An ordained Christian minister running for U.S. Congress in Iowa penned an opinion piece sharing how the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — carried out by radical Islamic terrorists — made her more “aware” of the “rising anti-Muslim bigotry and its harm.”

Sarah Trone Garriott is one of three Democratic candidates vying for the battleground seat held by Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa.

Garriott, an Iowa state legislator and Lutheran minister, wrote the opinion piece for the Iowa Capital Dispatch in response to the “hateful messages” she received after she shared a prayer with Arabic words written by a Muslim woman on the statehouse floor in February 2021.

“They said horrible stereotypical things about my Muslim neighbors — Sharia law, hating freedom, violent religion,” Garriott wrote. “There were others who made comments about the United States being a Judeo-Christian country and therefore Muslim prayers were not welcome. There were some attacks against me, as a Christian leader I was leading people astray, that I didn’t know what I was doing.”

MAGA HARDLINER PUSHES BAN ON IMMIGRATION FROM ISLAMIC COUNTRIES, US ADVERSARIES IN WAKE OF TEXAS SHOOTING

She said the pushback “convinced” her there is a greater need for “religious diversity.”

Garriott revealed that she began her master’s degree in theological studies at Harvard University a day after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“On that religiously diverse campus, I was more aware of the rising anti-Muslim bigotry and its harm,” Garriott wrote. “I am kind a biblical literalist, and when Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers, I took that to heart. I worked with my Muslim classmates to organize a meal to bring the community together during Ramadan.”

Meanwhile, Nunn had “a different response” to the 9/11 terrorist attacks by joining the Air Force, according to Nunn’s spokesperson, Mark Matava. During his service, he “flew more than a hundred combat missions to defend America.”

“Sarah Trone Garriott has called Christianity ‘threatening,’ mocked parents for protecting their daughters, and accused Christian schools of being ‘white enclaves,’” Matava said. “Now we learn that her response to the deadliest attack on American soil was to lecture Americans about bigotry without so much as mentioning the nearly 3,000 people who were killed on 9/11. Her contempt for Iowa and America is on full display.”

‘UNDER SIEGE’: INSIDE THE GROWING RADICAL ISLAM THREAT CRITICS SAY IS HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT IN DEEP RED TEXAS

Iowa GOP spokesperson Jade Cichy also criticized Garriott for not mentioning the thousands of American victims killed on 9/11.

“Radical woke warrior Sarah Trone Garriott’s main concern after the September 11th terror attacks was ‘anti-Muslim bigotry,’ and she made no mention of the thousands of innocent Americans who lost their lives that day,” Cichy said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “This stunning display of tone-deaf political pandering is just the latest example showing Trone Garriott is out of touch with Iowa values.”

Republican National Committee spokesman Zach Kraft said she is “insulting Iowa values” by pandering to “coastal elite Democrat Party bosses.”

HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY REPUBLICAN URGES US MUSLIM LEADERSHIP TO ‘ISOLATE EXTREMISTS’ AFTER STRING OF ATTACKS

“Sarah Trone Garriott should be ashamed for wagging her finger at America for not being woke enough about 9/11 and completely ignoring the more than 2,000 patriots tragically killed that day,” Kraft said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Iowa GOP spokesperson Jade Cichy called Garriott’s “tone-deaf political pandering.”

Fox News Digital reported last month on a 2023 speech given by Garriott in which she criticized Christian displays at political rallies, calling it one of several “pretty uncomfortable ways that faith and political power have collided.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Garriott for comment.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing backlash online after admitting that his campaign pledge to make city buses free is hitting funding roadblocks.

Conservatives were quick to react to a Politico interview where the mayor acknowledged that one of his most hotly discussed campaign promises wouldn’t be fulfilled this year as his administration works to gain support from lawmakers in Albany.

“It won’t ever happen. It was a high-profile promise that won’t ever happen. It wasn’t really meant to,” wrote conservative media host Jason Rantz on X.

“Turns out socialist slogans don’t survive contact with reality,” National Republican Congressional Committee Press Secretary Mike Marinella posted on X.

FROM FREE BUSES TO CITY-OWNED GROCERY STORES, HERE ARE MAMDANI’S KEY ECONOMIC PROMISES

“Hahahahahahahahahaha. You got played, NYC,” wrote Amy Curtis, a conservative writer, on X.

“Mamdani lied about free buses — and basically everything else in his campaign,” wrote Tim Young, a media fellow at The Heritage Foundation, on X. “And the idiots of New York fell for it,” he added.

“Socialism is like a toxic ex: big promises upfront, disappointment later,” conservative media outlet Prager U posted on X. “Just ask New York about those free buses.”

Others, however, defended the effort, pointing to the complexities of funding major transit changes and praising the administration for continuing negotiations.

SOCIALIST NYC MAYOR MAMDANI CLASHES WITH HOCHUL OVER TAX HIKES AS SOME CRITICS WARN OF CATASTROPHE

Mamdani’s office said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the mayor remains committed to the plan, adding that his administration is working with state officials to make fare-free buses a reality before the end of his term.

“Mayor Mamdani is committed to delivering fast and free buses by the time he leaves office, full stop,” a spokesperson said, noting ongoing discussions with N.Y. Governor Kathy Hochul’s office.

“In the meantime, the Mamdani administration will continue to work with our partners at the state and local level to make commutes faster and our transit system more affordable for all New Yorkers.”

Mamdani never explicitly pledged to fulfill the campaign platform in the first year but said he intended to accomplish the goal by the end of his first four-year term.

“Making buses fast and free, the fast thing we’re already getting started on,” Mamdani said in January. “And what I’ve said is that by the time I’m finished being mayor, they’re going to be free. What we have to deliver, however, in this very year, required by law, but also required just by being a good mayor, a balanced budget for this fiscal year [and for] the next fiscal year.”

As an assembly member, Mamdani launched a free bus pilot program in Queens that he has touted as highly successful citing increased ridership by more than 30% and showing a nearly 40% drop in assaults on bus operators.

Still, Mamdani’s critics argue that the cost of free busses is fiscally risky and logistically flawed for the behemoth New York City system and warn it would likely to degrade the very service it aims to improve.

The debate comes as Mamdani advances a broader affordability agenda built on campaign promises such as city-owned grocery stores and rent freezes, proposals that have rattled Wall Street and drawn sharp criticism.

The clash underscores a widening divide between progressive ambitions for the city and the financial sector that has long powered its economy.

Talk of invoking the 25th Amendment is reemerging among House Democrats after more than a year of dismissing speculation they would seek to remove Trump from power for a third time.

Rather than quash the discussion, House Democratic leadership appears to be encouraging it.

On Wednesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., scheduled a Friday briefing on the 25th Amendment for his caucus to be hosted by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and House Judiciary Committee Democrats.

The announcement came after President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran, with administration officials hailing the success of Operation Epic Fury. Jeffries torched Trump’s threats issued earlier this week to wipe out Iran’s “civilization” and unleash “hell” on Tehran.

DEMOCRATS THREATEN TO GRIND SENATE TO A HALT TO FORCE PUBLIC IRAN HEARINGS

“Shockingly, Donald Trump threatened to escalate his war of choice in a profane Easter Sunday rant and to eradicate an entire civilization,” Jeffries wrote in a “Dear Colleague” letter Wednesday. “We will continue to unleash maximum pressure on Republicans to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and join Democrats in stopping the madness.”

Jeffries has notably stopped short of calling for Trump’s removal from power. Instead, he has pushed a resolution seeking to block the president’s war powers in Iran, which was blocked by House Republicans on Thursday.

However, his willingness to entertain the discussion comes after dozens of his members called for Trump’s impeachment or the invocation of the 25th Amendment following the president’s escalating warnings against Iran if its leadership did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his self-imposed deadline.

“It’s time to invoke the 25th Amendment,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., wrote on social media. “This maniac should be removed from office.”

“He’s out of control and his cabinet and those around him must be loyal to the constitution and invoke the 25th amendment,” Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said. “He must be removed.”

REP SETH MOULTON: AMERICA DESERVES BETTER THAN TRUMP’S VAGUE IRAN WAR PLANS

Taking that approach is a much higher bar than impeachment and has never been used to involuntarily remove a sitting president. To be successful, Democrats would have to obtain buy-in from Republicans and the advisors closest to the president.

Specifically, the vice president and a majority of the cabinet would have to agree that Trump is unfit for office. In the event Trump were to contest their assessment, two-thirds of the House and Senate would have to vote in support of that judgment.

Some Democrats have publicly admitted the 25th Amendment is likely to be a futile option, even if they agree that Trump should step aside.

“I’m getting a lot of traffic about the 25th Amendment after Trump’s mad rants,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. said on social media Tuesday. “The president is facing serious mental decline; I’m with you on that.”

“But unfortunately, invoking the 25th is not realistic right now, given his oddball Cabinet of sycophants and eccentrics, and Republican ‘spines of foam,’” he continued. “We’re going to have to buckle down and win this the old-fashioned way.”

Democrats previously embraced the 25th Amendment to remove Trump in 2021 following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi steered a resolution calling for Congress to act through the lower chamber, but the cabinet balked at the demand. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

Democrats are united in their opposition to President Donald Trump and his unprecedented second-term agenda. But as the Democratic National Committee (DNC) huddles in New Orleans for their spring meeting, the party is once again coping with deep internal divisions over Israel’s military actions and a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group’s recent meddling in Democratic Party primaries.

The DNC’s Resolutions Committee debated and held test votes on Thursday on resolutions recognizing a Palestinian state, putting limits on military aid to Israel, and taking aim at what one resolution calls the “growing influence” of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which is best known by its acronym AIPAC, and other so-called dark money groups.

Two resolutions on placing conditions on military aid to Israel and recognizing a Palestinian state were referred to the DNC’s Middle East Working Group. The resolution calling out AIPAC was defeated after the Resolutions Committee passed a broader resolution targeting all dark money groups. The nonbinding resolutions were among more than 100 on a range of issues that are being considered.

SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL DROPS AS DEMOCRATS TURN AGAINST KEY US ALLY: POLL

The resolutions were the latest face-off between DNC leaders who support Israel and a growing base of progressives who give Israel a thumbs down. One DNC committee member, speaking anonymously, called the resolutions “problematic” for the party.

The potential for divisive dialogue and verbal explosions over these issues comes eight months after similar showdowns at the DNC’s 2025 summer meeting in Minneapolis.

This year’s spring meeting also comes as a Pew Research national survey released this week showed that 80% of Democrats and independents who lean towards the party hold unfavorable views of Israel, up nearly 30 points since 2022. An NBC News poll conducted earlier this year indicated that 57% of Democrats held a negative view of Israel, up from 35% after Hamas killed roughly 1,200 people in a sneak attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

JOHN FETTERMAN CALLS OUT AOC’S ‘CLUELESS’ ANTI-ISRAEL COMMENTS IN MUNICH

But negative opinions have surged since 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. And Israel joined the U.S. in attacking Iran in a nearly month-and-a-half long war which polls suggest is unpopular with most Americans.

“Israel’s behavior has turned Americans against it,” longtime DNC member James Zogby — the president of the Arab American Institute and a critic of Israel, said in a social media post this week. “It seems that Americans don’t like folks using our money & weapons to commit genocide & steal Palestinian land.”

The resolution criticizing AIPAC and other corporate-aligned spending in Democratic primaries was authored by Allison Minnerly, a DNC member from Florida who at last year’s summer meeting grabbed a spotlight as she unsuccessfully pushed for a resolution urging an arms embargo on Israel.

DEMOCRATS FACE-OFF OVER ISRAEL AT KEY PARTY MEETING

After Minnerly’s resolution was defeated, DNC Chair Ken Martin pulled his own resolution, which called for “unrestricted” aid to Gaza and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. Martin then the Middle East Working Group, which will meet for a fourth time at the spring meeting.

Some Democrats blame the party’s support for Israel for their 2024 election setbacks, when they lost control of the White House and Senate and fell short in winning back the House majority.

Fox News reached out to the DNC and AIPAC for comment.

EXCLUSIVE: A top Republican moved Thursday to block asylum claims from foreigners who return to their home countries, introducing legislation after family members of deceased Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Gen. Qassem Soleimani were found to be living in Los Angeles.

Soleimani’s niece, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, and her daughter were arrested by ICE last weekend, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted Afshar’s “outspoken support [for] the Iranian regime” and DHS reporting that her 2019 asylum claim was fraudulent, due in part to several trips back to the country she purported to flee.

Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., who is also running for the GOP nomination for governor of the Badger State, echoed DHS’ characterization of Afshar’s asylum claim as fraudulent in introducing the SAFER Act, or the “Stopping Asylum Fraudsters Enforcement and Removal Act.”

Tiffany said the bill ensures the federal asylum system is reserved only for foreigners with legitimate claims of persecution.

GOP WHIP: ‘AMERICA-HATING TERRORISTS’ SHOULD LOSE CITIZENSHIP UNDER SCAM ACT

The secretary of Homeland Security and the attorney general would be prohibited from granting asylum to anyone who returns to their home country, while also being empowered to terminate asylum status and denaturalize asylees who voluntarily return while living in the U.S.

“If someone claims they are fleeing danger and seeking asylum in the U.S., they should not be turning around and vacationing in the very country they said they had to escape,” Tiffany told Fox News Digital.

“Those who are truly fleeing danger don’t book round-trip tickets back to it.”

Afshar was granted asylum in 2019 during the first Trump administration and was later given a green card by the Biden administration, despite returning to Iran at least four times in the interim.

Under the bill, an asylee could legally return to their home country without risk of federal consequences only if the State Department certifies that a legitimate transfer of power has occurred and the original threat prompting that person’s asylum claim has been resolved.

FAMILIES OF IRAN’S ELITE LIVE LAVISHLY ABROAD WHILE ORDINARY CITIZENS SUFFER AT HOME

In the case that a migrant or asylee has no nationality, their claim will be analyzed based on their most recent “habitual residence.”

“The SAFER Act stops asylum fraudsters from exploiting the system and ensures they are removed from the United States,” Tiffany said.

Earlier this month, the State Department terminated the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of a former senior Iranian official, and her husband.

Both are no longer in the U.S. and are barred from reentry.

Fox News Digital’s Sophia Compton contributed to this report.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat who is seeking election to a third term, is again calling for the ouster of President Donald Trump via the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“President Trump threatened to wipe out an entire civilization. Let’s be honest: There is something genuinely wrong with this man, and the 25th Amendment must be invoked before it’s too late,” Pritzker declared in a video posted to X on Wednesday.

“For the sake of our national security, Donald Trump needs to go now,” he added.

PRITZKER CALLS ON TRUMP OFFICIALS TO TESTIFY OVER ICE CRACKDOWN, WHITE HOUSE BLASTS MOVE AS ‘POLITICAL STUNT’

Pritzker previously called for use of the 25th Amendment earlier this week after Trump issued a controversial Tuesday Truth Social post in which he threatened that an entire “civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

“This is not foreign policy, it’s a deranged mad man threatening to wipe out an entire country. It’s past time. The 25th Amendment must be invoked,” the governor asserted in a post on X.

Later that day, Pritzker pointed out that he had also urged use of the 25th Amendment months ago.

TRUMP’S THREAT TO END IRANIAN ‘CIVILIZATION’ SPARKS UPROAR ON CAPITOL HILL

“I’ve been saying it for months: Donald Trump needs to go,” Pritzker wrote in a post on X that featured a video clip of him calling for the use of the 25th Amendment last year.

In part of that 2025 video clip, the governor said of Trump, “There is something genuinely wrong with this man, and the 25th Amendment ought to be invoked.”

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

AOC DOUBLES DOWN ON CALL FOR TRUMP’S OUSTER EVEN AFTER CEASEFIRE ANNOUNCEMENT

Trump ultimately announced a ceasefire on Tuesday evening, agreeing to stop any attacks for two weeks. But that has not stopped some Democrats, like Pritzker, from advocating for the president to be booted from office.

House Republicans shot down an attempt by Democratic lawmakers Thursday to curb President Donald Trump’s war powers amid a two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. 

A group of House Democrats, led by Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., sought to pass a war powers resolution by unanimous consent during a pro forma session Thursday morning. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who presided during the pro forma, gaveled out of session before recognizing the Maryland Democrat on the floor.

The war powers measure, supported by House Democratic leadership, would have ended the Iran conflict and blocked Trump from taking further military action absent congressional approval.

“Congress needs to consider this. The time has come. The time has come,” Ivey said after Smith adjourned the session.

WATCH: CAPITOL HILL DEBATE ERUPTS OVER WHETHER TRUMP’S IRAN STRIKES AMOUNT TO ‘WAR’

The floor battle comes as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has demanded that House GOP leadership immediately reconvene the chamber and vote to check Trump’s war powers in Iran. The House is currently in a two-week recess and is not expected to formally reconvene until the week of April 13.

“A two-week ceasefire is woefully insufficient. Accordingly, we have demanded that the House come back into session immediately in order to vote on our resolution to permanently end the war in the Middle East,” Jeffries wrote in a “Dear Colleague” letter Wednesday. 

Jeffries’ demand followed Trump’s announcement of a temporary ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday evening, with administration officials hailing Operation Epic Fury as an unequivocal success.

Vice President JD Vance, Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to head to Islamabad for in-person talks hosted by Pakistani mediators. It is unclear whether Iranian officials, who are insistent upon a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, will attend.

AOC DOUBLES DOWN ON CALL FOR TRUMP’S OUSTER EVEN AFTER CEASEFIRE ANNOUNCEMENT

Democrats in both chambers have repeatedly attempted to curb Trump’s military authority in Iran since the conflict began in late February, but have been thwarted by GOP opposition. Trump could still veto a war powers resolution if a bipartisan measure passes Congress.

House Democrats are likely to force another vote on reining in Trump’s war powers as early as next week.

Several House Republicans who previously voted against a war powers resolution, including Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., have signaled openness to supporting the measure if it comes to the floor again. Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, have previously crossed party lines to support blocking Trump from using military force in Iran absent congressional authorization.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced that Democrats in the upper chamber would force a vote on a fourth war powers resolution as soon as next week.

The top Democrat also argued that Operation Epic Fury was “one of the very worst military and foreign policy actions that the United States has ever taken,” at a news conference in New York City on Wednesday.

A Democratic rogue isn’t buying his party’s argument that President Donald Trump was on the cusp of committing war crimes in Iran and plans to again stop their attempts to handcuff his policing power in the region.

“If you want to talk about a war crime, you know, Iran is a 47-year-old war crime,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said on “Hannity” Wednesday night.

Fetterman, a staunch backer of Israel, has time and again broken with his party on the war, joining Republicans to block several attempts by Senate Democrats to reassert Congress’ authority in the ongoing conflict.

He is again fracturing from the party line, as several of his peers, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have declared that Trump’s Iran mission, Operation Epic Fury, was a failure.

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

Congressional Democrats have demanded that Trump be removed from office for his posts on Easter Sunday and in recent days, in which he laid out an apocalyptic ultimatum for Iran to either reopen the Strait of Hormuz or see their “civilization die tonight.”

“If you target civilian infrastructure for the purposes the president was talking about — in other words, what he’s saying is, if you don’t open the Strait of Hormuz, I’m going to blow up civilian infrastructure — that’s a war crime,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said ahead of the ceasefire deal struck Tuesday night.

TOP GOP HAWK GRAHAM WARNS IRAN DEAL HAS ‘TROUBLING ASPECTS’ AS CEASEFIRE BEGINS

Schumer, speaking at a press conference in New York City Wednesday, argued that Trump’s action in Iran was “one of the very worst military and foreign policy actions that the United States has ever taken.”

“This war has made us worse off today than before it started,” Schumer said.

Fetterman strayed from top Senate Democrats’ messaging against Trump’s campaign in the Middle East and countered that the president’s actions have been for the better, particularly as negotiations for a full end to the conflict are gearing up.

TRUMP’S IRAN THREAT RATTLES GOP AS SOME REPUBLICANS BREAK RANKS AMID 2-WEEK CEASEFIRE

“Everything that’s happened so far has made the world safer, and now we are in a position to finally finish it this way, with these kinds of important negotiation points,” Fetterman said on “Hannity.”

Senate Democrats plan to launch another attempt to handcuff Trump’s war powers when the upper chamber returns in the coming days. It would mark the fourth such attempt and will likely again be blocked by Republicans, despite some growing wary of the conflict.

Like previous attempts, Fetterman plans to cross the aisle to block Democrats’ plan.

“We are the force of good in the world and … now, we’re not even 40 days into this,” Fetterman said on “Hannity.” “And now I’m reading that they’re going to force another war powers vote, and I will vote against that, because we have to stand by our military and allow them to accomplish the goals of Epic Fury.”

A House Democrat running for re-election in a battleground district previously said his home state was “stolen land” and claimed racism was “embedded” into nearly everything, according to a resurfaced video reviewed by Fox News Digital. 

“We are on stolen land,” Rep. Gabe Vasquez, N.M., said in 2020 before entering Congress during an interview with a New Mexico-based outlet. He added the land used to be Mexican territory and before that was inhabited by Native Americans.

“Just about every part of life that we experience has some racism embedded into it,” Vasquez continued. “I have become less optimistic about where this country stands in terms of being able to eradicate racism, because it is intergenerational. It is passed on. It is embedded into our system.”

Vasquez, who is seeking a third term in November, made the remarks while serving as a city councilmember of Las Cruces — the largest city in his southwestern New Mexico district. He entered Congress in January 2023 after defeating a Republican incumbent while positioning himself as a moderate.

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Vasquez also suggested that he was open to replacing some of the city’s police officers with licensed psychologists and clinicians to respond to certain events during the interview. 

“Those are the types of things that I’m committed to supporting, where if we do have to take budget away from a specific department, whether you know, it be police or otherwise,” Vasquez said, adding that he believed it was unnecessary with the current budget.

“If we don’t need those positions anymore, if we don’t need those budget line items anymore, then we need to get rid of them,” he continued. “And that’s a decision I’m happy to try to champion at the city council.”

Vasquez in 2020 appeared to justify rioting following the death of George Floyd, CNN’s KFile first reported. He also voiced support for the defund the police movement while using a pseudonym during an interview with a local outlet at a Black Lives Matter protest that year.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) said Vasquez has been an unequivocal supporter of law enforcement during his House tenure in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

“Rep. Vasquez has supported increased funding for law enforcement for his entire political career, including over $4 billion for state and local police as Congressman just this year,” DCCC spokesperson Anna Elsasser said.

The New Mexico Democrat has joined the majority of House Democrats in refusing to fund federal immigration enforcement absent reforms, including the tightening of warrant requirements and prohibiting officers from wearing masks.

NEW DEM STAR’S QUICK HARD-LEFT TURN AFTER ‘MODERATE’ CAMPAIGN WON HER COVETED RESPONSE TO TRUMP: LAWMAKER

The Republican National Committee sharply criticized Vasquez’s prior comments in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

“Gabe Vasquez is a truly sick individual who may have a terminal case of the woke mind virus,” RNC spokesman Zach Kraft said in a statement. “He should get the help he needs to realize how insane it is to call every single American racist, and he should be nowhere near Congress.” 

Vasquez is a top target of national Republicans, who are mounting a second attempt to unseat him after he improved his performance in 2024 despite Trump carrying the district.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted the race from “toss-up” to “lean Democrat” in January, citing President Donald Trump’s declining job approval and Democrats’ strong electoral performance in 2025. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Vasquez’s campaign for comment.

President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, blasted Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger over her policies surrounding federal immigration officials and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests that have been ignored by the state under her leadership. 

Homan sat down with Fox News Digital for an exclusive interview, where he said if Spanberger is unwilling to cooperate with federal law enforcement, the border czar is willing to “send more teams into the streets.” 

“Elections have consequences,” Homan explained. “[Spanberger] ran on a law enforcement position that she was a career law enforcement person. [She] is a much different person now since she’s in that governor’s slot.”

TRUMP BORDER CZAR LEAVES DOOR OPEN TO ICE DEPLOYMENT IN OTHER SANCTUARY CITIES AS FEDS LEAVE MINNEAPOLIS

“Bottom line is, I wish she’d take a page out of the Minnesota chapter when the president sent me to Minneapolis to get more cooperation with the county jailers, which means less public safety threats in the communities,” Homan added.

The border czar said, “ICE is not going to stop enforcing law” and that if blue states like Virginia continue to uphold strict sanctuary laws, the Trump administration will deploy more immigration enforcement agents into the streets.

“We’ll just send more teams into the streets, into the neighborhoods,” Homan told Fox News Digital. “Because we’re going to do the job that President Trump promised, to make his country safer again, especially against illegal aliens that committed other crimes while they’re here.”

WEST VIRGINIA WORKED WITH ICE — 650 ARRESTS LATER, OFFICIALS SAY MINNESOTA-STYLE ‘CHAOS’ IS A CHOICE

A Washington Post-Schar School poll released earlier this week showed a dramatic 46% of Virginians disapprove of Spanberger’s job performance — the lowest since 1994 compared to previous Republican and Democratic Virginia governors.

Spanberger addressed the decades-high disapproval poll while speaking with reporters on Wednesday. 

“I would say if everyone hated me, then why is everyone putting my face on their mailers, for the referendum, would be question number one,” Spanberger said. “The only poll that matters, is my election, 17 point win, and now I’m doing the work for Virginians, so what matters to me in the end, is what I’m delivering for the people.”

In early February, Spanberger issued an executive directive cutting off collaboration between state agencies and federal immigration officials.

HOMAN VOWS IMMIGRATION MISSION ‘WON’T SKIP A BEAT’ AS BONDI EXITS DOJ

She also rescinded the 287(g) program put in place by former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. 

Youngkin’s program authorized local law enforcement to carry out certain immigration enforcement duties while operating under ICE supervision. This includes stopping the release of undocumented individuals with criminal records and helping federal immigration agencies identify those already held in local jails.

Homan said the concept of releasing illegal migrants accused of committing crimes from jail without notifying ICE is “ridiculous.”

“These people are in the country illegally, they commit a serious crime, public safety crime, and the local jurisdiction chooses to release them into the community rather than turning them over to ICE,” Homan told Fox News Digital. 

HOMAN BLASTS ‘AGITATORS’ ACCUSED OF HELPING RAPE SUSPECT EVADE ICE: ‘THEY’RE JUST IDIOTS’

“The Department of Justice has got lawsuits pending against sanctuary jurisdictions,” Homan added. “I think they’ll win them in the long run, because I think sanctuary cities are illegal.”

“We’re out there trying to educate these sanctuary cities that if you let us in the jail… that means less of our agents are in the street,” he said.

Homan also said the administration has their “foot on the gas” when it comes to enforcing the president’s campaign promise to secure the border and deport migrants living in the U.S. illegally, while echoing a popular message from the administration that criminal migrants will be the first to go. 

“As a guy who’s done this over 40 years, you have a criminal here and a non-criminal here, you’re always gonna get the criminal first because they pose the biggest threat to our neighborhood,” Homan explained. “Prioritization will remain public safety threats and national security threats.”

HOMAN FIRES BACK AT BOOKER AFTER SENATOR VOICES ‘OUTRAGE’ OVER ICE AIRPORT DEPLOYMENTS

“But as I said from day one, if you’re in the country legally, you’re not off the table,” Homan added. “And if we find you, we’re gonna arrest you and deport you.”

Homan has served as the border czar since the beginning of the Trump administration. Kristi Noem formerly served as DHS secretary prior to her reassignment in March. Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who served in the U.S. Senate as a Republican representing Oklahoma, was appointed to the role following Noem’s departure. 

Mullin affirmed that he believes sanctuary cities are not lawful during an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier earlier this month, and Mullin has been leading DHS during a spending fight and partial government shutdown over funding for his department. 

Homan told Fox News Digital he thinks Mullin is the right man for the job and said he talks to Mullin daily, “if not several times a day.”

“I think he’s the right guy, the right time, and the right job,” Homan said. “I think you’re going to see great things from Markwayne Mullin.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger but did not receive a response in time for publication.