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Vulnerable Dem Jon Tester turns on Biden admin over DEI after Montana universities stripped of federal funds

Vulnerable Dem Jon Tester turns on Biden admin over DEI after Montana universities stripped of federal funds

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., is calling on President Biden and his administration’s Department of Education to promptly reverse a grant rejection for Montana universities because of a failure to meet certain diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring standards.  In a statement exclusively to Fox News Digital, the senator said, “The Biden Administration’s decision to strip critical funding from local schools is just another example of one-size-fits-all policies from Washington bureaucrats who don’t understand Montana.” “I’m calling on the Biden Administration and the Department of Education to immediately reverse this decision, because Montana’s students are more important than [made-up] D.C. hiring practices.” SENATE REPUBLICANS MARK OCT 7 ATTACK 1 YEAR OUT AS ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR CONTINUES Tester, who is fighting for his political life in a competitive re-election match in a traditionally Republican state, first voiced his concerns about the grant rejection due to insufficiently diverse hiring practices in a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona last month. “I am deeply troubled by indications that the Department rejected Montana’s application based primarily on an unfair scoring decision related to subjective diversity hiring requirements that failed to recognize the work already being done on this front,” he wrote. HERE’S WHAT 2 UNDECIDED WISCONSIN VOTERS ARE HOLDING OUT FOR IN 2024 ELECTION The senator’s office revealed that after 25 years of receiving the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) grant, Biden’s DOE rejected the Montana university systems’ federal funding because Montana supposedly did not include sufficient details about its hiring practices for “a diverse group of individuals.” According to Tester, the denial was “embarrassing” for the DOE.  The DOE told Fox News Digital it had received the letter and was in the process of reviewing it. Tester’s office confirmed that it had yet to receive a response despite reaching out on Sept. 9.  The pointed criticism of the Biden administration’s implementation of DEI standards sets him apart from his party, which has been generally supportive of the initiatives. On the other hand, Republicans have criticized the continued efforts to prioritize diversity over merit in hiring.  In less than a month, the Montana Democrat will face off in one of the most competitive races in the country against Republican candidate Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL. Recently, several political handicappers have indicated Sheehy has the advantage going into the election.  SOROS-LINKED DARK MONEY GROUP PROPS UP NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE IN KEY SENATE RACE A spokesperson for Sheehy’s campaign criticized Tester’s stance against the Biden administration on DEI, telling Fox News Digital, “Jon Tester loved the radical Left’s Woke agenda when he voted to exclude white farmers from getting assistance just because they were white, supported AOC’s Green New Deal moving forward, and blamed Biden’s border crisis on Climate Change.” “After voting 95% of the time with Biden and Harris, Two-Faced Tester is doing the Tester Two-Step just ahead of an election because he’s a desperate career politician making an all-out effort to save his political career that made him rich in Washington.” TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM ONLY VP DEBATE BETWEEN VANCE, WALZ BEFORE ELECTION Tester voted in line with Biden 90% of the time in the last Congress, according to FiveThirtyEight. In the first half of the 118th Congress, he voted with the president roughly 95%.  The three-term senator has held off explicitly endorsing Vice President Harris in the presidential election, repeatedly telling reporters he is focused on Montana and his own race.  However, critics have pushed back at this, pointing to reports that the senator was responsible for recruiting Harris to run for Senate in 2015 when he served as chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Tester’s campaign did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Early voting kicks off in Indiana, New Mexico, Ohio, Wyoming

Early voting kicks off in Indiana, New Mexico, Ohio, Wyoming

Four more states began their early voting processes on Tuesday: Indiana, New Mexico, Wyoming and the major swing state of Ohio. Here is everything you need to know about casting a ballot in each of the states. Ohio is home to one of the most competitive Senate races on the map. Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown has won the Midwestern state three times, but with Trump pushing White working-class voters toward the GOP and record spending from both parties, this is set to be a tight race. Brown faces Republican businessman Bernie Moreno. Republicans have made inroads in the northeastern and heavily industrial areas bordering Pennsylvania. Trumbull County flipped to the GOP in 2016, and Trump increased his margin to 10 points in 2020; Mahoning County flipped in 2020 by almost two points. These counties played a key role in Trump’s statewide wins. Democrats are performing better than ever in the “three C’s”: Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. These areas have the highest percentages of college-educated voters. President Biden won the counties home to these cities by double-digit margins in 2020, with roughly 30-point wins in Franklin (Columbus) and Cuyahoga (Cleveland). Unlike in other competitive states, Republicans still hold up in Ohio’s suburban and exurban areas, particularly those surrounding Cincinnati. Ohio’s Senate race is a toss-up and the presidential race is ranked Likely R on the Fox News Power Rankings. Meanwhile, New Mexico is also in the “likely” column, both at the presidential and senate level. The state delivered Biden an 11-point win in 2020, but Latino or Hispanic voters made up 35% of the state’s electorate in the 2020 election, and those voters’ support for the Democrat ticket has wavered in recent polls. Republicans would need to run up their margins with these voters all across the state and keep Harris at bay in places like Doña Ana County, home to Albuquerque and which last voted for Biden by 18 points, to pull off a victory. Voting also begins today in four House districts ranked Lean or Toss Up on the Fox News Power Rankings. For a full list of competitive races, see the latest Senate and House rankings. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Indiana. Indiana began absentee voting on Tuesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse in order to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Oct. 24, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. WALZ REPEATS GEORGIA ABORTION DEATH FALSEHOOD DECRIED BY DOCTORS AS ‘FEARMONGERING’ Indiana offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 8 and running through Nov. 4. Indiana residents must have registered to vote by Oct. 7. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for New Mexico. New Mexico began absentee voting on Tuesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse in order to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Oct. 22, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. IN BID FOR DISGRUNTLED REPUBLICANS, HARRIS TEAMS UP WITH CHENEY IN GOP BIRTHPLACE New Mexico offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 8 and running through Nov. 2. New Mexico residents must register to vote by the end of Tuesday. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Ohio. Ohio began absentee voting on Tuesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse in order to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Oct. 29, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. Ohio offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 8 and running through Nov. 3. Ohio residents must have registered to vote by Oct. 7. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Wyoming. Wyoming began absentee voting on Tuesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse in order to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Nov. 4, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. Wyoming offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 8 and running through Nov. 4. Wyoming residents must register to vote by mail by Oct. 21. They can register to vote in person at any time during early voting or on election day.

Eye of the Storm: Back-to-back hurricanes threaten to upend Harris-Trump presidential showdown

Eye of the Storm: Back-to-back hurricanes threaten to upend Harris-Trump presidential showdown

As the death toll rises and roughly a quarter of a million people remain without power or running water a week and a half after Hurricane Helen tore a path of destruction through the southeast United States, another powerful storm is bearing down on the region. Hurricane Milton, now an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm, is on course to slam into Florida Wednesday evening. With four weeks to go until Election Day in November and Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump locked in a bitter margin-of-error showdown in the race to succeed President Biden in the White House, and with two of the hardest-hit states from Helene — North Carolina and Georgia — among the seven key battlegrounds that will likely determine the outcome of the 2024 election – the politics of federal disaster relief are once again front and center on the campaign trail. Trump has been attacking the vice president and her boss over the federal response to Hurricane Helene for well over a week. Harris, on Monday, fired back, accusing Trump of pushing “a lot of mis and disinformation.”  HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS WEATHER UPDATES ON HURRICANE MILTON The former president has repeatedly charged that Biden and Harris have been incompetant in their handling of rescue and recovery efforts. “It is going down as the WORST & MOST INCOMPETENTLY MANAGED ‘STORM,’ AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, EVER SEEN BEFORE,” Trump claimed last week. On Monday, he argued in a social media post that the administration’s storm response was “the WORST rescue operation in the history of the U.S.” And Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, charged Monday in a “Fox and Friends” interview that the administration’s efforts were “incompetence of the highest order.” The Trump campaign, in announcing Vance would hold a town hall Thursday in Greensboro, North Carolina, argued that Harris “completely left North Carolina behind in the wake of devastation post-Hurricane Helene.” And in a blatant pitch for votes, the former president claimed that “NORTH CAROLINA HAS BEEN VIRTUALLY ABANDONED BY KAMALA!!! DROP HER LIKE SHE DROPPED YOU – VOTE FOR PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP. MAGA2024!” CLICK HERE FOR UP-TO-DATE FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE STORMS Trump’s repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims as he’s targeted Biden and Harris – among them that Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia had been unable to reach Biden when Helene first tore through the Peach State. Kemp later confirmed that he had already been in contact with the president. Despite the untruths from the former president, he did beat Biden and Harris to the scene, surveying the storm-damaged region two days before they did last week. The optics put the president and vice president on defense, and they’ve been forced to repeatedly correct the record. The White House has publicized FEMA’s [Federal Emergency Management Agency] efforts in assisting the hard-hit states. Biden made back-to-back trips to the southeast last Wednesday and Thursday, as he stopped in the four hardest hit states, and Harris also made two trips to survey damage. Huddled with Democratic and Republican politicians from the region last week, Biden emphasized that “in a moment like this, we put politics aside, at least we should put it all aside. We have here — there are no Democrats or Republicans, only Americans — our job is to help as many people as we can, as quickly as we can, and as thoroughly as we can.” Trump – along with his allies – has repeatedly aimed to tie the storm response to the combustible issue of border security, as he claimed that FEMA funds for the rescue and relief efforts in North Carolina were being diverted to support undocumented migrants. The Harris campaign, firing back, said that Trump and Vance and their allies have been “pushing debunked lies about Hurricane Helene response.” A top North Carolina Republican – Sen. Thom Tillis – asked about the charges, said on the Sunday talk shows that “I believe that we have to stay focused on rescue operations, recovery operations, clearing operations, and we don’t need any of these distractions on the ground.” Harris, on Monday, called Trump’s actions “extraordinarily irresponsible.” “It’s about him. It’s not about you. And the reality is that FEMA has so many resources that are available to folks who desperately need them now, and resources that are about helping people get back on their feet and rebuild and have places to go,” Harris emphasized. But longtime Republican strategist David Kochel noted that Trump had been “very aggressive” with his initial quick trip to the storm-damaged region.  “I think he put a lot of pressure on them to try to do something,” Kochel, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, told Fox News. “He’s out there pushing a line that they don’t care, they’re not doing anything, and I think they’re reacting to it.” Now, with Hurricane Milton bearing down on Florida, the Biden administration highlighted their efforts in a release headlined “Federal Assistance for Hurricane Helene Exceeds $210 Million, FEMA Prepares for Dual Response with Hurricane Milton Strengthening as it Moves Toward Gulf Coast of Florida.” As Biden declared a state of emergency in Florida on Monday, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said during a news conference that 5,000 National Guardsmen had been mobilized in his state, with another 3,000 on the way. “We have gotten what we need from the feds,” DeSantis said. “The president has approved what we asked for….I’m thankful for that.. Everything we’ve asked for from President Biden, he’s approved.” This is far from the first time that a tropical storm has impacted a presidential race. Then-President George H.W. Bush took a political hit over FEMA’s disorganized efforts to provide relief in Florida from Hurricane Andrew, which pounded the then-key battleground state weeks before Election Day. Fast-forward a decade and his son – then-President George W. Bush – likely enjoyed a political bounce in Florida during his 2004 re-election thanks to his aggressive response to Hurricane Charley, which hit

1 year after Hezbollah strikes, Israel reinforces troops and questions mount over ‘limited’ operation

1 year after Hezbollah strikes, Israel reinforces troops and questions mount over ‘limited’ operation

One week after Israel launched a ground incursion into Lebanon and one year after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in support of Hamas, Jerusalem reinforced its troops fighting inside Lebanon with a third division, prompting immediate questions over the extent of its “limited” operations in Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday sent troops from its 91st Division, also known as the Galilee Formation, to join forces already in Lebanon hunting down Hezbollah strongholds.  The 91st Division, traditionally responsible for overseeing security for the entirety of the border with Lebanon, will reinforce efforts already being carried out by two other divisions. AMERICAN FATHER OF HAMAS HOSTAGE ITAY CHEN PUSHES US, ISRAEL ON ‘PLAN B’ AS NEGOTIATIONS FALTER Israel’s initial advance into Lebanon was led by soldiers from the 98th Division on Oct. 1, which encompassed paratroopers, elite commandos and the 7th Armored Brigade, who were transferred to northern Israel from the border with Gaza in early September for training, reported the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) Long War Journal on Sunday ahead of the IDF announcement. “Forces from the Commando Brigade, including soldiers from the Egoz Unit, located and destroyed a Hezbollah attack infrastructure, which included a rocket launcher, explosive stockpiles, and additional military equipment,” the IDF said of the initial operation. Though Hezbollah’s response was fairly muted as many were believed to have retreated ahead of the incursion, at least nine IDF soldiers were killed between Oct. 1-2 during one of the opening battles in Lebanon, confirmed the Long War Journal. Reinforcements from the IDF’s 36th Division, including the Golani infantry, 188th Armored Brigade and the 6th Reserve Infantry Brigade were then sent in, according to reports last week.  Following the Israeli incursion – a security measure that the U.S. and other international allies warned Jerusalem against – IDF spokesperson Rear. Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel would not push its ground forces north toward Beirut and would instead focus on securing the villages near the border. Jerusalem has said the operation in Lebanon is necessary to secure the area so some 60,000 Israelis from northern Israel could return home, though data collected by the FDD shows that some 150,000 Israelis have evacuated from the northern border areas.  IDF MEETS LITTLE RESISTANCE FROM HEZBOLLAH AFTER WEEKS OF HITTING TERROR TARGETS, OFFICIALS SAY Hagari said the incursion would be “limited” and take “days” to “weeks” to complete.  But the renewed support of additional troops on Monday prompted questions over the scope of Israel’s plans in southern Lebanon, including from the U.S. State Department on Monday.  In response to questions from reporters regarding Israel’s operations in Lebanon, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, “We’re watching this very closely.” “We support their ability to target militants, to degrade Hezbollah’s infrastructure, to degrade Hezbollah’s capability. But we are very cognizant of the many times in the past where Israel has gone in on what looked like limited operations and has stayed for months or for years,” he added. “And ultimately, that’s not the outcome that we want to see.” Israel has not announced any additional plans for its ground forces and said the IDF Divisions have engaged in “targeted, limited, and localized operations” in southern Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure. But one security expert with the FDD pointed out that Israel could be taking precautionary steps to build up its force in the region should Israel decide it needs to bolster its ability to go after Hezbollah even further. “What the Israelis have been doing is gradually ratcheting up pressure on Hezbollah to make the price of continuing to attack in support of Gaza too costly for the organization,” David Daoud, senior fellow at FDD specializing in Hezbollah and Lebanon, told Fox News Digital.  Daoud explained that in the wake of the Oct. 8 attacks, Israel and Hezbollah engaged in “mutual attrition,” continuing to strike one another but rarely taking the level of attack beyond aerial bombardments, unlike the attacks carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.  ISRAEL’S GROUND INVASION INTO LEBANON IMMINENT AS CABINET APPROVES NEXT PHASE OF THE WAR This level of engagement shifted after Israel’s telecommunication device operation in which it allegedly detonated some 5,000 pagers previously distributed to Hezbollah operatives, killing more than three dozen and wounding nearly 3,000 others in a coordinated attack in late September.  Israel has not taken credit for the attacks, but according to open-source data compiled by the FDD in its latest interactive report dubbed “Road to the Third Lebanon War, Mapping the War of Attrition,” the event was a clear launching point in which Jerusalem drastically changed its modus operandi when it came to countering Hezbollah. On Sept. 22, Israel carried out its most significant bombardment against the terrorist group than at any other point since the Oct. 8, 2023,attacks, firing some 1,182 strikes, nearly five times the number of attacks it fired during its second-heaviest strike campaign on Feb. 11, 2024, when 239 strikes were fired, the FDD found.  “I would call it a kind of proactive attrition,” said Daoud, who co-authored the FDD report. “The Israelis are no longer keeping a balance of attrition, they’re really weighing heavily on Hezbollah without going to a full ground invasion.” The expert explained that the IDF is “ratcheting up pressure” on Hezbollah in an attempt to get it to back off its support for Hamas, a similar strategy it has taken in Gaza in an attempt to persuade Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to hand over the hostages.  The merits of this approach are debatable as hostages remain in Hamas captivity despite the immense pains the IDF has caused in the Gaza Strip, and Daoud questioned whether this tactic would be effective against Hezbollah, an organization that is more sophisticated, better armed, better financed and more entwined in Lebanese society. “I don’t see Hezbollah backing down, even at this level of pain that the Israelis are inflicting upon them,” Daoud said. “So a ground invasion may become necessary, and you

House GOP targets Biden ‘social cost’ policy for rising energy prices

House GOP targets Biden ‘social cost’ policy for rising energy prices

FIRST ON FOX – House Republicans are moving to roll back a progressive Obama-era regulatory metric for greenhouse gas emissions, arguing that it’s sandbagging the U.S. energy sector by using “nonscientific” standards. “North Carolinians are struggling to fill up their tanks and pay their electricity bills. The last thing they are worried about is the ‘social cost’ of energy,” Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital. “We need to be unleashing American energy to lower prices, not crippling production with burdensome, costly regulations.” Hudson, who also chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, is leading 12 fellow GOP lawmakers in introducing a bill to stop federal agencies using the “social cost of carbon” when creating new regulations for the U.S. energy sector. HOUSE PASSES BILL BLOCKING BIDEN ADMIN ATTEMPT TO REQUIRE TWO-THIRDS OF NEW CARS TO BE ELECTRIC WITHIN YEARS Models calculating the “social cost” of greenhouse gases use several factors, including population health, sea level changes, economic impacts and other human-felt costs. Because of the vastly different indicators, “social cost” emissions projections can vary widely, according to the Brookings Institute. It was first used as a federal regulatory tool under the Obama administration but was rolled back by former President Trump. President Biden made it part of his clean energy plan when he took office, directing a task force to study where federal agencies should consider the “social cost of greenhouse gases” as part of an executive order titled “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.” BIDEN-HARRIS EV MANDATES WILL HURT WORKERS IN STATES LIKE MICHIGAN: TUDOR DIXON Democrats have held it up as a necessary tool that presents a more holistic picture for the long-term harms of carbon pollution. Republicans, however, have criticized the metric as a nonscientific tool that’s responsible for burdensome regulations. Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla., a co-sponsor of the bill, said the “social cost” metric and the Biden administration’s green energy push overall was pushing gas prices up. EXPERTS RIP ‘TRIPLE CROWN OF BAD REGS’ AS BIDEN ADMIN POSTS GAS STOVE RULE IT DENIED WAS A BAN “It’s just a fact that government interference in the energy industry has directly contributed to these rising costs. No more manipulated studies and biased research – the American people deserve transparent and honest information,” Hern told Fox News Digital. Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, another co-sponsor of the bill, said, “The Biden-Harris White House has proven their willingness to hide behind biased and flawed research to advance their war against American energy producers.” “The White House should unleash clean, affordable American energy to bring costs down for the American people,” he said. The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

‘Social cost of greenhouse gases’: House GOP targets progressive Biden policy for rising energy prices

‘Social cost of greenhouse gases’: House GOP targets progressive Biden policy for rising energy prices

FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are moving to roll back a progressive Obama-era regulatory metric for greenhouse gas emissions, arguing that it’s sandbagging the U.S. energy sector by using “nonscientific” standards. “North Carolinians are struggling to fill up their tanks and pay their electricity bills. The last thing they are worried about is the ‘social cost’ of energy,” Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital. “We need to be unleashing American energy to lower prices, not crippling production with burdensome, costly regulations.” Hudson, who also chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, is leading 12 fellow GOP lawmakers in introducing a bill to stop federal agencies using the “social cost of carbon” when creating new regulations for the U.S. energy sector. HOUSE PASSES BILL BLOCKING BIDEN ADMIN ATTEMPT TO REQUIRE TWO-THIRDS OF NEW CARS TO BE ELECTRIC WITHIN YEARS Models calculating the “social cost” of greenhouse gases use several factors, including population health, sea level changes, economic impacts and other human-felt costs. Because of the vastly different indicators, “social cost” emissions projections can vary widely, according to the Brookings Institute. It was first used as a federal regulatory tool under the Obama administration but was rolled back by former President Trump. President Biden made it part of his clean energy plan when he took office, directing a task force to study where federal agencies should consider the “social cost of greenhouse gases” as part of an executive order titled “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.” BIDEN-HARRIS EV MANDATES WILL HURT WORKERS IN STATES LIKE MICHIGAN: TUDOR DIXON Democrats have held it up as a necessary tool that presents a more holistic picture for the long-term harms of carbon pollution. Republicans, however, have criticized the metric as a nonscientific tool that’s responsible for burdensome regulations. Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla., a co-sponsor of the bill, said the “social cost” metric and the Biden administration’s green energy push overall was pushing gas prices up. EXPERTS RIP ‘TRIPLE CROWN OF BAD REGS’ AS BIDEN ADMIN POSTS GAS STOVE RULE IT DENIED WAS A BAN “It’s just a fact that government interference in the energy industry has directly contributed to these rising costs. No more manipulated studies and biased research – the American people deserve transparent and honest information,” Hern told Fox News Digital. Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, another co-sponsor of the bill, said, “The Biden-Harris White House has proven their willingness to hide behind biased and flawed research to advance their war against American energy producers.” “The White House should unleash clean, affordable American energy to bring costs down for the American people,” he said. The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.