Ex-GOP congressman George Santos sentenced to 87 months in prison in federal fraud case
Former New York GOP Rep. George Santos was sentenced to 87 months in federal court Friday in connection with his wire fraud and identity theft case. The 36-year-old former representative served in Congress for close to a year before being ousted in 2023 by his House colleagues. Santos had not yet been convicted of a crime at that point, but had been indicted on 23 counts related to wire fraud, identity theft, falsification of records, credit card fraud and other charges. Santos sobbed as he received his sentence, according to the Associated Press. U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert asked Santos during his sentencing, “Where is your remorse? Where do I see it?” EX-LAWMAKER GEORGE SANTOS FACES SEVEN-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR FEDERAL FRAUD, IDENTITY THEFT She continued on to say that he appears to feel that “it’s always someone else’s fault,” according to the outlet. Santos is expected to arrive at prison by July 26th, a source confirmed to Fox News. “Today, George Santos was finally held accountable for the mountain of lies, theft, and fraud he perpetrated,” John Durham, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement released. “For the defendant, it was judgment day, and for his many victims including campaign donors, political parties, government agencies, elected bodies, his own family members, and his constituents, it is justice.” Santos pleaded guilty to federal fraud and identity theft charges in August as part of a plea deal. He admitted to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of nearly a dozen individuals to fund his campaign. He further agreed to pay nearly $600,000 in penalties. Federal prosecutors were seeking an 87-month custodial sentence, according to court filings. Santos’ legal team had previously asked the court for a two-year sentence in a court filing earlier this month. “I’m doing as well as any human being would be doing given the circumstances,” Santos told the Associated Press Thursday ahead of his sentencing. “I will be in court tomorrow, ready to face the music.” The government submitted a list of Santos’ recent social media posts in an April 17 filing ahead of his sentencing, with prosecutors arguing that “Santos’s recent behavior continues to demonstrate that he remains unrepentant for his crimes.” GEORGE SANTOS ENDS CONGRESSIONAL RUN LESS THAN 2 MONTHS INTO INDEPENDENT CAMPAIGN The posts, pulled from his X account, included tweets saying, “No matter how hard the DOJ comes for me, they are mad because they will NEVER break my spirit.” Santos responded to the filing in a letter with the court filed on April 21, writing that he was “profoundly sorry for the criminal conduct” to which he had pleaded guilty and that he believes “that the Department of Justice’s demand for an 87-month sentence, and its effort to weaponize my speech as proof of incorrigibility, is an overreach that I have both a constitutional right and a civic duty to protest.” EX-LAWMAKER GEORGE SANTOS OFFERING CAMEO VIDEOS WITH HIS DRAG QUEEN ALTER EGO “True remorse isn’t mute; it is aware of itself, and it speaks up when the penalty scale jumps into the absurd,” Santos wrote. “This distinction seems lost on the prosecution, who would rather slap a “keep quiet or else” sticker on me and steam-press whatever spirit I’ve got left.” Santos was elected to Congress in 2022 after he flipped a district covering parts of Queens and Long Island for the GOP. During his campaign, he made several false claims about his background, including that he had attended New York University and worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and that his grandparents had fled the Nazis during World War II. Santos attempted to relaunch his political career last year by running as an Independent in a neighboring district to re-enter the House. The Associated Press, Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
Trump says China’s Xi called him amid ongoing confusion over trade talks
Did they or didn’t they? President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that he has spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping “many times” but did not say if any of those communications took place since he imposed stiff tariffs on the communist nation. Asked for details about those communications, Trump responded by saying “I’ll let you know at the appropriate time.” TRUMP HINTS AT CUTTING CHINA TARIFFS ‘SUBSTANTIALLY’ FROM 145% Trump’s latest comments, which took place before he boarded Marine One to travel to Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral, come after days of back and forth between the countries over whether they are in direct talks about reducing the tariffs – and whether Trump and Xi have spoken directly to one another since the tariffs were rolled out. Trump’s tariffs on China, which have rattled global stock markets and upended supply chains, have ballooned to 145% while China has responded by slapping a 125% tariff on its U.S. imports. In a newly published TIME article published Friday morning, Trump is quoted as saying that Xi personally called him to discuss trade matters. “He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,” Trump is quoted as saying, without providing specifics about the timing or content of the call. When asked what Xi said, Trump sidestepped his response by saying “We all want to make deals. But I am this giant store. It’s a giant, beautiful store, and everybody wants to go shopping there. And on behalf of the American people, I own the store, and I set prices, and I’ll say, if you want to shop here, this is what you have to pay.” CHINA ACCUSES US OF ‘BULLYING’ THE WORLD WITH TARIFFS AT UN MEETING “You have to understand, I’m dealing with all the companies, very friendly countries,” he said, when asked about trade adviser Peter Navarro, saying 90 deals in 90 days is possible. “We’re meeting with China. We’re doing fine with everybody. But ultimately, I’ve made all the deals.” The TIME interview took place on Tuesday, with Trump saying publicly on the same day that things were going “fine with China” and that the final tariff rate on Chinese exports would come down “substantially” from the current 145%. Trump also told reporters earlier in the week that “everything’s active” when asked if he was engaging with China, although his treasury secretary had said there were no formal negotiations. Those comments led to Beijing on Thursday denying any suggestion that it was in active negotiations with the administration. Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said during a daily briefing on Thursday that, “For all I know, China and the U.S. are not having any consultation or negotiation on tariffs, still less reaching a deal.” “China’s position is consistent, and we are open to consultations and dialogues, but any form of consultations and negotiations must be conducted on the basis of mutual respect and in an equal manner,” Commerce Ministry spokesperson He Yadong said. Asked Thursday about China denying there were any conversations ongoing with the United States, Trump said, “We may reveal it later, but they had meetings this morning, and we’ve been meeting with China,” before adding, “it doesn’t matter who they is.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Trump said Tuesday that the hefty tax rate of 145% Americans must currently pay for Chinese imports will likely be reduced significantly. While Trump said the rate “won’t be zero,” he expressed optimism over a potential trade deal with China. “One hundred forty-five percent is very high, and it won’t be that high,” Trump said to reporters in the Oval Office. “It will come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.” Fox News’ Greg Norman, Bonny Chu and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
Durbin says elderly lawmakers should consider leaving politics ‘before they’re carried out’
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., suggested Thursday that more elderly lawmakers like himself should consider when they might want to exit politics and make way for a younger generation. “If you’re honest about yourself and your reputation, you want to leave when you can still walk out the front door and not be carried out the back door,” Durbin told MSNBC, in a similar tenor to how he addressed his retirement at age 80 in front of his Springfield home later that day. “And I’ve said whatever your interests may be, whatever issue you want to focus on in Congress, in the Senate if you stick around a couple terms, your minor is going to be aging. You can see it. You can observe it.” WHIP WATCH: DICK DURBIN GIVES TEARFUL GOODBYE AS DEM POWER PLAY BEGINS FOR NO 2 SENATE SPOT However, Durbin added that it is up to each lawmaker when it’s best to make the call to step away from the Capitol for good, further suggesting that age can also be just a number. He pointed to how Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who – while three years older than Durbin – continues to draw large crowds, particularly of younger progressive Democrats, at rallies against “oligarchy” and other concerns. Sanders is also reportedly considering re-election in 2030 at age 89, as the Federal Election Commission (FEC) recorded a filing from “Friends of Bernie Sanders” for that cycle. “I think it’s more complex,” Durbin said. “The bottom line is, are you competent? Can you still do the job? That’s the question the voters should ask.” “But should a new generation be interested in public service? You bet.” Speaking about the future of the Democratic Party as the proverbial old guard begins to depart, Durbin was asked about his onetime Illinois delegation colleague Barack Obama, and how he first ushered in a younger demographic in the 2000s to lead the Democratic Party. BIDEN EFFECT HITS THE SENATE: WAVE OF RETIREMENTS CLEARS PATH FOR YOUNGER DEMS “This is a different moment in history than I’ve read about or seen in my lifetime, for sure,” Durbin said. “This is the moment where there’s a threat to the Constitution of the United States and our constitutional democracy. That is fundamental, and it’s in front of every other decision of policy that we might make. We have to get it together. I will plead with my Republican friends. Stand up for the Constitution.” “That to me, I think, just supersedes all conversations about campaigns and even issues.” Durbin’s retirement was said to be somewhat attributed to the “Biden effect,” the recent trend of elderly lawmakers announcing retirements in the month since the octogenarian Delawarean stepped away from his 2024 re-election bid amid intraparty pressure after a disastrous debate with now-President Donald Trump. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Durbin and Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., 78; Tina Smith, D-Minn., 67; and Gary Peters, D-Mich., 66, as well as Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., 83, all announced their exits in 2025. “You can see it, you can observe it,” Durbin said in general of politicians’ aging. “And you have to make that choice, that decision. I’ve made mine.”
Infamous late-term abortionist who wrote about ‘dismembering’ babies closes Colorado clinic
Famed late-term abortionist Dr. Warren Hern, long a target of pro-life protests, closed his Boulder clinic this week after 50 years, saying it’s time to pass on the “sacred commitment” of providing safe abortions to others. “It has been a privilege to do this work for almost 55 years,” Hern said in a statement on his website. “It has been a privilege to know the many exceptional people in this field who were and are devoted to the highest standards of medical care for women and who are dedicated to the fundamental principle of reproductive freedom for everyone.” Hern, who has detailed the gruesome procedure of “dismembering” fetuses during third-trimester abortions in his writings, said that although he loves his work, he has “wanted for years to be free from the operating room and the daily cares of a private medical practice.” DEFUND ‘BIG ABORTION’ INDUSTRY THAT THRIVED UNDER BIDEN, 150 PRO-LIFE GROUPS URGE CONGRESS “When I have a patient, I can’t do anything else. Her safety and well-being is my priority. Nothing else matters while her life is at stake,” he wrote. Hern added that performing abortions has given him and his colleagues “great satisfaction and meaning in our lives.” Hern’s clinic, the Boulder Abortion Clinic in Colorado, was one of the few that offered late-term abortions nationwide, even prior to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Hern would see visitors from all over the country. Colorado is one of nine states that has no restrictions on when abortions can take place in the course of the pregnancy. In his book, “Abortion Practice,” first published in 1984, Hern describes abortions in detail, including how “A long curved Mayo scissors may be necessary to decapitate and dismember the fetus.” DOGE MUST ‘DEFUND’ PLANNED PARENTHOOD, MIKE PENCE’S WATCHDOG GROUP URGES MUSK “The procedure changes significantly at 21 weeks because the fetal tissues become much more cohesive and difficult to dismember,” Hern wrote. “This problem is accentuated by the fact that the fetal pelvis may be as much as 5cm in width. The calvaria [head] is no longer the principal problem; it can be collapsed. Other structures, such as the pelvis, present more difficulty.” Hern has been a dominating voice for late-term abortions since the 1970s. He was featured in prominent media outlets over the decades, including The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and The Atlantic, among others. Hern also wrote a memoir recently, “Abortion in the Age of Unreason: A Doctor’s Account of Caring for Women Before and After Roe v. Wade.” Hern writes in that memoir about how, in the early days of his clinic, he had to personally prove that abortions were being conducted safely. Following a dilation-and-evacuation procedure, he would have to “empty the cotton sock in the suction bottle of its contents, spread the tissue out on a glass plate, and look at it carefully over a light box” to show that no parts of the baby were left inside the woman, The New Yorker reported in a 2024 profile of Hern. FEDS GAVE $700M TO PLANNED PARENTHOOD DURING YEAR OF RECORD ABORTIONS In his interview with The New Yorker, Hern also said that after the decision to reverse Roe v. Wade, the clinic was flooded with patients – and it would prioritize the late-term pregnancies over the earlier ones. “We couldn’t see patients who were earlier in their pregnancies, because we were just too busy taking care of the more difficult patients. We have seen some earlier patients now, but our special interest is in helping women who are having abortions later in pregnancy because they have the most difficult circumstances. They’re at the end of the line. They can’t find anyone else to do this,” he said. Later in the interview, Hern said, “The basic fact is that if you’re pregnant, you’re at risk of dying from that pregnancy,” and “All abortions are elective, and all abortions are therapeutic.”
Infamous late-term abortionist who wrote about ‘dismembering’ babies closes Colorado clinic
Famed late-term abortionist Dr. Warren Hern, long a target of pro-life protests, closed his Boulder clinic this week after 50 years, saying it’s time to pass on the “sacred commitment” of providing safe abortions to others. “It has been a privilege to do this work for almost 55 years,” Hern said in a statement on his website. “It has been a privilege to know the many exceptional people in this field who were and are devoted to the highest standards of medical care for women and who are dedicated to the fundamental principle of reproductive freedom for everyone.” Hern, who has detailed the gruesome procedure of “dismembering” fetuses during third-trimester abortions in his writings, said that although he loves his work, he has “wanted for years to be free from the operating room and the daily cares of a private medical practice.” DEFUND ‘BIG ABORTION’ INDUSTRY THAT THRIVED UNDER BIDEN, 150 PRO-LIFE GROUPS URGE CONGRESS “When I have a patient, I can’t do anything else. Her safety and well-being is my priority. Nothing else matters while her life is at stake,” he wrote. Hern added that performing abortions has given him and his colleagues “great satisfaction and meaning in our lives.” Hern’s clinic, the Boulder Abortion Clinic in Colorado, was one of the few that offered late-term abortions nationwide, even prior to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Hern would see visitors from all over the country. Colorado is one of nine states that has no restrictions on when abortions can take place in the course of the pregnancy. In his book, “Abortion Practice,” first published in 1984, Hern describes abortions in detail, including how “A long curved Mayo scissors may be necessary to decapitate and dismember the fetus.” DOGE MUST ‘DEFUND’ PLANNED PARENTHOOD, MIKE PENCE’S WATCHDOG GROUP URGES MUSK “The procedure changes significantly at 21 weeks because the fetal tissues become much more cohesive and difficult to dismember,” Hern wrote. “This problem is accentuated by the fact that the fetal pelvis may be as much as 5cm in width. The calvaria [head] is no longer the principal problem; it can be collapsed. Other structures, such as the pelvis, present more difficulty.” Hern has been a dominating voice for late-term abortions since the 1970s. He was featured in prominent media outlets over the decades, including The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and The Atlantic, among others. Hern also wrote a memoir recently, “Abortion in the Age of Unreason: A Doctor’s Account of Caring for Women Before and After Roe v. Wade.” Hern writes in that memoir about how, in the early days of his clinic, he had to personally prove that abortions were being conducted safely. Following a dilation-and-evacuation procedure, he would have to “empty the cotton sock in the suction bottle of its contents, spread the tissue out on a glass plate, and look at it carefully over a light box” to show that no parts of the baby were left inside the woman, The New Yorker reported in a 2024 profile of Hern. FEDS GAVE $700M TO PLANNED PARENTHOOD DURING YEAR OF RECORD ABORTIONS In his interview with The New Yorker, Hern also said that after the decision to reverse Roe v. Wade, the clinic was flooded with patients – and it would prioritize the late-term pregnancies over the earlier ones. “We couldn’t see patients who were earlier in their pregnancies, because we were just too busy taking care of the more difficult patients. We have seen some earlier patients now, but our special interest is in helping women who are having abortions later in pregnancy because they have the most difficult circumstances. They’re at the end of the line. They can’t find anyone else to do this,” he said. Later in the interview, Hern said, “The basic fact is that if you’re pregnant, you’re at risk of dying from that pregnancy,” and “All abortions are elective, and all abortions are therapeutic.”
Stacey Abrams considers 3rd run for Georgia governor despite back-to-back defeats
Democrat Stacey Abrams is seriously considering a third-straight run for Georgia governor in 2026, a source familiar confirmed to Fox News Digital. Abrams, a former Democratic Party leader in the Georgia state legislature and a nationally known voting-rights advocate, narrowly lost to now-Gov. Brian Kemp in the 2018 gubernatorial election. She lost the 2022 rematch to Kemp by nearly eight points. Kemp, the popular conservative governor, is term limited and cannot seek reelection in 2026. The Cook Political Report, a top nonpartisan political handicapper, ranked the race to succeed Kemp in the battleground state a “toss up” – teeing up a likely competitive race in the Peach State. Georgia has followed the national trend in the past three presidential elections, all with President Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. While Trump was triumphant in 2016 and 2024, former President Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020. GEORGIA REPUBLICANS DON’T RULE OUT SENATE BIDS AS POPULAR GOP GOVERNOR REMAINS UNDECIDED Republican Attorney General Chris Carr has already announced his gubernatorial campaign in November 2024. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is rumored to be mulling his own bid for the Republican nomination. Campaign filings reported by WABE earlier this year revealed that Jones raised $1.7 million for a leadership committee – about half a million behind Carr. TOP GOP RECRUIT IN CRUCIAL 2026 SENATE RACE HINTS WHEN HE WILL MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT On the Democratic side, Georgia state senator Jason Esteves announced his campaign for governor earlier this week. Rep. Lucy McBath, who had launched an exploratory committee for her own gubernatorial run, announced she was suspending her bid to support her husband, following complications from a cancer diagnosis. Despite two consecutive gubernatorial losses to Kemp, Abrams has remained politically active in Georgia since 2022. In 2023, she was appointed the Ronald W. Walters Endowed Chair for Race and Black Politics of Howard University, one of the nation’s leading historically Black colleges. Abrams also served as a senior counsel for Rewiring America, a climate action nonprofit organization. She is the founder of Fair Fight Action, Fair Count and the Southern Economic Advancement Project (SEAP) – organizations focused on voting rights in Georgia, economic power, community building and DEI initiatives. Abrams is an author, having published several novels under a pseudonym. Her most recent book, “Level Up: Rise Above the Hidden Forces Holding Your Business Back,” was published last year. She hosts a weekly podcast, “Assembly Required.” The news that Abrams is considering a third run for governor was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Abrams did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by deadline.
Judge blocks Trump election order despite overwhelming American support for voter ID
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., blocked a portion of President Donald Trump’s executive order on election integrity that is popular among Americans, according to a Gallup poll. The portion of the order that Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia struck down included provisions related to requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ON VOTING BLOCKED BY FEDERAL JUDGE AMID FLURRY OF LEGAL SETBACKS Less than two weeks before the 2024 election, Gallup found that 84% of U.S. adults were in favor of requiring voters to show identification and 83% supported requiring proof of citizenship when registering for the first time. When broken down by party, 67% of Democrats, 84% of Independents and 98% of Republicans were in favor of mandating voter ID. The party breakdown over proof of citizenship was similar, with 66% of Democrats, 84% of Independents and 96% of Republicans supporting the idea. CITIZENSHIP VOTER REGISTRATION BILL IS ‘COMMON SENSE,’ GOP LAWMAKER ARGUES Kollar-Kotelly, however, argued that Trump did not have the authority to issue such an order, as the Constitution delegates control of election regulations to Congress and states. “Consistent with that allocation of power, Congress is currently debating legislation that would affect many of the changes the President purports to order,” Kollar-Kotelly, a Clinton appointee, wrote in her order. “No statutory delegation of authority to the Executive Branch permits the President to short-circuit Congress’s deliberative process by executive order.” Earlier this month, the House passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require states to obtain proof of citizenship for those registering to vote in a federal election. Additionally, the act mandates that all non-citizens be removed from voter rolls. The Senate still needs to pass the measure before it can reach Trump’s desk. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who sponsored the bill in the House, wrote, “In order to preserve this republic, we must uphold what it means to be able to vote in a U.S. election. I am grateful that my colleagues answered the call and passed the SAVE Act, as this serves as a critical first step to ensure that we maintain election integrity throughout our country.” So far in 2025, five states have enacted voter ID requirements, and one has mandated proof of citizenship for registration, according to Voting Rights Lab. Additionally, 25 states are considering bills that would mandate proof of citizenship, while 40 are mulling legislation requiring voter ID.
Trump’s ‘STOP’ message to Putin echoes Biden’s ‘don’t’ from 2022
President Donald Trump’s message for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “STOP!” airstrikes on Ukraine echoes a comment made by former President Joe Biden in 2022 in which he repeatedly warned Putin against using chemical or nuclear weapons in the conflict. “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5,000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the peace deal DONE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday as Russian airstrikes rocked Kyiv. Three years ago, during an interview with CBS News, Biden was asked, “As Ukraine succeeds on the battlefield, Vladimir Putin is becoming embarrassed and pushed into a corner — And I wonder Mr. President what you would say to him if he is considering using chemical or tactical nuclear weapons?” “Don’t. Don’t. Don’t,” Biden responded. “It will change the face of war unlike anything since World War II.” RUSSIA IS ‘READY TO MAKE A DEAL’ ON UKRAINE WAR, LAVROV SAYS The Thursday attack on Ukraine killed at least 10 and injured at least 90, including children, Ukraine said. Trump’s message to Putin to “STOP!” was criticized on the Friday cover of the New York Post, which featured the headline “Words aren’t enough.” Trump administration officials claimed they had productive talks with Putin, but they have yet to secure a deal that would end the war that has been raging since Russia’s February 2022 invasion. RUSSIAN GENERAL KILLED IN MOSCOW-AREA CAR BOMBING, INVESTIGATORS SAY Recently, several members of the administration suggested that the U.S. could end its efforts to secure a peace deal if Ukraine and Russia do not start making significant moves toward ending the war. White House envoy Steve Witkoff is in Moscow on Friday to meet with Putin. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also told CBS News that the Kremlin is “ready to reach a deal” to end the war. In an excerpt of an interview that is set to air in full on Sunday, Lavrov said he agreed with Trump’s assertion that talks between Ukraine and Russia were “moving in the right direction.” However, Lavrov added there were “some specific points, elements of the deal, which need to be fine-tuned,” but did not explain what was being negotiated. Lavrov also apparently made it clear to CBS News that Russia would not give up Crimea, which the country seized from Ukraine in 2014. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that his country would not recognize Russian control of Crimea, as it would go against Ukraine’s constitution. Trump slammed Zelenskyy over the “inflammatory” remark and said in a post on Truth Social that the comment was “very harmful” to peace efforts. Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
REAL ID sees nationwide state government compliance ahead of deadline, but it wasn’t always that way
While all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories are all currently in compliance ahead of the federal deadline of May 7, REAL ID was once roundly opposed by several state governments. As soon as two years after the law’s 2005 passage by President George W. Bush, several state leaders had already expressed objections to complying with the nationwide standard. Then-Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, called REAL ID a “harebrained scheme” in a 2008 NPR interview. “[W]e are putting up with the federal government on so many fronts, and nearly every month they come out with another… unfunded mandate to tell us that our life is going to be better if we’ll just buckle under on some other kind of rule or regulation,” Schweitzer said. NO ‘REAL ID’ APPOINTMENTS OPEN IN NEW JERSEY AS RESIDENTS SOUND OFF: ‘GET WITH THE TIMES, NJ’ “And we usually just play along for a while, we ignore them for as long as we can, and we try not to bring it to a head. But if it comes to a head, we found that it’s best to just tell them to go to hell and run the state the way you want to run your state.” One year prior, Schweitzer signed a law banning Montana’s DMV from enforcing REAL ID stipulations, calling it a “threat to privacy” in a letter to then-Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, also a Democrat. Not too far west in Washington state, fellow Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire signed similar legislation that required the feds to appropriate $250 million to cover the unfunded mandate. “[E]ven worse, it doesn’t protect the privacy of the citizens of Washington,” Gregoire claimed when signing the bill. On the Republican side, then-Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett signed a law in 2008 halting PennDOT’s implementation of REAL ID. “Neither the governor nor the Department of Transportation or any other Commonwealth agency shall participate in the REAL ID Act of 2005 or regulations promulgated thereunder,” Act 38’s text read. The policy was later reversed by Act 3 of 2017, signed by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. ‘MASS SURVEILLANCE’: CONSERVATIVES SOUND ALARM OVER TRUMP ADMIN’S REAL ID ROLLOUT Meanwhile, New Jersey has the lowest reported compliance with REAL ID, according to a CBS News analysis, with only 17% of the population having one – and many complaining of not enough bandwidth for the state to handle the number of applications. On Wednesday, Kentucky Republican state Sen. Jimmy Higdon, wrote to DHS asking for an extension to the May 7 enforcement date, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. State compliance with REAL ID means that a state has met the federal security standards outlined by DHS for the actual issuance of drivers’ licenses. Since all states have done so, they are considered compliant. Because the program is optional for the licenseholder – due to the alternatives, like passports – an insufficient proportion of residents not having REAL IDs does not affect statistical state compliance. REAL ID requirements, endeavored out of a post-9/11 national security law from then-Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., dictate that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will no longer accept a photo-ID that does not have a star in the upper corner denoting verification, unless it is a passport. To become verified, Americans must provide Social Security information or other personal identifiers. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The law’s implementation date has been delayed several times, due to COVID and concerns about varied state compliance and states’ abilities to summon the necessary resources to meet federal standards. Fox News Digital reached out for comment from the current governors of the three states referenced: Democrat Bob Ferguson of Washington, Republican Greg Gianforte of Montana and Democrat Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania.
Sunshine State Dem announces switch to no affiliation: ‘Democratic Party in Florida is dead’
Florida state Sen. Jason Pizzo — who had been serving as state Senate Democratic Leader — announced that he is switching to no party affiliation. State Sen. Lori Berman has been tapped to replace Pizzo as Senate Democratic Leader. During a speech on Thursday, Pizzo declared that “the political party system here in Florida is nearly dead.” He asserted that the “Democratic Party in Florida is dead,” adding that “there are good people that can resuscitate it. But they don’t want it to be me.” He also said the Republican Party has many problems. DEMOCRAT REP. WILSON URGES PEOPLE TO CALL, THREATEN LAWMAKERS OVER UPTICK IN ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION DETENTIONS Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried lambasted the state lawmaker. “Jason Pizzo is one of the most ineffective and unpopular Democratic leaders in recent memory, and his resignation is one of the best things to happen to the party in years,” Fried asserted. “His legacy as leader includes continually disparaging the party base, starting fights with other members, and chasing his own personal ambitions at the expense of Democratic values. “Jason’s failure to build support within our party for a gubernatorial run has led to this final embarrassing temper tantrum. I’d be lying if I said I’m sad to see him go, but I wish him the best of luck in the political wilderness he’s created for himself. The Florida Democratic Party is more united without him.” TRUMP HAILS FLORIDA DEM’S DECISION TO DITCH PARTY, JOIN GOP: ‘THANK YOU HILLARY!’ Florida state Reps. Susan Valdés and Hillary Cassel both announced they were switching from Democrat to Republican last year. Former U.S. Rep. David Jolly, who had served as a Republican, announced a switch to no party affiliation in 2018, though he was no longer in office at that time. But now Jolly has just changed his registration to Democrat, according to Politico. DESANTIS WELCOMES FLORIDA STATE LAWMAKER TO REPUBLICAN PARTY AS SHE DITCHES DEMOCRATS Jolly has said he is “very seriously considering a run for governor,” according to the outlet.