Author: NOVA Corp

Conservatives on social media erupted with outrage on Thursday after Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota united to block a Republican effort to investigate further and impeach Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison.

A resolution taken up by the Minnesota House Rules and Legislative Administration Committee to launch an impeachment investigation and allow the committee to hold hearings, issue subpoenas, and further investigate the massive fraud scandal was blocked after all 8 Democrats on the committee voted against it, Fox 9 Minneapolis reported.

The lawmakers deadlocked 8-8 on a straight party-line vote.

“This is a fundamentally unserious proposal by a fundamentally unserious party who isn’t interested in governing,” Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) Rep. Michael Howard said about the move. “Gas prices are rising because of Trump’s illegal war in Iran. Health care, housing, and childcare costs are spiking. We have hospitals closing, yet this is what we’re going to do today? A bill that’s absolutely going nowhere, dead on arrival.”

COMER TO SAY TIM WALZ ‘ENABLED FRAUD,’ FAILED WHISTLEBLOWERS IN BOMBSHELL MINNESOTA HEARING

On social media, conservatives blasted the Minnesota Democrats for not taking the unfolding fraud scandal, which is estimated to have cost taxpayers a total of up to $19 billion, seriously. 

“Despite years of whistleblower reports, dozens of hearings &  local news stories, & court convictions, Democrats CONTINUE  to block any investigation of Tim Walz,” MN House Fraud Committee Chair Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Minn., who is running for governor, posted on X. “They protect each other to protect their political base.  @amyklobuchar is just part of the protection racket.”

“Minnesotans lost $9B in taxpayer dollars to just 14 Medicaid programs under Tim Walz’s administration,” Townhall columnist Dustin Grage posted on X. “Today, every single Democrat in Rules Committee voted to block an investigation into that fraud. Absolutely disgusting.”

TAFOYA RIPS WALZ ‘DODGING’ ACCOUNTABILITY IN HEARING, UNVEILS PLAN TO FIGHT FRAUD: ‘FULL WEIGHT OF THE LAW’

“Look at their campaign contributions,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., posted on X. 

“They’re panicked and don’t want anyone finding out how this was allowed to happen,” conservative influencer Eric Daugherty posted on X. “REMOVE WALZ FROM OFFICE and start the criminal proceedings for complicity!”

“You don’t block investigations into fraud unless you’re benefiting from the fraud,” conservative commentator Shawn Farash posted on X.

“When one party does not want accountability or transparency, When one party knows that massive fraud exist but refuses to investigate that fraud, the people must stand up and demand they be held accountable,” Jay Feely, a former NFL kicker who is running for Congress as a Republican in Arizona, posted on X.

AUDIO OF ELLISON MEETING WITH CONVICTED FRAUDSTERS RESURFACES AS LAWYER ALLEGES WALZ, AG SHARE BLAME

“This is why all spending and every program at the federal level and state level should be on Blockchain for everyone to see.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Democratic leadership on the committee for comment.

Walz dropped his bid for re-election in January as pressure to address the systemic fraud mounted, and he testified in front of Congress months later, along with Ellison, in a fiery hearing that left conservatives unsatisfied on the answer to the question of what the two elected officials knew about the fraud and what they did to stop it.

Walz has rebuffed calls for him to resign, prompting Minnesota Republicans to take various actions to further investigate or impeach him.

Impeaching or removing either Walz or Ellison would be an extremely difficult uphill battle for Republican lawmakers in Minnesota, given the current makeup of the Minnesota Legislature. Impeachment requires a simple majority vote in the House. However, the House is currently evenly split, making it nearly impossible for Republicans to pass articles of impeachment without significant Democratic defections or a major shift in control.

Removing an official from office requires a two-thirds supermajority vote in the Senate, where the DFL currently holds a narrow one-seat majority.

Graham Platner’s past controversial comments are once again garnering negative attention for the surging progressive candidate in a crucial Senate race in Maine that could determine the chamber’s majority.

Platner, a U.S. Marine and Army veteran who served four combat tours of duty in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, praised the military tactics used by Hamas in comments he made on Reddit about a graphic video posted online of a 2014 Hamas raid in which terrorists killed at least five Israeli soldiers.

The archived posts from Platner’s now-deleted Reddit profile under the username “P-Hustle” were reported this week by the Jewish Insider.

Commenting on the deadly raid by Hamas, Platner wrote, “Looks like an all around well executed and successful small unit raid to me.” His comments appeared on the Reddit forum r/CombatFootage, a discussion board for video and photographs of past and current military actions.

WHAT SUSAN COLLINS TOLD FOX NEWS AS SHE LAUNCHED HER RE-ELECTION BID

The Jewish Insider highlighted in their report that Platner, responding to another Reddit user who criticized the Hamas “execution” of the Israeli soldiers, said “Pragmatically I have little problem with killing an enemy combatant who you attempt to capture but for whatever reason cannot. From a strictly professional standpoint, this was a damn fine looking and successful raid against a superior opponent, I dig it.”

Fox News reached out to Platner’s campaign for comment, but didn’t receive a response at the time this story published.

Platner, an oyster farmer who is backed by progressive champions Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, is the clear polling and fundraising frontrunner as he faces off in a June primary against two-term Gov. Janet Mills, who enjoys the support of Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

The winner of the Democratic primary will take on moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November’s midterm elections. Democrats view Collins as vulnerable as she seeks a sixth six-year term in the Senate in the left-leaning Northern New England state, and the race is considered a must win for Democrats as they try to claw back the chamber’s majority from the GOP.

Platner, 41, has campaigned in front of large and energetic crowds across Maine since launching his outsider campaign, thanks to support from a Democratic base angry with President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda and mad at their party’s leaders in the nation’s capital. Platner is being advised by Morris Katz, who was a top consultant last year on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s historic campaign.

CRUCIAL SENATE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY TURNS UGLY

The conflict between Israel and Hamas dates back four decades, with the fighting persisting to the present day.

Hamas killed roughly 1,200 people in a sneak attack on Israel Oct. 7, 2023. Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza over the past two and a half years has resulted in more than 72,000 people being killed, according to health officials in the Palestinian territory.

Platner has joined other progressive Democrats in labeling the Israeli attacks on Palestinians living in Gaza a genocide, and in criticizing ongoing U.S. military support for Israel.

“History is going to remember what our leaders did not do, the power they did not use to save the lives of innocent people. They’re going to be remembered for it, and as we move forward, we’re going to have to get people in positions of power who do not believe that the mass slaughter of children is an acceptable behavior of an ally,” he said at a recent candidate forum.

Past Platner comments on Reddit regarding rape have also stirred controversy. Among them is one from 2013, which Platner later deleted, that people concerned about rape should not “get so f—ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to.”

Platner apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after they made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.

“For those of you who have read these things and been offended, have read these things and seen someone that you don’t recognize, I am deeply sorry,” he said in a video that went viral.

Platner also grabbed plenty of negative attention for a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol. The candidate said last fall that he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He said that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning it resembled a Nazi symbol.

PLATNER CONFRONTED ABOUT CONTROVERSIAL TATTOO 

Pointing to the multiple controversies, Platner campaign manager Ben Chin said that month that “Mainers know that Graham should not be defined by the worst thing he said on the internet over a decade ago.”

But National Republican Senatorial Committee Regional Press Secretary Samantha Cantrell on Thursday told Fox News Digital in a statement, “When someone shows you who they are believe them: Graham Platner has a Nazi tattoo and cheers on Hamas as they murder Israeli soldiers.”

Platner, in an interview last week, attributed some of his prior views to the “culture” he experienced during his military service.

“I came out of a hyper-masculine, hyper-violent place,” Platner told host Major Garrett on CBS News’ “The Takeout” podcast. “We have a crude sense of humor in the infantry… we certainly have a, I would say, narrow view of a lot of topics. And that colored my opinions and my beliefs.”

“Once I left and came out and interacted in the civilian world with lots of different people with very different experiences than my own,” Platner explained. “Many of those beliefs and thoughts and even just language changed significantly over time.”

IS THE REPUBLICAN SENATE MAJORITY AT RISK IN MIDTERM ELECTIONS?

The remarks drew criticism from Republican officials with military backgrounds, who pushed back on the suggestion that such views are reflective of American military culture.

Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska a retired Air Force general, responded to the comments on social media by rejecting the characterization outright.

“I served nearly 30 years and never saw a Nazi tattoo on one of our servicemen or women,” Bacon said.

 Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana, a former Navy SEAL, also criticized Platner’s explanation in a post on X.

“I must have missed the day in basic training where they taught us to get Nazi tattoos and say women deserve to be raped,” Sheehy said.

Fox News’ CJ Womack contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) announced two Arctic Security Cutters will be homeported in Alaska by the end of 2028 and will serve to strengthen American maritime in the Arctic region.

The USCG, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, could potentially award up to 11 Arctic Security Cutter contracts in 2026 using roughly $3.5 billion in funding provided by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“Homeporting these two Arctic Security Cutters in Alaska is a decisive step forward in securing America’s Arctic frontier,” Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox News Digital in a statement.

TRUMP UNVEILS $1.5T DEFENSE SURGE, DEEP DOMESTIC CUTS — WHAT’S ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK

“I want to thank President Trump for his bold leadership and vision in directing this critical investment, as well as Senator Sullivan and the entire Alaskan Congressional delegation for championing the funding that made these icebreakers possible,” he said.

“These vessels will deliver the enduring operational presence our nation needs to protect sovereignty, deter foreign adversaries, and safeguard vital resources for the American people,” Mullin added. 

Arctic Security Cutters create opportunities for operations in frozen regions where ship transport is normally challenging or impossible to navigate. The vessel is structured with a rounded and sloped bow, allowing the ship to ride up on top of the surface of the ice and smash through using the weight of the ship. 

Where most ships would get stuck, icebreakers use reinforced hulls, high-powered engines and special propellers to plow through dense ice fields, creating a passageway after the ice separates. 

CHAD WOLF: TRUMP IS SERIOUS ABOUT THE CHINA THREAT AND IS REBUILDING OUR ARSENAL

Coast Guard Arctic District has a total of 16 cutters homeported in Alaska, according to the USCG

The move also comes as Russia and China have both increased interest in the Arctic and icebreaker production.

Russia has roughly 40 icebreakers in the polar region, according to multiple reports, and has been developing the Northern Sea Route (NSR) using the vessels in an effort to establish a potentially dominant trade route as ice melts and paths are cleared. 

The China Research Center reported that the NSR would be a 40% faster trading route than the Suez Canal traditionally used for trade between China and Europe. 

The Arctic is known to have high levels of oil, gas, minerals, hydrocarbons and rare elements, sparking moves from prominent countries to have more presence in the region.

WHY TRUMP ZEROED IN ON GREENLAND AND WHY IT MATTERS IN 3 MAPS

Reports indicate that China and Russia are collaborating on patrols, research and shipping in the Arctic, as China is reliant on the Russians for access to Arctic routes.

Last October, President Donald Trump signed a $6.1 billion agreement with President Alexander Stubb of Finland to acquire four icebreakers for the U.S. 

“We need these ships very badly because we have a lot of territory, more than anybody. And so, I’m very honored to have this deal. And thank you very much. It’s going to be great,” Trump said.

TRUMP’S $12B RARE EARTH PLAN TARGETS CHINA AS EXPERTS WARN US IS ‘ONE CRISIS AWAY’

U.S. defense officials have identified the Arctic as a top national security priority, noting the importance of early-warning systems and missile detection networks.

“Homeporting Arctic Security Cutters in Alaska underscores the United States’ leadership as a maritime power in the Arctic,” USCG Commandant Adm. Kevin E. Lunday told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

“By strategically positioning these state-of-the-art icebreakers in Alaska, the Coast Guard will maximize our ability to defend our northern border and approaches, while reinforcing America’s maritime dominance in a crucial region of strategic importance,” Lunday explained.

The USCG said that a revitalized icebreaker fleet will also counter malign influence in the Arctic as well as allow for faster response to crises and contingencies in the region.

Allegations of misconduct against an unnamed senator were sent to the Senate Ethics Committee on Thursday.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., made the announcement on X Wednesday night, but the nature of the allegations and who they are against are unclear. Fox News Digital reached out for comment from Luna’s office but did not immediately hear back.

“[It] seems like the Senate has its own trash to take out,” Luna wrote. “[Senate Majority Leader John Thune] You need to look into the allegations against one of your Senators, it’s very disturbing. My chief will be contacting your chief.”

ANNA PAULINA LUNA SAYS SHE’S ‘VERY CONFIDENT’ VOTES ARE THERE TO EXPEL CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK

LISTEN: CRIME & JUSTICE PODCAST ON SWALWELL SEX PROBE

Thune, R-S.D., confirmed that his office received the information Thursday morning.

“I don’t know what the particulars are about this,” Thune said. “I have not — all I know is that we referred it to the proper authorities, which, in this case, would be the Senate Ethics Committee.”

Fox News Digital reached out for comment from the Senate Ethics Committee but did not immediately hear back.

DEMS BLOCK BID TO DEFUND CESAR CHAVEZ MONUMENT DESPITE CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ALLEGATIONS

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who chairs the ethics panel, declined to comment on Luna’s post and said, “I talk zero about ethics.”

When asked if lawmakers have strayed from the massive overhaul of sexual harassment reporting and accountability procedures passed in Congress in 2018, Lankford said, “No, none of that’s changed” on his ethics panel.

“We still do our work, as we always have,” he said.

Luna’s allegations come in the wake of a scandal that rocked the lower chamber and has again forced a reckoning in Congress over lawmakers and their conduct following the #MeToo movement that began in 2018.

Former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., resigned Tuesday from the House shortly after ending his gubernatorial campaign following a bombshell report from The San Francisco Chronicle that the ex-lawmaker allegedly sexually assaulted a former staffer.

SENATOR GALLEGO SAYS LONGTIME FRIENDSHIP WITH SWALWELL ‘CLOUDED MY JUDGMENT’ AS RUMORS SWIRLED IN DC

Since that report last week, five women have stepped forward and accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct and rape.

He has repeatedly denied the allegations and vowed to fight back against them.

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who was close friends with Swalwell but has vehemently denied any knowledge of his alleged activities, said lawmakers need to go back and make the 2018 revamp of conduct and reporting rules “better.”

“Because clearly there’s holes in this, or number two, that we haven’t created an environment through the legislation to make women, especially staffers, feel that they could come and talk to somebody and not have any repercussions,” Gallego said.

Swalwell is not the only lawmaker to exit after sexual misconduct allegations.

Former Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, also resigned from Congress on Tuesday after he admitted to having an affair with a former staffer who later died by setting herself on fire. However, he has not acknowledged a second allegation of sexual misconduct.

The California Supreme Court has disbarred John Eastman, an attorney with ties to President Donald Trump’s efforts to contest the 2020 presidential election outcome.

“The California Supreme Court disbarred attorney John Charles Eastman today,” the State Bar of California said in a statement.

“This after the State Bar Court Review Department in July 2025 affirmed the findings of the State Bar Court Hearing Department’s March 2024 recommendation, which found Eastman culpable of 10 out of 11 charges for egregious and deceitful conduct and recommended his disbarment,” the statement added.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PRESSES SUPREME COURT ON EXECUTIVE ORDER RESTRICTING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP

Eastman, a close adviser to the president leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, authored a memo regarding a plan for then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject electoral votes for Joe Biden while presiding over the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress in a bid to keep Trump in office, according to The Associated Press.

State Bar Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona said, “After extensive proceedings before the State Bar Court’s Hearing and Review Departments, both of which found Mr. Eastman culpable of serious ethical violations, the Court has imposed the discipline warranted by the clear and convincing evidence that he advanced false claims about the 2020 presidential election to mislead courts, public officials, and the American public.”

“The Court’s order underscores that Mr. Eastman’s misconduct was incompatible with the standards of integrity required of every California attorney,” Cardona added in a statement released by the State Bar of California.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Thursday.

TRUMP DEMANDS SPECIAL PROSECUTOR INVESTIGATE ‘STOLEN’ 2020 ELECTION, LOSS TO BIDEN

A statement provided to Fox News Digital by Eastman’s attorney Randall Miller declared plans to pursue review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The California Supreme Court has allowed to stand a State Bar Court recommendation that we contend departs from long-standing United States Supreme Court precedent protecting First Amendment rights, especially in the attorney discipline context,” the statement said.

EASTMAN’S ADVICE WAS IN THE REALM OF GOOD FAITH: HARVEY SILVERGLATE

“We disagree with that outcome and believe it raises pivotal constitutional concerns regarding the limits of state regulation of attorney speech. We will seek review in the U.S. Supreme Court to repudiate this threat to the rule of law and our nation’s adversarial system of justice,” the statement added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson accused the Supreme Court this week of using unexplained emergency orders to hand President Donald Trump wins, warning the practice risks eroding public trust in the judiciary.

In a Yale Law School speech made public Wednesday, Jackson, a Biden appointee and frequent dissenter on emergency rulings, repeatedly called the Supreme Court’s use of the emergency docket “problematic” and argued the conservative majority’s decisions were sometimes “utterly irrational.”

The emergency docket, sometimes known as the interim or “shadow” docket, allows litigants to bypass typical court proceedings and seek immediate relief from the Supreme Court in the face of restraining orders and injunctions in the lower courts.

“Given the real world facts that a stay request asks the court to consider, the court’s stay decisions can, at times, come across utterly irrational,” Jackson said. “We cannot expect the public to have faith in our judicial system if, without clear explanation, we consistently greenlight harmful acts.”

JUSTICE JACKSON ACCUSES SUPREME COURT OF ENSURING TRUMP ‘ALWAYS WINS’ IN SCATHING DISSENT

Jackson emphasized she was not seeking to “praise” or “bury” the emergency docket, but she warned its current use is straying from its historical role, which she said used to be more limited.

“There is a serious concern that the Supreme Court’s modern stay practices are having an enormously disruptive and potentially corrosive effect on the functioning of the federal judiciary’s usual decision-making process,” Jackson, who did not cite Trump by name during her remarks, said.  

Jackson also argued the concept of equal justice was being cast aside because “savvy parties” knew how to bypass the lengthy court process and apply for emergency stays at the Supreme Court, unlike average people caught up in legal proceedings.

“If we are not careful, the emergency docket can and will become an end-run around the standard review process, a special avenue that certain privileged litigants can utilize selectively,” Jackson said.

SUPREME COURT EXTENDS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S $5 BILLION FOREIGN AID FREEZE AMID ONGOING LEGAL CHALLENGE

Jackson contended that the modern-day use of the emergency docket “disrespects” lower court judges, allowing the high court to “routinely interfere with lower court cases,” a remark that comes as the Trump administration routinely blasts what it has described as “rogue” district court judges who have stymied the president’s agenda.

“A one-line stay grant that overturns a lower court’s contrary conclusion suggests that the judgment call was so easy that no deliberation or explanation is required, and that suggestion casts aspersions on the tedious work that our colleagues have done,” Jackson said.

The Trump administration has faced hundreds of lawsuits and adverse rulings in the lower courts. While the Department of Justice’s solicitor general’s office often does not elevate cases to the Supreme Court for emergency consideration, when it does, it has won most of the time.

BIDEN-APPOINTED JUDGE AT CENTER OF REPEATED CLASHES WITH TRUMP ADMIN ISSUES NEW IMMIGRATION BLOCK

Through the emergency docket, the Supreme Court has greenlit Trump’s mass firings and curtailed nationwide injunctions. The high court has cleared the way for deportations and immigration stops sometimes criticized as controversial. The justices have also found that the government can, for now, discharge transgender service members from the military.

But Trump has not won out all the time. The justices required the administration to give more notice to alleged illegal immigrants being deported under the Alien Enemies Act and agreed with a lower court that the president improperly federalized the National Guard as part of his immigration crackdown in Chicago.

In August, Jackson lashed out at the Supreme Court majority for “lawmaking” from the bench in a dissent to an emergency decision to temporarily allow the National Institutes of Health’s cancellation of about $738 million in grant money.

“This is Calvinball jurisprudence with a twist. Calvinball has only one rule: There are no fixed rules. We seem to have two: that one, and this Administration always wins,” Jackson wrote at the time.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Supreme Court’s public affairs team for comment on Thursday. 

FIRST ON FOX: A Democratic congressman representing a South Texas district that Donald Trump carried by double digits is emerging as a top Republican target, with the GOP arguing Rep. Vicente Gonzalez’s shifting border record has left him politically exposed at home.

Though traditionally a Democratic stronghold, heavily Hispanic South Texas has trended sharply Republican in recent election cycles. Gonzalez narrowly won his 2023 election over former Rep. Mayra Flores by less than three percentage points. Additionally, the Texas redistricting push last year made Gonzalez’s district seven points more Republican. The race is widely considered a toss-up leaning Republican — one of the few pickup opportunities for the GOP in an unfavorable political climate.

Republican National Committee spokesperson Zach Kraft told Fox News Digital that Gonzalez’s record on border security and former President Joe Biden has come back to bite him, leaving him “like a fish out of water” in his district.

Gonzalez, however, dismissed these criticisms as Republicans “grasping at straws.” He emphasized that “If you look at my record, you’ll see I was one of the toughest Democrats in the country on President Biden’s approach to our southern border, and I continue working to fix our broken immigration system, support CBP and Border Patrol, and rid our streets of criminals.”

HOUSE CANDIDATE PREDICTS HISTORIC RISE OF ‘NEW GENERATION’ IN CONGRESS AS PARTIES TARGET KEY DEMOGRAPHIC

Under the redrawn Texas congressional map, Gonzalez’s district in the Rio Grande Valley is one that President Donald Trump won by 10 points in 2024, according to the Texas Tribune.

Highly optimistic about the GOP’s chances, Kraft said that South Texans “do not want to go back to the Biden days where cartels controlled the border and endangered the lives of farmers, families, and Border Patrol agents.”

Gonzalez opposed construction of a border wall in 2019, calling it a “4th-century solution to a 21st-century problem,” according to CBS News.

The outlet also quoted Gonzalez denying there was a crisis at the border in 2019, saying, “When people talk about violence streaming across the border, it’s just nonsense.”

During the Biden administration, Gonzalez took a mixed approach to border policy, at times urging the White House to curb “disorderly” crossings while also pushing for expanded asylum pathways and a more “humane process” for migrants. In 2023 he was critical of Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to secure the border, accusing him of “grandstanding … about the way he is treating brown people,” according to the Rio Grande Guardian.

DEM CANDIDATE BLASTED BY GOP OPPONENT OVER JOKE ABOUT BANDMATE CONVICTED OF CHILD SEX ABUSE

At the same time, Gonzalez said that by adding additional penalties to crossing illegally after the end of Title 42, Biden and then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “positively impacted our border,” adding, “and that’s a fact.”

“People could point fingers and say things, but the reality is, undocumented crossings are down by 70 percent,” he said.

Border crossings briefly dropped by roughly 65% to 70% after the end of Title 42, a COVID-era public health order that allowed authorities to quickly expel illegal border crossers. However, crossings climbed to record highs later that year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. Approximately 11 million border encounters occurred over the course of Biden’s four years in office, according to DHS.

In Biden’s final year in office, Gonzalez voted for a House resolution condemning the “national security and public safety crisis” at the southern border, warning that migrants were arriving in “historic numbers.” He has also said the border was “out of control” under the Biden administration.

Since Trump returned to the Oval Office, Gonzalez has also gone on the record, saying, “I’m happy to see that the border is under control,” according to the Rio Grande Guardian.

In an unearthed interview last year, Gonzalez urged Trump to “lighten up” enforcement and “allow people to cross freely” if vetted, arguing such migrants are “a very important part of our economy.”

DEM CANDIDATE’S UNEARTHED ‘WINTER TEXAN’ COMMENT COULD HAUNT CAMPAIGN

During the same interview, Gonzalez asserted, “We need to find a pathway” for illegal immigrants who have been in the country for decades to “be here legally, pay taxes, pay social security and really get them out of the shadows.”

Gonzalez’s Republican opponent, Eric Flores, an Army veteran and former prosecutor, told Fox News Digital that “South Texas has paid the price for his total failure.”

“Vicente Gonzalez built his record on policies that opened the border and tied the hands of the very federal agents sworn to protect us,” he went on. “I’ve worked alongside Border Patrol and law enforcement on the front lines, both as a Soldier and as a federal prosecutor. I will always stand with them.”

In response, Gonzalez told Fox News Digital that “Eric Flores and the NRCC [National Republican Congressional Committee] are drowning and grasping at straws.”

“If you look at my record, you’ll see I was one of the toughest Democrats in the country on President Biden’s approach to our southern border, and I continue working to fix our broken immigration system, support CBP and Border Patrol, and rid our streets of criminals — something this Administration claims it is doing, but instead let DHS shutdown and fixates on targeting law-abiding individuals and their families,” he said.

“The truth is, Republican voters in South Texas are turning away from the extreme mass deportation policies Rubber Stamp Eric will support. The same ones that have led to American citizens being murdered on our streets and labor shortages that are making housing and other essentials more expensive.”

Fox News Digital also reached out to a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for comment.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., vowed to cancel the pensions of former Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, both of whom resigned Tuesday amid sexual assault and sexual harassment allegations.

Boebert shared a video Wednesday on X, announcing that she was “working on” efforts to ensure that Swalwell and others like him lose their taxpayer-funded pension.

“Former Congressman Eric Swalwell abused his position of power in Congress to assault and victimize women,” Boebert said. “Now as things stand, taxpayers will be sending him tens of thousands of dollars every year for the rest of his life. This is totally unacceptable.”

SWALWELL OUT AMID SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS AFTER 13 YEARS IN CONGRESS

Swalwell and Gonzales are both eligible for federal retirement benefits offered under the Federal Employees Retirement System, or FERS, or the Civil Service Retirement System. Both plans require at least five years of federal service.

Neither congressman would be able to access his taxpayer-funded pension until age 62. They would receive roughly $22,000 each year for the rest of their lives.

FLASHBACK: SWALWELL TOUTED EPSTEIN SURVIVOR AS SOTU GUEST WEEKS BEFORE SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS EMERGED

Boebert told a CNN reporter earlier in the week that she did not think Swalwell or Gonzales should have been allowed to resign. Instead, she said there should have been a vote to expel or censure them.

“And I think that we actually need to look into ways to censure, with other aspects to say you can’t have your pension, you can’t leave here with all your taxpayer-funded benefits after such shameful acts that cause you to bow out and resign from Congress,” Boebert told CNN reporter Manu Raju on the House steps.

Only six House of Representatives members have been successfully expelled. An expulsion vote can be based on a member of Congress engaging in “disorderly conduct.”

Members of Congress do not automatically lose their pension benefits based upon a censure or expulsion vote. Under several federal laws, such as the HISS Act and STOCK Act of 2012, members will only lose their pensions and other benefits if they are convicted of crimes committed while in Congress.

Fox News Digital reached out to Boebert for further details of her plan to end the former members’ retirement benefits.

More Senate Democrats than ever before voted to halt arms sales and military bulldozers to Israel as an act of protest against President Donald Trump’s war in Iran.

The late-night vote on Wednesday, which saw both of Sen. Bernie Sanders’, I-Vt., resolutions fail, signaled a shift among Senate Democrats, who in several previous attempts by the progressive had joined Republicans to support the Jewish state.

Combined, Sanders’ resolutions would have blocked nearly $500 million in arms and equipment sales to Israel. One resolution would have halted the sale of roughly $295 million in Caterpillar bulldozers, while the other would have stopped the sale of nearly $152 million worth of 1,000-pound bombs.

Though they failed without Republican support, Sanders viewed the swell of Democratic backing as “progress.”

GOP HOLDS WITH TRUMP ON IRAN WAR, BUT CRACKS EMERGE AS DEADLINE NEARS

“Today, more than 80% of the Democratic caucus stood with the American people and voted to block U.S. military aid to [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his horrific, illegal wars,” Sanders said in a statement.

“When we started this effort there were just 11 votes,” he continued. “Now, there are 40. That shift reflects where the American people are.”

The shift comes after Israel’s strikes in Lebanon threatened a fragile ceasefire, and broader peace talks, to end fighting in Iran.

Senate Democrats weren’t fully aligned on both resolutions — 40 supported halting the sale of bulldozers to Israel, while 36 voted to block bomb sales. Notably, the last time the Senate voted to disapprove arms sales to Israel, 27 Democrats voted yes. Before that, only 19 did.

ROGUE DEM BUCKS PARTY ON TRUMP WAR POWERS, CALLS IRAN ‘47-YEAR-OLD WAR CRIME’

Notably, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who has been a vocal critic of the war, voted against Sanders’ resolutions.

Lawmakers who flipped their votes were quick to stress that they still support Israel but viewed their votes against the sale of weapons and military equipment as a referendum on the war in Iran.

Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., who previously voted against Sanders’ attempts to halt arms sales to the Jewish state, said in a statement that her decision to flip was “informed by President Trump’s and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s reckless decision to go to war.”

“I have serious questions about any supplemental expenditures for this war, let alone additional sales of weapons for the same war to Israel,” Hassan said.

SCHUMER BLASTS TRUMP’S IRAN WAR AS FAILURE, MOVES TO REIN IN HIS WAR POWERS AMID CEASEFIRE

The vote, coupled with overwhelming Democratic support to rein in President Donald Trump’s war powers in the Middle East earlier on Wednesday, could be viewed as a preview of the power Democrats may wield over an expected supplemental spending request to fund the war in Iran, which the administration has yet to send to Congress.

The price tag of that package has fluctuated from as much as $200 billion to as low as $50 billion. Because of the influence Senate Democrats could have over funding the war effort, Republicans are considering including the request in a party-line package.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., explained her vote against “1,000 pound so-called ‘dumb bombs’ and military bulldozers” was meant to highlight a stark contrast between supporting Israel and supporting the war.

“But being pro-Israel today is not simply about supporting the political or military agenda of Prime Minister Netanyahu, just like being pro-American should not be equated with loyalty to President Trump,” she said.

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday.

Trump’s announcement comes after a Lebanese official told Fox News that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun would not speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu until a ceasefire had been established.

“I just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel. These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“On Tuesday, the two Countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, D.C., with our Great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. I have directed Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, together with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Razin’ Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE. It has been my Honor to solve 9 Wars across the World, and this will be my 10th, so let’s, GET IT DONE!” he added.

IRAN THREATENS TO END CEASEFIRE OVER HEZBOLLAH’S EXCLUSION FROM TRUCE DEAL

The ceasefire comes after Israeli and Lebanese officials met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House this week. Aoun also spoke with both Rubio and Trump in separate phone calls on Wednesday.

According to the Lebanese presidency’s official X account, Aoun thanked Trump for his efforts to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon and achieve what it described as a lasting peace and stability that could pave the way for a broader regional peace process.

Aoun, who previously served as commander of Lebanon’s U.S.-backed armed forces before becoming president last year, said an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon would be a necessary first step before Lebanese troops could fully deploy to the border region.

HEZBOLLAH, IRAN UNLEASH COORDINATED CLUSTER BOMB STRIKES ON ISRAEL IN MAJOR ESCALATION

The diplomatic dispute comes as the White House presses for a broader deal to end the regional war that erupted after the Lebanon-based, Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group entered the conflict on March 2 in support of Tehran.

Hezbollah’s intervention opened a new front in Lebanon just 15 months after the last major Israel-Hezbollah war.

Pakistan, which helped mediate the April 8 ceasefire between Israel and Iran, said ending the fighting in Lebanon is essential to preserving that agreement.

“Peace in Lebanon is essential for peace talks,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said.

Fox News’ Efrat Lachter contributed to this report.