Author: NOVA Corp

The Supreme Court may have done more Monday than give President Donald Trump new firing power — it may have opened the door to a far broader challenge to the modern administrative state, the sprawling network of federal agencies that many conservatives have long dubbed the “deep state.”

In a 6-3 decision, the Court ruled Trump could lawfully remove Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, overturning much of the nearly 90-year-old Humphrey’s Executor precedent that had protected independent agency officials from at-will dismissal.

While Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion held that the FTC’s leaders must remain accountable to the president because the agency exercises executive power, Gorsuch argued the ruling raises a broader constitutional question over whether Congress can continue allowing executive agencies to exercise sweeping legislative and judicial powers.

“The fourth branch’s powers still exist; they have just been reassigned to the President,” Gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion.

SCOTUS TAKES UP TRUMP’S BID TO FIRE FTC COMMISSIONER AT WILL — A SHOWDOWN THAT COULD TOPPLE 90-YEAR PRECEDENT

That observation could become the next major front in the Supreme Court’s ongoing effort to reshape the modern administrative state.

For decades, independent agencies such as the FTC, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Communications Commission and National Labor Relations Board have combined multiple governmental functions under one roof. They investigate alleged violations, write regulations carrying the force of law and adjudicate enforcement actions through administrative proceedings.

With Humphrey’s Executor now overruled, those agencies remain intact, but their leadership is subject to presidential control if they exercise executive power. Gorsuch questioned whether Congress can continue delegating broad legislative and judicial authority to agencies that are now unmistakably under presidential supervision.

“The power to write new regulatory crimes still exists,” Gorsuch wrote. “The ability to judge disputes in-house remains, but now the house is white.”

Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, said Gorsuch’s concurrence points toward the next phase of litigation.

CONGRESS EXPANDED THE EXECUTIVE—ONLY FOR TRUMP TO QUASH MUCH OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE

“I think the next step in this type of litigation won’t be looking at firings per se, but really trying to make sure all of these administrative agencies actually fall into one of our constitutional buckets,” Severino said. “Are they executive agencies or are they legislative or are they judicial? You can’t straddle all of this.”

She said that while Monday’s ruling restored presidential control over executive agencies, it did not resolve whether those same agencies can continue exercising quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial powers that Congress has delegated over decades.

“There still remains to be more work going back and taking out of these agencies that now are properly under executive control the activities that really aren’t fundamentally executive in nature,” Severino said.

Haley Proctor, a constitutional law professor at Notre Dame Law School, similarly described Gorsuch’s opinion as a roadmap for future legal challenges.

LEGAL CHALLENGES ON ADMINISTRATIVE REACH EXPECTED IN TRUMP’S DEREGULATORY SCHEME, EXPERTS SAY

“I do think what Justice Gorsuch is pointing out is that this is the first step toward rethinking the way in which the administrative state is empowered and structured,” Proctor said.

Rather than simply expanding presidential authority, Proctor said the concurrence raises the possibility that Congress may ultimately have to reclaim powers it has delegated to agencies or assign certain responsibilities back to Article III courts.

“If we’re concerned about the amount of power that the Federal Trade Commission has, then the next step would be to reconsider giving that power to the Federal Trade Commission because some of the decisions that it’s making could be made by Congress instead and some of the decisions that it’s making could be made by the courts,” she said.

The majority opinion did not resolve those questions. Instead, Roberts limited the Court’s holding to presidential removal authority, concluding that the FTC “unquestionably exercises executive power” and therefore its commissioners must remain accountable to the president.

The Court stopped short of deciding how much power Congress can give executive agencies to make rules or resolve disputes, saying questions involving agencies such as the Federal Reserve will have to wait.

But Gorsuch suggested future cases could go much further, arguing the Constitution provides the tools to dismantle much of the modern administrative state. He pointed to several constitutional doctrines that could be used to sharply limit the power of independent federal agencies and return lawmaking authority to Congress and judicial power to the courts.

“From here, the only sure path is to finish the journey we start today and restore legislative and judicial powers to where they belong: in Congress and the courts,” Gorsuch wrote.

A poll released this week, in addition to showing a dead heat in the Maine Senate race, suggests that Democratic candidate Graham Platner’s working-class bona fides as an oyster farmer — which he has made a central part of his campaign — aren’t resonating.

Platner currently trails incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins by 21 points, 37% to 58%, with registered voters who do not hold a four-year college degree, according to a New York Times/Portland Press Herald/Siena poll released on Monday.  

Additionally, the poll shows Platner up 37 points with White college-educated voters but trailing Collins by 23 points with White non-college-educated voters. 

In the September 2020 New York Times/Siena poll, Collins led Democrat Sara Gideon by just 48%-45% with White non-college-educated voters, a 20-point swing from six years ago in a race Collins won by about nine points statewide.

PLATNER’S ANTI-CORPORATE CRUSADE HITS AWKWARD SNAG AS RECEIPTS TELL ANOTHER STORY

Platner’s sagging support from those without a college degree has prompted some on social media to suggest his messaging to working-class voters as an oyster farmer from rural Maine is falling flat, despite his repeated pledges to fight against “corporate greed” and the billionaire “oligarchy.”

Ryan Girdusky, founder of the 1776 Project PAC, posted on X that “Graham is what a college educated person thinks a working-class person is supposed to act like and working-class people can see he’s a fraud.”

“Blue collar voters can tell he’s not one of them,” journalist Melissa Braunstein posted on X.

EXCLUSIVE: COLLINS PITS RECORD BUILT IN MAINE POTATO FIELDS AGAINST PLATNER’S ‘ANGRY RHETORIC’

Platner has faced criticism during his campaign for claims about his background as he has long identified himself as an oyster farmer and harbor master, giving a blue-collar tinge to his left-wing campaign, at the same time financial disclosures show that he brings in relatively little money from oyster farming and reports have suggested that Platner receives the majority of his income through veteran’s disability payments, Fox News Digital previously reported.

In his pitch to working-class voters, Platner has also had to overcome his own wealthy background that resulted in him attending private schools, including The Hotchkiss School, an exclusive $75,000-a-year boarding school in Lakeville, Connecticut.

“Mainers know authenticity, and they can spot a pretender from a mile away,” Maine Republican state Rep. Laurel Libby told Fox News Digital. “Maine voters aren’t looking for a performance, they’re looking for someone who understands their lives and will fight for them — that has always been Susan Collins.”

THE GROWING LIST OF CONTROVERSIES THREATENING DEMOCRAT GRAHAM PLATNER’S MAINE SENATE BID

The various controversies surrounding Platner, including infidelity, physical abuse of an ex-girlfriend, a Nazi-linked tattoo, disparaging comments about the military and referring to himself as a “communist,” appear to have hurt him with voters, as only 44% said he has “good character” while 47% said he is “too extreme” for the state.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign for comment. 

Still, despite the questions about his background and his controversial statements, Platner’s pitch to voters as a combat veteran who will push back against Trump and the establishment of both parties has helped him to a two-point lead over Collins, according to the New York Times poll, in a race that could decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate in November.

Fifty-four percent of respondents in the poll said they’d like to see the Democrats win back the Senate majority in the midterms, five points higher than the 49% who are supporting Platner. And Collins is capturing 10% of voters who prefer the Democrats control the Senate.

Warning signs for Collins in the poll include a majority that said they thought the senator would be too supportive of Trump and even some of her own supporters worry that the 73-year-old Collins is too old to be an effective senator.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

House Republican leaders are making another bid to salvage the stalled SAVE America Act after a conservative revolt froze floor action last week, but GOP lawmakers behind the blockade are withholding support for the plan.

The House Rules Committee on Monday approved a rule in an 8-4 vote that would merge an annual defense policy bill with the Trump-backed election measure in a rare procedural maneuver before sending the package to the Senate. 

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the panel who was among the conservatives last week that backed the SAVE-related floor blockade, did not vote. 

Meanwhile, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla. — the leader of the lower chamber’s SAVE protest — argued the procedural tactic would fail to force Senate action, instead calling for a SAVE amendment to be added to the defense bill.

‘AS LONG AS IT TAKES’: TRUMP ALLIES FREEZE HOUSE FLOOR TO PRESSURE SENATE ON VOTER ID BILL

“The only way to ensure the Senate passes this is to make sure it’s in the bill text of the NDAA, meaning that my amendment(s) must be made an order,” the Florida Republican wrote on X. “I’m not trying to be difficult, but this is what 80% of Americans want and what we promised the American people, so I stand by my decision.” 

Johnson’s proposal comes after the conservative holdouts rejected his appeal to enact parts of SAVE in another ‘Big Beautiful Bill” last week.

Given House Republicans’ slim majority, the speaker will likely need their support to pass a rule later Tuesday teeing up the chamber’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Because procedural votes are typically party-line, he can afford to lose only a handful of GOP defections.

Tuesday’s vote will also advance a spending bill funding the State Department and other foreign operations for fiscal year 2027 and a resolution commemorating the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Republicans now refer to as the Working Families Tax Cuts.

If Republican leadership fails to advance the legislative items, the House floor would effectively be frozen and lawmakers could return home early ahead of the July 4 recess.

Johnson warned Monday that continuing the floor blockade would be a “self-defeating” approach.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Johnson told reporters. “We have to move forward with legislation and that’s what I’ll be telling them all.” 

‘IT’S A MESS’: GOP TURNS ON HOUSE CONSERVATIVES AS VOTER ID BLOCKADE STALLS TRUMP’S AGENDA

But Luna indicated her reluctance to unlock the House floor until she receives assurances on the SAVE America Act’s fate in the Senate.

“But to, you know, say that we’re holding up the process. This is legislating,” Luna told reporters Monday, standing next to Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who has also joined the SAVE protest. “If people elected us to just come up here and vote in line with what the party wants, then it would be a whole lot different.”

Democrats, who would like to see the rules package fail, argued the GOP holdouts should not listen to Republican leadership because their proposal would be dead on arrival in the Senate. 

“Let me be clear, the Senate will just strip the SAVE Act out,” Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Conn., said during the Rules Committee debate Monday. “They’ve already said that merging it with the NDAA bill doesn’t prevent that. Nothing in this rule will prevent that.”

“There is a 0% chance SAVE ends up in the NDAA because of this rule today,” he continued. “So this is a ‘cover-your-behind’ maneuver, if you will.”

Under the rule approved Monday, the procedural maneuver would facilitate SAVE’s attachment to the NDAA without requiring lawmakers to vote on it again.

Leadership did not choose a version of the election bill including all the president’s SAVE priorities, such as curtailing mail-in voting and banning men in women’s sports and child sex change procedures. Johnson has yet to ask House Republicans to consider the comprehensive measure, and it is unclear whether a crackdown on mail-in ballots could clear the chamber.

Johnson’s SAVE gambit comes as House Republicans appear to have little leverage to force the bill through the Senate, where GOP leaders say it lacks the votes to pass. The election measure has struggled to win unified Republican support, let alone the 60 votes needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster.

Trump sharply criticized five alleged holdouts — Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. — in a Truth Social post Monday, arguing the cohort “must vote to SAVE OUR COUNTRY.”

“There can be no more excuses!” he wrote.

Former Bill Clinton aide Doug Band is set to face a grilling by congressional investigators after his name was referenced dozens of times in the Epstein files.

Band will testify voluntarily before the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday in a transcribed interview as part of the bipartisan panel’s probe into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted on federal sex-trafficking and conspiracy charges.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., invited Band to testify about his interactions with Epstein and Maxwell while serving as a top aide to Clinton during the early years of his post-presidency. 

Band attended a 2003 dinner at Epstein’s Manhattan town house and corresponded with Maxwell between 2002 and 2006, according to files released by the Justice Department.

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON DEPOSED IN EPSTEIN PROBE IN POTENTIAL FIRST FOR CONGRESS

In a 2006 email, Band, who is a University of Florida alumnus, asked to use Maxwell’s plane to attend the NCAA men’s basketball finals to watch the Florida Gators play. In other correspondence published by the DOJ, he called Maxwell his “lover” and “social matchmaker,” among other flirtatious messages.

The pair were photographed together at a Valentine’s Day tea party at a members-only club in New York City in 2007.

Band has not been charged with any wrongdoing and his interactions with the couple appeared to largely predate Epstein’s conviction of soliciting a minor in 2008.

The ex-Clinton advisor is likely to be peppered with questions about the former president’s ties to the disgraced financier.

Band, who initially served as Clinton’s personal aide and ultimately became a member of his inner circle, helped establish the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative during Clinton’s post-presidency. He later cut ties with the Clintons during a public falling out in the early 2010s.

In a 2020 tell-all interview with Vanity Fair, Band said he grew to dislike Epstein during a 2002 trip aboard Epstein’s private jet with Clinton to Africa and advised the ex-president to end his relationship with him. 

Also in the interview, Band said Clinton in 2003 traveled to Epstein’s private Caribbean Island, Little St. James. Band said he declined to attend over his objections to Epstein.

Band’s account conflicts with Clinton’s repeated assertion that he never visited. Clinton, who has denied any wrongdoing, has pointed to travel logs that do not show such a trip.

Band told Vanity Fair he sought to bar Maxwell from Clinton-related events amid his broader rupture with the Clinton family. Maxwell was notably close to Chelsea Clinton and was invited to her wedding in 2010.

JEFFREY EPSTEIN ALLEGEDLY SAID BILL CLINTON ‘LIKES’ YOUNG GIRLS, DOCUMENTS REVEAL

The House Oversight interview will take place behind closed doors, but a transcript is expected to be published at a later date.

Tuesday’s testimony comes after Bill and Hillary Clinton testified to congressional investigators in March about their interactions with Epstein under the threat of civil contempt charges. Lawmakers threatened to criminally refer the couple to the Justice Department for contempt charges if they refused.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has also interviewed former Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as part of the committee’s probe.

Comer’s panel in July is expected to interview former Goldman Sachs attorney and Obama counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz and former JPMorgan Chase executive and ex-Barclays CEO Jes Staley.

All three knew Epstein personally and were among the high-profile figures whose names appear in recently released Epstein-related files, though none has been charged with wrongdoing. 

Iran’s latest attacks on commercial shipping came just as the United States and Oman were beginning to steer more vessels through a new southern shipping corridor hugging Oman’s coastline — an alternative route designed to move traffic farther from Iran’s immediate reach.

Former U.S. military commanders and regional analysts told Fox News Digital the timing was no coincidence. They said Iran was trying to preserve one of its greatest strategic advantages as new shipping routes and regional infrastructure begin chipping away at Tehran’s leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.

“The southern route creates a route they can’t toll or control,” retired Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery told Fox News Digital. “They felt it necessary to attack it.”

SHIPPING GIANT WARNS STRAIT OF HORMUZ CHAOS IS ‘NEW NORMAL’ AS TEHRAN SHIFTS 4M BARRELS

For decades, Iran’s ability to threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has given it influence well beyond its borders. But that advantage is increasingly under pressure as Gulf states invest in pipelines that bypass Hormuz and the United States and Oman expand use of the southern corridor. 

Nearly half of inbound commercial traffic through the strait is already using that route, according to maritime intelligence firm Windward. 

After Iran attacked vessels using the corridor, the U.S. responded with strikes on Iranian military targets tied to maritime operations. Iran retaliated in recent days with attacks on U.S. facilities and regional partners before Trump announced both sides had agreed to halt further strikes and return to negotiations in Doha. 

Iran has denied that its negotiators would be meeting with U.S. officials in Qatar on Tuesday. 

Former Navy Fifth Fleet commander Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan said Iran’s objective isn’t necessarily to halt shipping altogether.

“The IRGC has been trying to make it commercially unworkable,” Donegan told Fox News Digital, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “These attacks on shipping to me aren’t random. They’re strategy.”

Rather than closing the strait outright, Donegan said, Iran only needs to keep insurance premiums high enough that commercial shipping companies remain reluctant to return.

“Their strategy is to enforce their control of the straits,” he said, by driving up insurance costs while continuing to “test the U.S. resolve.”

VANCE REJECTS CLAIMS TRUMP-IRAN DEAL ECHOES OBAMA-ERA LOGIC AS HAWKS RAISE ALARM

The question now is whether Iran can translate that military pressure into lasting influence over the strait.

Under the memorandum of understanding negotiated after the ceasefire, Iran, Oman and the Gulf littoral states are expected to negotiate the strait’s “future administration and maritime services” while commercial traffic moves toll-free for 60 days.

President Donald Trump has insisted on social media that there will be “NO TOLLS” after the negotiating period expires, even though the memorandum itself does not explicitly guarantee that outcome. Asked about the discrepancy, Trump argued that “common sense” and the threat of renewed U.S. military action would keep Iran from interfering with commercial traffic.

Iran, however, has signaled a different vision. An IRGC-linked news outlet portrayed last-minute revisions to the agreement — including language governing the strait’s future administration and the temporary toll provision — as negotiating victories for Tehran.

The White House could not immediately be reached for comment ahead of Tuesday’s negotiations. 

America’s Gulf partners have made equally clear they are not interested in rewriting the status quo.

“The management of the strait was working fine before the conflict,” Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said. “Why should we now, as a result of a conflict, accept some novel arrangement?”

The disagreement reflects competing visions for what Iran’s role in the strait looks like once the fighting ends.

Former Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker said the negotiations reflect Iran’s effort to emerge from the conflict with “a new status quo in the Persian Gulf.”

But preserving leverage over the Strait is about more than commercial shipping.

“Iran is trying to basically step into that void,” said Clionadh Raleigh, executive director of the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project.

Raleigh argued the conflict has left Gulf governments questioning whether “the U.S. is a partner that’s unreliable,” creating an opportunity for Tehran to argue that Gulf security should increasingly be managed by countries in the region rather than by Washington.

Those doubts are already reshaping regional strategy.

“They’re seeking to really develop their own defense posture,” Raleigh said. “And they’re also seeking alternative means for them to continue trade.”

Those efforts have been underway for years, but the latest conflict has accelerated them.

Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in the East-West Pipeline linking Gulf oil fields to the Red Sea, while the United Arab Emirates has expanded export capacity through Fujairah, allowing crude exports to bypass Hormuz altogether.

Every barrel that leaves the Gulf without transiting the strait — and every ship that safely uses the southern corridor — chips away at the leverage Iran has historically derived from one of the world’s most important maritime choke points.

If those alternatives continue to expand, Iran’s ability to wield the strait as a strategic pressure point could gradually diminish even if Hormuz itself remains one of the world’s most vital energy corridors.

WARNING: Graphic Content

Seattle’s LGBT Pride parade on Sunday descended into bedlam as attendees stripped off their clothes and marched the streets naked while children looked on.

One video filmed by Chloe Cole, a de-transitioner activist, and posted by Frontlines Turning Point USA, shows people from a group called “Friends of Denny Blaine” marching in the nude. Some onlookers clapped and cheered, while the video panned to young children watching the spectacle.

Another video shows naked people prancing around an outdoor fountain nearby children who were playing in the water.

DRAG QUEEN INVITED TO BALTIMORE ORIOLES PRIDE NIGHT TAKES A SHOT AT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

The “Friends of Denny Blaine” website says it is dedicated to protecting Denny Blaine Park, which is known for its “historic nude & queer character.” Currently, the park is facing a lawsuit from concerned citizens over its graphic nature, according to the website.

“Nude ≠ Lewd,” “Free to be Naked” and “Nude is Nourishing,” read signs held by the marchers in the parade.

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY PLANS 19 DRAG QUEEN STORY HOURS FOR YOUNG KIDS DURING PRIDE MONTH

Yet another lewd video shows naked men cycling in the parade, again to the applause and appreciation of the crowd, though some spectators can be seen shielding the eyes of children from the nude bodies.

DRAG QUEEN INVITED TO BALTIMORE ORIOLES PRIDE NIGHT TAKES A SHOT AT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

The Frontlines TPUSA video showing people parading nude around the Seattle Center International Fountain after the gay pride event includes scenes of children splashing in the water that sprays from the fountain just feet from several naked men and one naked woman.

It comes as Pride Month, which celebrates the LGBTQ+ community every June, comes to a close. In 1999, then-President Bill Clinton officially declared June the “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month,” and in the years after gay marriage was codified in 2015, the parades and celebration have become increasingly crass, often with scenes of nude or nearly nude people parading in public.

The three videos of nake demonstrators caused online fury from viewers shocked by the indecent display.

INDIANA REPUBLICAN SENATOR MOVES TO BLOCK KIDS FROM ACCESSING PORN ONLINE

“How is this not indecent exposure? Wtf?” one X user said.

“Why the f*ck would you take your children to see and celebrate this vile filthy celebration of perversion and degeneracy?” asked another.

DRAG QUEEN INVITED TO BALTIMORE ORIOLES PRIDE NIGHT TAKES A SHOT AT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

A third said: “Those parents are stupid, both for bringing children to a Pride Parade, and for keeping them there when a bunch of naked pervs exposed themselves. Pride Parades are infamous for crap like this.”

Seattle’s municipal code mentions nothing about public nudity, and Seattle Police Department (SPD) has reiterated multiple times that being nude in Seattle is not a crime in itself.

“However, public nudity can quickly become a case of indecent exposure if the nudity causes a person to reasonably experience fear, alarm or concern,” an SPD press release says.

Instead, the city is governed by Washington’s indecent exposure law.

“A person is guilty of indecent exposure if he or she intentionally makes any open and obscene exposure of his or her person or the person of another knowing that such conduct is likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm,” Revised Code of Washington 9A.88.010 says.

A subsection of the law says indecent exposure is misdemeanor “on the first offense if the person exposes himself or herself to a person under the age of fourteen years.”

It is a felony for convicted sex offenders to commit the crime of indecent exposure.

The Seattle Police Department did not return a request for comment when asked whether anyone was arrested during the city’s pride festivities.

Mayor Katie Wilson’s Office also did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Influential evangelical leaders are divided over the Trump administration’s memorandum of understanding with Iran, as conflict continues across the Middle East and debate grows over whether the framework strengthens U.S. leverage or risks harming Israel.

President Donald Trump recently threatened to re-escalate U.S. military strikes against Iran after Tehran continued attacks in the Strait of Hormuz after the regime launched strikes against Kuwait and Bahrain over the weekend, drawing condemnations from both Gulf neighbors.

The split is emerging at a delicate moment for Trump, who is trying to turn military pressure on Iran into a diplomatic framework without alienating supporters who helped power his political coalition. Supporters of the MOU say Trump has earned trust because he weakened Tehran first, while critics say any deal that gives Iran relief before its threat to Israel is permanently neutralized risks betraying the alliance his base expects him to protect.

Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem and a close evangelical ally of Trump, told Fox News Digital that many people are underestimating the American president.

EVANGELICAL LEADERS RALLY FOR TRUMP AND ISRAEL AS OPERATION EPIC FURY RESHAPES THE REGION

“The facts are that Donald Trump was key to ending the Gaza war, he was key to getting hostages out of there and he was key in breaking the back of the Iranian regime, including destroying its navy, air force, missile defense and leadership,” Evans said.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS SWEEPING TERMS OF PROPOSED IRAN AGREEMENT

There are 750 million Bible-believing Christians around the world who identify as Zionists, Evans said, adding that while they may disagree on Israeli political issues, they agree that Israel is the biblical homeland given by God to the Jewish people through Abraham.

While running for president, Trump met with Christian groups, including Evans, and asked whether they would support him, Evans said, adding that they agreed on the condition that he support Christian values in the United States and stand by the State of Israel.

I’M A CHRISTIAN PASTOR WHO WAS BORN IN EGYPT. HERE ARE 3 FACTS I LEARNED ABOUT IRAN’S NUCLEAR OBSESSION

“He promised to do both and so far he’s exceeded all of our expectations,” Evans said.

“Israel is willing to shed its blood for America in the Middle East. America needs to do everything possible to support the State of Israel. We, as believers, believe that God birthed this nation. We don’t have any fear about Israel’s future,” he added.

U.S. Officials worked with the Israel Defense Forces to complete Operation Epic Fury in February, which was a 38-day effort to dismantle the Iranian regime’s military capabilities. 

“Following the historic destruction of Iran’s military capabilities through the successful Operation Epic Fury, President Trump and his negotiating team have brokered an excellent, performance-based MOU that advances the interests of the United States by ending the fighting, reopening the Strait of Hormuz to significantly lower energy prices, and forcing Iran to commit to abandon its nuclear ambitions,” White House Spokesperson Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital.

“President Trump has a strong relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Israel has always been a great ally to the United States. There has been no greater friend to Israel and a fighter for peace than President Trump…Americans and our allies around the world are already safer for the United States and Israel’s bold actions to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop a nuclear weapon,” a White House official added in comment to Fox News Digital.

Rev. Johnnie Moore, President of The Congress of Christian Leaders, told Fox News Digital that in 2016, opposition to President Obama’s catastrophic Iran deal was one of the top three reasons evangelicals rallied to Donald Trump, helping forge one of the most consequential, enduring and powerful political coalitions in American history — a coalition that stands with him still and knows its power.

“Evangelicals know, and President Trump knows, that words on paper don’t change terrorists. Accountability does. Action does. This President has been willing to confront the Iranian regime in ways no predecessor would, and the regime has never been weaker,” Moore said.

TRUMP PIVOTS ON STRIKES WHILE DANGLING IRAN DEAL, TESTING WHETHER TEHRAN BLINKS

“The nuclear threat, at least for now, is gone. What brought Iran to this table was not a memorandum — it was precise and unrelenting military action that shattered their nuclear ambitions and broke their conventional forces,” he continued.

“We also know, as the President knows, that the regime will say and do anything to deceive everyone around him — because they understand they cannot deceive the President himself. Evangelicals trust President Trump entirely. That does not mean that we trust many of those now involved in the negotiation,” he added. 

The risk the president must manage, he said, is that Tehran turns this into a stalling game — as it tried and failed to do with his own team at least twice and did successfully with Presidents Biden and Obama. 

“In the end, because of the President, America will win this too — negotiation or not. But it is clear where our community stands. The regime only understands one language: strength. American strength,” he said.

ISRAEL FEARS TRUMP WEARY OF ‘HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS’ NETANYAHU AND COULD ‘FLIP’ AMID IRAN DEAL: ANALYST 

Other leaders expressed concerns over recent comments on Israel from the administration. Laurie Cardoza-Moore, president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, told Fox News Digital that evangelical Christians were largely responsible for the election of the current administration and said the agreement with Iran is extremely worrying.

“One of our core issues is the Biblical requirement to stand with Israel and G-d’s chosen people as described in the Books of Genesis and Obadiah. As the Bible teaches, those who stand with Israel will be blessed, and those who curse her will be cursed,” she said.

“There is a strong feeling that Israel is being betrayed and thrown under the bus in favor of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We are particularly concerned about recent harsh and false statements made by Vice President Vance, which could be perceived as cursing Israel,” she added.

The office of the vice president declined to comment when approached by Fox News Digital.

Vance has supported Israel but has also said he is willing to criticize the country when he believes its actions warrant it. He condemned antisemitism in February, telling the Daily Mail, “I think Jew hatred is disgusting.”

“You shouldn’t hate people because they’re white. You shouldn’t hate people because they’re Jewish. You shouldn’t hate people because they’re black,” he said.

But Vance has also made clear that support for Israel does not mean automatic agreement with Netanyahu’s government.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu, look, he governs a country that has obviously been a very close partner of the United States. But, even when we’ve been close partners, sometimes we have interests that are perfectly aligned, and sometimes we have interests that are misaligned,” Vance said in an interview on “CBS Sunday Morning” June 10.

TRUMP’S IRAN AGREEMENT RAISES A BASIC QUESTION: IS IT ACTUALLY A DEAL?

The Trump administration publicly released details of the memorandum outlining plans for immediate waivers on Iranian oil exports, a framework for at least $300 billion in reconstruction and economic development assistance if a final agreement is reached, and a 60-day negotiating period aimed at securing a comprehensive deal on Iran’s nuclear program.

Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel, told Fox News Digital that, in its current form, the MOU appears ill-advised at best, as the military gains achieved by Washington and Jerusalem have yet to be fully realized.

“I have yet to hear from anyone who was not surprised by such an about face in signing the MoU. Who would not be concerned with the U.S. effectively agreeing to forever negotiations with a highly militarized radical Islamist regime, flush with cash, in pursuit of nuclear weapons,” Hagee said.

Most evangelical Christians, he added, see what everyone else sees: The U.S. negotiating team appears to have fumbled the ball on the one-yard line. Nevertheless, the U.S.-Israel alliance remains a cornerstone of both countries’ security as well as a key pillar of global stability.

AMERICANS KNOW IRAN IS OUR ENEMY. IT’S TIME ESTABLISHMENT POLITICIANS AGREED

RETIRED US MILITARY LEADERS SUPPORT LETTING ISRAEL ‘FINISH THE JOB’ AGAINST IRAN, PROXIES

“From a religious perspective, we have a divine mandate to stand with Israel. From a national security perspective, we have no stronger or wiser ally anywhere in the world. And from the Christian pilgrim’s perspective, our holy sites in the Holy Land have never been more open and yet more secure,” Hagee said.

“The most “America-first” thing one can do is stand with our only true ally in the region,” he continued.

“The Islamic Republic declared war on the West the day it was founded nearly half a century ago. That has not changed. Democracies rarely get to decide who their enemies are. The only conclusion to this conflict is regime change through domestic revolution in Iran,” Hagee added.

MORNING GLORY: PRESIDENT TRUMP AND THE US ARE WAGING A RIGHTEOUS BATTLE — AND WINNING

After the 60-day timeframe, Evans predicted Trump is likely to extend negotiations for another 90 days, carrying them through the end of the year and beyond the midterm elections. President Trump, Evans said, will then break the economic back of the regime, take Kharg Island and completely bankrupt the regime.

“I am not panicking because I know Donald Trump. I am the strongest supporter in the state of Israel of Donald Trump. I am the one that hosted the embassy gala, put up all the billboards and gave him an award. I am not panicking over this,” he added.

Evans said Christians do not believe the battle can be won by bombs alone, and that they view prayer as their most powerful weapon.

“We are hosting the largest prayer in history at the Kotel (Western Wall) with 5 to 10 million Christians on Oct. 7. I now have more than a dozen ambassadors involved and 23 additional ones I am meeting with who want to represent their country,” he said.

Dr. Jürgen Bühler, president of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), said his organization has witnessed up close for decades how the Iranian regime has progressively raised the sword of radical Islam over Israel, as well as over indigenous Christians throughout the Middle East.

“Given the current deal being worked out with Iranian leaders, we share the sense of most Israelis that the war against this intolerable Iranian threat has been stopped short of its needed objective,” he told Fox News Digital.

“Israel is a fellow Western democracy that deserves our full support in its fight to defend our shared freedoms and values, and many Christians in this region look to Israel as a light of hope for securing their own freedoms and futures,” he added.

Ultimately, Bühler said, the best and most just answer to the Iranian threat is genuine regime change in Tehran.

“We have not given up hope that the Iranian people themselves will be able to rise up and overcome their oppressive rulers and steer their nation away from this self-destructive obsession with destroying Israel,” he said.

Heather Johnston, founder and president of the U.S.-Israel Education Association, said in a statement to Fox News Digital in reaction to the MoU that the U.S.-Israel relationship has advanced American interests for decades and should be strengthened — not strained — by U.S. diplomacy with Iran.

“Iran’s long record of supporting terrorism and threatening Israel gives Americans ample reason to assess this agreement carefully and skeptically. Any diplomacy with Iran should be measured against whether it advances or undermines that progress,” she said.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is setting its sights on Colorado.

A handful of Tuesday’s primaries in the Democrat-dominated Rocky Mountain state are the next battleground in the fight between the far left and the center-left establishment over the future of the Democratic Party.

“Today, the East Coast, next week the Mountain West,” the DSA wrote in a social media post last week, hours after their ballot-box victories in a handful of congressional primaries in New York City.

The post came after DSA-aligned Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old far-left community organizer, ousted incumbent Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, another democratic socialist, won a congressional primary by defeating an establishment-backed candidate.

VICTORIES BY MAMDANI-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES SPOTLIGHTS GROWING RIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY

The victories by Chevalier and Valdez, who were heavily supported by democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, further emboldened the far left as it takes on the center-left establishment in a high-stakes battle for the future of the Democratic Party.

The DSA is now looking to replicate its playbook across the country, starting Tuesday in the Democratic primary in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, a solidly blue seat anchored in Denver that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried by a whopping 56 points in the 2024 election.

Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette, who was first elected to Congress three decades ago, is facing two primary challengers, including DSA-backed Melat Kiros, a first-time candidate and former attorney born four months after DeGette first took office.

Kiros, who lost her job as a lawyer in New York after writing an essay critical of Israel, is also supported by Justice Democrats, the nearly decade-old political group known for heavily supporting “Squad” members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib as they toppled entrenched incumbents in their initial elections to Congress.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

“ELECT ANOTHER SOCIALIST TO CONGRESS ON JUNE 30TH,” a DSA social media post states as it urges supporters to lend a hand to the Kiros campaign.

The Democratic Party divide will also play out in the primary in the neighboring 8th Congressional District, which stretches along the I-25 corridor north of Denver.

State Rep. Manny Rutinel is running to the left of former state Rep. Shannon Bird, with the winner taking on Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, who flipped the seat in the 2024 cycle. The race is considered one of two or three dozen that will determine if the GOP holds onto its razor-thin House majority in the midterms.

Immigration has been a top issue in the Democratic primary in a district where roughly 40% of the population is Latino. Rutinel has criticized Bird for a vote she cast last year opposing a measure limiting cooperation between local and state law enforcement and ICE.

MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALISTS LOOK TO TAKE NEW YORK PLAYBOOK NATIONWIDE AFTER PRIMARY VICTORIES

Another primary showdown highlighting the split between progressives and moderates, as well as the party’s generational divide, is the Senate nomination battle between incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper, 74, and former state Sen. Julie Gonzales, a 43-year-old progressive. Hickenlooper, a former Denver mayor and two-term governor, has seen his once-large advantage over Gonzales, a one-time DSA member, narrow.

The winner will face Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley, who is unopposed in his primary.

Shannon Jackson, a longtime progressive political strategist and grassroots organizer best known for his leadership roles in Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, pointed to last week’s results and told Fox News Digital that “people are frustrated.”

“The key message of the victors: Medicare-for-All, the importance of affordability and a living wage. Progressives have long fought for these values and I expect the primary victories to continue,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, the state’s expensive and combustible Democratic gubernatorial primary pits Sen. Michael Bennet against state Attorney General Phil Weiser.

Bennet or Weiser will be considered the clear favorite in the race to succeed two-term Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, the first openly gay man elected governor in the nation’s history.

Weiser, who is running to Bennet’s left on certain issues, closed the gap with the senator as he spotlighted his efforts to take on President Donald Trump, including suing Trump 66 times as attorney general.

The winner will face either state Rep. Scott Bottoms, state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer or pastor and Marine Corps veteran Victor Marx as the Republican nominee.

President Donald Trump on Monday nominated acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling to serve as U.S. labor secretary, sending his pick to the Senate for confirmation.

If confirmed, Sonderling would formally assume the Cabinet post after leading the Labor Department on an acting basis since former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s departure in April. He would continue overseeing the department’s efforts to enforce federal labor laws, administer workforce programs and implement the administration’s employment agenda.

“It is my Great Honor to announce that I am nominating Keith E. Sonderling, the outstanding Acting United States Secretary of Labor, to be permanent,” Trump announced on Truth Social. “Keith previously served as Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer and, during my First Term, worked at the U.S. Department of Labor as the Acting and Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

“Throughout his career, Keith has proven his dedication to delivering strong results for the Hardworking People of our Country, and I know he will do an incredible job in his new role,” Trump added.

ACTING LABOR SECRETARY SONDERLING: A FAST-TRACK WAY TO GET A JOB WITHOUT COLLEGE DEBT

Chavez-DeRemer left the Labor Department in April, when the White House announced Sonderling would serve as acting labor secretary.

ACTING LABOR SECRETARY SONDERLING: A FAST-TRACK WAY TO GET A JOB WITHOUT COLLEGE DEBT

Chavez-DeRemer’s departure came after a whistleblower complaint accused her of having an affair with a member of her security detail, drinking on the job, creating a hostile work environment and directing staff to perform personal errands at taxpayer expense.

The Labor Department’s inspector general is investigating the allegations, which also include claims that Chavez-DeRemer’s husband made unwanted advances toward department officials and that family members routinely sent personal requests to young staffers, according to previous Fox News Digital reporting.

ACTING LABOR SECRETARY SONDERLING: A FAST-TRACK WAY TO GET A JOB WITHOUT COLLEGE DEBT

Reporting on the complaints indicates Chavez-DeRemer requested staff perform private errands for her and her husband, including picking up dry cleaning, purchasing wine and cleaning out the secretary’s closet, while allegedly using threats to ensure compliance.

Meanwhile, other complaints alleged drinking on the job and keeping stashes of liquor around the office, according to the New York Post, which first reported the complaints in January. Chavez-DeRemer has denied the allegations. 

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

It’s a Democratic identity crisis.

Democratic Socialists of America are on the charge, running hot off their wins in the New York Democratic primaries last week. Their victories in multiple Congressional seats – felling both Reps. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., and Dan Goldman, D-N.Y. – signals that the party is ready to move on from the same old, same old.

Espaillat chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Goldman was a key House staffer during the first impeachment of President Donald Trump.

“Even Dan Goldman’s not good enough for them,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Fox. “That is how radical it’s become.”

MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALISTS LOOK TO TAKE NEW YORK PLAYBOOK NATIONWIDE AFTER PRIMARY VICTORIES

Some moderate Democrats are trying to distance themselves from the left.

“That’s not the same brand of politics that we have. We’re not those type of Democrats,” said Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., who represents a battleground district.

“There’s a new group of Democratic Socialists who are socialists who are not commonsense Democrats. Who are not interested in getting things done. They’re interested in throwing bombs. Not actually solving problems,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J.

LURCHING LEFT: MAMDANI-BACKED CANDIDATES OUST ESTABLISHMENT DEMOCRATS

Some Democrats are worried how far left candidates command more attention than those in the middle. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Mich., worries that the outsized attention garnered by the left sends the wrong impression to voters.

“What they don’t want is divisiveness. They don’t want screaming and yelling,” said McDonald Rivet.

Mainstream Democrats feel trapped in the middle as the left – specifically the New York City left – wields an outsized media and political megaphone.

“Those candidates would not have won in Virginia where I live,” said Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va.

Republicans believe they are primed to nationalize the midterms. Republicans can do that by highlighting the extreme views of Democratic Socialists who captured primary victories in New York City. The GOP wants to portray their opponents as veering left.

“These are board-certified communists, right?” asked Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “They want no police. They want no private property.”

President Trump capitalized on the Democratic outcomes in his home city.

“The Democrat party is in big trouble because this isn’t stopping with New York,” he forecast.

VICTORIES BY MAMDANI-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES SPOTLIGHTS GROWING RIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY

This shakeup has progressive leaders demanding transformation at the top.

“You’re going to see, I think, people voting for new leadership and to change their representation,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

The Democratic Party tapped Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., to deliver their official response to President Trump’s 2025 State of the Union speech. Slotkin is a moderate who won in a battleground race in 2024 – even as the President prevailed in the Wolverine State. But during an appearance on SiriusXM, Slotkin insists on a Democratic Party management switch.

“If people can’t understand that the game has fundamentally changed and they can’t adapt, then they need to let others,” said Slotkin. “The old models do not work for people.”

Republicans believe House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is vulnerable after the DSA elected their candidates over his preferred picks in New York City.

“I think Hakeem Jeffries’ friends and neighbors gave him a big middle finger,” said House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. “If you lose three elections in your hometown, that’s a pretty big slap in the face.”

He added that Democrats “are going further and further to the left to the point where they are full-blown, card-carrying socialists.”

And then there is the anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, and in some cases, antisemitic take by some of these candidates. Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, is a moderate Democrat from a swing district. He’s Jewish and one of the most pro-Israel Democrats in the House.

“There are some on the left who use Israel the way that some on the right use immigrants or trans kids as a way to divide. And I think it’s terrible. It’s also just not what voters want us talking about,” said Landsman.

HOUSE DEMOCRAT LASHES OUT WHEN GRILLED ON WHETHER SOCIALIST VICTORIES WOULD THREATEN DEM UNITY

Yours truly tangled with Rep. John Larson, D-Conn. – who once chaired the House Democratic Caucus. I pressed him about what the party would do about some candidates “who are too far to the left.”

“What does that mean? That’s your statement. Did the people of New York vote?” queried Larson.

I assured him that they did.

“Is that democracy?” asked Larson.

“But if some of them are antisemitic,” I countered.

“Is that a democracy?” continued Larson.

“Will you stand by people if they have antisemitic views?” I followed up.

Larson finally addressed my inquiry. His answer crystallized the schism the Democratic Party now faces.

“I’m against antisemitism, if that’s your question,” Larson declared.

The fact that Democrats are now facing this debate robs them of valuable time on economic issues.

Landsman argued that voters would prefer candidates to stick to groceries and the price of gas.

Gottheimer echoed Landsman on kitchen table subjects.

“We should be focused on ways to actually solve problems like that. Not coming in here and using tea party tactics and trying to divide up the country and pray to socialist ideals,” said Gottheimer.

So what is the party to do?

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

“They’re our nominees. We’re going to support them. We’re going to welcome them. They’re going to be part of our caucus and we’re going to unite behind Leader Jeffries,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Oversight panel.

But that doesn’t address the fissures. It doesn’t address how voters may perceive the party. And it doesn’t establish if these new Democratic nominees will work on behalf of the party to raise money and advocate for Democrats across the board. Or, will they become professional bomb throwers – ala what the right has endured for a while.

“It’s going to be a lot harder to get things done when you get more and more extreme candidates who are here because they’re interested in political celebrity. They are interested in fighting. They’re interested in making points,” asserted Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D.

Republicans suffered through an absolutely abysmal week. House GOP leaders had to yank multiple bills off the floor and send lawmakers home early because of internal disputes. President Trump and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., got into a shouting match about Iran. And the president even threatened to veto a bipartisan housing bill. President Trump then refused to sign the bill at the Capitol, despite his aides touting the bill and House Republicans tricking out Statuary Hall for a signing ceremony.

The President characterized the housing bill as “a yawn.”

But the Democrats’ internal fractures may have superseded any internecine fighting among Republicans.

“While it’s not been a great week for Republicans, I think it’s been a much worse week for Democrats because of these primary elections,” observed Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.

Democrats will certainly run on economic issues and capitalize on statements by the President about basic issues like housing. But will a genuine policy debate outweigh fears about progressives nationwide?

Emotion and feelings rule in politics. And it could be a problem for Democrats if Republicans appropriate what happened in New York and Xerox it onto battleground districts across the country.