Author: NOVA Corp

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said in a Monday post on X that he filed for re-election.

“It’s official. I just left my campaign headquarters after filing for re-election. Thanks to all the family, friends and supporters that make this possible,” Graham wrote in the post.

President Donald Trump endorsed Graham for re-election last year.

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“Senator Lindsey Graham has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election — HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN. Everyone in South Carolina should help Lindsey have a BIG WIN next year!” Trump declared in part of a March 2025 Truth Social post.

Some on the political right pushed back against the president’s move. 

But others on the right have backed Graham for re-election. 

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson endorsed Graham last year, describing the senator as “a steadfast conservative leader for South Carolina and our nation.”

Graham has served in the U.S. Senate since early 2003.

The long-serving lawmaker is a staunch supporter of President Trump’s decision to launch the war against Iran in conjunction with Israel.

“Through Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury, @POTUS acted in the nick of time to prevent a nuclear armed Iranian regime. Past administrations failed to effectively confront this threat,” Graham said in part of a Monday post on X.

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There are some candidates seeking to challenge Graham in the South Carolina Republican U.S. Senate primary.

“Senator Lindsey Graham officially filed for re-election today with the South Carolina State Election Commission, formally launching his campaign to continue representing the people of South Carolina in the United States Senate,” a March 16 press release noted. 

“Following his filing, Senator Graham was joined by family, supporters, volunteers, and campaign staff at his campaign headquarters in Columbia, where he shared his vision for South Carolina’s future and outlined how he plans to continue delivering President Trump’s agenda for communities across the state,” the release added.

“Nobody is better prepared to help President Trump protect us from evil than I am. Nobody is better prepared to help him get his agenda through the Senate than I am. Nobody running is better prepared to help our state than I am,” Graham said, according to the release.

Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois is unopposed for his party’s nomination as he seeks a third term steering the nation’s sixth-most populous state.

But the billionaire governor and potential 2028 White House contender has plenty on the line as Illinois on Tuesday holds a slew of competitive primaries that are grabbing national attention.

The contest at the top of the list is the race in the blue-leaning state to succeed 81-year-old Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, who is retiring after nearly three decades in the Senate.

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Pritzker is backing Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, who is facing off against two other major candidates, Reps. Robin Kelly and Raja Krishnamoorthi, among a crowded field of contenders in the contentious and extremely expensive showdown.

If Kelly or Stratton were to win the primary and then the general election in November, they would become the second Black woman elected to the Senate in Illinois. And Krishnamoorthi, who was born in India and immigrated to the U.S. with his family as a child, would make history as the nation’s second Indian American in the Senate.

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Krishnamoorthi is the clear fundraising frontrunner in the race and has spent big bucks to run ads. And a super PAC funded by crypto titans has shelled out nearly $10 million to back Krishnamoorthi.

The governor, a member of the Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain and who has launched several venture capital and investment startups, has dipped into his large war chest to dish out millions to fund a super PAC supporting Stratton.

Pritzker’s support for Stratton is drawing pushback. Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, accused the governor of trying “to tip the scales” in the primary.

“A sitting governor shouldn’t be heavy-handing the race. Quite frankly, his behavior in this race won’t soon be forgotten by any of us,” Clarke emphasized in a statement.

Whoever wins the Democratic nomination will be considered the clear front-runner in the general election in a state where no GOP contender has won statewide in a dozen years.

Former GOP state party Chair Don Tracy and attorney Jeannie Evans are among four Republicans seeking their party’s nomination.

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But for Pritzker, the Senate primary is viewed as a test of his political clout in his home state as he likely gears up for a 2028 presidential run. The governor has seen his national profile skyrocket over the past year as he’s become a top Democrat leading the resistance to President Donald Trump‘s second-term agenda.

Four Republicans are seeking their party’s gubernatorial nomination, in hopes of facing off against Pritzker in the general election. Among the GOP challengers is former state Sen. Darren Bailey, who lost to Pritzker by more than 12 points in the 2022 governor’s race.

Also grabbing attention in Tuesday’s primaries are the Democratic showdowns in four blue-leaning House districts.

There are crowded and competitive races for Kelly and Krishnamoorthi’s seats, as well as for retiring longtime Democratic Reps. Danny Davis and Jan Schakowsky.

Polls in Illinois close at 7 p.m. Central time.

More than half a million ballots had been cast in early voting as of Friday.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., is drawing support from some of Congress’ most vocal China and Cuba hawks — and even some Democrats — to lead the Department of Homeland Security, though critics say the combative lawmaker lacks the experience and temperament for the post.

The nomination comes as the Department of Homeland Security sits at the center of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and broader homeland security agenda, placing whoever leads the agency in charge of border enforcement, FEMA disaster response and counterterrorism operations at a time of mounting geopolitical pressure.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who sits on the Homeland Security Committee and will question Mullin at Wednesday’s confirmation hearing, said his fellow Oklahoman is the “right man at the right time” to lead the agency.

“With the most secure border, now is the time to build on that progress and continue protecting our homeland,” Lankford said.

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“Unfortunately, in Oklahoma, we understand a thing or two about natural disasters, and FEMA is ready for reform,” Lankford added, expressing optimism Mullin will bring reform to the key DHS sub-agency. “Markwayne Mullin will be a strong leader in turning FEMA around.” 

Supporters point to Mullin’s hardline views on China and warnings about potential upheaval in Cuba as reasons he is well-suited to lead DHS at a volatile geopolitical moment. Critics, however, argue the combative senator lacks the judgment and experience needed for the role.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., the only Cuban-born member of Congress and one of Washington’s most vocal Cuba hawks, gave Mullin a ringing endorsement.

“I served with Sen. Markwayne Mullin in the U.S. House. Department of Homeland Security employees are currently working without pay due to the Democrats’ deranged partisan shutdown. I trust Markwayne will lead the Department with integrity and implement a much-needed course-correction to protect our citizens,” Gimenez told Fox News Digital.

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Gimenez said Mullin is rightly prepared to lead DHS amid a likely “dramatic transition in Cuba, my native homeland which has been under a brutal communist tyranny for over 67 years.”

President Donald Trump has also suggested the island’s regime could collapse soon, telling CNN it may happen “pretty soon.”

At least one Democratic senator on the Homeland Security Committee, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, indicated last week he would also support Mullin.

“I will vote [to confirm] him, of course, but I’m unsure how many Democrats [will]; I don’t know why,” he told WABC radio’s John Catsimatidis.

Fetterman said he agrees with Mullin’s view of border security and supports “rounding up and deporting criminals,” but not in the way Secretary Kristi Noem handled the controversial immigration crackdown in Minneapolis earlier this year.

“Why can’t you give someone a chance?” he said.

A Democrat colleague on the Homeland Security Committee who is a hard “no” is New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim.

Kim painted Mullin’s confirmation as a referendum on the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies and emergency management response writ-large.

“They don’t want to move forward on the types of reforms that are needed to be able to push forward on,” Kim told CNN. He added he believes the official truly running DHS is White House aide Stephen Miller.

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Committee member Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, by contrast, told Fox News Digital it is important to confirm Mullin as “Democrats shamelessly refuse to fund DHS.”

“President Trump is putting the safety and security of our citizens first by choosing a leader like Markwayne Mullin to be Secretary of Homeland Security. I’ve served alongside of him in the Senate, and there should be no delay in moving him out of committee to a quick confirmation,” Ernst said.

But not all lawmakers are convinced.

Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., a former U.S. Army intelligence officer who served in Iraq, blasted Mullin’s nomination, arguing the combative senator lacks the temperament to oversee homeland security operations.

Ryan also took issue with Mullin’s recent comments to Fox News describing the sensory experience of war despite never serving in uniform.

“Hey Sen. Mullin, what the actual f— are you talking about?” Ryan wrote on social media. “Did I miss the part of your bio where you served in combat or served in uniform at all? Call of Duty doesn’t count.”

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Ryan told Fox News Digital Mullin would be even “more sensationalist, more volatile, and more blindly loyal to the president” than outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

Asked about Ryan’s criticisms, Mullin’s office pointed to the senator’s comments on the “Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show,” where he said he did take part in “special assignments outside of [the Pentagon].”

“I never wore the uniform or the flag on my shoulder,” Mullin said. “I’ve been in the same area, but two totally different things.”

Mullin also received praise across the aisle from Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., who told Fox News Digital the Department of Homeland Security needs “new leadership” and said the Oklahoma Republican would bring a more bipartisan approach.

Gottheimer said he has worked with Mullin for years in Congress and, while they may not agree on everything, “he’s someone you can count on to keep his word and work collaboratively to get things done.”

Mullin also drew support from figures in his home state, including former Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, who said the senator has proven to be a strong partner for state officials — a key component of how the Department of Homeland Security operates.

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Walters said he worked closely with Mullin while investigating Chinese influence in Oklahoma schools tied to Confucius Classrooms, an issue he argued shows homeland security concerns extend beyond immigration.

“Senator Mullin was a great partner in assisting us with a lot of what we were looking at,” Walters said in an interview, adding that Mullin also helped Oklahoma schools through more domestic concerns as well, particularly during the Biden administration and COVID.

“He is a true believer in the American people and the America First agenda.”

The White House also defended the nomination, with spokeswoman Abigail Jackson telling Fox News Digital that Mullin is “perfectly suited” to lead DHS and work closely with the president.

“Whether it be protecting the homeland from bad actors, stopping dangerous drugs from flowing into American communities, or removing the worst-of-the-worst criminal illegal aliens, Senator Mullin will work tirelessly to implement the President’s agenda,” Jackson said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s push to revive expired enhanced Obamacare tax credits by contrasting their cost with Pentagon spending is colliding with fresh scrutiny of the Affordable Care Act, as policy experts warn the program is riddled with improper enrollments, fraud vulnerabilities and rising taxpayer costs.

“We need to reform the ACA, not throw more taxpayer money at it,” Brian Blase, president of the health policy research group Paragon Health Institute, said. He added that “government subsidies don’t make the coverage more affordable. They make it more expensive overall because you have to consider the taxpayer amount.”

Blase spoke to Fox News Digital this month after Schumer made a viral swipe at Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth for spending $93.4 billion in the final month of the last fiscal year, including millions of dollars in luxury foods, such as king crab, for the troops. 

The New York Democrat seized on the Pentagon spending figure to make a political point that the same amount could cover extending enhanced ACA tax credits for three years, even though defense funds are not directly fungible with Obamacare subsidies.

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“Hegseth spent $93 billion in one month – roughly the cost of extending the ACA tax credits for THREE YEARS.     But instead of lowering American’s healthcare costs, Hegseth used millions of taxpayer dollars on fruit baskets, Herman Miller recliners, ice cream machines, Alaskan King Crabs, and a Steinway & Sons grand piano,” Schumer posted to X last week. 

Blase argued that the ACA is fraught with improper and “phantom” enrollees on top of proven fraud for which the Department of Justice has secured convictions, and that more funding was not the answer. The ACA’s premium subsidies are financed by the federal government, and advance payments of those tax credits are made on eligible enrollees’ behalf directly to insurers to reduce monthly premiums. 

A lot of Democrats have “conflated” the issue of extending enhanced ACA subsidies, but the “original Obamacare subsidies remain in place, and they are very generous,” Blase said, noting that those original subsidies are permanent and in place by statute and that the enhanced subsidies are merely a costly bonus.

The enhanced subsidies, introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, made some marketplace plans free for certain low-income enrollees. Paragon Health estimated that more than 6.4 million enrollees may have reported incomes low enough to qualify even though many likely earned more.

“That’s significant improper enrollment,” Blase said.

About 23 million people enrolled in healthcare plans in the ACA marketplace for 2026, but an estimated 3 to 4 million enrollees are likely “phantom enrollees,” Paragon Health found, describing them as those who are either fictitious or do not know they are enrolled in a plan. Blase said “unscrupulous” brokers and agents, who are incentivized to enroll people in healthcare plans, can enroll them without their consent.

Using data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last year, Paragon Health found that from 2021 to 2024, a growing number of ACA enrollees never used their health plans. In 2024, 35% never used their coverage.

Blase said that figure was suspicious, noting that “in a normal health insurance market, there’s about 15% of people that don’t use their health insurance in a given year.”

Democrats and Republicans were locked in a standoff last year over extending the ACA subsidies, a fight that helped fuel a six-week government shutdown. Democrats have cited sharp rises in premium costs for individuals as they continue to push to extend the credits. 

Blase said that even without the enrollment problems, the program is massively burdensome to taxpayers because insurers perpetually raise their premium costs.

“For the typical enrollee, the government is paying 80% of the premium. For lower income enrollees, the government is paying more than the premium,” Blase said, adding that the “taxpayer share of the premium continues to grow on autopilot.”

He added that the average person has health insurance through their employer.

“So they’re actually harmed because they get no relief, and they have to pay higher taxes so we can send money directly to health insurance companies, and the money that we send directly to health insurance companies just leads them to increase premiums, and it just increases their profits,” Blase said.

On top of improper enrollment and the broader taxpayer burden, the DOJ has ramped up its efforts to combat fraud in the ACA marketplace in recent years and focused on unauthorized enrollment schemes.

DOJ prosecutors secured high-profile 20-year prison sentences for two insurance executives in February after they were convicted by a jury of orchestrating a $233 million ACA fraud scheme by enrolling vulnerable people without their knowledge.

A review by the Government Accountability Office found fraud risks persist in the ACA’s advance tax credit program. In undercover testing for 2025, the ACA marketplace approved coverage for most of GAO’s made-up applicants, and the watchdog found that 18 of 20 fictitious enrollees remained actively covered as of September 2025 and received more than $10,000 a month in subsidies. The report also flagged broader vulnerabilities, including tens of thousands of Social Security numbers used for multiple enrollments.

Schumer’s jab to reallocate the Pentagon’s end-of-year spending comes as defense spending is historically modest compared to past decades, representing a small fraction of the United States’ gross domestic product at 3.7%, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Extending the controversial ACA tax credits would also come as the growing national debt is set to eclipse about $39 trillion this month. 

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White House spokesman Kush Desai called Schumer’s remarks a “vapid PR stunt” in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“If Chuck Schumer really cared about healthcare affordability, he would drop the vapid PR stunts and spend his time working with the Administration and Republicans to pass President Trump’s Great Healthcare Plan to lower premiums and slash drug prices,” Desai said.

Schumer’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Blase’s remarks.

Social media users swiftly panned Schumer for the X post last week, accusing him of cherry-picking a politically convenient moment to care about spending, lambasting him for not supporting high-quality meals for military members and pointing out that Schumer was silent when the Biden administration had similar expenses. 

The Pentagon’s September costs nearly mirrored the $79 billion Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spent in September 2024. Spending at the end of the fiscal year has been notoriously high across administrations as agencies face pressure to “use it or lose it” to justify the next year’s budget.

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After uncovering millions of dollars in misuse of federal funds in Minnesota, the Trump administration also established a new National Fraud Enforcement Division within the DOJ this year as part of a “whole-of-government” crackdown on welfare fraud nationwide. This division is set to target Minnesota’s and other states’ social service programs in search of fraud.

Senate Republicans are gearing up for a floor fight this week over doomed Trump-backed voter ID legislation.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is expected to launch the GOP’s floor strategy for the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act on Tuesday afternoon.

It won’t be done through the talking filibuster, despite pressure from President Donald Trump and a fervent ecosystem of conservative influencers to do so. That’s because there is not enough support among Republicans to follow through with the move.

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“It’s about the math,” Thune said. “And I’m, for better or worse, the one who has to be a clear-eyed realist about what we can achieve here. And so we’ll continue to convey that. And I think that we’re going to have the fight on the floor. We’re going to vote on this.”

Republicans’ plan is to put Senate Democrats on record for voting down the bill. And Senate Democrats are primed to oblige. 

“Democrats will not let Donald Trump ram this bill through the Senate. Not this week, not ever,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on a call with reporters over the weekend. “And Democrats are going to make sure the American people have their chance to deliver their verdict at the elections this fall.”

Part of the issue among Republicans, outside the staggering amount of floor time it would take up, is that the GOP isn’t unified to block Democratic amendments that could drastically alter the bill if they went the route of the talking filibuster.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who is one of the key voices pushing for the SAVE America Act in the Senate, acknowledged that Republicans “don’t have the votes for the talking filibuster right now.”

“We just got to, you know, we got to look at every way we can try to pass it,” Scott said.

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Still, the first procedural step on Tuesday will take a simple majority but may still need an assist from Vice President JD Vance to break a tie.

And throughout the process, which could stretch over several days, there will be a handful of key lawmakers to watch in both chambers.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., declared last week that he wouldn’t support the SAVE America Act and that he planned to “do everything I can to prevent it from even moving forward.” 

How that could play out during the lengthy floor battle remains to be seen.

Still, Tillis’ objection to the bill is notable, given Republicans’ thin margin for error in the upper chamber.

He would rather vote on legislation that incentivized states to adopt voter ID and warned that the additional changes to the bill Trump wanted, like barring men in women’s sports or halting mail-in ballots with limited exceptions, “doesn’t sound like we’re letting the people at the tip of the spear — that’s these people running for re-election — define what we should be voting on next week.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, came out early against the SAVE America Act and contended that “one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C., seldom work in places like Alaska.”

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“Election Day is fast approaching,” Murkowski said in February. “Imposing new federal requirements now, when states are deep into their preparations, would negatively impact election integrity by forcing election officials to scramble to adhere to new policies, likely without the necessary resources.”

Whether she’ll vote to allow Republicans to open debate on the bill and march forward with their slew of amendments is still an open question. Fox News Digital did not immediately hear back from her office for comment.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who often bucks his party on key votes in the Senate, likes the idea of voter ID but isn’t on board with some of the changes demanded by Trump.

Fetterman said on “Mornings with Maria” that the SAVE America Act was “needlessly complicated,” particularly Trump’s request to include a sweeping ban on mail-in ballots with limited exceptions.

“I have said it’s not Jim Crow, and it’s not extreme things, but mail-in voting is absolutely secure,” Fetterman said. “Some of the best examples in the country are red states like Florida and Ohio.”

Meanwhile, in the House, a rebellion is brewing among Thune’s fellow Republicans.

Several GOP lawmakers there are threatening to vote against any legislation that comes out of the Senate until the SAVE America Act is passed, which, given the circumstances, could lead to a lengthy standoff.

Many of those threats first bubbled up earlier this month on a House GOP lawmaker-only call, following the U.S. and Israel’s joint strikes on Iran.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., was among those pushing the House to reject any bills from the Senate until the measure was taken up, telling Speaker Mike Johnson, according to multiple sources on the call, “If we don’t get this done, or at least show that we’ve got some backbone, we’re done. The midterms are over.”

The Trump Department of Homeland Security has requested that Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger and officials in immigrant-friendly Fairfax County not release an adult illegal alien charged with groping several high school girls on school grounds.

Illegal alien Israel Flores Ortiz, 19, is facing nine counts of assault and battery for groping girls at a Fairfax County high school he was attending. Victims and parents have alleged that Ortiz approached about 12 girls from behind in crowded hallways, grabbed them between the legs and groped their private areas, according to 7News.

The outlet reported that parents said the incidents have occurred throughout the school year. Ortiz attends the school and is in the eleventh grade, per 7News.

According to DHS, Ortiz illegally entered the U.S. in 2024 and was released into the country by the Biden administration.

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He is currently being held without bond in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, which is operated by the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, led by Sheriff Stacey Kincaid. 

According to the sheriff’s office website, the office does not honor ICE administrative detainers — requests to hold inmates — unless the detainer is accompanied by a criminal judicial order.

Further, as governor, Spanberger has rolled back state policies mandating cooperation with ICE. Spanberger has said that “when state and local law enforcement are pulled away from upholding our Virginia laws to do the job of federal agents, it weakens their ability to deepen trust — contributing to a culture of fear and distrust that makes it harder for officers to do their jobs.” 

In a later executive order, Spanberger added that Virginia law enforcement efforts “focus on upholding the rule of law, investigating and stopping criminal conduct, and protecting public safety, not the administrative enforcement of civil status.”

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In a Monday statement, DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said that the agency is “calling on Fairfax County sanctuary politicians to NOT release this predator from jail back into our communities to assault more teenage women.”

Bis slammed Spanberger for ending former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s policy of cooperation with ICE, saying it is “siding with criminal illegal aliens over American citizens.”

“This 19-year-old criminal illegal alien should NOT have been attending a Virginia high school and allowed to prey on innocent teenage girls,” Bis said, adding, “This is yet another example of the Biden Administration’s failed open border policies.”

In response, Allyson Conroy, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, told Fox News Digital that Ortiz currently “remains in the custody of the Sheriff’s Office in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.” 

Conroy said that “while it is still too early in the process to know the outcome of his case, ICE has been notified of Ortiz’s location at the ADC” and “they are able to execute their detainer by responding to the ADC and taking Ortiz into custody if and when he is ordered released.”

Conroy emphasized that the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office “does not obstruct or prevent ICE from acting on their civil detainers.”

Meanwhile, Stephanie Lundquist-Arora, a mother of three students in the Fairfax County School System, told Fox News that “this entire horrifying situation is the direct consequence of policy with really dysfunctional priorities,” which she said are attempting to “shield adult illegal immigrants at the expense of children’s safety, even in their public schools.”

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Lundquist-Arora claimed officials at the high school waited two weeks to inform parents and that the move only came after parental pressure.

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In an emailed statement, Fairfax County Public Schools said that while it is “unable to comment on specifics due to federal and state privacy laws, we prioritize student and staff safety and we fully investigate any time someone shares that an incident has occurred at school, or that they do not feel safe at school.”

The public school system added that it is “grateful to our law enforcement partners who continue to work swiftly and thoroughly when there are safety concerns in our schools” and that the “safety of all FCPS students and staff remains a top priority.”

Spanberger’s office and the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

A bipartisan group of Minnesota lawmakers has proposed a bill seeking to ban warrants allowing law enforcement to gather data revealing which cellphones and other devices that were near a crime scene at a specific time.

Democrat state Sen. Erin Maye Quade introduced a Senate bill to ban those warrants in most cases, with Sens. Omar Fateh, also a Democrat, and Eric Lucero, a Republican, joining as original sponsors.

The bill would also allow anyone whose information was obtained during the search to sue law enforcement.

Lawmakers argue the warrants should be prohibited except in emergency situations. They said reverse location warrants, sometimes called “geofence” or “dragnet” warrants, are too broad and violate Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

YOUR PHONE IS NOW A CRIME SCENE IN YOUR POCKET

Critics of the warrants say authorities can gather data on thousands of people near a particular area, including those who attended an event that could be of interest to law enforcement, such as a protest.

“We do believe that we have to balance our constitutional rights and public safety so that we’re not essentially sending law enforcement in to search for a needle in a haystack by exponentially increasing the size of the haystack,” Maye Quade said during a hearing on March 9.

Law enforcement groups, including the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, contend that the bill is too broad, although both have suggested a willingness to negotiate with lawmakers about data privacy concerns.

“We recognize and share the Legislature’s commitment to protecting individual privacy and civil liberties. However, as drafted, this bill would impose an outright prohibition on investigative tools that are lawful, court-supervised, and, in many cases, critical to solving serious crimes and protecting public safety,” the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association said in a letter to lawmakers.

Senate lawmakers first discussed the bill in the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee on March 9. House lawmakers discussed a companion bill, originally proposed by Rep. Sandra Feist, a Democrat, in the Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee on Feb. 24.

This comes amid an ongoing case at the national level, in which the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in April on the constitutionality of reverse location warrants.

Between 2018 and 2020, the number of reverse location warrants in Minnesota jumped from 22 to 173.

In 2023, Google said it would stop storing location data in a way that would make it susceptible to reverse location warrant requests. By July of last year, the company said all location history data previously stored on its servers had been wiped or moved to on-device storage.

But groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation have raised concerns about whether that change is enough.

The warrants appear to still be used in Minnesota, as law enforcement groups argue they play a key role in solving investigations.

Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said a ban on those warrants “would have a major detrimental effect on public safety in Minnesota.”

“There are numerous examples of case investigations where reverse location data has saved lives, even just recently,” Evans said in a letter to lawmakers, although he added that he supports “reasonable safeguards for data privacy protections” and would be “more than willing to collaborate on possible solutions to implement more safeguards while still preserving such an important technological tool.”

As written, the Senate bill would prohibit warrants to collect information on devices that searched for a specific keyword, phrase or website. It would also ban similar collection of GPS coordinates, cell tower and Wi-Fi connectivity data.

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Lucero said during the March 9 hearing that the bill should not be viewed as anti-law enforcement, arguing it promotes pro-constitutional principles.

“We simply want to make sure that those time-tested principles are protected in the new digital realm,” Lucero said.

Lucero referenced the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures unless a warrant specifies a particular place and the person or thing to be seized.

“Reverse search warrants are the antithesis of that,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The man who worked security for Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, but was killed in a standoff with SWAT last week was accused of impersonating a police officer and other offenses, although the congresswoman is defending him, saying his criminal history does not include any violent offenses.

The suspect, who was identified as Diamon-Mazairre Robinson, 39, was shot and killed by Dallas Police SWAT officers on Wednesday. He had barricaded himself inside a vehicle in the garage of a children’s hospital after Dallas Police officers tracked him while investigating an active warrant.

Police deployed tear gas to force him out before the suspect exited the vehicle and pointed a gun at officers, leading officers to shoot him. The suspect did not fire his gun, and no officers were injured.

Dash camera footage of the incident at Children’s Medical Center Dallas was released on Monday.

JASMINE CROCKETT’S ALLEGED SECURITY GUARD KILLED IN STANDOFF WITH DALLAS SWAT TEAM: REPORTS

He was wanted for impersonating a law enforcement officer and had claimed to be one while recruiting for his business that placed off-duty officers in security jobs.

Robinson was driving a replica undercover car with stolen U.S. government plates, often wore fake police uniforms pretending he was a federal agent and created a fraudulent business where he used fake identifying information to hire legitimate police officers for off-duty jobs. Dallas Police also said 11 firearms were recovered during their investigation, including the handgun he was holding during the shooting, which was reported stolen. 

He was also not using his real name, going by the alias “Mike King.”

“The agencies that he reported to work for do not exist. So dignitaries, basically special dignitary police, that agency does not exist within the federal government. So that’s who he portrayed to be. There was no actual federal agency that he worked for that existed. He was very good at hiding his true identity … He had been living like this for many years,” Dallas Deputy Police Chief William Griffith said on Monday.

Robinson has a lengthy criminal history, with arrests going back as far as 2010. He has been charged with offenses such as theft and violating probation.

Crockett came to the defense of her former security guard, releasing a statement on Monday saying her office was unable to find any violent offenses in his “limited criminal history.”

“We are saddened and shocked by some of the concerning revelations. Our team followed all protocols outlined by the House to contract additional security. We were approved to use this vendor who also provided security services for additional entities in the local community and worked closely with law enforcement agencies including Capitol Police,” she said in the statement.

The congresswoman said, “the fact that an individual was able to somehow circumvent the vetting processes for something as sensitive as security for members of Congress highlights the loopholes and shortcomings in many of our systems.”

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“This is incredibly alarming, especially for those members who receive high volumes of credible and sophisticated death threats,” she said. “This situation reiterates the need for Capitol Police to provide security for members of Congress, especially under this administration’s new normal of inciting attacks on those who dare to speak out. We are fortunate that this is someone who used those loopholes without malice. Furthermore, after an initial review of the limited criminal history of Diamon Mazairre Robinson in Dallas County, we’ve been unable to locate any violent offenses.”

The progressive lawmaker added that “there was never any reason to suspect that he wasn’t who he held himself out to be,” saying he never endangered her team, worked diligently, coordinated with local law enforcement and maintained positive relationships throughout the community.”

“What we’re now learning about his past doesn’t fit the person we came to know as Mike King,” she wrote. “His death evokes a range of emotions. Our hearts grieve the loss of someone we knew and the lost good that could have come from his redemption.”

President Donald Trump’s former defense lawyer received swift backing from conservative legal figures online after facing pushback at a recent American Bar Association (ABA) conference for praising the Trump Department of Justice.

Attorney John Lauro, who defended Trump in special counsel Jack Smith’s 2020 election case, said the DOJ was “in a better place” under Trump, causing fellow panelists and audience members to shudder, according to a Bloomberg Law report of the event. 

Lauro told Fox News Digital in a brief phone call on Monday that the event “was a highly triggered environment.”

“I called out the ABA and other elite legal organizations for not condemning the prior administration in holding political sham trials and show trials, particularly the one directed at President Trump, where the Biden administration wanted to put him on trial in 90 days, which is shorter than it takes for a traffic ticket to get worked through in D.C.,” Lauro said.

LABOR DEPARTMENT ORDERS LAWYERS TO CUT TIES WITH ABA, SLAMS GROUP AS ‘RADICAL’ ACTIVIST FORCE

The tense panel put a spotlight on the Trump administration’s ongoing fight with the ABA as it spurred DOJ officials and lawyers to voice their disdain for the organization.

“The ABA is trash and I’m proud to never have been a member,” Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon said. “Its stunt trashing Judge [Robert] Bork did it for me.”

“As if we needed anymore proof of the absolute disgrace that is the ABA,” wrote Associate Deputy Attorney General Diego Pestana. “John Lauro, one of the best trial attorneys in the country and patriot, treated terribly for simply daring to voice a view contrary to the liberal white collar bar.”

Lauro said during the panel, held at a conference in San Diego, that he had “the unique experience of representing a political figure who was probably more abused by the criminal justice system in America than any other political figure ever.”

“Everything that has gone on in the current administration must be looked at from the eyes of a man who was victimized by the criminal justice system,” Lauro said.

Among those rallying behind Lauro was also Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan, who said the ABA “represents a hyperpartisan faction.”

“That’s fine! But they should play no role in law school accreditation (or judicial selection),” Wessan said.

Former DOJ official Jeff Clark, an un-indicted co-conspirator in the 2020 election case, called Lauro “a bold man of principle.”

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Another social media user, an anonymous Georgia-based legal commentator, said that while he disagreed with Lauro’s comments, he was “jealous” that Lauro “had the opportunity to tell a room of the type of haughty, effete defense lawyers who hang around at ABA conferences to go f— themselves. He should have taken it.”

Lauro’s remarks had elicited pushback from participants. Nancy Gertner, a Harvard University law professor and retired federal judge, responded that any issues surrounding Trump’s prosecutions did not “justify the fracture of American democracy.”

Former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner said: “I wanted to thank Mr. Lauro for admitting the emperor has no clothes. The rule of law is dead because the people in this room and the Department of Justice pissed off President Trump.”

“I can’t believe that you think that that’s normal or good that one person can dictate who the Department of Justice investigates and indicts,” lawyer and panel moderator Sandy Weinberg said.

Republicans have long argued the ABA promotes Democrat-aligned viewpoints and that its institutional presence in the legal world is a disadvantage to conservatives. The ABA’s website showcases work that includes support for “LGBTQ+” initiatives, abortion access, stricter gun control measures, and diversity, equity and inclusion.

The ABA has also taken a stance against Trump, condemning what its president described as the administration’s “wide-scale affronts to the rule of law.”

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TELLS AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION IT WILL NO LONGER COMPLY WITH RATINGS FOR JUDICIAL NOMINEES

The ABA has for decades wielded enormous power, weighing in on nominations of federal judges, engaging in litigation and helping firms across the legal industry with recruitment. One arm of the ABA also handles law school accreditation.

Under Trump, several departments and agencies, including the DOJ and Department of Labor, have told political appointees they cannot affiliate with the ABA in their official capacity.

The DOJ, meanwhile, moved to terminate more than $3 million in federal grants to ABA programs, though a judge ruled the move was unconstitutional. Attorney General Pam Bondi told the ABA last year that the DOJ would not give advanced notice to the organization about judicial nominees, a reversal of a decades-long practice of allowing the organization to rate the nominees before they advance in the Senate.

Fox News Digital reached out to the ABA for comment.

President Donald Trump on Monday questioned California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s fitness for higher office, citing his learning disability. 

Trump was speaking with reporters in the Oval Office when he talked about requiring identification to vote in elections and the resistance from Newsom and other Democratic elected officials. 

“That’s how crazy it’s gotten with a low IQ person, you know, because Gavin Newsom has admitted…that he has learning disabilities,” Trump said. “Honestly, I’m all for people with learning disabilities. But not for my president…I think a president should not have learning disabilities.”

GAVIN NEWSOM SPOX TELLS REPORTER ‘F— OFF’ WHEN ASKED FOR RECORDS OF HIS DYSLEXIA DIAGNOSIS

“I know it’s highly controversial to say such a horrible thing,” he added. “Gavin Newsom admitted that he has learning disabilities, dyslexia. Everything about him is dumb.”

Newsom, who is widely believed to have White House ambitions, has spoken about his dyslexia, a neurologically-based learning disability that makes it difficult to read, according to the International Dyslexia Association. 

“You’ve never seen me read a speech, because I cannot read a speech,” Newsom said in Atlanta last month while promoting his memoir: “Young Man in a Hurry.” “I haven’t overcome dyslexia. I’m living with it.”

Trump also criticized Newsom for his remarks at that same Atlanta event.

“I’m not, you know, I’m not trying to impress you, I’m just trying to impress upon you, I’m like you. I’m no better than you,” Newsom told Mayor Andre Dickens at a book tour event.

NEWSOM RIPPED FOR ‘RACIST’ VIRAL CLIP TELLING BLACK MAYOR ‘I’M LIKE YOU’ BEFORE TOUTING POOR SAT SCORE

“You know, I’m a 960 SAT guy. And, you know, and I’m not trying to offend anyone, you know, ‘trying to act all there if you got 940,’” he continued. “Literally a 960 SAT guy, you’ve never seen me read a speech. Because I cannot read a speech. Maybe the wrong business to be in.”

Republicans criticized the governor for allegedly talking down to a mostly Black audience. 

“So now, on top of everything else, I call him a racist because it happened to be a black audience,” Trump said Monday. “I will tell you this, I think it was the worst interview I’ve ever seen of any human being in my life.”

At the time, Newsom’s office defended his comments in a previous statement to Fox News Digital.

“First MAGA mocked his dyslexia and now they’re calling him racist for talking about his low SAT scores. This is MAGA-manufactured outrage,” Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon said. 

“The Governor has said this publicly for years — including with Charlie Kirk and dozens of other audiences. The same people who excused or ignored Trump’s racist ape video can go f— themselves.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom’s office.