Jack Schlossberg, the only grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, is running for Congress in New York City, where he says, despite being a member of arguably the most prominent political family in American history, he’s heading an ‘outsider’ campaign that’s upsetting the political establishment power brokers.

“It’s probably hard for people to believe me saying that I’m an anti-establishment outsider given my family ties, but in this race, I really am,” Schlossberg told Fox News Digital in an interview.

“I am going up against a political machine here in NY-12 that doesn’t want change, that doesn’t want any outsiders to come shake things up, do things differently,” he continued. “They want to control the people who they send to Congress, and that means trading favors and endorsements before the seat has even opened up.”

A dozen Democrats are running in the June primary to replace Democratic Congressman Jerry Nadler, who announced his retirement in September at the age of 78 after more than three decades in Congress, citing the need for “generational change” in the party. 

JFK’S GRANDSON RIPS ‘LOVE STORY’ SERIES ABOUT LATE UNCLE JFK JR AND CAROLYN BESSETTE, CALLS IT ‘GROTESQUE’

If Schlossberg, the only son of John F. Kennedy’s daughter Caroline, wants to be the Democrat that brings that change, he will have to navigate a political landscape in New York City dominated by county committees, major donors, and a Nadler-endorsed candidate in the race.

“The insiders here, they don’t like us,” Schlossberg said, before providing a recent example he says helps paint the picture of what he’s up against.

“There’s a couple of Democratic clubs here in New York-12, and I got a lot of respect for any group that does civic engagement, and that’s great, no knocks for that, but they’ve had a few forums where they invite the candidates to come speak. There was at least three forums where we found out about the forum because it was posted online with the lineup of all the other candidates, and we hadn’t been invited yet, so we’re kind of disinvited and disrespected when we get there,” Schlossberg said. 

“But I think what’s interesting — I think at least—is we do show up at all the forums, we put our best foot forward, and afterwards, there’s been a couple of times where some of the members — maybe not the leaders of the organizations, but some of the members — come up, and they say, ‘Hey, listen, I couldn’t say this, but you got my vote.’ There’s whispers. There are whispers around from the members and the people who realize this seat shouldn’t just be handed to somebody.”

JACK SCHLOSSBERG, JFK’S GRANDSON, DEFENDS ‘AGGRESSIVE’ POSTS ABOUT VANCE’S WIFE

Schlossberg, who is personally wealthy and was endorsed by family friend Speaker Emerita Rep. Nancy Pelosi, is lagging behind two candidates, venture capitalist Alex Bores, N.Y. State Rep. and Nadler protégé Micah Lasher, in fundraising and cash on hand. 

One of the most prominent Democratic organizations in New York City, the Four Freedoms Democratic Club, endorsed Bores, as did The NewDEAL.

Eleanor Roosevelt Independent Democrats, another significant Democratic club in Manhattan, endorsed Lasher.

Prominent local elected Democrats have mostly endorsed other candidates over Schlossberg and the 33-year-old New York City native told Fox News Digital he is the one candidate in the race that doesn’t “owe anybody anything.”

“I’m the only candidate who’s gone out and said I won’t take money from corporate PACs, from super PACS, or from big AI companies, and I’m doing this because we’re a people-powered campaign,” Schlossberg said, pointing out that his average donation is $40 and that his grassroots style of campaigning shows up on the streets of New York City when he holds events, including a packed house during a recent blizzard.

“I posted one infographic on my Instagram during the middle of a blizzard, and we had 300 people show up for a pizza party the next day, ready to, with Jack for New York shirts on, ready to volunteer, ready to sign up,” Schlossberg said. “And they’re there because they care. They’re there because they understand our campaign isn’t bought or paid for by any interest group, dark money, anything. We’re for the people, and we’re doing this our way.”

Just months after socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, endorsed by Schlossberg, rode an anti-establishment wave into Gracie Mansion, the progressive Kennedy is promising to “shake things up” and attempt to ride a similar wave to Washington, D.C.

Schlossberg has faced intense criticism from Republicans and conservatives for some of his progressive platforms, inflammatory social media posts, and critiques of the Trump administration that included his own cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but he told Fox News Digital the thing he is “probably the most proud of is the policies that I’ve released to date”, which he believes will resonate with residents of his district, where 81% of voters supported former VP Kamala Harris in 2024.

Those policies, Schlossberg says, include a “standard renters deduction” that would let renters in NY-12 deduct part of their rent from their federal income taxes, lowering the cost of food and clothing by isolating and repealing certain tariffs while negotiating a broader trade deal, a plan called “Jack’s Fast Track Plan” to double funding for security upgrades at houses of worship in the district, and the “Ricochet Rule” to “stop the flow of illegal firearms into our state that end up being used in crime.”

Schlossberg joked that he understands now why the United States has secret ballots as he goes around and sees people “that may not be able to socially say that the’yre for Schlossberg” but that the “secrets going to get out eventually when we deliver a victory in June.”

Voters in NY-12 will take part in the Democratic primary to determine their nominee on June 23 and the winner is widely believed to be in the driver’s seat to win the general election in one of the most heavily Democratic districts in the country.

Senate Republicans know that Trump-backed voter ID legislation is doomed to fail and are trying to find a way to pin the blame on Senate Democrats.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., plans to bring the bill to the floor next week, but Republicans won’t take the route of launching into a talking filibuster, despite pressure from President Donald Trump and the GOP base to do so.

“We don’t have the votes either to proceed, get on a talking filibuster, nor to sustain one if we got on it,” Thune said. “But that is just a function of math, and there isn’t anything I can do about that. I mean, I understand the president’s got a passion to see this issue addressed, as we all do.”

TRUMP, THUNE CLASH ON VOTER ID ULTIMATUM AS GOP REMAINS DIVIDED ON PATH FORWARD

While the end result after an exhaustive marathon of debate would allow Republicans to pass the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act at a simple-majority threshold, Thune has time and again warned that the votes aren’t there among Republicans to block Democratic amendments that could completely reshape the bill.

Still, Trump and a sphere of online conservative voices are demanding that the bill pass at any cost. Trump warned that if it does not, Republicans will fall flat in the upcoming midterm election cycle. 

“It will guarantee the midterms. If you don’t get it, big trouble,” Trump told House Republicans at their annual policy retreat earlier this week. 

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are nearly unified in their opposition to the bill, save for Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., which all but ensures its failure in the upper chamber.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., reiterated his opposition to the SAVE America Act and charged that it was legislation geared toward “destroying” and “purging” voter rolls across the country.

“This is a bill that destroys the country,” Schumer said. “And it is not about showing ID when you show up to vote.”

THUNE GUARANTEES VOTER ID BILL TO HIT THE SENATE DESPITE SCHUMER, DEM OPPOSITION: ‘WE WILL HAVE A VOTE’

The other option for the GOP would be to nuke the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, which some argue Democrats would do anyway when they eventually regain control of the upper chamber.

There is not an appetite among Republicans to blow up the filibuster either.

“I suggest our first goal will be to try and pass it, but I understand how difficult that is, and I’m sympathetic with the position of not ending the filibuster,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital. “But short of that, our next goal ought to be to make sure the Democrats get blamed, because they’re the ones that are truly blocking this.”

A likely strategy that Republicans will turn to is in the spirit of the talking filibuster, just without the marathon of debate and amendment votes that process would yield.

SCHUMER, DEMS HOLD FIRM ON DHS FUNDING DESPITE NOEM’S BOMBSHELL OUSTING

Johnson, who, along with Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rick Scott, R-Fla., met with Trump to push for the SAVE America Act, said that instead of a straight up-or-down vote on the bill, Republicans could flood the floor with amendments in a genuine bid to reshape the bill. Then would come a final vote at the end of the amendment flurry. 

Those add-ons to the bill would include tweaks that Trump has requested, like nixing mail-in ballots save for certain exceptions, banning men from women’s sports and halting transgender surgical procedures on minors.

“We’re getting the Democrats on record voting, ‘Oh, you want to keep mutilating children on the altar of transgenderism,’” Johnson said.

Another route to pass the bill could be through the budget reconciliation process, which Republicans used to ram Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” through Congress last year.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., has been the most vocal proponent of that tactic. But in order for the SAVE America Act to survive the reconciliation route, it would have to pass muster under the Byrd Rule, which requires that anything crammed into a reconciliation package have a budgetary effect.

Kennedy argued the best way to counter that is to lawyer up.

“It really comes down to what the [Senate] parliamentarian says, and I would get the best minds I could find to try to draft a provision that would survive Byrd,” Kennedy said. “When you argue or debate with the parliamentarian, you’ve got to be ready. You can’t just walk in there and pull it out of your orifices.”

Cheap Iranian drone attacks are forcing the Pentagon to rapidly expand layered air defenses in the Middle East, as thousands of U.S. troops stationed across the region face an escalating aerial threat that is testing the limits of traditional missile defenses.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said Tuesday its air defenses detected nine ballistic missiles and 35 drones launched by Iran. Eight missiles were intercepted while one fell into the sea. 

Of the 35 drones, 26 were shot down and nine crashed on UAE soil, the country said. 

IRAN WAR, 11 DAYS IN: US CONTROLS SKIES, OIL SURGES AND THE REGION BRACES FOR WHAT’S NEXT

The engagement highlights how the battlefield is shifting. 

Ballistic missiles travel high and fast, allowing long-range interceptors such as the Patriot air defense system and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) to engage them predictably. Drone swarms, which Iran increasingly has relied on in recent exchanges, present a different challenge to U.S. forces.

They fly lower, move slower and often arrive in clusters, making them harder to detect and more likely to strain defenses built for high-speed threats.

U.S. troops already have been directly affected by one-way attack drones in the region. In a March 1 strike near Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, six American service members were killed and dozens wounded when an Iranian drone hit a tactical operations center. 

Each interception also carries a cost. 

High-end missile interceptors can run into the millions of dollars per shot. 

Many of the drones they are designed to defeat are far cheaper and produced in large numbers — creating what defense officials have described as a growing “math problem” in modern warfare. The U.S. can end up firing expensive missiles at relatively inexpensive drones, a dynamic that becomes harder to sustain if attacks come in waves.

That imbalance is accelerating a push inside the Pentagon to expand a layered counter-drone strategy — combining short-range interceptors, electronic warfare tools and emerging technologies such as high-energy lasers.

For U.S. forces in the region, larger drone waves increase the odds that defenses are stretched, and that even one drone could reach a base or ship.

This marks the first sustained confrontation in which U.S. forces are facing large-scale, state-backed drone waves as a central feature of the battlefield — forcing commanders to adapt in real time and draw on lessons learned from Ukraine, where mass-produced Shahed drones reshaped air defense strategy.

Among the new U.S. systems drawing renewed attention are high-energy lasers.

Directed energy is being developed and tested for counter-drone missions and has been used in limited domestic contexts. 

U.S. defense officials say lasers offer a potentially significant advantage: Once powered, they can fire repeatedly without expending traditional ammunition.

Unlike missile interceptors, which must be replaced after each launch, a laser system can continue engaging targets as long as sufficient power is available. In theory, that provides sustained defensive capacity during large drone waves.

“It’s a function now of our procurement system, moving those things to the troops as fast as we can,” retired Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan, former commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the U.S. 5th Fleet, told Fox News Digital.

Donegan acknowledged the technology is real but not yet fully fielded across combat zones.

Scaling high-energy systems requires power generation, integration and infrastructure — all of which take time.

A U.S. official confirmed to Fox News Digital directed energy systems have been tested and employed to counter drones in combat scenarios and the Pentagon “continues to work to scale this capability as quickly as possible.”

Central Command, the U.S. military command tasked with overseeing the Middle East, declined to comment on whether lasers are part of its current drone defense system against Iran. 

While lasers represent a longer-term evolution, commanders are relying on multiple defensive layers today.

The recent deployment of the Merops drone-on-drone interceptor into U.S. Central Command reflects that approach. 

Developed by U.S.-backed defense firm Perennial Autonomy, Merops is a mobile counter-drone system that launches small interceptor drones from a truck-mounted platform to disable incoming threats. The system was battle-tested against Shahed drones in Ukraine and fielded in NATO countries such as Poland before being accelerated into the Middle East as drone activity intensified.

A former defense official familiar with counter-drone operations said effective counter-UAS capability depends on overlapping systems integrated around high-value targets rather than reliance on a single interceptor.

“Effective counter-UAS capability is overlapping,” the official said. “No one system solves the drone problem by itself.”

AYATOLLAH’S ARSENAL VS. AMERICAN FIREPOWER: IRAN’S TOP 4 THREATS AND HOW WE FIGHT BACK

U.S. ships in the region rely on short-range missile systems such as the Rolling Airframe Missile and Sea Sparrow, along with the Close-In Weapon System, a radar-guided rapid-fire gun that can engage threats at close range.

Ground-based defenses incorporate radar detection with specialized interceptors such as Raytheon’s Coyote family, designed to defeat small unmanned aircraft. Industry systems like Anduril’s Roadrunner add autonomous interceptor drones capable of engaging airborne threats and, in some configurations, returning for reuse.

Success begins with early detection. Radar systems track low-flying drones and give operators time to choose whether to jam, intercept or destroy incoming threats.

“We’ve built into the weapon systems of all our military platforms that are combatants counter-drone capability,” Donegan said.

Iran’s Shahed drones were refined during Russia’s war in Ukraine, where cities faced nightly waves of low-cost one-way attack aircraft. There, layered defenses combining short-range interceptors, electronic warfare and evolving technologies proved essential in absorbing sustained attacks.

Ukrainian officials have said some cities faced more than a hundred drones in a single night, forcing air defense crews to remain on alert for hours at a time.

Ukraine has since offered to share its battlefield experience with the United States and Gulf partners as Iranian drone activity expands in the Middle East.

Officials say those lessons are influencing U.S. planning.

“JIATF-401 is accelerating procurement of multiple counter-UAS capabilities across several combatant commands, including sensing radars, kinetic interceptors and other available systems, not just Merops, to expand layered defenses in the U.S. Central Command area of operations,” a U.S. official said.

“Some of the capabilities being surged to support our warfighters reflect lessons we are learning and technology we are transferring from the battlefield in Ukraine.”

The result is expanding defensive depth — designed to absorb and defeat a threat that is inexpensive, persistent and increasingly central to modern warfare.

For the troops stationed at those bases and aboard those ships, that layered defense is what stands between a drone intercepted in the sky and one that reaches its target.

As drone production scales and tactics evolve, the contest between low-cost attack drones and layered air defenses playing out in Iran the future of warfare itself.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday endorsed Texas Republican Brandon Herrera after his primary rival exited the race amid an ethics investigation into an admitted affair with a former staffer.

Herrera, a self-described Second Amendment activist and social media personality, was touted by Trump as a Republican who would promote the MAGA agenda in Texas’ 23rd District.

“Brandon is strongly supported by many Highly Respected MAGA Warriors in Texas, and Republicans in the U.S. House,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “As your next Congressman, he will work tirelessly to advance our MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN Agenda.”

“Brandon will fight hard to Grow the Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Advance MADE IN THE U.S.A., Unleash American Energy DOMINANCE, Safeguard our Elections, Champion School Choice, Keep our Border SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, Support our Brave Military, Veterans, and Law Enforcement, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment,” Trump added.

MIKE JOHNSON ASKS EMBATTLED HOUSE REPUBLICAN TONY GONZALES TO DROP RE-ELECTION BID

Herrera thanked the president for his endorsement, which adds to backing from conservative lawmakers, including Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Mary Miller, R-Ill.

“Thank you President Trump,” he said in a post on X. “It’s now time to take the fight to the Democrats in November and continue working to deliver great wins for TX23 and the rest of the nation.”

Trump’s endorsement comes after Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, announced last week that he would not seek re-election, clearing the path for Herrera to claim the GOP nomination.

TRUMP ALLY CLAY FULLER ADVANCES IN GEORGIA FIGHT FOR MTG’S FORMER SEAT

Herrera narrowly edged Gonzales by a 43.33% to 41.73% margin in Texas’ GOP primary for the 23rd Congressional District earlier this month, forcing a runoff because neither candidate earned 50% of the vote.

Gonzales — who was initially backed by Trump — bowed out of the race amid a House Ethics investigation into an affair he admitted took place with a former staffer.

Gonzales, a married father of six, admitted to the affair during an appearance on a conservative talk radio show the day after advancing to the primary runoff.

“I made a mistake, and I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions,” he said on “The Joe Pags Show” last week. “Since then, I’ve reconciled with my wife, Angel. I’ve asked God to forgive me, which he has, and my faith is as strong as ever.”

Herrera previously called his opponent’s withdrawal from the race the “appropriate decision.”

He will face Katy Padilla Stout, a local attorney and the Democratic nominee, in November.

Dr. Mehmet Oz rushed to help after a woman collapsed during President Donald Trump’s speech in Kentucky on Wednesday.

About halfway through Trump’s remarks at Verst Logistics in Hebron, Kentucky, an older woman behind the president’s riser appeared to need medical attention, prompting Trump to ask the crowd, “Do we have a doctor in the house? Take your time, please.”

A medical team quickly reached her, including Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Oz.

“First responders are incredible,” Trump said as he turned and watched emergency medical personnel take care of the woman.

DR. OZ REVEALS HOW HE IS BRINGING CHANGE TO DC AND HELPING THE MOST VULNERABLE AMERICANS

The president paused his remarks and asked if a song could be played in the meantime.

“Do you think the people backstage are listening to me?” Trump said, adding that if they could hear him, he suggested playing “Ave Maria.”

The song did not play, and Trump continued to watch as the woman received treatment.

DR. OZ WARNS WALZ TO ADDRESS ALLEGED SOMALI MEDICAID FRAUD OR LOSE FEDERAL FUNDING: ‘WE’LL STOP PAYING’

“Take your time,” he said. “She looks great.”

As first responders began escorting the woman away, Trump noticed Oz was among those helping her.

“It’s Dr. Oz! Can you believe it? Dr. Oz!” Trump said. “He’s a good doctor. Thank you, Oz.”

RFK JR: DR OZ SAYS TRUMP HAS ‘HIGHEST TESTOSTERONE LEVEL’ HE’S SEEN IN A MAN OLDER THAN 70

Trump resumed his remarks about seven minutes later, returning to criticism of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“We were talking about Gavin New-scum,” Trump said with a laugh. “Doesn’t seem like a very good subject right now. It made that young lady not feel so good.”

Wednesday’s event was not the first time Oz, a former heart surgeon, assisted during a medical episode while serving in the Trump administration.

In April, a young girl fainted near the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office while Trump was speaking during Oz’s swearing-in ceremony.

Oz quickly rushed over to assist the child, who was later confirmed to be a member of his family.

In November, a man collapsed in the Oval Office as Trump was giving a press conference, prompting Oz to once again step in to help.

After deliberating and assessing the global oil market situation in the face of Middle Eastern conflicts stemming from the United States’ attack on Iran, 32 different developed nations agreed to make an “unprecedented” move to help address “oil market challenges.” 

The International Energy Agency (IEA) held an emergency meeting at its Paris headquarters Tuesday with energy representatives from the cohort of G7 countries, to “assess market conditions,” which IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol says “have been significantly affected by the conflict in the Middle East.” 

After that meeting Thursday, the 32 member countries of the IEA unanimously agreed to collectively release the largest quantity of emergency oil reserves they ever have as a coalition, amounting to 400 million barrels.

HOUSE GOP URGES TRUMP TO CHOKE OFF IRAN ALLY’S OIL PROFITS AS MIDDLE EAST TURMOIL SPIKES US GAS PRICES

“The oil market challenges we are facing are unprecedented in scale, therefore, I am very glad that IEA member countries have responded with an emergency collective action of unprecedented size,” Birol said after the announcement about the release of the emergency oil reserves. 

“Oil markets are global, so the response to major disruptions needs to be global too.”

President Donald Trump touted the IEA agreement during remarks in Kentucky Wednesday afternoon, saying the move “will substantially reduce oil prices.”

Before the outbreak of war with Iran, oil was trading in the range of $60 to $70 a barrel, but prices soared after the conflict began, with crude oil futures reaching upward of $115 a barrel on Monday, the highest level since 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. However, some experts suggest the market is correcting itself already from an initial scare that the conflict in the Middle East would have a major impact on oil prices.

“The market realized that maybe things aren’t that bad. The U.S. is having incredible military victories. President Trump is saying, ‘Hey, you know what, the war is probably not going to be going on that long.’ And even some signals that the world doesn’t have to just sit and stand and take it,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group and a FOX Business contributor. 

The members of the IEA hold emergency stockpiles of over 1.2 billion barrels and another 600 million barrels of oil industry stocks. This coordinated release of an unprecedented amount of oil will be the sixth in its roughly half-century history. Previous collective action was taken in 1991, 2005, 2011 and twice in 2022. 

TRUMP’S MIDDLE EAST ENVOY REVEALS WHAT LED TO BREAKDOWN IN IRAN TALKS BEFORE OPERATION EPIC FURY

The previous record for the largest collective action was the latest release of emergency oil stocks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In combination, the two actions in March 2022 and April 2022 amounted to a release of 182.7 million barrels, according to the IEA.

President Trump said repeatedly this week during remarks to the press that the war in Iran would be over shortly but stopped short of providing an exact timeline. 

In his comments to the press Wednesday, President Trump quipped, “We don’t want to leave early, do we?”

“We gotta finish the job, right? Over the past 11 days, our military has virtually destroyed Iran,” Trump said. “It’s a tough country.”

Iran’s ongoing retaliatory attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime choke point for oil transportation, has led to questions about what they will do to prices at the pump. 

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum scoffed this week at claims that the Trump administration was caught off guard by how much Trump’s military actions have affected the oil market and responded to questions about the impact of attacks on the Strait of Hormuz.

“As you know better than anybody else, it’s a global market, so we could be producing more, or other countries could be producing more, but it all goes into one vat where we get the prices from,” said Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade. “So, if the Strait of Hormuz presents a challenge, how could you circumvent that challenge?”

In response, Burgum slammed Iran for “holding the entire world hostage economically by threatening to close the strait.”

“President Trump has made it very clear the consequences if they try to do that,” he continued. “There’s a lot of options between ourselves and our allies in the region, including our Arab friends in the region, to make sure that those straits remain open and energy keeps flowing through the global economy.”

The House Oversight Committee’s Epstein investigation wants U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to appear in 30 days for a deposition, Fox News has learned. 

The committee also wants Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to appear for a deposition “within the next ten days,” a source close to the committee said. 

This story is breaking. Please check back for updates. 

The Senate moved closer Wednesday to advancing a sweeping housing package aimed at boosting affordability, but a Trump-backed provision banning institutional investors from buying single-family homes is emerging as a flashpoint.

Lawmakers cleared another procedural hurdle for the bill on Wednesday, setting up a likely final vote before they leave Washington on Thursday.

The Housing for the 21st Century Act passed the House last month in a 390-9 bipartisan vote. The legislation includes a wide-ranging slate of measures designed to increase the supply of affordable housing.

HOUSE PASSES BIPARTISAN HOUSING BILL AS TRUMP ZEROES IN ON AFFORDABILITY CRISIS

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the chair of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., its top Democrat, teamed up to advance and modify the bill in the Senate.

“When President [Donald] Trump and Elizabeth Warren and Senate Republicans can all come to the same place on a housing bill, it shows that if you put partisan politics aside and focus on the issues impacting the American people, you can get results,” Scott told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

In its original form, the legislation was primarily intended to help first-time homebuyers and lower-income Americans enter the housing market or gain access to more affordable housing options.

BIPARTISAN PLAN AIMS TO MAKE THE AMERICAN DREAM AFFORDABLE AGAIN FOR MILLIONS OF FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYERS

But the initial bill lacked a key policy Trump wanted: a ban on institutional investors, such as hedge funds or large corporations, buying single-family homes. Trump earlier this year signed an executive order banning the practice and urged Congress to codify it during his State of the Union address.

“I’m asking Congress to make that ban permanent because homes for people — really, that’s what we want,” Trump said. “We want homes for people, not for corporations.”

Scott and Warren added that provision to the bill. If passed, the package would also incorporate several policies from the ROAD to Housing Act, a separate Senate housing proposal that previously stalled.

The provision would prohibit large-scale investors from purchasing single-family homes and would require companies that exceed a certain ownership threshold to divest within seven years.

PRO-TRUMP GROUP UNLEASHES BLUEPRINT FOR CRUCIAL HOUSING INITIATIVE FEATURING TOP MAGA INFLUENCER

But the institutional investor ban is drawing concerns from some Senate Democrats and industry stakeholders, who argue it could eliminate build-to-rent housing units.

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said on the Senate floor that “there is a problem” with the bill. He argued the ban on corporations and hedge funds buying single-family homes was written in a way that would force “anybody who owns and rents out more than 350 units, single family or duplexes” to sell after a seven-year period.

“There’s literally no reason for this,” Schatz said. “And the problem is that it was written in such a way that it was trying to capture the hedge fund problem, but they wrote it wrong.”

“And so the definition of institutional investor says, essentially, anyone who owns and operates more than 350 units to rent — that’s bananas,” he continued.

Several members of the housing and rental industry wrote in a letter to Scott and Warren that the seven-year clause would “effectively shut down build-to-rent development, leading to less supply and fewer options for renters.”

The Trump administration on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court to allow it to terminate the protected legal status of hundreds of thousands of Haitian migrants living in the U.S. 

It’s the latest effort by the administration to unwind Biden-era protections of hundreds of thousands of migrants living in the U.S. as part of the president’s hard-line immigration enforcement agenda. 

U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the high court Wednesday to immediately intervene and overturn a lower court order that blocked the administration’s effort to immediately revoke the temporary protected status designation for some 350,000 Haitian migrants living in the U.S. 

A majority of judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit also blocked the Trump administration’s bid to end the program, citing the “substantial” and “well-documented harms” the migrants would likely face as a result, clearing the way for the administration to appeal the case to the high court. 

BIDEN-APPOINTED FEDERAL JUDGE RULES TRUMP’S ‘THIRD COUNTRY’ DEPORTATION POLICY IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

In his filing Wednesday, Sauer urged the Supreme Court to review more broadly the issue of whether the Trump administration can revoke TPS protections for other migrants living in the U.S.

“Unless the court resolves the merits of these challenges — issues that have now been ventilated in courts nationwide — this unsustainable cycle will repeat again and again, spawning more competing rulings and competing views of what to make of this court’s interim orders,” Sauer said Wednesday. “This court should break that cycle.”

The TPS program in question allows individuals from certain countries to live and work in the U.S. legally if they cannot work safely in their home country due to a disaster, armed conflict or other “extraordinary and temporary conditions.” 

Haitians were first granted TPS status in 2010 after the devastating earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and left some 1.5 million in the country homeless. 

The protections were extended several times, including under the Biden administration in 2021 after the July assassination of Jovenel Moïse, Haiti’s last democratically elected president.

‘BLANKIES,’ ICE TACTICS AND LUXURY JETS: TOP MOMENTS FROM NOEM’S HOUSE TESTIMONY

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced in November that the U.S. would be ending TPS protections for Haitians in the U.S., prompting a group of individuals living in the U.S. with protected status to file suit. 

The Trump administration’s Supreme Court filing marks the second time this year the administration has asked the high court to immediately intervene and allow it to strip TPS protections for certain migrants. 

Lawyers for the Justice Department also asked the Supreme Court last month to allow it to revoke TPS designations for Syrian migrants in the U.S., though the high court has yet to rule on that request.

The appeal comes just weeks after U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes blocked the Department of Homeland Security from immediately revoking the TPS designations for Haitians in the U.S. 

FEDERAL JUDGES IN NEW YORK AND TEXAS BLOCK TRUMP DEPORTATIONS AFTER SCOTUS RULING

Reyes described the administration’s effort to abruptly wind down the designation as “arbitrary and capricious” and accused DHS Secretary Kristi Noem of failing to consider the “overwhelming evidence of present danger” in Haiti, which she noted had prompted the Biden administration to extend TPS protections for Haitians in the first place. 

“The government cannot name a single concrete harm from maintaining the status quo,” Reyes said. “And so instead it argues that the court’s decision is ‘an improper intrusion by a federal court into the workings of a coordinate branch of the government.’” 

The appeal comes as the Trump administration has sought to wind down most TPS designations, arguing the programs have been extended for too long under Democratic presidents. 

Trump officials have also taken aim at lower courts that have sought to block or pause their efforts to wind down TPS protections, accusing the lower court judges of exceeding their authority and unlawfully intruding on the executive branch’s authority on immigration policy.

While California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom blames President Donald Trump’s actions in Iran for the price of gas, critics are calling him out for “insane” climate policies as the state’s prices at the pump soar significantly above the national average.

On Tuesday, Newsom, who is widely considered a top contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, took to X to slam “Trump’s war with Iran” over gas prices.  

Newsom wrote that “Americans will pay $1.5 BILLION MORE at the gas pump just this week because of Donald Trump’s war with Iran.” He added that California “will continue using the tools we’ve spent years developing to help fight price spikes and lessen the blow from Trump’s recklessness.”

In response, Steve Hilton, a Republican candidate for California governor, slammed Newsom, saying, “California has the highest gas taxes and fees in America.”

CALIFORNIA VOTER ID INITIATIVE CLEARS SIGNATURE THRESHOLD, SETTING UP NOVEMBER SHOWDOWN WITH NEWSOM

“Gavin Newsom is trying to shift blame,” said Hilton, “and he’s blaming these insane gas prices in California, $5.49, $5.69, heading to $6, on the war in Iran. It’s not the war in Iran, because in the rest of the country, they don’t have $5.49, they have $3 gas.”

“It’s entirely because of Gavin Newsom’s insane climate dogma that we have the highest gas taxes in the country,” he continued.

Hilton called on Newsom to end his national book tour and to immediately “suspend the gas tax.”

At approximately $5.33 per gallon, California has by far the highest average gas prices in the U.S., according to AAA. California gas prices significantly exceed those in the next two highest-priced states, Washington and Hawaii, which have average prices of $4.72 and $4.69 per gallon, respectively. Meanwhile, the national average in the U.S. is $3.57 per gallon.

California has the highest gas tax, at roughly 70 cents per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

In a 2025 opinion piece on Fox News Digital, Hilton wrote that “California’s sky-high gas prices” are the “direct result of 15 years of one-party Democratic rule.”

He added that “Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and every other leading Democrat in the state have been cheerleaders for this ‘war on fossil fuels,’ endlessly bragging about ‘leading the world’ on climate change.”

SUPREME COURT BLOCKS CALIFORNIA BAN ON NOTIFYING STUDENTS’ PARENTS ABOUT GENDER TRANSITIONS

Hilton is not the only one criticizing Newsom’s oil and gas policies.

Roxanne Hoge, chair of the Los Angeles County GOP, called Newsom’s take “a textbook case of projection, pointing fingers at others while his own record is riddled with mismanagement and failure.” 

“Californians have seen the cost of gas be higher than the rest of the USA for reasons having nothing to do with President Trump. He has driven supply down by banishing producers while not fixing infrastructure with gas tax money as promised,” Hoge told Fox News Digital, adding, “We all know that Gavin Newsom has moved on to campaigning for president in spite of his atrocious record at home.”

On Wednesday, Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum posted on X that “California is KILLING their economy!” 

The secretary wrote that while Newsom “continues to close refineries & drive up gas prices for California,” the department approved over 6,000 drilling permits “to advance [Trump’s] American Energy Dominance Agenda & lower gas prices nationwide.” 

Chevron President Andy Walz also recently sounded the alarm, warning California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state regulators that newly proposed “cap-and-invest” amendments are a death knell for California’s remaining refineries.

‘UTTERLY UNAFFORDABLE’: STUDY REVEALS HOW DEEP BLUE CITY’S MINIMUM WAGE LAW IS RAVAGING KEY INDUSTRY

The California Air Resources Board is aiming to make companies cleaner by aggressively lowering the cap on how much total pollution is allowed in the state. Specifically, the board is proposing to pull 118.3 million allowances out of the state’s market between 2027 and 2030 and has more recently increased its carbon reduction target to 90% by 2045.

The energy giant warns the move will kill more than half a million jobs, threaten national security and spike gas prices by more than a dollar per gallon — all to fuel a state-run “shakedown” of the energy sector — in a letter addressed to Newsom and obtained by The California Globe.

“The proposed regulation will cripple the survivability of the state’s remaining refineries, which will result in California losing the entire industry to this misguided program,” Chevron President Andy Walz wrote.

“This regulation will increase transportation and aviation fuel prices for consumers. It will risk significant job losses, including many high-paying union jobs, while reducing funding for essential public services,” he continued, adding that “it will upend California’s fuels market and threaten critical energy and national security assets.”

In the same vein, Tim Stewart, a spokesperson for the U.S. Oil & Gas Association, told Fox News Digital that “California’s energy malaise is beginning to infect the other western states’ economies and unless there is a course change immediately, we will all feel the pain of decades of horribly bad California energy policy led by Governor Newsom.” 

“California’s gross mismanagement of its energy production and distribution economy is becoming a national security issue, and it now impacts all of us,” Stewart continued, adding that in addition to this, “agriculture, manufacturing, housing, the financial system is all impacted.” 

“It doesn’t have to be this way, and Governor Newsom knows it,” said Stewart. “He also knows that no matter how hard he tries – he can’t pin this on Trump or our industry. The public isn’t buying it anymore.”