Lawyer who beat Hawaii gun law calls state’s reliance on Black Code ‘disgraceful’
The attorney who helped persuade the Supreme Court to strike down Hawaii’s private-property concealed-carry restriction on Thursday criticized the state’s reliance on a Reconstruction-era Black Code to defend the law. In a 6-3 decision in Wolford v. Lopez, the Court held that Hawaii cannot require licensed gun owners to obtain express permission before carrying firearms onto private property open to the public. Gun-rights challengers dubbed the policy the “vampire rule” because lawful gun owners had to be “invited in” before entering businesses while armed. “It is disgraceful that any state would rely on a law specifically aimed at taking away the Second Amendment rights or any constitutional right of Black Americans as it was at that time,” attorney Kevin O’Grady, who represented the plaintiffs, told Fox News Digital. “And it’s not surprising, however, that Hawaii would rely on it as they are diametrically opposed to the Second Amendment. We fully expected that the Supreme Court would identify that as the kind of law that one absolutely should not look to determine whether or not something is constitutional because this is the perfect example of something which is not constitutional.” SUPREME COURT HANDS SECOND AMENDMENT WIN TO CONCEALED CARRY HOLDERS IN BLUE STATE GUN CONTROL CASE A major flashpoint was Hawaii’s effort to justify the law under the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. Since Bruen, courts evaluating firearm regulations have generally asked whether modern gun restrictions are consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Hawaii cited several historical laws, including an 1865 Louisiana statute enacted as part of the post-Civil War Black Codes. The law made it unlawful to carry firearms onto another person’s property without the owner’s consent. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, rejected that argument outright, calling the Louisiana statute a “tainted artifact” that was enacted to disarm newly freed Black Americans and leave them defenseless after the Civil War. He concluded the law “cannot be taken seriously” as evidence of the Second Amendment’s original public meaning. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, however, argued in her dissent the Court skipped an important constitutional question. Jackson did not defend the Black Codes, which she acknowledged were racist and used to oppress newly freed Black Americans. But she argued the Court should have first decided whether the Louisiana law itself violated the Second Amendment, or whether the real constitutional problem was that it was enforced in a racially discriminatory way. SUPREME COURT TAKES SECOND AMENDMENT CASE CHALLENGING HAWAII GUN LAW “It might well be that the Black Codes are invalid inputs for Bruen’s test,” Jackson wrote, “but only if they violated the Second Amendment — which may or may not be the case.” Instead, she argued that under the Supreme Court’s Bruen framework, the Court could not simply dismiss those laws without first explaining why they should not count as historical evidence. She outlined two possibilities: either the firearm restrictions in the Black Codes were constitutional but enforced in a racially discriminatory manner — making the constitutional defect an equal-protection problem — or the restrictions independently violated the Second Amendment. The Court, she argued, never resolved that question before excluding the Louisiana law from consideration. US APPEALS COURT STRIKES DOWN CALIFORNIA’S OPEN-CARRY BAN IN MAJOR SECOND AMENDMENT RULING “Either history does matter, and if so, all potentially relevant historical experiences must be thoroughly examined,” she wrote. “Or, it does not, and the Court should just admit that the test it has created is boundless.” Her reasoning immediately drew pushback from critics, who argued the Fourteenth Amendment was passed in response to laws like the Black Codes that denied newly freed Black Americans their constitutional rights, like the right to bear arms. “I would simply point her to what Justice Alito pointed out in the majority ruling — it was in response to these types of laws that the Fourteenth Amendment was enacted in the first place,” Hannah Hill, vice president of the National Association of Gun Rights, told Fox News Digital. US JUDGE TOSSES ILLINOIS’ BAN ON SEMIAUTOMATIC WEAPONS, GOVERNOR PLEDGES SWIFT APPEAL “That right there is your answer,” Hill continued. “Yes, there was a historical tradition — they enacted a constitutional amendment to fix that deprivation of rights, and that is also in the Constitution now, so I think she should probably go back to law school.” Tyler Yzaguirre, president of Second Amendment Institute, echoed O’Grady and Hill’s criticism. “Those laws were not legitimate expressions of our Nation’s constitutional tradition; they were examples of government using its power to deprive Americans of a fundamental right,” Yzaguirre told Fox News Digital. “The Court was right to reject the notion that such laws could define the historical limits of the Second Amendment.” Businesses may still ban guns by posting or enforcing a “no firearms” policy. But what Hawaii can’t do, the Court said, is treat every business as off-limits to licensed gun owners unless the owner specifically says guns are allowed.
Trump’s endorsement power faces new test in Louisiana Republican Senate showdown
President Donald Trump’s immense clout over the GOP and the power of his endorsements in Republican nomination races faces its latest test Saturday, as Louisiana holds primary runoff elections for the U.S. Senate. Six weeks after denying Trump-targeted GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy a third six-year term in the Senate, Republican voters in the solidly red Gulf Coast state will choose between Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming for the now open seat. A Letlow victory in the GOP runoff would be another victory for Trump as he works to fill the halls of Congress with loyal lawmakers for his final two years in the White House. But a win by Fleming would be the third high-profile endorsement setback for Trump in this spring’s Republican primaries. Five years after he voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, Cassidy was sent packing. WATCH: CASSIDY DETAILS NEW BEHIND CLOSED DOORS CLASH WITH TRUMP Letlow, who was backed by Trump even before she entered the race in January, grabbed 45% of the vote in the primary, with Fleming at roughly 28% and Cassidy at just under 25%. Since no candidate cracked 50% of the vote, Letlow and Fleming advanced to the runoff for the Republican nomination and Cassidy became the first elected Republican senator to lose renomination since Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana in 2012. Trump, celebrating Cassidy’s defeat, said on social media that “it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!” Cassidy, in a speech to supporters after conceding, took a jab at Trump, saying, “When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to. But you don’t pout, you don’t whine. You don’t claim the election was stolen… You don’t manufacture some excuse.” Letlow, who is also backed by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a top Trump ally, won her congressional seat in 2021, after her husband, Luke Letlow, died five days before being sworn into the U.S. House after his 2020 election victory for the seat she now holds. She has highlighted her support from Trump throughout her Senate campaign. The president headlined a tele-rally for Letlow in the closing days ahead of the runoff, and in an election eve social media post called her a “TOTAL WINNER!” Fleming, who spent eight years in Congress before serving as a White House deputy chief of staff during Trump’s first term, has argued that he’s the most conservative candidate in the GOP Senate primary. During his tenure in Congress, he was a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Fleming, in a Fox News Digital interview last month, touted that voters saw him as “clearly MAGA.” And he highlighted that he “served as Trump’s deputy chief of staff for 10 months in the White House. I served in his entire first administration at various capacities. I was one of the first congressmen that endorsed him in 2016.” DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB The GOP nominee will be considered the clear frontrunner in the midterm election against either farmer Jamie Davis or Navy veteran Gary Crockett, who are facing off in the Democratic Senate runoff. The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past two months, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Kentucky and Texas, as well as the Louisiana primary. But Trump’s endorsement streak in statewide and congressional Republican primaries was snapped a few weeks ago when his last-minute endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to propel the three-term congressman to victory. Feenstra was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump’s Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk. The president rebounded three weeks ago in South Carolina, as Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Pam Evette finished first in the GOP gubernatorial primary and longtime Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham won a majority of the vote in the Republican Senate primary, and avoided a runoff. Graham, who was endorsed by Trump, was facing primary challenges from five candidates, including conservative businessman Mark Lynch, who took aim at the senator over his support for the war in Iran. Lynch was backed by some MAGA leaders who have been critical of the president. Two weeks ago, Trump-backed candidates won two of the three top races in Georgia and Alabama, with the one setback coming against a billionaire businessman who shelled out over $100 million of his own money to boost his campaign. Rep. Barry Moore, a House Freedom Caucus member and longtime Trump supporter who was endorsed by the president, comfortably defeated rival Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL sniper who was supported by some top names on the right, in solidly red Alabama’s GOP Senate runoff. In battleground Georgia’s Republican Senate runoff, an 11th-hour endorsement by Trump helped boost Rep. Mike Collins, a MAGA champion, to victory over former college football coach Derek Dooley, who was backed by popular conservative Gov. Brian Kemp. TRUMP’S ENDORSEMENT FAILS TO SAVE MAGA CANDIDATE AS BILLIONAIRE ADVANCES IN KEY GOVERNOR RACE Collins will face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in the general election in a race that’s among a handful that will likely decide if the GOP holds its slim majority in the chamber in the midterms. But in Georgia’s GOP gubernatorial runoff, the candidate Trump backed, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who was also endorsed by Kemp this past weekend, was defeated by billionaire businessman Rick Jackson, who ran as an outsider. On Tuesday, Trump-backed first-time candidate Anthony Constantino, a businessman and former boxer, defeated Robert Smullen, a retired Marine Corps colonel and New York assemblyman who had the backing of the state
WATCH: Pelosi, Omar stay silent as Mamdani-backed socialist victories shake Democrat Party
Former Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., dodged answering questions on the growing influence of the socialist movement after three candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani dominated in primary elections. Mamdani’s political clout was on display Tuesday night after all three House candidates he endorsed — Darializa Avila Chevalier, Brad Lander and Claire Valdez — won their Democratic primaries in New York, beating out more moderate Democrats. Pelosi, a moderate Democrat herself, refused to answer Fox News Digital’s question on her reaction to these socialist candidates coming out as victorious. RISING SOCIALIST STARS ON TRACK TO CONGRESS: WHO ARE DARIALIZA AVILA CHEVALIER, BRAD LANDER AND CLAIRE VALDEZ? The 20-term California congresswoman never formally endorsed Mamdani, but she did endorse a socialist candidate in 2024 — Dean Preston for California’s District 5 supervisor. She also said that she will “reject socialism as an economic system” and as a full picture of the Democratic Party in an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes back in 2019. “If people have that view, that’s their view,” Pelosi said in the interview. “That is not the view of the Democratic Party.” Omar, a member of the progressive Squad, also ignored questions about the New York primary results, including whether the three socialist candidates could complicate House Democrats and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ agendas if they’re elected to Congress. HAKEEM JEFFRIES DODGES QUESTION ON WHETHER MAMDANI IS FUTURE OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY While Omar has never formally identified as a socialist, she has supported many policies associated with socialism and has also been backed by the Democratic Socialists of America. While Pelosi and Omar walked away without responding, Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., welcomed the incoming lawmakers. “I think Democrats in New York elected three new Democrats that will join our caucus, and I’m looking forward for them participating,” Johnson told Fox News Digital. Asked about criticism that the three candidates have leveled against Israel, Johnson argued they oppose the Israeli government rather than Israel itself. “They were not anti-Israel. They were anti-Israeli government,” Johnson said. “The government of Benjamin Netanyahu has done a grave disservice to the nation of Israel and to its people.” Lander is Jewish himself and said in his victory speech, “You can criticize Israel and not be antisemitic. You can be an anti-Zionist and not be antisemitic.” DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST GROUP BACKING MAMDANI CONDEMNS GAZA CEASEFIRE, CALLS FOR MORE ANTI-ISRAEL RESISTANCE The three primary winners have all been critical of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, making the issue a defining point of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing. Johnson then called out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s relationship with President Donald Trump and condemned both of their involvement in starting the war with Iran. “The people there will have an opportunity to correct the mistake that they made,” Johnson said. “The same way that the people of America have the opportunity to correct this mistake that we made in electing Donald Trump, who unfortunately got manipulated into war by Benjamin Netanyahu.” He continued, “People don’t like this war, and they don’t like Israeli government policy that put us into this war.”
2028 hopeful fires back at Elon Musk after trillionaire threatened lawsuit: ‘Not going to be silenced’
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., brushed aside threats of legal action from Elon Musk, the trillionaire founder of SpaceX and Tesla, on Thursday. “This is what he does,” Khanna told Fox News Digital outside the U.S. Capitol. “It’s symptomatic of our times that billionaires — and now [a] trillionaire — can threaten to sue members of Congress for doing their job. He won’t intimidate me. I’m not going to be intimidated by the guy. I’m not going to be silenced by the guy,” Khanna said. Khanna’s comments come on the heels of an online back-and-forth between him and Musk over whether cuts to government aid programs overseas — cuts spearheaded by Musk in the early days of the second Trump administration — had led to fatalities. DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER OPEN TO ‘BIPARTISAN COOPERATION’ IN ELON MUSK’S DOGE PLANS In particular, Khanna, a high-profile progressive and a rumored candidate for president in 2028, had been criticizing Musk’s work to cut the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). “There needs to be accountability for Elon Musk. You know, they’re celebrating that he created 4,400 millionaires, but they don’t talk about the 4.5 million children around the world who he possibly sentenced to death by dismantling USAID,” Khanna said, in a recent podcast appearance, citing a study from the Lancet Group, a medical journal. The assertion drew a fierce response from Musk, who personally oversaw efforts to trim waste, fraud and abuse from U.S. programs. ELON MUSK STRATEGIZES $1 TRILLION SPENDING CUTS WITH HOUSE DOGE PANEL IN CLOSED-DOOR MEETING “Time to sue this liar,” Musk said in a post to X. “Robber Khanna should be in prison,” Musk added in a separate reaction. Musk, like many conservatives suspicious of government spending, criticized USAID for greenlighting millions in spending that, in their view, had little justification. But while few Democrats defended programs for transgender comic books in Peru and Iraqi Sesame Street, critics of the cuts argued that Musk’s efforts had failed to differentiate between waste and life-saving initiatives around the globe. DEMOCRATS IN PANIC MODE AS ELON MUSK AND DOGE GO PUBLIC By March of last year, USAID had cut roughly 83% of its programs, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. It’s not immediately clear what kind of damages Musk would try to pursue in a lawsuit against Khanna for his claims. When asked if he would go to court if Musk followed through on his posts, Khanna said he liked his odds. “Grok says he doesn’t have a case, so we will have to see,” Khanna said, referring to the AI chatbot on X, a social media platform owned by Musk.
Warren tells Trump to ‘sign the damn bill’ as bipartisan housing package remains stalled in Washington
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., lashed out at President Donald Trump during a recent local television interview, labeling him a “man-child” throwing a “tantrum” over his refusal to sign a sweeping bipartisan housing package. Appearing on WCVB‘s “On the Record,” the left-wing senator did not hold back her frustration over the stalled legislation, delivering a blunt message to the president: “Sign the damn bill.” “If he cared about the American people, he’d have already signed the damn thing,” Warren said during the interview, arguing that Trump “does not care about the economic survival of America’s working families.” TRUMP-BACKED HOUSING BILL CLEARS HOUSE AFTER GOP DEFIES SENATE PRESSURE CAMPAIGN The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is an expansive bipartisan package that she said contains nearly 50 provisions designed to address the nationwide housing emergency. Warren noted that decades of under-building have driven prices up, leaving the U.S. in need of millions of new units. The primary focus of the bill is to lower the costs of construction and make it easier to build new homes. BIPARTISAN HOUSING PUSH ADVANCES, BUT TRUMP-BACKED INVESTOR BAN FACES RESISTANCE The bill, which was co-sponsored by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., also includes a secondary focus aimed at blocking corporate consolidation of the housing market. Warren explained that the legislation is designed to keep private equity firms from buying up local neighborhoods and turning America “into a nation of renters.” According to Warren, the legislation had widespread support from both sides of the aisle before it was stalled. TRUMP VOWS BLOCK ON SIGNING NEW LAWS UNTIL SAVE AMERICA ACT PASSES SENATE She claimed the bill was “handed to the president on a silver platter” and that lawmakers from both parties were eagerly taking credit for the legislation. “Republicans were all going online, saying, ‘well, I helped write that bill. This bill is terrific,’” Warren said. “So everybody’s out there saying, ‘my bill, I helped make this happen,’ right up until the man-child has a tantrum and announces he will not be signing it.” Critics of the legislation claim it does not allocate fresh federal funding, directly address rising costs of homeownership, or go far enough to address permitting issues. The president previously canceled a scheduled signing event, insisting lawmakers must first approve the unrelated SAVE America Act, a voting-focused measure, before he moves forward. The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report.
‘Baked to death’: Homan rips media while sharing horrific scenes from border enforcement career
White House border czar Tom Homan erupted at critics of President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda Friday, recalling horrific scenes from his decades in border enforcement — including migrants he said were “baked to death” in a tractor-trailer — as he argued that secure borders save lives. Homan used the graphic stories during remarks at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., to push back on critics who have accused the Trump administration of being inhumane, arguing instead that tougher border enforcement saves lives by deterring migrants from making dangerous journeys controlled by cartels. “I want to talk about why I’m pissed off this morning,” Homan told the crowd, arguing that media coverage has falsely portrayed Trump’s immigration policies as cruel or inhumane. BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN SLAMS CATHOLIC CHURCH, SAYS ‘SECURE BORDER SAVES LIVES’ “There’s nothing further from the truth,” Homan said. Rather, the border czar said critics have it backward, arguing that lax border enforcement creates the conditions for migrants to be exploited, assaulted or killed by smugglers and cartels. “What President Trump is doing is saving lives,” Homan told the crowd. He then described one of the most graphic scenes he said he witnessed during his career in border enforcement. “I’ve stood in the back of a tractor-trailer with 19 dead people at my feet,” Homan told the crowd at the Washington Hilton Friday morning, adding that the victims included a young boy and that they were found in their underwear while trying to escape extreme heat in the back of the truck. “They all baked to death,” Homan said. “I got to that crime scene. They’re all in underwear, trying to get some relief from the 170 degree heat in the back of a steel truck with no air. Think of the way these people died.” TRUMP BORDER CZAR HAS BLUNT MESSAGE FOR SELENA GOMEZ: ‘WHERE’S THE TEARS’ FOR SEX TRAFFICKED CHILDREN? Homan also said he has spoken with young girls who were raped by cartel members while making the journey to the U.S. border. “I’ve gotten on my knees to talk to little girls as young as 9 that were raped multiple times by members of a cartel,” Homan said. “That’s what happens when you have an unsecured border,” he added. “Well, guess what? There’s no little 9-year-old girl right now that everybody’s getting on their knees and talking to. President Trump has closed the border down.” Homan repeatedly defended Trump personally and politically, saying the president has delivered the “most secure border in the history of this nation” and arguing that the administration’s immigration crackdown is aimed at preventing more deaths, trafficking and cartel exploitation. “Secure borders save lives,” Homan said near the end of his remarks. “Secure borders protect our national security. No one’s done it better than President Trump. And we ain’t finished yet.” The remarks came as the Trump administration continues to face criticism from Democrats and immigrant-rights advocates over its mass deportation push, expanded immigration enforcement and efforts to reverse Biden-era border policies. Homan, however, framed the crackdown as a moral necessity, saying the administration is making the country safer while reducing incentives for migrants to place themselves in the hands of criminal cartels.
New limited-edition US passport features Trump’s image and a warning
President Donald Trump on Friday unveiled the inside of the new United States passport, which shows his own image gracing a page in front of the Declaration of Independence, while warning those coming to the U.S. to behave appropriately. “The U.S.A.’s New Passport, which says, ‘Welcome, but be good!’ President DJT,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post accompanied by the image. The image of one page shows a stern-looking Trump over his signature, while another page features a mock-up of the Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence, with “United States of America 250” written below. TRUMP URGED TO DECLARE ‘AMERICAN’ THE OFFICIAL US LANGUAGE AHEAD OF 250TH ANNIVERSARY Fox News Digital previously reported that the State Department would be rolling out limited-edition U.S. passports to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence, with Trump featured prominently. The passports are slated to be released this summer and are part of the Trump administration’s broader “America250” celebration, which also includes a Grand Prix race on the National Mall in August and a UFC fight on the White House South Lawn that took place earlier this month. EXCLUSIVE: STATE DEPARTMENT INTRODUCES NEW US PASSPORTS CELEBRATING AMERICA250 A State Department official previously told Fox News Digital that the new designs will be available to “any American citizen” who applies for a passport during the rollout and will continue for as long as there is availability. Trump’s social media post comes as the U.S. has enacted stricter vetting policies for foreign visitors, explicitly demanding that tourists and nonimmigrants respect and follow U.S. laws and institutions. The tighter rules coincide with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where hundreds of thousands of foreigners have come to the U.S. to watch the games, which end in July.
House Democrat lashes out when grilled on whether socialist victories would threaten Dem unity
Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., clashed with Fox News chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram on Capitol Hill while being pressed on whether Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates who won New York primaries this week could threaten Democratic unity and complicate House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ path to the speakership. The exchange came after several socialist candidates won Democratic nominations in New York City this week, fueling questions about whether the party’s left flank could complicate Democrats’ messaging and create new headaches for Jeffries if Democrats win back control of the House. Larson defended New York voters’ right to choose their nominees and repeatedly expressed confidence that Jeffries, D-N.Y., could manage any new ideological tension inside the House Democratic Caucus, while also saying he opposes antisemitism and agreeing that some DSA positions are not very American. “Isn’t it going to create hassles here on Capitol Hill? For Jeffries?” Larson was asked. SOCIALISTS CHEER ‘SHOCKWAVE’ PRIMARY NIGHT AS DSA-BACKED CANDIDATES WIN, ADVANCE ACROSS THE MAP “The voters of New York make up their own mind. We don’t control voters of New York. In America, in a free Democratic-Republic, people get to choose their elective representatives,” Larson shot back. “The people of New York have made a decision. The people in Wyoming make decisions too, the people in other states make decisions. That’s the way democracy works.” Pressed on whether DSA-affiliated candidates coming to Capitol Hill would create division and dissension inside the House Democratic Caucus, Larson said Jeffries will “bring everybody together,” arguing he has been able to adequately handle numerous challenges thus far and will do so again with anymore that come his way. “Hakeem Jeffries is the greatest leader that we can have, because he will bring everybody together, as he has with the 11 separate, different caucuses and more in the Democratic caucus already,” Larson responded. Larson was then pressed on whether the DSA-backed candidates could present a new kind of challenge for Jeffries, particularly as he tries to become Speaker. DNC CHAIR DOWNPLAYS SOCIALIST–MODERATE RIFT AS MAMDANI’S RISE HAS SOME DEMS RATTLED “There was some argument out there that, you know, if this was Nancy Pelosi some years ago at the height of her powers, she’d be able to finesse this — he’s never been Speaker,” Pergram posited to Larson. “Well, she wasn’t Speaker for a long time either, but she became Speaker and she did an outstanding job. Jeffries is going to be an outstanding Speaker because of his ability to bring people together,” Larson said back. “Is there any backlash in the caucus about — and again, these are folks from New York, [Jeffries] is from New York, right? Schumer’s from New York — that this could undercut some of them. If others in the party think that these folks are going to drag them too far to the left?” Pergram continued to press. HAKEEM JEFFRIES CONFRONTED ON ‘YOU’RE NEXT’ CHANTS FOLLOWING NY DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST VICTORIES “Hakeem Jeffries will be the Speaker of the House, plain and simple,” Larson shot back. “And why? Because he’s demonstrated his leadership and he’s held the most diverse caucus ever assembled in the history of the world together. And that’s what he’s great at, and that’s what it’ll continue to do.” Larson was also pressed on whether Democrats would distance themselves from candidates or groups accused of holding antisemitic views. “Will you stand by people if they have antisemitic views?” Pergram asked. “The people in New York chose the candidates they did,” Larson replied. When pressed again, Larson said, “Am I against antisemitism? If that’s your question,” making clear he opposed antisemitism while continuing to argue that voters had the right to choose their nominees. DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER SLAMS MAMDANI, SAYS PARTY SHOULD HAVE ‘ZERO PATIENCE’ FOR ‘INTIFADA’ RHETORIC The exchange continued as Larson was grilled on the DSA statement that he said called for eliminating the Senate and having the House choose the president and the Supreme Court. “That’s the DSA,” Larson said. “The people of New York decide who their elected officials are. The people of Connecticut decide who their elected officials are.” Asked whether that sounded radical, Larson said, “A lot of people sound radical to me. Radical on the left. Radical on the right. What’s your point?” “Should you stand out and argue against saying, ‘Hey, we shouldn’t have people, you know, throw out the Senate. Eliminate the Senate? That’s not very American,” Pergram proposed back. “I don’t think that’s very American either,” Larson said before he disengaged and took questions from another reporter.
Trump admin cracks down on estimated $10 billion in Obamacare fraud, boots millions from rolls
EXCLUSIVE: As part of an anti-fraud crackdown that spans the entirety of the federal government, the Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) uncovered millions of alleged fraudsters on the Affordable Care Act rolls, according to a report obtained by Fox News Digital. A Biden-era spike in Obamacare enrollments led to a probe into the veracity of millions of claims, a Trump administration official confirmed. At the beginning of Biden’s term, there were 10 million people enrolled in the government’s healthcare program, but that number drastically skyrocketed to 22 million at its 2024 peak. Now, the Trump administration has removed nearly three million of the fraudulent enrollees, with a planned 2.6 million left to go. The administration official said the program’s massive abuse equates to about $10 billion swindled from the American taxpayer between 2021 and 2024. FRAUD SCRUTINY CLOUDS SCHUMER’S OBAMACARE CREDIT PUSH AFTER HIS PENTAGON ‘LUXURY’ SPENDING JAB The Biden administration relaxed eligibility checks and income verification requirements while also allowing more year-round enrollment in the program, according to the report. Furthermore, the report claims that fraudsters intentionally misstated their income levels in order to qualify and that insurance brokers signed people up for Obamacare without their knowledge, which are called “phantom enrollments.” Some people also received subsidies they were not eligible for. “By our estimate, improper, phantom, and fraudulent enrollment peaked at 5.6 million people in 2025,” the report says. “We estimate 2.6 million improper and phantom enrollments remain, including over 1 million enrollments without a social security number.” The Trump administration has since restored income verification, ended some special enrollment opportunities, checked for duplicate Medicaid enrollment, investigated so-called “phantom” enrollments by scamming brokers and ended some special enrollment periods. Right now, about 19.2 million people remain on the Obamacare rolls. “Preserving the fiscal and programmatic integrity of the ACA Exchanges is key to safeguarding taxpayer-funded resources for those that truly need them,” the report says. “The federal government paying brokers to enroll individuals without their knowledge is not.” “The Trump Administration continues to aggressively root out fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption by promulgating new regulations to improve program integrity, investigating suspected improper or fraudulent enrollment, and taking action against agents and brokers committing fraud.” READ THE FULL REPORT BELOW. MOBILE USERS CLICK HERE:
Death of great-grandmother brutally killed on train triggers federal action
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy reaffirmed the Trump administration’s commitment to holding Atlanta’s Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) “accountable” following the horrific stabbing death of a great-grandmother, announcing Friday that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is actively scrutinizing the transit system’s safety and security plans. In an X post Friday, Duffy said the FTA has launched a comprehensive review of MARTA’s security spending and safety protocols, along with risks to riders and workers. He noted that while MARTA met the government’s initial deadline for a response and assured the administration they are taking action, the FTA “won’t stop there.” ATLANTA TRAIN STABBING SUSPECT FACES NEW CHARGE AS FEDS WEIGH DEATH PENALTY IN GREAT-GRANDMOTHER’S KILLING “We are examining every aspect of their plan to verify if substantive improvements are being made,” Duffy wrote in the post. “This includes pouring over hundreds of pages of documents and conducting on-site visits to see the situation on the ground. We will continue to work to secure Atlanta’s system for passengers and transit workers alike.” The intense federal review into MARTA was launched after the unprovoked killing of 66-year-old Margaret Swan. Swan was riding a northbound MARTA train near the Oakland City Station on May 30 when John Elijah Matthews, 25, allegedly approached her, reached into his pocket and opened a folding knife. DISTURBING CONTENT WARNING: ILLEGAL ACCUSED OF KILLING GEORGIA GRANDMOTHER FACES NEW DISTURBING CHARGES According to prosecutors and a Fulton County arrest warrant, Matthews sliced Swan’s throat and subsequently stabbed her approximately 18 to 20 times in the neck and chest as she screamed and attempted to defend herself. Matthews allegedly threw Swan to the floor before exiting the train at the Oakland City Station, where MARTA police arrested him holding a bloody knife. Despite emergency medical aid from first responders, Swan was pronounced dead at the scene. ‘TRAGEDY AVERTED’ AT ATLANTA AIRPORT AS POLICE ARREST MAN WITH AR-15 ALLEGEDLY THREATENING TO ‘SHOOT IT UP’ Witnesses confirmed there was no interaction between the two prior to the attack. Matthews is facing a local felony murder charge and has been federally charged with committing an act of violence using a dangerous weapon with intent to cause death on a mass transportation system. If convicted, he could face life in prison or the death penalty, a determination that will be made by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. DUFFY WARNS CHICAGO, BOSTON TRANSIT SYSTEMS COULD RISK FEDERAL SUPPORT AMID RISING VIOLENCE In an X post earlier this month, Duffy said the rates of assaults, robberies and rapes on MARTA’s trains are “MORE THAN THREE TIMES the national average.” The FTA’s audit aims to examine if MARTA has properly implemented its safety plans to protect passengers and how it has allocated federal funds intended for security improvements. MARTA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.