A Washington city councilwoman said she would rather fly a pride flag than the American flag while questioning why a local park displays 27 versions of the U.S. flag, some of which she said represent parts of American history that are “not great.”

“To me, a pride flag is way more relatable than an American flag. I would not raise an American flag at my house because I wouldn’t. I wasn’t even born here. But I would raise a pride flag,” said Lynnwood council member Isabel Mata on Monday. “As the most diverse city in all of Snohomish County, I don’t think that I’m the only one.” 

Mata, who identifies as a “queer, neurodivergent writer, advocate, and mindfulness meditation teacher” in her government biography, suggested replacing the flags with commemorative ones in an effort to be more inclusive—while downplaying the symbolism of the American flag. 

Mata has since walked back the remarks, telling Fox News Digital that she was speaking “personally, as a queer woman, about what the pride flag means to me.”

TRUMP ADMIN-MAMDANI CLASH OVER STONEWALL MONUMENT REACHES FINAL DECISION

At the heart of the argument is Wilcox Park, known as “Flag Park,” which features 27 flagpoles displaying various versions of the American flag. 

“This community is filled with so many beautiful cultures and diverse backgrounds and all of these things, yet we have 27 iterations of the same flag, some representing parts of American history that, frankly, are not great,” said Mata.

The comment set off an outpouring of critical reactions on social media as clips of her remarks spread like wildfire online this week.

“Lynwood, Washington City Councilwoman Isabel Mata says the LGBTQ flag is more relatable than the American Flag and she would never fly an American Flag,” popular conservative X account Libs of TikTok posted. 

“‘I wasn’t even born here.’ Then shut up,” Fox News contributor and New York Post columnist Miranda Devine posted. 

Others posted, “WA cooked,” “wow” or asked “If you hate America that much, then why are you still here?” in response to the remarks. 

Mata walked back her comments when asked by Fox News Digital about her dismissal of the symbolism behind the American flag. 

SCHUMER PUSHES BILL TO GIVE PRIDE FLAG SAME STATUS AS US, MILITARY FLAGS

“I apologize for the way I expressed myself, and I mean that sincerely. The American flag represents the sacrifices of veterans and military families, and the promise that drew immigrants like me to this country,” said Mata. “I should have honored that more carefully in my remarks, and I did not. I have deep respect for everyone who has served under that flag.”

SCHUMER PUSHES BILL TO GIVE PRIDE FLAG SAME STATUS AS US, MILITARY FLAGS

She added that her comments “were not a formal policy proposal,” but to raise “a broader question about how Lynnwood, the most diverse city in Snohomish County, might find additional ways to reflect its community.”

“I believe there is room, in a city as diverse as Lynnwood, to celebrate the many cultures, identities, and communities that make it great, alongside the American flag, not instead of it. Any formal changes to public spaces would go through a proper public process with full community input. That is how it should work,” she added. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced legislation in February that would make a pride flag a congressionally authorized flag.

The designation would give the Pride flag protections similar to those afforded to the U.S. flag, military flags and other flags recognized by Congress.

A House Republican facing a tough re-election fight is moving to impose strict limits on the Iran war, breaking with the Trump administration’s claim that hostilities have ended. 

Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., introduced a resolution Thursday that would authorize the war through the end of July to permanently degrade Iran’s nuclear program, address “imminent threats,” enforce a naval blockade and ensure safe passage of U.S. ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

But the measure would also set stringent guidelines on prolonged military operations by limiting boots on the ground and prohibiting “nation-building” or occupying or seizing Iranian territory.

“Two things have been clear from the very beginning: Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and the United States of America cannot be dragged into another endless war,” Barrett, an Army veteran who served multiple tours in the Middle East, said. “The commander in chief has the sole authority to lead our troops in wartime, but I’ve lost too many friends on the battlefield to allow that to happen without Congress exercising its constitutional role to clearly define the mission with safeguards and a deadline.”

REPUBLICANS HAND TRUMP THE WHEEL ON IRAN — BUT ONE RED LINE EMERGES

“If we don’t learn from our foreign policy failures of the past, we are bound to repeat them,” he added.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has also vowed to introduce a similar measure in the upper chamber authorizing the use of military force within strict boundaries, which she has described as a “restraint” on Trump.

Barrett’s measure follows the White House largely shrugging off a 60-day deadline to end the war on Friday by arguing that the ceasefire that began on April 7 effectively stopped the clock on the 1973 War Powers Resolution’s countdown. Under the war powers provision, the administration is required to end hostilities within 60 to 90 days absent congressional approval. 

“For War Powers Resolution purposes, the hostilities that began on Saturday, February 28 have terminated,” a senior administration official told Fox News Digital last week.

“Both parties agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday, April 7 that has since been extended,” the official continued. “There has been no exchange of fire between U.S. Armed Forces and Iran since Tuesday, April 7.”

A press release issued by Barrett’s office stated that “U.S. military operations are ongoing.”

TRUMP ‘RIGHT TO BE OUTRAGED’ BY EUROPE’S BETRAYAL ON IRAN, SAYS FORMER THATCHER ADVISOR

Secretary of State Marco Rubio argued Tuesday that the 1973 War Powers Resolution is unconstitutional, and the administration was only complying with parts of it out of respect for Congress.

“We comply with it in terms of, like, notification because we want to preserve good relations with Congress,” Rubio told reporters during a news conference. “And we do that.”

Trump has repeatedly extended the ceasefire with Iran as both parties are working with mediators to permanently end the war.

Barrett’s resolution would also allow for an additional 30-day “wind-down period” if the Trump administration intended to extend hostilities past the July 30 deadline.

The resolution comes as Barrett, a freshman lawmaker representing a Lansing-area district, is facing a potentially bruising re-election bid ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Bridget Brink, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine under former President Joe Biden, and retired Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam are vying in a crowded Democratic primary to unseat Barrett in the swing seat.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates his re-election bid as a “toss-up.”

It is unclear whether Barrett will join Democrats in supporting a war powers resolution that would block military action against Iran absent congressional approval when lawmakers return to Washington next week.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

President Donald Trump accused House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., of inciting the most recent assassination attempt against him, further escalating his feud with the top Democrat.

Trump argued in a Truth Social post on Thursday that Jeffries should be arrested after promoting “warfare” against Republicans just days before the assassination scare at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April.

“This lunatic, Hakeem “Low IQ” Jeffries, should be charged with INCITING VIOLENCE!” Trump wrote on social media.

He included images of Jeffries standing with a sign displaying the words “maximum warfare” and the faces of Trump and his aide James Blair alongside an image “three days later” of alleged assassin Cole Allen storming the Secret Service checkpoint at the Washington Hilton.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES DOUBLES DOWN ON ‘MAXIMUM WARFARE’ RHETORIC, TELLS CRITICS ‘I DON’T GIVE A DAMN’

“Should Hakeem Jeffries be charged with inciting violence?” Trump’s post asked his 12.6 million followers to ponder.

A spokesperson for Jeffries referred Fox News Digital to a social media post where the top Democrat labeled Trump’s comments as “another deranged rant” and dinged the president on affordability. 

“Gas prices are sky high, grocery bills are surging and families can’t catch a break,” he wrote on X. “Democrats are about to take back the House and you’re losing your mind.”

JEFFRIES LAUNCHES NEW YORK GERRYMANDER PUSH AFTER REDISTRICTING CLASH WITH DESANTIS

The online skirmish came after Jeffries already defended his “maximum warfare” language amid GOP backlash in late April.

“I don’t give a damn about your criticism,” he told Republicans.

Jeffries also justified his decision to use the phrase when discussing the nationwide redistricting battle by arguing that an anonymous White House staffer first deployed the phrase to threaten Democrats with GOP-friendly gerrymanders during an interview with The New York Times last year.

“That phrase ‘maximum warfare everywhere, all the time’ came from the White House in the summer of 2025, when they started this redistricting battle, and now they’re big mad,” Jeffries said at a news conference. “Why? Because Democrats have decided to finish it. Get lost.” 

Jeffries has consistently said that he opposes all forms of political violence, while refusing to walk back his fiery language.

He told “Fox News Sunday” last month that lawmakers “set the most appropriate example” in their rhetoric, when asked about the rise in political violence.

“Whatever your ideological perspective is, we all love America, and we all want to make sure that this country is the best that it can possibly be,” Jeffries said.

The Department of Justice took aim at reporters it viewed as biased on social media on Wednesday after a federal judge sided with the government in a dispute over 2020 ballots and election materials it seized in Fulton County, Georgia, in January.

“Wrong again, MacFarlane,” a DOJ communications account wrote in an X post, targeting a MeidasTouch journalist who had speculated the department’s arguments would fail to persuade the judge.

Judge J.P. Boulee had found in a 68-page order that Fulton County did not prove its rights were violated when the FBI seized more than 600 boxes of election records. Boulee, a Trump appointee, denied county officials’ request that the boxes be returned, handing the Trump administration a win in its broader fight to investigate the 2020 election and prompting DOJ to taunt media skeptics online.

“Sorry for your loss, Anna,” the DOJ social media account wrote in a separate post about a Lawfare editor.

FBI AGENTS SEARCH ELECTION HUB IN FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA

Boulee’s decision marked a win for the DOJ in its nationwide effort to investigate past elections in key battlegrounds that also include Arizona and Michigan, as Trump maintains that the 2020 election was tainted by widespread fraud and aggressively pushes for tighter election security measures ahead of the midterms.

The FBI had seized the boxes, which included 2020 ballots, from the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center after obtaining a court-approved a search warrant. An underlying affidavit revealed the bureau was probing allegations of ballot irregularities and record-keeping failures in Georgia, a state Trump lost by a razor-thin margin to President Joe Biden that became ground zero for Trump’s election fraud claims in the aftermath of 2020.

FBI SUBPOENAS 2020 ARIZONA VOTING DOCS AS FEDERAL PUSH INTO ELECTION ADMINISTRATION WIDENS

Democrats have widely criticized the investigation, including Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., who called it a continuation of a “sore loser’s crusade” upon learning of the probe.

Fulton County Board of Commissioners chairman Robb Pitts, who is named in the litigation over the box seizure, previously called the investigation “yet another act of outrageous federal overreach designed to intimidate and to chill participation in elections. … I will always stand up for our elections workers and for the truth.”

NAACP ASKS JUDGE TO LIMIT HOW FEDS USE GEORGIA VOTER DATA SEIZED BY FBI

Pitts and other Fulton County officials had argued the box seizures were unlawful and that the government showed “callous disregard” for the county’s constitutional rights. But Boulee rejected those claims while still acknowledging that the underlying affidavit was flawed and contained “troubling” statements.

“While the Affidavit was certainly far from perfect, this is not a situation where an officer left out all the facts that might undermine probable cause or where an officer intentionally lied,” Boulee wrote, adding that he “cannot say that the Affidavit was so deficient that its shortcomings rise to the ‘high[] threshold’ of callous disregard.”

Boulee relied in his decision on the fact that the investigation was still in an early phase and emphasized that federal authorities had obtained a valid warrant supported by an affidavit. The affidavit outlined allegations related to missing ballot images, inconsistent recount totals and chain-of-custody problems, among other potential issues.

In response to Boulee’s order, Pitts said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital that he agreed with the judge’s assessment that the affidavit was “defective” and “problematic.” 

“But I strongly disagree with the judge’s denial of Fulton County’s request for the FBI to return the election records it wrongly seized on January 28,” Pitts said, adding that county officials would “continue, as always, to stand by our election workers and the voters of Fulton County. We intend to vigorously pursue all available legal options.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Lawfare and MeidasTouch for comment.

Former reality TV star Spencer Pratt, running in a three-person race for Los Angeles mayor, received rave reviews following his performance during Wednesday night’s NBC affiliate debate.

Pratt is facing incumbent Karen Bass, a former Democratic congresswoman, and socialist Councilwoman Nithya Raman of the Sherman Oaks district in the officially nonpartisan race, where issues of crime, immigration-related conflicts and response to devastating wildfires remain on Angelenos’ minds.

Conservative commentator Meghan McCain, daughter of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain, appeared ecstatic at Pratt’s performance.

“This is not hyperbole,” she said on X. “Spencer Pratt is the blueprint for how my generation of older millennials needs to communicate and present their ideas and campaign messaging when running for office.”

ROGAN BACKS REALITY TV STAR SPENCER PRATT’S BID FOR LA MAYOR, SAYS ‘I’D VOTE FOR YOU’

“He is 10/10 no notes. Absolute raw talent. Killed the debate.”

Other observers, including TownHall columnist Dustin Grage, homed in on a moment in which Pratt gave a one-word answer to a yes-or-no question on noncitizen voting policies, while Bass and Raman offered commentaries that critics called “word salad.”

Pratt told the moderator “no” when asked about Hollywood-area Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez’ proposed ballot motion to allow noncitizens to vote in the city.

“Wow, the moderator asked a simple yes or no question in the LA Mayor’s Debate. Should noncitizens be able to vote in local elections? Spencer Pratt: “No.” Karen Bass: Word salad. Nithya Raman: Word salad,” Grage said.

Other respondents on X shared memes favoring clips of Pratt’s responses to questions, including a much utilized GIF of Chris Tucker and Ice Cube reeling back and shouting, “Damn.”

In the Los Angeles Times, columnist Gustavo Arellano said Pratt “mostly succeeded” at the debate but came off as a boisterous bro with enough charm to call himself ‘humble’ without coming off as obnoxious.

LA MAYOR BASS CONCEDES AFRICA TRIP WAS ‘ABSOLUTELY’ A MISTAKE AMID BOTCHED WILDFIRE RESPONSE

“He was light on specifics, other than saying he was going to do better than the others and that he would prioritize public safety above all. Instead, he was the one person on stage who used anecdotes to sell himself, citing conversations about abused animals, downtown workers too afraid to eat outside and film producers hiring local gang members to keep their shoots safe,” Arellano wrote.

In a more favorable review, California Post writer Joel Pollak said Pratt was treated “like the beggar at the feast” by moderators but still became the “strongest personality” on the stage and surprised by creating an image of a “solid, big-city mayor” despite his political amateurism.

“You knew he would talk about Karen Bass’ failure in the fire. But what impressed most was his fluency with other issues, from crime to housing,” Pollak said.

Political commentator Steve Guest called Pratt’s fire-related critique of Bass an “amazing moment.”

“Spencer Pratt just torched Karen Bass on live TV,” he said.

A similar fire-related moment was a “mic drop,” according to Florida Politics editor Eric L. Daugherty.

A powerful Virginia Democratic lawmaker’s online jab at President Donald Trump that “no one is above the law” is coming back to haunt her after her office and a business she co-owns were raided by the FBI Wednesday.

State Sen. L. Louise Lucas, a major power broker in Virginia politics and ally of Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, is known for hot takes, often laced with vulgar language, that she frequently posts on social media. In 2023, she posted that then-former President “Donald Trump just learned no is above the law!”

Now, her post is garnering new attention following the news of the FBI raids, with X users pointing the finger back at her.

Popular conservative account Libs of TikTok posted, “Louise Lucas just learned no one is above the law!”

A TALE OF TWO INDICTMENTS: TOP DEMS SAY ‘NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW’ ON TRUMP, BUT DECRY COMEY CASE

Caroline Wren, a political operative and former Trump fundraiser, referenced another post of Lucas’ from 2022, in which the Democrat wrote, “I want to see voters showing the kind of overwhelming numbers at the polls that the FBI showed today at Mar a Lago!” Wren wrote, “This aged well.”

Lucas’ office and weed dispensary business were raided Wednesday as part of a court-authorized federal corruption and illegal marijuana sale probe, federal law enforcement sources told Fox News. In total, 10 locations associated with Lucas were raided by the FBI.

This, too, drew mockery from Lucas’ critics, who pointed to her “Ten f—– one” slogan, referring to Virginia’s recently passed redistricting map that favors Democrats in 10 of the state’s congressional districts, likely leaving only one Republican district.

Former Virginia legislator Nick Freitas posted, “@SenLouiseLucas: ‘10 to f-ing 1’ FBI: ‘How about 10 to f-ing life.’”

Arlington County GOP Chair Matthew Hurtt posted on X, “Louise Lucas asked [a] Fox News reporter where else the FBI was raiding. Apparently, 10 locations. There’s a TEN F*CKIN’ ONE joke in there somewhere.”

Talk radio host Erick Erickson, meanwhile, predicted that “no wagons will be circled for Louise Lucas because the VA Dems have known for a while.”

DHS UNLOADS ON ‘SANCTUARY CALAMITY’ VIRGINIA AFTER ILLEGAL ALIEN ACCUSED OF HEINOUS CRIME RELEASED: ‘SICKO’

Lucas was not universally reviled in response to the raids. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who bears no relation to the Virginia Democrat, posted on his personal X account, “They need to leave Louise Lucas alone.”

Virginia House Speaker Don Scott, a Democrat, also released a statement on Wednesday in which he said he is “deeply concerned by today’s FBI raid.”

“Given the politicization of this administration — an FBI led by Kash Patel and a Justice Department run by President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney — I think people should take this with a grain of salt and allow the facts to come out before jumping to a conclusion,” he wrote.

Notably, a federal law enforcement source familiar with the case clarified that the corruption probe was opened by the FBI during the Biden administration.

Virginia Republican Delegate Tim Anderson, who was previously sued by Lucas for defamation in a case that was ultimately thrown out, also responded. Anderson wrote, “What they have or don’t have on Senator Lucas will be something for the courts to work through if the DOJ initiates criminal charges.”

SPANBERGER REFUSES TO HONOR ICE DETAINER IN MURDER CASE, ESCALATING SHOWDOWN WITH TRUMP DHS

A spokesperson for Spanberger told Fox News Digital that the governor “is aware of today’s law enforcement operation in Portsmouth.” The spokesperson added that “in the absence of additional details, the governor will not be commenting on a federal investigation at this time.”

Virginia Democratic Attorney General Jay Jones, who has faced his own share of controversy over violent text messages he previously sent, also weighed in. Jones said in a statement that “we simply do not have sufficient information about the reported FBI activity in Portsmouth. However, several previous actions of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia have undermined public confidence in that office.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Lucas for comment.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded with a sharp one-liner after former President Barack Obama criticized the Trump administration for politicizing the Department of Justice.

“The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the attorney general to go around prosecuting whoever the president wants prosecuted,” Obama said during an interview with CBS.

“The awesome power of the state, you can’t have a situation where whoever is in charge of the government starts using that to go after their political enemies or reward their friends,” he continued.

In response, DeSantis wrote on X, “The Russia collusion hoax would like a word.”

OBAMA BRANDED ‘CLASSLESS MORON’ FOR AG JAB AT TRUMP AS ‘WINGMAN’ COMMENTS RESURFACE

During an interview with CBS’ Stephen Colbert, Obama said that as president, “There were a couple [norms] that I followed, even though they weren’t law.”

“And we’re going to have to do some work to return to this basic norm, and we probably now have to codify it,” he said. “The idea is that the attorney general is the people’s lawyer and not the president’s consigliere.”

Obama said the politicization of the DOJ poses an existential threat to the United States.

“We can survive a lot, bad policy, funky elections, there’s a bunch of stuff that we can overcome, we can’t overcome the politicization of the criminal justice system.”

He said that he would like to see movement towards “restoring some sense of the Justice Department being independent in making judgments about specific cases and prosecutions.”

Under Obama, the FBI, which is a part of the DOJ, opened a counterintelligence investigation in 2016 to examine whether individuals associated with then-candidate Donald Trump had links to Russian officials and whether there was any coordination.

TULSI GABBARD TORCHES ‘COMPLICIT’ LIBERAL MEDIA FOR IGNORING DNI FINDINGS ON RUSSIA PROBE

The investigation continued during Trump’s first term and was led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. It concluded there were “multiple links” between Trump campaign officials and individuals tied to the Russian government. However, it also found that “the investigation did not establish that the Campaign coordinated or conspired with the Russian government in its election-interference activities.”

In July 2025, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard alleged that Obama and senior intelligence officials improperly politicized intelligence about Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence alleged that Obama directed the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment, which “served as the basis for what was essentially a years-long coup against the duly elected President of the United States, subverting the will of the American people and attempting to delegitimize Donald Trump’s presidency.”

OBAMA LAUGHS AS HE HINTS COLBERT COULD PERFORM BETTER THAN TRUMP AS PRESIDENT, SAYS ‘BAR HAS CHANGED’

Gabbard said, “There is irrefutable evidence detailing how President Obama and his national security team directed the creation of an Intelligence Community Assessment that they knew was false, promoting the contrived narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help President Trump win, as though it were true.”

Critics have disputed Gabbard’s allegations.

Fox News Digital reached out to Obama for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: A pair of House lawmakers are seeking a major change to the Secret Service after heightened scrutiny following the third assassination attempt against President Donald Trump in April. 

Reps. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., and Russell Fry, R-S.C., introduced legislation Thursday that would transfer the Secret Service from DHS supervision and make the agency a direct report to the White House.

The measure is part of a broader package of bipartisan reforms that Moskowitz, a former emergency management director, is unveiling to reform the sprawling department that has come under frequent criticism for bureaucratic dysfunction. His legislative package would also make FEMA an independent cabinet-level agency and move TSA under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation. 

The goal, Moskowitz said, is to cut red tape at DHS that impedes its subagencies’ ability to function — an observation he saw up close as a member of the congressional task force investigating the first assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pa.

TRUMP BUTLER RALLY SECRET SERVICE TEAM FAILED MULTIPLE BASIC PROTOCOLS BEFORE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, DOCS REVEAL

“Going to Butler, talking to Secret Service, is when I realized, well, the Secret Service is suffering the same problems that FEMA is suffering,” Moskowitz said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “Because they were such a small agency, they couldn’t get the resources they needed. They couldn’t get decisions being made.”

“These pieces of legislation would streamline all three of those agencies,” Moskowitz added. “It would cut a lot of the bureaucracy we’re getting at DHS.”

Moskowitz, who was present at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, where the Secret Service subdued the alleged shooter, said the assassination scare reinforced the need to make the agency directly accountable to the president and provide agents with “more resources, not less.” 

Fry, who is co-leading the bill, said the measure would better allow the Secret Service to fulfill its responsibility of protecting the president.

“In a time where political attacks are becoming increasingly rampant, the Secret Service should be able to focus solely on its mission of protecting top U.S. officials — not dealing with bureaucratic tape that ultimately serves as a distraction to keeping the president safe,” Fry said.

WITNESSES RECOUNT CHAOS AT WHCA DINNER AFTER SHOOTING, SECRET SERVICE AGENTS DREW GUNS TO EVACUATE TRUMP

Moskowitz’s DHS reform package comes after the embattled department endured a record-breaking funding lapse that concluded in late April after lasting for 76 days. The Florida lawmaker repeatedly joined Democrats against full-year DHS spending bills, but supported funding the department’s non-immigration functions.

If Moskowitz’s reform package was signed into law, the TSA, Secret Service and FEMA would likely be shielded from another prolonged DHS funding lapse.

More than 1,000 TSA agents quit during the shutdown, leading to long security lines at major airports and a spike in missed flights for passengers.

“I don’t think the American people should have their lives interrupted at the airport because of the dysfunction in Washington,” Moskowitz told Fox News Digital.

He also argued that TSA would function better if it was transferred out of DHS.

“The idea that the Department of Transportation, they have the FAA that keeps our skies safe, but then Homeland keeps the people safe in the airport … we should put things under one roof,” Moskowitz said. “I’m trying to unify keeping people safe in the air and safe on the ground when flying.”

Moskowitz’s previous efforts to make FEMA a cabinet-level agency have stalled in committee.

The Florida lawmaker, however, said he has talked with members of the Trump administration about reforms to DHS and believes there is extensive bipartisan support for overhauling the department.

“The question is, are we able to function and actually do something like this anymore?” Moskowitz said. “Or are we just only able to fund the agencies now and can’t do any reform?”

Moskowitz is partnering with Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., on the FEMA reform measure and co-leading the TSA transfer bill with Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn.

He told Fox News Digital that he is planning to seek re-election in the new GOP-leaning 25th Congressional District, following Florida Republicans passing an aggressive gerrymandered map that carved up his Democratic seat last week.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the DHS before publication.

An aggressive and impassioned debate performance this week by reality TV star and online influencer-turned Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt is the latest evidence that his populist pitch to lead the nation’s second-most populous city appears to be gaining traction.

Pratt tangled with the debate moderator after charging that incumbent Mayor Karen Bass was an “incredible liar” and argued that progressive City Council member Nithya Raman would get “stabbed in the neck” if she tried to offer treatment to homeless people encamped in underpasses below the city’s freeways.

His apparent rise is fueled in part by his well-known status as one of the victims who lost their homes in last year’s devastating wildfires, when over 17,000 homes in Los Angeles County were destroyed, as well as his right-leaning focus on homelessness, crime, and government accountability in a city long run by Democrats.

Pratt, who is running as an independent and outsider and has labeled himself a “truth-to-power” candidate, has grabbed significant media attention for his campaign ads targeting both Bass and Raman.

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

Pratt, who has blamed Bass for the destruction of his home, released an ad last week that aimed to tap into Angelenos’ frustration over the city’s current leadership, its response to the wildfires, and its handling of the homeless crisis.

“This is where Mayor Bass lives. Do you notice something? Or here, where Nithya Raman’s $3 million mansion sits,” Pratt said in the ad, as he stands in front of homes of his top two rivals. “They don’t have to live in the mess they’ve created.”

His opponents say that Pratt is borrowing a page from President Donald Trump’s politics of grievance playbook.

LA MAYOR BASS AND TOP RIVALS FACE OFF ON THE DEBATE STAGE

“Spencer is doing his best Trump impression, but it’s not going to work in LA,” Bass’ campaign argued, in response to the recent ad.

It was a similar response from Raman’s campaign, which charged, “Spencer Pratt plays directly from the Donald Trump playbook — incendiary language, fear mongering, and political stunts meant to divide and distract.”

But Pratt’s campaign appears to be resonating with plugged-in voters. According to recent city figures, Pratt has raised more in donations since the start of the year than any of the other contenders.

There has been a dearth of recent polling in the race, but surveys conducted a month ago suggested Bass held a small double-digit lead over Pratt and Raman, with a large percentage of respondents undecided.

ROGAN BACKS REALITY TV STAR SPENCER PRATT’S BID FOR LA MAYOR, SAYS ‘I’D VOTE FOR YOU’

“He’s got some very harsh but imaginative videos online,” veteran Los Angeles-area political scientist Jack Pitney of Claremont McKenna College told Fox News Digital.

“He’s catching fire online,” Pitney said. “Whether he’s catching fire with people who vote in Los Angeles is a different question.”

If no candidate tops 50% in the June 2 primary, the top two finishers will face off in November.

“His shot is the dissatisfaction message,” Pitney said as he pointed to what may be Pratt’s real strength. “He was displaced by the fire and people are very dissatisfied with the state of government in Los Angeles.”

Far-left nonprofits are pivoting from their May Day protests last week to mobilize voters for November’s midterm elections and push Democrats further left, even criticizing party leaders for shunning their candidates. 

In an hour-long webinar hosted Tuesday night by “May Day Strong,” an organizing coalition for last week’s protests, speakers laid out an electoral plan to win key races in the 2026 midterm election and “the ballot box.”

The far-left Working Families Party, which political experts say is exercising growing influence in electoral races throughout the country, was front-and-center in the presentation. The party was one of about 600 groups with collective revenues of $2 billion that organized an estimated 6,000 events last week for May Day, according to an investigation by Fox News Digital, with many organizations pushing talking points that were anti-American and pro-communist.

Fox News Digital has identified 730 races in 19 states where the Working Families Party is endorsing candidates for offices ranging from the U.S. Senate to the Wauwatosa School Board in Wisconsin and the post of Mecklenburg County Sheriff in North Carolina, according to the organization’s publicly available data.

600 GROUPS WITH $2B IN REVENUE MOBILIZE 3,000 MAY DAY PROTESTS IN A ‘RED-BLUE’ ALLIANCE, PROBE FINDS

During the webinar on Tuesday, Maurice “Moe” Mitchell, national director at the Working Families Party, introduced himself by his political party and title and encouraged attendees to “help elect WFP champions across the country by joining upcoming phone banks and canvases.”

“We’re going to organize our communities and build working class power at the ballot box,” he said,

Neither Working Families Party nor Mitchell responded to requests for comment.

The political refrain about the “ballot box” was repeated by other webinar participants, many of them representing nonprofit organizations with legal restrictions on the amount of political work they can do. Despite those guardrails, much of the call was devoted to electoral politics, voting rights, redistricting, canvassing, candidate support and preparation for the mid-term elections in November.

UNEARTHED FILING SHOWS TOP TEACHERS UNION FUNNELING MILLIONS TO FAR LEFT ORGS: ‘SOCIAL JUSTICE UNIONISM’

“We have such an overwhelming amount of support at the polls that this election cannot be stolen,” said Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, a self-described “movement strategist” who moderated the webinar on behalf of May Day Strong.

“We have to legislate, and we have to litigate, and we have to vote. But all of that has to matter because we are organizing them to an expansion of democracy,” Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, said. 

Jon Reid, a Republican podcast host who lost his race for lieutenant governor in Virginia to a Working Families-backed candidate last year, warned that Republicans and Democrats must face the threat from groups like the Working Families Party moving the country toward socialism, communism and Marxism.

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“This is no longer some college student who is reading Karl Marx. There are organized groups – from the Working Families Party to the Democratic Socialists of America – that have clearly put together a plan to execute a takeover of America, city by city. We have to pay attention to them,” Reid said.

“They are moving swiftly to try to galvanize the disgruntled,” Reid said. 

While the Working Families Party doesn’t explicitly identify as socialist, calling itself a “multiracial party of the working class,” the organization promotes socialist beliefs, including free universal healthcare, higher minimum wages, free college and heavy criticism of “the rich” and capitalism. It also endorses openly socialist political candidates.

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In 2016, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, described the Working Families Party as the “closest thing there is to a political party that believes in my vision of democratic socialism.”

The No. 1 state where the Working Families Party is endorsing candidates is in New York, where it endorsed Zohran Mamdani in his race for mayor last year and is endorsing 393 candidates this year, from Letitia James for attorney general to Brad Lander and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the U.S. House of Representatives.

New York state is followed by California, which has 89 endorsements and Oregon with 48. Completing the top five states, it has 38 endorsements in Wisconsin and 35 in Colorado. Pennsylvania ranks sixth with 30, and Georgia follows with 20. Other states with 10 or more endorsements include Maryland (13) and New Jersey (10). A large number of states have single-digit endorsements, with North Carolina and Texas both at nine, District of Columbia at eight, Washington at seven, Ohio and Delaware at six each and Michigan at five. Finally, Illinois, Kentucky, and Maine each have one endorsement.

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In July 2023, the Working Families Party issued a press release touting the “progressive champions” it helped elect, including Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Florida, former Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairman Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, among others. 

Mitchell took to Capitol Hill in late April, according to his Instagram account, where the Working Families Party held a press conference in front of the U.S. Capitol, with Mitchell standing beside Frost, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wa., and Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz.

While using the Democratic Party to advance its agenda, the Working Families Party is also openly battling in primary elections, pushing its large following to denounce candidates backed by the Democratic Party and stand with the Working Families Party’s further-left endorsements.

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“THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS TRYING TO TANK A WORKING FAMILIES PARTY CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS WITH THE PRIMARY JUST THREE WEEKS AWAY,” the Working Families Party posted to social media on Tuesday, regarding a race in California for the U.S. House of Representatives. 

“Well folks, looks like the Democratic party establishment is back again with the shenanigans,” the post said.

During the webinar, Mitchell encouraged attendees to take to the ballot box and engage in political activity.

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“We can rack up more wins in state after state and in Congress too, but we can’t win any of that if we don’t also defend our democracy,” Mitchell told the audience. 

Unlike 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) nonprofits, the Working Families Party operates as a political party and a political action committee, allowing it to donate directly to political candidates and make official endorsements. 

Between Jan. 1, 2025, and March 31, 2025, the Working Families Party raised $12,586,461.21, according to Federal Election Commission records. 

It also has a related 501(c)(4) nonprofit, Working Families Organization Inc., which is allowed to do limited amounts of political work. The 501(c)(4) had $54.3 million in revenues in 2024, according to its last tax filing. The network also has a sister 501(c)(3) nonprofit, with even more restrictions on political work: the Working Families Power Ballot Initiative Project Inc.

Rather than focusing on a specific cause like traditional nonprofits, the Working Families Party organizational structure gives it leeway to focus largely on political activities, campaigns, candidates and elections.

The Working Families Party collects donations through ActBlue, a controversial Democratic fundraising platform that the Justice Department is investigating for alleged improprieties. ActBlue has denied wrongdoing.

On the webinar, Mitchell rallied attendees to win at “the ballot box,” saying, “May Day wasn’t the end. It was not the end. This is just the beginning. We’re getting started.”