tensions emerged in their relationship: Netanyahu refused to approve his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s trip to the U.S. on Tuesday until Biden called him. The call came together in short order after that. Netanyahu spoke with former President Trump earlier Wednesday before he spoke with Biden. Vice President Kamala Harris joined the call along with the president. It comes as Israel has been weighing its options to retaliate for the barrage of missiles Iran fired toward the Jewish state last week. Gallant warned on Wednesday the Israeli response was sure to catch Iran by surprise. “As we have shown until now in this war and in all arenas – whoever attacks Israel will pay a price. Our strike will be powerful, precise, and above all – surprising. They will not understand what happened and how it happened,” he told the IDF’s intelligence unit in a briefing. Biden has warned Netanyahu to make sure his response is “proportional” and to avoid hitting Iran’s nuclear facilities. The longtime relationship between the two men soured in the months that followed the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. Further indication of their mutual disdain came on the one-year anniversary of the attacks, when Biden called Israeli President Isaac Herzog over Netanyahu. HOPE FADES FOR A DEAL TO BRING HOSTAGES HOME Since the world leaders’ last call, Israel has launched an aggressive offensive operation in Lebanon, and successfully taken out top Hezbollah leadership over a short timeframe. Israeli airstrikes killed the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and now his successor too, according to Netanyahu. Netanyahu is also known to be distrusting of his defense minister, who he’s tried to fire twice. Gallant has publicly criticized Netanyahu for not articulating a postwar plan for Gaza. In a particularly heated April phone call, Biden asked Netanyahu, “What’s your strategy, man?” according to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward in his new book, “War.” KAMALA HARRIS COURTS DISILLUSIONED ARAB AMERICANS OVER JEWISH VOTERS, RECORDS SHOW Netanyahu, at the time, said Israel had to go into Rafah, a Gaza-Egypt border city, that he claimed to be a Hamas stronghold. “Bibi, you’ve got no strategy,” Biden reportedly told Netanyahu, who he also allegedly claimed “doesn’t give a damn” about Hamas and “only about himself.” After Israel entered Rafah, Biden said of Netanyahu: “He’s a f—ing liar.” “That son of a b—-, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy,” said Biden privately, according to Woodward. “He’s a bad f—ing guy!” Biden said he felt, in Woodward’s accounting, that Netanyahu “had been lying to him regularly.” With Netanyahu “continuing to say he was going to kill every last member of Hamas.” Woodward wrote, “Biden had told him that was impossible, threatening both privately and publicly to withhold offensive U.S. weapons shipments.”
Ratan Tata death: Did Tata Group chairman emeritus have kids? Check here
In several interviews, he has touched upon his decision to remain single, attributing it to personal reasons
What was the religion of Ratan Tata?
Ratan Tata, the chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, has passed away at the age of 86 on Wednesday.
Why did Ratan Tata never marry? Legendary industrialist once revealed…
Ratan Tata relationship fell apart when he moved back to India, and he never married anyone.
Texas overrides local lawsuits to negotiate smaller settlements with polluters, Harris County officials claim
A 2017 law lets the state block local governments, individuals and nonprofits from suing polluters and pursue the cases itself.
Fight over West Texas nuclear waste plan to hit U.S. Supreme Court
A company has long pursued the plan to move “high-level” nuclear waste from power plants across the nation to a storage facility in Andrews County.
Afghan national charged with Election Day terror plot reignites vetting concerns: ‘Glaring alarms’
The arrest of an Afghan national now accused of plotting an Election Day terror attack on behalf of ISIS, and who entered the United States shortly after the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, is reigniting long-standing questions and concerns from Republicans about the vetting of those who came to the U.S. at that time. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi is said to have obtained firearms and ammunition to conduct a violent attack on U.S. soil and took steps to prepare for the plot. Tawhedi, who was arrested on Monday, is charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to ISIS and receiving a firearm to be used to commit a felony or a federal crime of terrorism. Authorities say he liquidated his family’s assets to finance his plan, including purchasing rifles and one-way tickets for his wife and child back to Afghanistan. “This defendant, motivated by ISIS, allegedly conspired to commit a violent attack, on election day, here on our homeland,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray in a statement. “I am proud of the men and women of the FBI who uncovered and stopped the plot before anyone was harmed. Terrorism is still the FBI’s number one priority, and we will use every resource to protect the American people.” AFGHAN MAN IN OKLAHOMA PLOTTED ELECTION DAY TERROR ATTACK IN US ON BEHALF OF ISIS, JUSTICE DEPT SAYS Authorities said Tawhedi entered the United States on Sept. 9, 2021, on a Special Immigrant Visa and is currently on parole status pending adjudication of his immigration proceedings. His alleged co-conspirator is a green card holder who arrived in the U.S. on a Special Immigrant Visa in 2018. Special Immigrant Visas (SIV), made available first during the Bush administration, allowed those who worked with the U.S. armed forces as a translator or interpreter in Afghanistan or Iraq to obtain a visa. The number of SIV applicants increased sharply amid the 2021 withdrawal. But Tawhedi entered shortly after the withdrawal from Afghanistan, a time that saw planes full of Afghans being quickly evacuated from Kabul’s airport and tens of thousands of Afghans brought to the U.S. The U.S. would go on to admit more than 97,000 evacuees, of which about 77,000 were admitted via humanitarian parole, through a program called Operation Allies Welcome. It is unclear how Tawhedi entered the U.S. and also why he would have moved from a SIV to a parole status. But Republicans and watchdog officials have long expressed concern about the vetting of those who came in during that period. Those concerns have been renewed in the case of Tawhedi. “When tens of thousands of insufficiently vetted individuals are let into the interior, this is the inevitable result,” House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., said in a statement. “This Committee has repeatedly warned of the terror threats stemming from the Biden-Harris administration’s failed leadership and disastrous border security policies. DHS OIG FAULTS AFGHAN VETTING, WARNS NATIONAL SECURITY THREATS MAY HAVE ENTERED US “Unfortunately, our calls for transparency regarding the inadequate vetting and screening following the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan continue to go unanswered – and, here, Americans almost paid the price,” he said. In the Senate, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he had been vocal about the need to thoroughly vet SIV applicants but that the Biden administration had been “quick to dismiss those glaring alarms.” “The number one job of our government is to protect its citizens. By hiding behind clerical excuses, refusing to take accountability and neglecting to address known vulnerabilities in vetting and resettlement processes, the Biden-Harris administration failed to prioritize Americans’ safety and, once again, projected weakness on the global stage,” Grassley said in a statement. House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York also blamed the administration. “Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi was flown into the U.S. by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Their catastrophic America Last foreign policy has made America less safe,” she said in a statement. Concerns about vetting have been voiced by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) internal watchdog. In 2022, the DHS Office of Inspector General released a report in which it said it found that officials “did not always have critical data to properly screen, vet, or inspect the evacuees.” DHS ANNOUNCES TERROR BAR EXEMPTIONS FOR AFGHAN EVACUEES WHO WORKED FOR TALIBAN-ERA CIVIL SERVICE “As a result, DHS may have admitted or paroled individuals into the United States who pose a risk to national security and the safety of local communities,” the report said. A Pentagon inspector general report the same year revealed that at least 50 evacuees were brought to the U.S. whose information indicated “potentially serious security concerns” and that officials were unable to locate dozens with derogatory information. A 2024 report found “vulnerabilities” in the processes of two DHS agencies for resolving derogatory information. It also found that DHS did not have a process for monitoring the expiration of the two-year parole period and guidelines for determining “re-parole” for parolees are “undefined.” But the Biden administration has repeatedly defended the vetting process, arguing that there is a multilayered process that includes classified and unclassified vetting, including against Pentagon and FBI databases as well as Interpol notices and other information. It previously pushed back against the 2022 IG report, saying it failed to acknowledge an “unprecedented whole of government effort” and for seeing only one part of the screening process. “Afghan evacuees who sought to enter the United States were subject to multi layered screening and vetting against intelligence, law enforcement, and counterterrorism information,” a DHS spokesperson said on Wednesday. “If new information emerges after arrival, appropriate action is taken.” Officials have noted that vetting is a “point-in-time” check of current information. It is still not clear if there was any derogatory information on Tawhedi before he arrived. The arrest comes among broader concerns about the potential for terrorism in the U.S. by foreign nationals. Fox News Digital reported on Tuesday that authorities have started deporting eight Tajik nationals who came to the U.S. at the southern border
Colorado Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit against Christian baker who refused to bake trans cake
The Colorado Supreme Court dismissed yet another case Tuesday against Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips, a Christian baker who has been the target of several lawsuits over the last 12 years. The latest lawsuit accused Phillips of discriminating against a transgender attorney for refusing to bake a custom cake celebrating their gender transition. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the lawyer group representing Phillips, first defended Phillips in 2012 when he was sued for refusing to bake a custom cake celebrating a same-sex wedding because it violated his religious convictions. “Enough is enough. Jack has been dragged through courts for over a decade. It’s time to leave him alone,” Jake Warner, ADF senior counsel, said in a statement. BIDEN OFFICIALS PUSHED TO DROP AGE LIMIT ON TRANS SURGERIES FOR MINORS: REPORT “Free speech is for everyone. As the U.S. Supreme Court held in 303 Creative, the government cannot force artists to express messages they don’t believe. In this case, an attorney demanded that Jack create a custom cake that would celebrate and symbolize a transition from male to female. Because that cake admittedly expresses a message, and because Jack cannot express that message for anyone, the government cannot punish Jack for declining to express it. The First Amendment protects that decision.” While the state court did not issue an opinion regarding Phillips’ First Amendment rights, it was dismissed on the grounds of violating a technicality, stating that plaintiff Autumn Scardina, a man identifying as a woman, did not properly file the lawsuit in Colorado. “We granted review to determine, among other issues, whether [the attorney] properly filed [this] case,” the Colorado Supreme Court wrote in its opinion in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Scardina. “We conclude that [the attorney] did not.” OVER 5,700 CHILDREN IN 5-YEAR PERIOD HAD GENDER SURGERIES, MOST FROM 5 LIBERAL STATES: WATCHDOG “The underlying constitutional question this case raises has become the focus of intense public debate: How should governments balance the rights of transgender individuals to be free from discrimination in places of public accommodation with the rights of religious business owners when they are operating in the public market?” Justice Melissa Hart wrote in the Colorado Supreme Court’s majority opinion. “We cannot answer that question.” On the same day the U.S. Supreme Court revealed it would hear Phillips’ initial case — which he won in 2018 after Colorado tried to force him to make a custom cake for a same-sex wedding — the transgender attorney contacted Phillips’ shop for a custom order to celebrate a gender transition. Phillips’ declined. COLORADO STATE WINS IN STRAIGHT SETS AFTER DECIDING TO PLAY AGAINST TEAM MIRED IN TRANS PLAYER CONTROVERSY The attorney called again later to request a second cake, this one featuring Satan smoking marijuana, to “correct the errors of [Phillips’] thinking,” according to the ADF news release. “Phillips politely declined both requests because the cakes express messages that violate his core beliefs,” ADF stated. “The attorney then filed the most recent lawsuit, threatening to continue harassing Phillips until he is punished. Phillips serves people from all backgrounds. Like many artists, he decides to create custom cakes based on what they will express, not who requests them.”