Category: USA Politics

The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday invalidated a new, voter-approved redistricting map, delivering a significant victory for Republicans in the state ahead of the fast-approaching 2026 midterm elections.

“We hold that the legislative process employed to advance this proposal violated Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia,” the Virginia Supreme Court said in the ruling. “This constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy.”

The Virginia Supreme Court heard oral arguments last month over the newly passed congressional map, which voters in the state approved by a narrow 51% to 49% margin.

The ballot measure would have given  the Democrat-controlled Virginia legislature — rather than the state’s current nonpartisan commission — temporary redistricting power through 2030.

It was also expected to yield a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in Virginia’s congressional delegation, up from their current 6-5 edge.

Republicans quickly sued to block the effort, prompting the state supreme court to hear oral arguments last month.

RNC chair Joe Gruters praised the ruling Friday, describing it on social media as a “HUGE WIN” for election integrity.

“This was a clear violation of the Constitution — that’s why the RNC stepped in to stop Democrats’ rigged maps and WON!” he said.

Virginia is one of the latest battlegrounds in the redistricting war pitting President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers against Democrats.

Trump last spring floated the idea of a rare — if not unheard of — mid-decade congressional redistricting effort in an effort to prevent the so-called “blue wave” that saw Democrats retake the House majority in the 2018  midterms during his first term in office.

The effort was aimed at redrawing congressional district maps in GOP-led states to pad the fragile House majority and keep control of the chamber after the midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

Asked last summer about his plan to add Republican-leaning House seats to maps across the country, Trump said, “Texas will be the biggest one. And that’ll be five.”

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

Public school teachers in Gov. Tim Walz’s Minnesota are required to abide by a “horribly disgusting” and “crazy” race standard that forces them to assess how their “biases, perceptions and academic training” perpetuate oppression, a state lawmaker said.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Republican state Sen. Mark Koran pointed to the requirement as further evidence of how education in Minnesota has “eroded.”

According to Minnesota’s guidebook on “Standards of Effective Practice,” public school teachers hoping to be licensed by the state must demonstrate that they have assessed “how their biases, perceptions and academic training may affect their teaching practice and perpetuate oppressive systems.”

The requirement, which Minnesota classifies as one of its “professional responsibilities,” further demands teachers use “tools to mitigate their own behavior to disrupt oppressive systems.”

Koran said this requirement effectively amounts to forcing teachers to take a “vow of being an oppressor,” which he called “just crazy” and “horribly detrimental.”

WALZ HIT WITH LOCAL REVOLT FROM MINNESOTA MAYOR REFUSING ‘UGLY’ NEW FLAG: ‘PEOPLE’S DECISION’

He ripped into Walz over the changes, saying, “He’s tied to the radicals, he’s tied to the teachers’ unions, all the public unions of a really wild, radical agenda.”

According to Koran, Minnesota has recently redone all of its teaching licensing standards “under the guise of racism.”

Under the new standards, he explained, teachers “have to embed in their curriculum, in their pedagogy, the understanding of the ‘oppressed’ and the ‘oppressor’ environment and overtly include that in their curricula.”

“It’s horribly disgusting,” he said. “It is racism. It is instilling the systemic racism that doesn’t exist today.”

Another professional responsibility required by Minnesota is that teachers understand “how prejudice, discrimination, and racism operate at the interpersonal, intergroup and institutional levels.”

Teachers are required to demonstrate an understanding of “the historical foundations of education in Minnesota, including law, policies, and practices, that have and continue to create inequitable opportunities, experiences, and outcomes for learners.”

The guidebook continues that teachers must highlight how the education system has created inequitable opportunities for “Indigenous students and students historically denied access, underserved, or underrepresented on the basis of race, class, disability, religion, gender, sexual orientation, language, socioeconomic status, or country of origin.”

WATCHDOG EXPOSES TAXPAYER-FUNDED TEACHER PROGRAM FOR BANNING WHITE APPLICANTS: ‘LIKELY ILLEGAL’

Further, under the section on student learning, the guidebook requires teachers to demonstrate their understanding of “the diverse impacts of individual and systemic trauma” on learning, including “racism, and micro and macro aggressions.”

Teachers are required to know how to support students using “culturally responsive strategies and resources to address these impacts.”

Koran asserted that this “wild political ideology” is going to drive out more and more teachers from teaching in public schools.

“It’s an offensive statement to assume that somebody’s an oppressor based on who’s the disfavored race of the week,” he said. “We just can’t have that.”

Koran said that these race-based changes have been made as academic outcomes in Minnesota have simultaneously been plummeting.

“They’ve lowered the standards under the guise of equity,” he said. “Today in Minnesota, half of our children can’t read or write or do math at grade level, 50 percent, and they have high school diplomas.”  

“Minnesota is bragging about the graduation rates; we hit the highest ever, but fewer people have an education and are set up with a foundation to be successful,” he lamented.

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA SITE WARNS OF A ‘WHITENESS PANDEMIC,’ URGES WHITE PARENTS TO ‘RE-EDUCATE’

This comes as Walz and the state of Minnesota are facing increased national scrutiny over one of the largest fraud scandals in U.S. history. Koran said that if there is one message he could communicate to Minnesotans, it is that “the governor matters.”

“We’ve got to get Minnesota back on the right track,” he said. “The governor sets the tone, sets the direction, and sets the goals for which we need to work to achieve.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Walz and the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board for comment. Fox News Digital also reached out to Education Minnesota, the state’s largest teachers’ union, for comment.

The crowd at a California gubernatorial debate gasped and groaned after Republican candidate Chad Bianco suggested Democratic candidate Katie Porter take his advice on how to be a proper mother during a heated discussion on the state’s sanctuary policies for illegal immigrants.

Porter and Bianco were two of seven gubernatorial candidates who took part in NBC LA and Telemundo 52’s Wednesday debate, held just weeks before California’s jungle primary scheduled for June 2, 2026.

The scuffle between Porter and Bianco began after the moderator asked Porter for her thoughts on the state’s sanctuary policies for illegal immigrants. Porter said the laws on the books should be enforced to ensure “crazy cowboys” aren’t “taking the law into their own hands.”

Bianco interjected, saying, “tell that to a crazy mother who lost her child.”

“I don’t need any lectures from you about being a mother,” Porter said.

DHS SLAMS CALIFORNIA ‘SANCTUARY’ COUNTY AFTER MOM ALLEGEDLY MURDERED BY 2 HONDURAN NATIONALS

“You might,” Bianco quipped back, causing the audience to gasp.

Both Porter and Bianco’s campaigns have been marked by controversy. A resurfaced video of Porter directing expletives at a staffer, along with details from her divorce, has raised questions about whether the former congresswoman has the temperament to lead California.

MSNBC PANEL USES KATIE PORTER BACKLASH TO BLAST ‘DOUBLE STANDARD’ FOR WOMEN IN POLITICS

Porter shares three children with her ex-husband Matthew Hoffman. The couple separated in 2013. In his divorce filings, Hoffman accused Porter of being verbally and physically abusive to him, accusing the gubernatorial candidate at one point of pouring a bowl of scalding-hot mashed potatoes on his head.

However, despite these abuse allegations, Porter shares custody of their children with her ex-husband.

And while Porter’s ex-boyfriend, Julian Willis, had threatened to call Child Protective Services on her, there is no evidence that Porter has ever lost custody of her children. The threats from the ex-boyfriend to call CPS on Porter were among roughly a thousand texts Porter and her family members received over the course of a three-month period. Porter received a temporary restraining order from Willis based on allegations that he was verbally and physically abusive to her.

Fox News Digital reached out to Porter for comment.

Meanwhile, Bianco — a career law enforcement officer and sitting sheriff — has faced criticism over his past association with the far-right Oath Keepers, though he says his brief membership ended in 2014.

Fox News Digital reached out to Bianco for further comment.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is using her 2027 budget request to push new restrictions targeting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Empire State, testing the limits of her authority to impose requirements on federal agencies — a test that experts say is doomed from its outset.

The Local Cops Local Crimes Act would block local law enforcement from acting on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Alongside a proposed ban on masks and new operational limits in certain settings, Hochul’s efforts continue Democrats’ efforts to use state-level policies to push back on President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

“ICE will no longer be able to use our police, our jails and our resources to carry out civil immigration enforcement. Because guess what: Our officers paid for by local taxpayer dollars were hired to protect their communities, to be there to assist with a traffic accident, to go after retail theft, stop domestic violence,” Hochul said at a press event on Thursday.

HOCHUL DENOUNCES ICE RAID AS ‘CRUEL,’ DESPITE CHILD ENDANGERMENT AMONG CHARGES

“They’re not there to do the federal government’s bidding.”

Since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, governors in states like Illinois, California and Virginia have thrown up barriers to local-federal immigration cooperation by limiting communication, data sharing and more.

In Hochul’s case, the Local Cops Local Crimes Act rescinds and prevents the expansion of any new agreements under the 287(g) program — a federal law that allows local officers to assume authority to conduct immigration-related work that is normally carried out by federal officials.

It also comes alongside a slew of separate immigration-related reforms Hochul is pressing for, including establishing a state right to sue ICE for “constitutional violations,” a prohibition on masks for local and federal law enforcement and a restriction that would prevent ICE from entering schools, libraries, polling locations and homes without a judicial warrant.

Hans von Spakovsky, a legal scholar with Advancing American Freedom, believes those additional changes won’t survive long — even if they do become law.

“If the question is: can she do any of that? The answer is no. This is not an ambiguous issue,” Spakovsky said.

JONATHAN TURLEY: WHY BLUE STATES’ NEW ANTI-ICE LAWS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL VIRTUE SIGNALING

Spakovsky, pointing to the 1890 Supreme Court case In re Neagle, said states can’t hold federal agents responsible for carrying out federal mandates.

The Local Cops Local Crimes Act stipulates that local law enforcement would still have to comply with warrants issued for an immigration-related arrest.

“Nothing in this section shall be intended to limit local government law, law enforcement agency, correctional facility, or local correctional facility from enforcing any valid state or federal court-issued warrants or orders, or any other actions as required by law,” the bill reads.

Even so, Laurin Bis, acting assistant secretary for public affairs for the Department of Homeland Security, blasted Hochul’s announcement, calling it a dangerous development for NYC residents.

“Governor Hochul’s policies of not cooperating with ICE put New Yorkers in danger. When politicians bar local law enforcement from working with DHS, our law enforcement officers have to have a more visible presence so that we can find and apprehend the criminals let out of jails and back into communities,” Bis said.

Bis said DHS feared that NYC would end up allowing more immigration-law violators back onto the street.

“Instead of working with us, Governor Hochul is choosing to release violent criminals from her jails directly back into our communities to perpetrate more crimes and create more victims.”

NEW JERSEY GOV SHERRILL SIGNS LAW BARRING ICE AGENTS FROM WEARING FACE COVERINGS TO SHIELD IDENTITIES

Hochul’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether New York would refuse to hold suspects in violation of immigration law.

The office also did not respond to questions about why the Local Cops Local Crimes Act had been included alongside the 2027 budget request.

FIRST ON FOX — The Trump administration on Friday released a batch of “never-before-seen” files and videos on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon (UAP) as part of an effort to increase transparency on government knowledge of extraterrestrial phenomena.

“The latest UAP videos, photos, and original source documents from across the entire United States government are all in one place – no clearance required. While past administrations sought to discredit or dissuade the American people, President Trump is focused on providing maximum transparency to the public, who can ultimately make up their own minds about the information contained in these files,” the White House said in a statement to Fox News.

The release is a function of President Donald Trump’s Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE) program.

Photos from the initial disclosure, which a White House official told Fox News is the first of a series of releases, show strangely shaped objects captured on film during the Apollo 12 and Apollo 17 space missions.

One photo taken from the surface of the moon appears to show a cluster of three tiny dots in the sky.

TRUMP SAYS FIRST RELEASES FROM PENTAGON UFO STUDY WILL COME OUT ‘VERY, VERY SOON’ AFTER PHOENIX RALLY TEASE

A transcript of communications between Apollo 17 operators released in the disclosure Friday details the operators’ exchange over the unknown phenomenon.

“Now we’ve got a few very bright particles or fragments or something that go drifting by as we maneuver,” an operator told the command center.

“Roger. Understand,” the center replied.

UFO COVER USED BY GOVERNMENT TO ‘HIDE A LOT OF THINGS,’ FORMER NASA AGENT SAYS

“There’s a whole bunch of big ones on my window down there – just bright. It looks like the Fourth of July out of Ron’s window,” another operator added.

“Yes. Now you can see some of them in shape. They’re very jagged, angular fragments that are tumbling,” the first operator said.

Another pair of photos from the release come from the FBI and contain images from New Year’s Eve 1999 showing other UAPs in the same image as U.S. aircraft.

AIR FORCE F-16 STRUCK BY DRONE DURING TRAINING FLIGHT OVER ARIZONA IN 2023

In February, after former President Barack Obama told a podcaster that aliens were real, Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Trump directly about the existence of aliens.

“He gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that,” Trump said of Obama. “I don’t know if they’re real or not. I can tell you, he gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that – he made a big mistake. He took it out of classified information.”

Days later, Trump announced in a Truth Social post that he would be declassifying files related to the subject.

OBAMA SAYS ALIENS ‘ARE REAL, BUT I HAVEN’T SEEN THEM’ IN RECENT PODCAST INTERVIEW

“Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” he wrote.

Numerous agency heads commented on the release, calling it an unprecedented step in transparency.

“The Department of War is in lockstep with President Trump to bring unprecedented transparency regarding our government’s understanding of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said.

TRUMP, SCHUMER FIND RARE COMMON GROUND ON RELEASING UFO FILES

“These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation — and it’s time the American people see it for themselves. This release of declassified documents demonstrates the Trump Administration’s earnest commitment to unprecedented transparency,” he concluded.

“The American people have long sought transparency about the government’s knowledge of unidentified anomalous phenomena,” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard added.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is actively coordinating the Intelligence Community’s declassification efforts with the Department of War to ensure a careful, comprehensive, and unprecedented review of our holdings to provide the American people with maximum transparency. Today’s release is the first in what will be an ongoing joint declassification and release effort.”

NASA CHIEF JARED ISAACMAN SAYS ARTEMIS II WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE ‘IF IT WASN’T FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP’

FBI Director Kash Patel added, “The FBI is proud to stand alongside President Trump and our interagency partners in this landmark release of UAP records. For the first time in history, the American people have unfettered access to declassified government files on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon – a level of transparency that no prior administration has delivered. The FBI remains committed to supporting this rolling declassification effort with the same rigorous and integrity we bring to every national security matter. As these files continue to be reviewed and release, the American people can be confident that their security remains our highest priority.” 

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman also weighed in. “I applaud President Trump’s whole-of-government effort to bring greater transparency to the American people on unidentified anomalous phenomena,” Isaacman said.

“At NASA, our job is to bring the brightest minds and most advanced scientific instruments to bear, follow the data, and share what we learn. We will remain candid about what we know to be true, what we have yet to understand, and all that remains to be discovered. Exploration and the pursuit of knowledge are core to NASA’s mission as we endeavor to unlock the secrets of the universe,” he concluded.

A large batch of UAP files will be available at WAR.GOV/UFO.

News that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had opened an investigation against Fairfax County Prosecutor Steve Descano on Wednesday prompted mixed reactions from Virginia Democrats.

The skepticism from some — but joined with some sense of openness from others — underscores the distrust that many Democrats harbor toward President Donald Trump’s DOJ while also highlighting frustrations from lawmakers over preventable violence.

At least one Democrat, Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., dismissed the case as a witch hunt.

“I think the DOJ has been putting a lot of ‘Ls’ on the board. I think this would be another loss in their column,” Walkinshaw said.

PRO-POLICE GROUP ASKS DOJ TO PROBE SOROS-BACKED VIRGINIA PROSECUTOR USING BIDEN-ERA LAW ONCE AIMED AT COPS

Others said they would reserve judgment.

“I was discouraged, but I don’t want to prejudge. I very much hope and believe that the Commonwealth attorney has done nothing wrong or untoward. If they find anything, then we can fix it,” Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., told Fox News Digital.

Descano, who has received more than $600,000 in campaign support from the Justice and Public Safety PAC, a committee primarily funded by billionaire megadonor George Soros, has become a lightning rod figure in the national conversation over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown amid a string of murders in Fairfax County involving illegal alien repeat offenders.

Most notable among them: The death of Stephanie Minter allegedly at the hands of Abdul Jalloh drew scrutiny when reports emerged that Jalloh had reportedly been arrested and released more than 30 times.

In press releases following Minter’s death, DHS claimed that Descano’s office had been warned about Jalloh and the danger he posed to the public ahead of Minter’s death.

FAMILY DEMANDS FAR-LEFT PROSECUTOR BE OUSTED FROM OFFICE AFTER SISTER KILLED BY REPEAT OFFENDER

On Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said the investigation into Descano would zero in on his plea bargaining, charging decisions and sentencing policies.

“Under my leadership, the Civil Rights Division will not allow local prosecutors to pick and choose winners based on their immigration status,” Dhillon said.

“This investigation will uncover whether this prosecutor is putting the community at risk in offering sweetheart deals to illegal immigrants charged with serious crimes.”

Although he has voiced criticisms of the Trump administration’s focus on immigrants in the past, Beyer lamented the presence of repeat offenders — and not just in Fairfax County.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT, ACCOMPLICE GET 5 YEARS FOR MURDER IN SWEETHEART DEAL WITH PROGRESSIVE VIRGINIA DA

“If it’s legitimate, I hope they do their job well. I’ve often seen cases around the country where you just can’t believe somebody with so many prior convictions is still out.

“I think we have a responsibility to protect the public,” Beyer added.

Descano’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Thursday in Rome amid diplomatic tensions with both Italy and the Vatican.

The meeting comes one day after Rubio, a practicing Catholic, held talks at the Vatican with Pope Leo and senior church officials in what many observers viewed as an effort to calm relations after weeks of escalating rhetoric between President Donald Trump and the Holy See.

For much of Trump’s second term, Meloni was widely viewed as Trump’s closest ideological ally among major European leaders. But that relationship has begun to fray amid disputes over the Iran war.

That political partnership, however, has come under strain in recent months, as Trump’s escalating clash with Pope Leo XIV collided with separate tensions over Italy’s limits on using its territory for U.S. combat-linked operations tied to the Iran war.

RUBIO TO VISIT ITALY, VATICAN AMID TROOP DRAWDOWN CALL, TENSION WITH TRUMP, POPE LEO: REPORTS

Asked April 30 whether he’d consider pulling troops out of Italy and Spain, Trump said, “Yeah, probably. … Why shouldn’t I?”

“Italy has not been of any help to us,” the president said.

The Italian prime minister built a strong rapport with Trump through their shared positions on immigration, nationalism, border security and opposition to progressive cultural politics. Meloni was the only European leader to attend Trump’s second inauguration in January 2025, and she also visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago as she sought to position herself as a key intermediary between Washington and Europe.

TRUMP MEETS WITH ITALIAN PM GIORGIA MELONI AT HIS MAR-A-LAGO RESORT

The relationship often appeared notably warm in public. 

During a 2025 Middle East summit in Egypt, Trump publicly praised Meloni as “a beautiful young woman” and joked, “You don’t mind being called beautiful, right?” before describing her as an “incredible leader” respected throughout Italy.

Trump and Meloni also found common ground politically. 

Both leaders embraced tougher border enforcement policies, criticized “woke” ideology in Western institutions and argued for stronger nationalist identities inside their respective countries. Meloni’s conservative Brothers of Italy party was frequently described by Trump allies as an example of the type of populist movement reshaping Europe

The split became visible after Meloni publicly criticized Trump’s attacks on the pope as “unacceptable,” prompting Trump to lash back and reportedly tell aides she was “much different than I thought.”

RUBIO HOLDS ‘CONSTRUCTIVE’ MEETING WITH POPE LEO AFTER TRUMP SENDS HARD-LINE IRAN MESSAGE TO VATICAN

Italian media and European analysts have described the dispute as a remarkable deterioration between two leaders once viewed as natural political allies.

The Vatican dispute has been especially politically sensitive for Meloni because Pope Leo, the first U.S.-born pontiff, remains highly influential in Italy, where criticism of the pope by foreign leaders can quickly become politically toxic. Trump’s remarks about Leo’s opposition to the war against Iran generated significant backlash among Italian Catholics and across portions of Italy’s political establishment.

The Iran conflict has further complicated relations. Italian officials reportedly have expressed growing discomfort over the possibility of deeper U.S. military escalation and concerns surrounding American military basing access in Italy. Rome has also faced pressure domestically to distance itself from Washington’s handling of the conflict.

Economic tensions continue simmering in the background as well. While Trump earlier in 2026 reduced tariffs on some Italian exports, including pasta products, as what he described as a “New Year’s gift” to Italy, concerns remain in Rome and Brussels over the administration’s repeated threats to impose broader tariffs on European goods.

Against that backdrop, Rubio’s visit is widely being interpreted as an effort to stabilize relations before the political rift deepens further. The secretary of state is expected to discuss Middle East security, NATO coordination, migration and trade during his talks with Meloni and other Italian officials as the administration works to preserve Italy’s role as one of Washington’s closest partners in Southern Europe.

The White House and Italian embassy in the U.S. could not immediately be reached for comment. 

Nearly 600 unopened ballots were discovered in a California county months after voters approved a statewide Democratic redistricting measure, with local election officials admitting they failed voters.

The Humboldt County Office of Elections said in a Wednesday press release that the 596 sealed but uncounted ballots did not impact the outcome of the Nov. 4 statewide special election, which centered on Proposition 50, a redistricting ballot measure pushed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats.

The ballots were found Monday inside a locked drop box, prompting county officials to say they had not been tampered with because the box was locked, and the ballots remained sealed. Officials said the error stemmed from a miscommunication over whether the drop box had been fully emptied before certification.

“While the mistake occurred after an election worker did not follow proper procedures, the responsibility for what happened ultimately sits with me. I did not have strong enough controls in place to prevent this, but we do now,” Humboldt County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters Juan Pablo Cervantes said in the news release. “We have taken corrective action and already updated our protocols. A new lock out, tag out procedure has been implemented for every ballot drop box to ensure each box is physically verified as empty and secured before election results are finalized.”

SUPREME COURT SHUTS DOWN CALIFORNIA GOP BID TO BLOCK NEWSOM’S NEW MAP

While the ballots will not change the outcome of the November election, Humboldt County officials said they are still endeavoring to ensure all ballots get counted, apologizing to voters that they “fell short” of their duties.

“I promise you that we are taking this seriously,” Cervantes added. “We will strengthen our processes and continue pushing toward the standard our community expects and deserves.”

Proposition 50, championed by Newsom and California Democrats, allowed the state to temporarily use legislature-drawn congressional maps for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections instead of maps created by California’s independent redistricting commission.

REDISTRICTING BATTLES BREWING ACROSS THE COUNTRY AS PARTIES COMPETE FOR POWER AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS

The measure came amid a national mid-decade redistricting fight, with Newsom and California Democrats arguing the state needed to counter GOP-led map changes in states such as Texas.

California’s normal redistricting process is handled by an independent commission, but Prop 50 created a temporary voter-approved exception allowing the state to use legislature-drawn congressional maps through 2030.

After the Supreme Court last week narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in a Louisiana redistricting case, a ruling that could open the door for Republican-led states to pursue new maps that undercut Democratic redistricting gains in California and potential gains in states such as Virginia, California Democrats have faced pressure to consider going even further in response.

However, The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that despite this urging for additional action, even after voters approved Prop 50, California Democrats have no intention of making an attempt to redraw the maps again before the midterms.

California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks pointed out Democrats need to win the seats created under the state’s existing Prop 50 map they redrew last year.

“We have yet to fully win the seats in the map that was drawn in 2025. It seems a step too far to say we’re going to go back to the drawing board and redraw the map,” Hicks said, according to The Los Angeles Times.

“You all should pick up some seats. Let’s all do this together, because California cannot do it alone, it will take the rest of the country,” Hicks added, referring to pressure on Democratic-led states to counter Republican redistricting efforts nationwide.

Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent asserted in a post on X that prior to the start of the Iran war, the U.S. intelligence community agreed that the Islamic Republic was not developing a nuclear weapon.

“One of the many tragedies of this war is that before the war began the U.S. Intel Community, including CIA, was in agreement that Iran wasn’t developing a nuclear weapon & that Iran would target U.S. bases in the region & shut down the Strait of Hormuz if they were attacked by Israel & the U.S.,” Kent wrote in a post on Thursday.

“The IC also properly assessed that targeting the Iranian leadership would strengthen the regime and embolden the hardliners. Despite the professionalism & accuracy of the IC, the narrative & agenda spun by a foreign government- Israel, won the argument & forced us into this war,” he continued.

EX-COUNTERTERRORISM CHIEF SAYS TRUMP MUST RESTRAIN ISRAEL BEFORE HE CAN DECLARE VICTORY IN IRAN

“We need to understand exactly how this happened to ensure we are never put in this position again,” he concluded.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Friday for a response to Kent’s comments.

Kent resigned from the National Counterterrorism Center director role back in March.

WHAT ISRAEL WANTS FROM AN IRAN PEACE DEAL: NO ENRICHMENT, MISSILE LIMITS AND STRICT ENFORCEMENT

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” he wrote in his resignation letter. “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” 

In an April Truth Social post, President Donald Trump slapped down the notion that Israel convinced him to enter the war against Iran.

TRUMP PUSHES BACK AGAINST PUNDITS, SAYS ISRAEL DID NOT TALK HIM INTO THE IRAN WAR

“Israel never talked me into the war with Iran, the results of Oct. 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON, did,” the president wrote in part of the post, referring to the heinous Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack perpetrated against Israel.

Democrat-aligned legal heavyweights moved swiftly this week to block Florida’s congressional map after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the redistricting plan into law on Monday, setting up new high-stakes court fights following the Supreme Court’s landmark Voting Rights Act decision clearing the way for red states to reconfigure their lines.

Prominent election lawyer Marc Elias and vocal anti-Trump lawyer Norm Eisen were among those spearheading a trio of lawsuits challenging the map, designed to give Republicans four new seats on President Donald Trump’s home turf. Elias is best known for leading high-profile election lawsuits on behalf of Democrats, while Eisen led House Democrats’ first impeachment probe into Trump.

One conservative election expert said their new lawsuits might be successful in state court.

“If they can delay, even if they eventually get the injunction overturned, by then it’ll probably be too late for these new districts to be put in place,” Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, told Fox News Digital.

DESANTIS SIGNS FLORIDA REDISTRICTING MAP TO POTENTIALLY FLIP 4 HOUSE SEATS RED

The fast-moving litigation, brought in Leon County, alleges that the 24-4 map violated a unique provision of the state constitution called the Fair Districts Amendment, which bans partisan gerrymandering.

The Supreme Court’s decision involving Louisiana’s map found that congressional lines should not typically be drawn based on racial demographics. DeSantis has signaled that the decision bolstered Florida’s mid-cycle redistricting plan. The Democrat-led lawsuits in Florida, meanwhile, were unable to make race-based claims because of the high court ruling, von Spakovsky said, noting the legal challenges all rested on claims that the newly drawn districts were unfairly crafted to suit Republicans’ political needs.

“I think they’re going to have a battle royale in court,” von Spakovsky predicted.

“All of the different groups that filed these Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, all of them talk to each other, and they don’t work in isolation, and I can tell you, the reason they filed three different lawsuits is that they’re hoping they’ll get at least one of the three judges to issue an injunction, even if they ultimately lose the case,” von Spakovsky said. “The whole point of these lawsuits is to impose delay.”

Republicans are up against the clock to defend the map as Florida’s candidate qualifying period begins in early June, while the state’s congressional primaries are scheduled for Aug. 18.

A spokesperson for Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd told Fox News Digital the office could not comment on pending litigation.

MEDIA OUTRAGE OVER SUPREME COURT’S VOTING RIGHTS ACT DECISION COLLIDES WITH REALITY

One of the lawsuits was brought by Eisen and others on behalf of voting rights groups including Common Cause and the League of Women Voters. Another was brought by Elias on behalf of the Equal Ground Education Fund and several individual Florida voters, and the third was brought by the Campaign Legal Center and the UCLA Voting Rights Project.

Florida is among several red, southern states hoping to rework their maps in time for the midterms. The stakes in Florida, an increasingly red state where Trump lives when not in D.C., are highest with four seats up for grabs, while Tennessee is aiming to break up its one Memphis-based majority-Black district and Alabama has only two Democratic-leaning districts.

When reached for comment, a spokesman for Elias pointed to his firm’s statement calling Florida’s map “one of the most extreme partisan gerrymanders ever recorded.”

“This new map would have one of the largest pro-Republican skews ever recorded,” the statement read, noting that Florida voters “sent a clear message” when they approved the state constitutional amendment banning partisan gerrymandering in 2010.

The lawsuits in Florida also come against the backdrop of a broader pre-existing war over mid-cycle redistricting that began with California and Texas. The Supreme Court has greenlit both states’ maps, which gave five new seats to Democrats and Republicans, respectively.

In Virginia, Democrats secured a 10-1 advantage in a state that typically leans slightly blue. The state Supreme Court is now examining that map after Republicans alleged in multiple lawsuits that a ballot measure approving the map originated from an illegal special legislative session and that the ballot language was deceiving.

BLOCKBUSTER SUPREME COURT VOTING RIGHTS RULING IGNITES REDISTRICTING WAR ACROSS SOUTHERN STATES

Asked about his redistricting efforts and whether it was a coordinated effort to reverse DeSantis’ plan, Eisen told Fox News Digital DeSantis improperly leveraged the 6-3 Supreme Court decision. The high court’s decision came down on April 29, and DeSantis signed into law the state-legislature-approved map the following Monday, May 4.

“Gov. DeSantis has used the excuse of [Louisiana v. Callais], really within hours of that decision coming down from the Roberts court, to do a plainly partisan redistricting in Florida,” Eisen said. “We and the coalition of civil rights and democracy groups and clients have filed a lawsuit to stop that. We cannot see the Callais decision, which itself is wrong, being further abused to drive additional illegal behavior.”

DeSantis told Fox & Friends the Supreme Court ruling supported Florida’s new congressional lines both because they dismantled an illegal racial gerrymander and because they reflected population growth.

“We actually had a racial gerrymander that the Supreme Court just said is unconstitutional,” DeSantis said. “I knew that was going to happen, so we called the special session back in January for April. … The other thing is, the Florida today is not the same Florida of 2020. We’ve netted two million people. … It does reflect that we have had explosive growth in parts of our state.”

Fox News Digital reached out to DeSantis’ office for comment, as well as lawyers for the Campaign Legal Center.