We’re deep enough into the season to have a sense of how the year is going for various clubs and players.

We see which players are most expendable by the trade deadline. And we get an early line on what to anticipate this fall.

Could sub-.500 clubs like the Texas Rangers or The Athletics (now playing in Sacramento) make the postseason? Did the Baltimore Orioles get what they paid for when they signed Pete Alonso from the New York Mets? Will the Detroit Tigers deal back-to-back Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal to the Atlanta Braves or Cleveland Guardians?

All becomes clearer as we approach the All-Star Break in less than a month.

The same is true in Congress. But the schedule is a little more advanced on Capitol Hill compared to the baseball calendar. Yes, Major League Baseball would play a potential Game 7 of the World Series on Oct. 31. Election Day for the midterms is Nov. 3.

DEMOCRATS FACE DAUNTING CONGRESSIONAL BASEBALL GAME STREAK AS EX-MLB GREAT EYES GOP ROSTER SPOT

However, the Capitol Hill timeframe is more truncated than the baseball slate.

In some respects, Congress is already past its legislative equivalent of the Dog Days of August. In fact, both the House and Senate will likely be out of session for all but a day – if that – in August. They’ll be back in September and then out again until after the midterm.

That is, unless there’s another lengthy government shutdown. And that’s a distinct possibility.

The government’s fiscal year expires at 11:59:59 p.m. ET on Sept. 30. Yes, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle want to rush home in the fall to campaign before the midterms. But last year’s record 43-day comprehensive government shutdown may just be a legislative amuse bouche of what we’re in for this year.

Plus, if Democrats again go to the mat over healthcare or the lack of guardrails for ICE and Border Patrol – despite Republicans just funding those agencies for the rest of the Trump presidency earlier this month – they may view a government shutdown and bogging down everything in Washington as the equivalent of campaigning.

The Senate is meeting this week. The House is out. Chatter started ricocheting around the Capitol this week that the House might consider sending everyone home until September at the end of the next work period. The official calendar has the House meeting through July 2. After adopting the One Big Beautiful Bill last summer, the House left for its August recess a day early in mid-July. One could see the House conceivably cutting town a bit early this year too.

That said, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., wants to advance a few spending bills across the floor before the recess. The House has already approved two of the 12 bills: one for military construction and veterans programs. The other for agriculture.

The House is poised to approve the Energy and Water spending bill next week as well as one for national security initiatives.

CONGRESS FLEES TOWN AS HEALTH CARE PREMIUMS SET TO EXPLODE FOR MILLIONS OF AMERICANS IN JANUARY

Republicans would like to approve the annual defense funding measure soon. That bill consumes well over half of all discretionary spending (money which Congress allocates each year). The GOP may need to follow suit from last year where the House passed the defense plan with only Republican votes. But if the House greenlights the Pentagon’s bill, it will have approved around 80 percent of all spending for the next fiscal year.

However, the Senate is another question. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, canceled planned sessions to craft multiple spending bills over the past few weeks. She’s blamed Democrats for lack of cooperation.

That said, control of the Senate may hinge on Maine as Collins faces embattled Democratic nominee Graham Platner this fall. Platner lugs around more baggage than a skycap at Dulles International Airport. But Democrats are sticking with Platner. Democrats are in no mood to cede any ground to Collins or present her with any easy “wins” ahead of the fall.

BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN

While the House appropriations process may limp along, it’s all but paralyzed in the Senate. This is where a congressional contagion could spread from the Senate to the House. Some House lawmakers may question why they should stick around to tackle any bills if they’re on a road to oblivion in the Senate. Pressure will ramp up on both sides of the aisle to let everyone go home early rather than engage in an academic exercise.

And let’s fast-forward to fall and the funding deadline. The sides simply are not getting along at all. There’s no incentive for Democrats to help if both the House and Senate are in play this fall. President Trump demonstrated no incentive to negotiate during last year’s government shutdown. It could be worse this time around. That’s why a shutdown may be in the cards.

The question is whether lawmakers stay in Washington for the month of October and try to figure things out when they’d rather be in their districts and states campaigning. Remember, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., kept the House out for most of the autumn shutdown last year.

MORNING GLORY: WILL THE HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS DESERT PRESIDENT TRUMP AND TRIGGER A MASSIVE TAX HIKE?

And then there is the biggest possible bill of all: “Reconciliation 3.0.”

No one really knows exactly what Republicans would stash in a massive package, ala last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill. President Trump is adamant that they add $350 billion in additional military spending on top of the Pentagon’s annual budget measure – mostly to cover the war in Iran. This would also restock munitions exhausted overseas.

Some Republicans believe they should address health care. Yet there’s still no bona fide health care proposal from the Trump Administration. There will be tax cuts. Maybe lower the cost of living. Of course, President Trump also wants the SAVE America Act tacked on to this bill. It requires proof of citizenship to vote. But the president just insisted that congressional Republicans latch the SAVE America Act to a bill to renew FISA.

Either way, the SAVE America Act wouldn’t pass muster with special Senate budget rules. And Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said repeatedly he would not fire the Senate’s budget umpire, Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough.

IT NEVER ENDS: GOP MOVES TO FUND BORDER, DEMOCRATS BLAST TRUMP SPENDING

Vulnerable Republicans would love to have another policy bill to campaign on this fall. But there’s lots of skepticism. And any decision to dismiss lawmakers from Capitol Hill early would serve as a signal that there’s no way they can pass “Reconciliation 3.0.”

In Major League Baseball, we usually know by late July or early August if even an average team has an outside shot at the playoffs. The trade deadline is Aug. 3 – although some clubs may try to stock up or unload well before then.

Teams and players on the wrong side of the ledger will play out the string through the end of the season. Then pack up for the hot stove league.

Congress is similar. Members elected to the 119th Congress are in office until 11:59:59 p.m. ET on Jan. 3, 2027. Some are just running out the string.

Yogi Berra famously declared that “the future ain’t what it used to be.”

In baseball, there were high expectations this season for the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros. The season isn’t even to its mid-point. But the future isn’t panning out for these clubs.

The same is true on Capitol Hill. We’ll know soon if the future is what “it used to be,” here too.

FIRST ON FOX: New legislation introduced in the House of Representatives threatens federal funding for colleges and universities working with organizations with alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party. 

The Espionage Protection Act, authored by Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, would amend the National Security Act of 1947 to prohibit federal funding for intelligence programs at universities that maintain contractual or in-kind relationships with organizations tied to the CCP. 

“American citizens and or professors at these institutions would be compromised and would be doing highly sensitive research and the Chinese Communist Party could benefit from that illegally,” Fallon told Fox News Digital.

“There have been instances of this where they’re using their either trained assets for the Chinese Communist Party or they’re sympathetic – stealing highly sensitive research, biotechnology, etc. and bringing it back to Beijing,” he added.

‘SERIOUS CONCERNS’: GOP SOUNDS ALARM ON TAXPAYER FUNDS GOING TO ‘HIGH RISK’ UNIVERSITIES VULNERABLE TO CCP

The legislation would revoke federal funding for grant programs, including: Intelligence Community Centers for Academic Excellence, Intelligence advanced research projects, undergraduate and graduate training, Stokes Scholarship Programs and SMART Scholarship for Service Program.

Fallon singled out the Confucius Institute, a nonprofit educational fund by the CCP, for particular scrutiny. While the number of universities who work with the Confucius Institute has seen a dramatic decline due to funding threats in the past, the organization still works with a number of schools.

The Texas congressman also told Fox News Digital he supports an outright ban on student visas for Chinese nationals.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BEGINS NEW WAVE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENT VISA REVOCATIONS: ‘NO ONE HAS A RIGHT TO A VISA’

“It would wholly take away one of the major concerns, which would be with Chinese students coming over and stealing technologies and other sensitive data… so it definitely needs to be explored and looked into,” he said. 

The debate around whether Chinese students should be allowed in U.S. schools has created some divide within the GOP. In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, President Donald Trump said an outright ban could damage relations between Beijing and D.C., and discussed some of the benefits of allowing Chinese professionals  into the country.

“I frankly think that it’s good that people come from other countries and they learn our culture and many of them want to stay here,” Trump said following his meeting with President Xi Jinping last month.

TRUMP JOLTS IMMIGRATION HAWKS WITH SURPRISING DEFENSE OF CHINESE STUDENTS IN USA

Trump noted that the idea of letting Chinese students in U.S. schools “doesn’t sound like a very conservative position – and I’m a conservative… commonsense guy. I think MAGA is common sense.”

Xi and Trump met in Beijing last month, where Trump described the meeting as “incredible” and “very successful,” despite the traditional rift between the two world powers. 

Trump’s comments about Chinese students in the U.S. sparked some backlash from members of the GOP who take a hard line position on immigration, including former Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.

REP. GREENE RAISES RED FLAG AFTER TRUMP INDICATES US WILL ACCEPT 600,000 CHINESE STUDENTS

“Trump says it’s insulting to tell China their students can’t go to our universities, imagine being an American student and receiving a rejection letter while 500,000 Chinese students get in,” Greene said to The New Republic.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was critical of the Trump administration’s stance on Chinese students last year, and signed legislation to block colleges from hiring students from China and other “countries of concern” in academic labs.

The IIE Open Doors Report, which is sponsored by the State Department, estimates that more 260,000 Chinese students are in the U.S. as of the 2024-2025 academic school year. Most students hold F-1 visas, which don’t automatically expire upon graduation from a university. 

In April, Fallon announced that he was running for chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee during an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. If he wins, he said he plans to root out CCP influence in the U.S.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris took an apparent shot at the Trump administration’s Iran deal, saying it could hurt Republicans in the midterm elections during a public appearance at a climate summit in Vienna on Tuesday.

“This is a war the American people did not want. This is a War of Choice. This is a president who has proven himself to be entirely self-indulgent. And we will see what happens in the coming hours and days in terms of the negotiation. And really, it’s a concept of an agreement,” said Harris at the Austrian World Summit hosted by the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative.

While Trump’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran has not been released, comparisons to former President Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal have reemerged. According to administration officials, the agreement would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and require Iran to halt nuclear weapons development and support for terrorism.

GAS SURGE TIED TO IRAN CONFLICT HITS SWING STATES, TESTING TRUMP’S LOW-PRICE PITCH

Harris has seized the moment to reignite a political fight over which approach did more to curb Iran’s ambitions.

“Whatever is being negotiated, this president is going to declare victory, and we’ll end up where we were after the JCPOA and call that a victory, the JPOA that he withdrew from,” said Harris.

Republicans are entering the November midterm elections amid concerns that many Americans continue to feel the strain of elevated gas and grocery prices. Trump administration officials have repeatedly emphasized that, under the MOU, consumers are expected to see relief at the gas pump beginning this summer.

IRAN’S REGIME SPINS NUCLEAR AND STRAIT OF HORMUZ DEAL WITH TRUMP AS VICTORY OVER US, ISRAEL

“There is a direct correlation between this war of choice and what has happened in terms of gas prices. It is estimated the average American has spent, since the war started, $500 more because of this war,” Harris said.

“I have no question or doubt that we will win the midterms, and it will be a result of people of every background and political association who will contribute to that outcome,” she added.

Oil prices fell on Monday to their lowest levels since early March after a preliminary U.S.-Iran agreement raised hopes that traffic through the Strait could soon return to normal.

VANCE REVEALS TRUMP LESSON GUIDING IRAN DEAL STRATEGY AS TEHRAN FACES 60-DAY DEADLINE

The agreement, soon to be released, would test whether Iran is willing to trade decades of isolation for economic relief and renewed ties with the West.

The deal hinges on whether Iran can demonstrate during a 60-day negotiating period that it has abandoned its nuclear ambitions and support for terrorist organizations.

Former Secretary of State and failed 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Monday night trashed former president Joe Biden for his decision to run for reelection in 2024.

“He made a terrible mistake,” Clinton said in an interview with David Remnick of 92NY. “He made a terrible mistake for himself, his legacy and for the country.”

It furthers the Democrats’ narrative shift over Biden’s health and his decision to seek a second term after former First Lady Jill Biden last month revealed she worried her husband was having a stroke on stage during his June 2024 debate with President Donald Trump.

Clinton is now bashing her one-time ally by claiming he went back on his word and insisting that former Vice President Kamala Harris would have had a chance to win if she was the candidate from the get-go.

“He had said that he would not run again, and you know, counterfactual narratives are always a bit tricky, but I believe that if he had kept to that plan and said in say, the late summer of ’23, that he wasn’t going to run, that he was going to pass the torch to the next generation we would’ve had a real contest,” Clinton said in her sit-down in Manhattan this week.

Biden exited the presidential race in late July 2024, a few weeks after a disastrous debate display led to left-wing commentators calling for him to step down. The Democratic Party then installed then-VP Harris as its presidential nominee without a primary vote.

“Very sadly, I believe that whoever emerged from the contest, whether it was the vice president or a governor or a senator or anybody else, would have beaten Donald Trump,” Clinton retroactively speculated.

“So I think it was a terrible miscalculation on the part of President Biden, but once he didn’t move and did not admit that he had said he was going to step aside and decided not to, and held on for as long as he did, we were in a terrible dilemma.”

DEMOCRAT WHO RAN AGAINST BIDEN SAYS PRESIDENT’S DECISION TO SEEK RE-ELECTION ‘SEALED’ WIN FOR TRUMP

Clinton never voiced any concerns about Biden’s reelection bid while it was ongoing.

In fact, on June 28, 2024, the day after Biden’s comatose debate performance, she maintained her support for him in a post on X.

FORMER OBAMA ADVISORS TELL ‘THE VIEW’ DEMS HURT PARTY BY TAKING TOO LONG TO ADMIT BIDEN COULDN’T WIN

“The choice in this election remains very simple,” she said at the time. “It’s a choice between someone who cares about you—your rights, your prospects, your future—versus someone who’s only in it for himself. I’ll be voting Biden.”

She spent all of 2024 propping Biden up before his abrupt decision to hand the reins over to Harris.

“We don’t have to wonder what this year’s presidential contenders would do in office,” she said in a post on June 19, 2024. “When it comes to immigration, President Biden keeps families together while strengthening our economy. Donald Trump ripped families apart. Vote accordingly.”

In January of that year, she was actively encouraging people to support Biden in the name of democracy.

“After Iowa, we’re one step closer to knowing who the Republicans will nominate for president. But no matter who they choose, we’re in a fight for reproductive freedom and democracy that we can’t afford to lose. Join Team Biden-Harris today,” she said.

Fox News Digital did not hear back from a Biden spokesperson when reached for comment on Clinton’s recent remarks.

Two underdog candidates advanced to a runoff election in Oklahoma’s 2026 Democratic Senate primary after no candidate clinched a majority of the vote.

N’kiyla Jasmine Thomas, a nurse and Chickasaw Nation citizen, and Jim Priest, a lawyer and ordained minister, will compete in an Aug. 25 runoff election, according to The Associated Press.

Thomas won 45% of the vote, followed by Priest, who registered just under 24% support.

The winner will face Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., who easily clinched the GOP nomination for the deep-red Senate seat and avoided a runoff election. Hern is endorsed by President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

6 MONTHS TO MIDTERMS: THE SENATE SEATS THAT COULD TIP THE BALANCE OF POWER

Under Oklahoma law, if no candidate secures more than 50% of the primary vote, the top two vote-getters will compete in a runoff election.

Sen. Alan Armstrong, R-Okla., a former energy executive who currently represents the seat, was barred by state law from seeking election for a full Senate term. He was appointed by Gov. Kevin Stitt, R-Okla., to replace Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin in March.

The Democratic primary winner will face an uphill battle in the ruby-red state that voted for Trump by a 2-to-1 margin in 2024. A Democratic candidate has not won a Senate race in the Sooner State in more than 35 years.

National Democrats have not invested in the race, signaling little expectation it could flip.

HOUSE GOP LEADER LAUNCHES SENATE BID AS TRUMP TAPS MARKWAYNE MULLIN FOR DHS

Priest mounted a failed bid for Oklahoma attorney general in 2010 but was soundly defeated by 20 points. He previously led two nonprofits, Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma and Sunbeam Family Services, according to the Oklahoma-based outlet NonDoc.

Hern has vastly outraised Democrats, with a $6.8 million war chest, according to recent Federal Election Commission filings. Priest entered June with $117,000 cash on hand, while Thomas had just over $546. 

The two leading Democratic contenders also have a minimal online presence. 

An X account associated with Priest’s campaign had just 20 followers as of Tuesday. Meanwhile, a campaign X account affiliated with Thomas had just over 160 followers.

Three other Democratic candidates vied for the nomination, including business owner Troy Green and R.O. Cassity Jr., a retired professor and attorney.

The B-52 bomber aircraft first entered service during the Eisenhower administration during the 1950s. 

More than seven decades later, the Air Force is spending billions of dollars to transform the Cold War-era bomber with new engines, upgraded avionics and advanced radar systems designed to keep it flying into the 2050s.

That modernization effort was thrust into the spotlight Monday when a B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff from Edwards Air Force Base in California during a test mission, killing all eight people aboard.

The crew included military personnel, government civilians and contractors supporting the flight test mission. Boeing later confirmed that two of its employees were among those on board.

SIX DEADLIEST NON-COMBAT MILITARY AVIATION ACCIDENTS IN THE LAST 5 YEARS

The crash marks the loss of one of just 76 B-52s remaining in the Air Force inventory. The nuclear-capable bomber remains a cornerstone of America’s strategic bomber force and is expected to serve alongside the Air Force’s next-generation B-21 Raider for decades to come.

As investigators begin piecing together what happened, aviation attorney and Marine helicopter pilot veteran Justin Green said the fact that the aircraft went down moments after takeoff is likely to shape the early stages of the investigation.

“Aircraft controllability issue, some sort of engine failure, because they’re in a very critical moment of flight when you’re just taking off,” Green told Fox News Digital. “So I think that’s really gonna be the focus.”

Green, who serves as co-chair of the plaintiffs’ executive committee in litigation stemming from the 2019 Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia and is involved in litigation related to the January 2025 midair collision over the Potomac River, cautioned that investigators are still in the earliest stages of the probe.

“The key thing in investigations is you don’t make any assumptions,” Green said. “In the early days, you have to really just keep an open mind and really follow the facts where the facts lead you.”

The aircraft was conducting a local test sortie supporting the Air Force’s radar modernization program when it crashed, according to the Air Force. Edwards Air Force Base serves as the Air Force’s premier flight-test center, where aircraft are routinely used to evaluate new technologies and modifications before they are fielded across the broader fleet.

The Air Force is currently pursuing one of the most ambitious modernization efforts in the B-52’s history. 

The service plans to equip the bombers with new Rolls-Royce F130 engines, upgraded avionics and a modern active electronically scanned array radar intended to improve navigation, targeting and situational awareness while extending the aircraft’s operational lifespan well into the middle of the century.

WHAT B-52 BOMBERS BRING TO IRAN FIGHT — AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE WAR NOW 

The timing of the crash has naturally drawn attention to those upgrades. But Green said the radar system itself is not an obvious explanation based on the limited facts available.

“I think it’s very unlikely,” Green said when asked whether the new radar system could have contributed to the crash. “A new radar system shouldn’t really affect the ability of the airplane to take off safely.”

While investigators are expected to examine every aspect of the aircraft and mission, Green said they are likely to focus heavily on factors that directly affect an aircraft’s ability to safely depart the runway and climb after takeoff.

The B-52’s age is also expected to be part of the discussion. The bomber first entered service in the 1950s and remains one of the oldest aircraft in the U.S. military inventory. Yet Green said investigators may be more likely to focus on maintenance records, recently installed components and operational factors than on the aircraft’s original design.

“This is a very old airplane,” Green said. “A problem is not really gonna be a design problem. It’s gonna be more of a manufacturing if it’s a new part or a maintenance issue or a piloting issue.”

Investigators are expected to analyze physical evidence recovered from the crash site, along with maintenance records and any available flight data. According to Green, the wreckage itself will “tell the story,” and likely provide many of the answers investigators are seeking.

He added that flight data and cockpit recordings, if recovered, could prove critical in reconstructing the aircraft’s final moments.

The involvement of contractors and Boeing employees on the flight could also raise unique legal questions depending on what investigators ultimately determine caused the accident.

Military personnel generally cannot sue the federal government over injuries or deaths that occur in the course of military service because of the Feres doctrine, a longstanding legal precedent. Contractors are not subject to the same restriction, though potential claims could still face significant legal hurdles depending on the circumstances of the crash and the role of any companies involved.

“Unless the manufacturer does something really off, you know on its own that’s negligent, they may also have protection from any sort of liability,” Green said.

For now, however, Green stressed that determining responsibility remains far down the list of priorities.

The Air Force has not publicly identified a cause of the crash. Investigators are expected to spend weeks and potentially months examining evidence before reaching any conclusions about what brought down one of the military’s most iconic aircraft.

President Donald Trump declared in an early Wednesday morning Truth Social post that a scheduled Senate hearing on Jay Clayton’s nomination to serve as director of national intelligence would not move forward Wednesday.

The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has a hearing on Clayton’s nomination for DNI scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

But the president said the hearing will not take place until Jamie McDonald has been confirmed to fill the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York post.

President Trump tied the move to an ongoing dispute over renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, claiming Democrats backed away from an agreement to support the surveillance authority after Republicans agreed to move away from Bill Pulte as acting DNI. The provision allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect communications of foreign targets located outside the U.S.

TRUMP PICKS JAMES MCDONALD TO LEAD POWERFUL SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK AFTER JAY CLAYTON’S DEPARTURE

The president further said he would not support renewal of FISA authorities unless Congress also advances the SAVE AMERICA ACT, a voting-security measure backed by the administration.

Clayton’s hearing had been scheduled amid a broader debate over the future of U.S. intelligence leadership and the reauthorization of key surveillance authorities.

TRUMP NOMINATES JAY CLAYTON, FORMER SEC CHAIRMAN, CURRENT US ATTORNEY, AS INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR

“Regarding the approval of our Great Patriot, Jay Clayton, we are cancelling the Senate Hearing RE: DNI today, and will not be going forward until Jamie McDonald is approved to be U.S. Attorney. In the meantime, Bill Pulte will remain as the Acting Director of National Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.

Pulte “will take over on June 19th,” the president declared in a post last week.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“The Republicans agreed with Dumocrats to remove very fair, and talented, William Pulte, from serving as Acting DNI in return for getting FISA approved by the Dumocrats. However, the Republicans moved so fast with the hearings of the Great Jay Clayton, current U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, that Pulte would be gone before the Dumocrats would vote on FISA. Now, the Dumocrats are saying they will vote against FISA — So, the Republicans wound up having fulfilled their commitment, but Dumocrats broke the Deal,” Trump said in his post on Wednesday morning.

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: LAWMAKERS SCRAMBLE AS FISA FIGHT COMES AT THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME

“In addition, the newly nominated U.S. Attorney, Jamie McDonald, must be confirmed and blue slipped. Because of the ridiculous views of Republicans on blue slipping (Dumocrats are often willing to nix it), I may not be able to get the extraordinary Sullivan & Cromwell Partner, Jamie, approved, and I don’t want to take Jay Clayton away from the great job he is doing until Jamie is in place. Therefore, to add a slight bit of intrigue but, for the Good of the Nation, and the People of our Country, I will not approve FISA without THE SAVE AMERICA ACT going along with it. Not complicated, actually, the Republicans fell into a trap,” he added.

Former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Walter “Jay” Clayton will face senators at an expectedly tense confirmation hearing to become the director of national intelligence Wednesday.

The forum comes amid Democrats’ weeks-long uproar over President Donald Trump’s temporary pick for the job – homebuilder scion and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte.

Clayton is currently serving as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, which is considered the most prominent of the dozens of national posts – with alumni ranging from Rudy Giuliani to Preet Bharara.

TRUMP NOMINATES JAY CLAYTON, FORMER SEC CHAIRMAN, CURRENT US ATTORNEY, AS INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a top Trump critic – expressed to reporters Tuesday that concerns over Pulte could actually help push Clayton through following his Intelligence Committee appearance.

“[I] would love to hear some reassurance from the White House that Bill Pulte is not going to take over as DNI, even for a very short period of time, but that I don’t anticipate that coming,” he said.

Kelly said that Pulte looming over the intelligence community might be an “incentive” to move Clayton through “on a faster timeline.”

TRUMP NAMES BILL PULTE ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

“But to do that, we have to have everybody in the committee,” he said.

Democrats have accused Pulte of playing politics with his powers at FHFA and worry that his lack of intel credentials and alleged partisanship endanger the role of DNI.

Trump dismissed such claims, saying “Dumocrats” are inordinately “afraid” of Pulte.

WHY TRUMP PICKED BILL PULTE TO LEAD US INTELLIGENCE AS CRITICS QUESTION HIS QUALIFICATIONS

Clayton, meanwhile, comes before Congress with a resume that may be easier for Democrats to digest in the narrow-GOP-majority upper chamber.

While Clayton also doesn’t come from the intel community, he does have the prosecutorial chops some critics may be assuaged by.

As SDNY’s top federal prosecutor, Clayton has overseen cases involving violent crime, drug trafficking, Wall Street-related enforcement and national security matters, while avoiding public controversy of other Trump picks.

SENATE PUSH TO REAUTHORIZE NATION’S SPY POWERS STUMBLES OVER CONTROVERSIAL TRUMP DECISION

Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said that Clayton’s role as SDNY does crossover into intelligence matters.

“Jay Clayton is an eminently qualified individual to become the new director of national intelligence. And so we are looking forward to processing him this week. [Intelligence Committee] Chairman Cotton will be … [holding] his confirmation hearing tomorrow… and hopefully reporting him out later in the week.”

Returning to concerns over Democrat roadblocks for another Trump pick, Thune noted it would take cooperation of the minority party to fast-track the nomination.

The hearing will bear out whether that becomes the case.

Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

Builders reveal a critical labor shortage in their field is fueling the housing affordability crisis in America.

America needs more homes, but the industry doesn’t have nearly enough workers to build them. With too few skilled laborers to meet the growing demand, construction is taking longer, costs are rising and, as a result, the much-needed housing supply in the U.S. remains constrained.

Experts in the industry point to an aging workforce, a lack of younger Americans entering the skilled trades and immigration policies that they say have failed to keep pace with labor needs.

“Labor is one of the largest and most expensive inputs when it comes to home production and land development,” Jim Tobin, president and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, told Fox News Digital.

THE SURPRISING HOUSING STRATEGY FUELING GROWTH ACROSS AMERICA’S FASTEST-GROWING RED STATES

He said that every month, the construction industry is short by approximately 250,000 workers.

“It’s been as high as 400,000 jobs short when we were really cooking along a few years ago,” Tobin said, adding that the labor gap “is a persistent shortage.”

And the industry’s labor needs are only expected to grow in coming years.

A recent Home Builders Institute and National Association of Home Builders report estimates builders will need roughly 723,000 new workers annually to keep pace with demand and help close the nation’s 1.5 million-home housing gap.

ONE TYPE OF PROPERTY IS QUIETLY SAVING AMERICANS THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS

The shortage is already affecting how quickly homes can be built. According to Home Builders Institute President and CEO Ed Brady, labor constraints are extending construction timelines and driving up costs.

“This shortage adds nearly two extra months to building timelines, inflating costs and delaying delivery,” Brady told Fox News Digital.

Builders say replenishing the skilled trades pipeline is only part of the solution.

While builders continue to invest in workforce development programs and encourage more young Americans to enter the skilled trades, Tobin argued for immigration reform measures that he says will benefit the industry.

FLORIDA AND TEXAS ARE BATTLING FOR NEW RESIDENTS. DESANTIS THINKS HE FOUND AN ADVANTAGE

“It’s not only about training more people to come into the industry as our current generation ages out of the skilled trades, but it’s also the immigration problem that we have in this country,” he said.

Tobin said many construction jobs do not require a four-year college degree and can provide stable, middle-class careers, but the home construction industry has struggled for years to attract enough workers to replace retiring tradespeople.

At the same time, builders have become increasingly reliant on immigrant labor. According to the National Association of Home Builders, immigrants account for roughly one-third of the homebuilding contractor workforce.

Tobin called on lawmakers to modernize the nation’s immigration system, including creating legal pathways for workers already in the country and expanding visa opportunities for those seeking construction jobs.

“We’ve got to find a way to modernize our immigration laws,” Tobin said. “We’ve got to create a visa system for people who want to work legally in this country, in the construction industry.”

Without additional workers entering the labor force, Tobin said, builders will continue to face challenges meeting housing demand and bringing more homes to market.

ATLANTA, GA. – He wasn’t on the ballot, but President Donald Trump‘s immense clout over the GOP faced more key tests in high-stakes Republican runoffs in Georgia and in neighboring Alabama Tuesday.

While the power of a Trump endorsement in Republican primaries didn’t escape unscathed, Trump-backed candidates won two of the three top races, with the one setback coming against a billionaire businessman who shelled out over $100 million of his own money to boost his campaign.

Rep. Barry Moore, a House Freedom Caucus member and longtime Trump supporter who was endorsed by the president, comfortably defeated rival Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL sniper who was supported by some top names on the right, in solidly red Alabama’s GOP Senate runoff.

TRUMP NOTCHES ANOTHER ENDORSEMENT WIN

In battleground Georgia’s Republican Senate runoff, an 11th hour endorsement by Trump this past weekend helped boost Rep. Mike Collins, a MAGA champion, to victory over former college football coach Derek Dooley, who was backed by popular conservative Gov. Brian Kemp.

Collins will face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in the general election in a race that’s among a handful that will likely decide if the GOP holds its slim majority in the chamber in the midterms.

TRUMP-BACKED CANDIDATE SURVIVES GRUELING REPUBLICAN RUNOFF

But in Georgia’s GOP gubernatorial runoff, the candidate Trump backed, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who was also endorsed by Kemp this past weekend, was defeated by Rick Jackson, who ran as an outsider.

Jones regularly showcased his Trump endorsement, but Jackson, who launched his bid in February long after the president had endorsed Jones, repeatedly said that Trump had inspired him to run.

“I just thought, you know, if you had somebody doing business solutions for the state of Georgia, just like Trump is for the United States, I just felt like I would have a major impact on the state of Georgia, and so that was one of the reasons I wanted to get in. I was inspired by President Trump,” Jackson told Fox News Digital recently.

And he continuously highlighted that, like Trump, he’s an outsider and businessman. “I’m going to be Trump’s favorite governor because we’re just alike on the way that we handle business and handle problems, and I want to do exactly in Georgia what he’s doing at the federal government,” he reiterated in a Fox News Digital interview Sunday.

TRUMP ENDORSEMENT FAILS TO SAVE MAGA CANDIDATE

The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past six weeks, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas that grabbed plenty of national attention.

But Trump’s endorsement streak in statewide and congressional Republican primaries was snapped two weeks ago when his 11th-hour endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to propel the three-term congressman to victory.

Feenstra was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

Trump rebounded last week, as the candidate he endorsed in the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, finished first in a crowded field and clinched one of the two tickets in the race for the nomination.

Meanwhile, longtime Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham did win a majority of the vote in the Republican Senate primary, and avoided a runoff.

Graham, who was endorsed by Trump, was facing primary challenges from five candidates, including conservative businessman Mark Lynch, who took aim at the senator over his support for the war in Iran. Lynch was backed by some MAGA leaders who have been critical of the president.

A Trump political operative, pointing to Tuesday loss by Trump-backed Jones, noted that “Rick Jackson set a record for spending in a statewide Republican primary. He spent Tom Steyer level money in a state a fraction of the size of California. That’s going to have an impact.”

And the operative, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, also emphasized that “Rick bearhugged Trump. All of his ads and material was about how he’s going to be Trump’s favorite governor. So the race was not really a referendum on Trump.”

Veteran Republican strategist Matt Gorman told Fox News Digital that “Rick was a great candidate. Trump’s endorsement can’t do all the work. It’s a massive value add but it’s not a panacea. Now the focus is on coming together for the fall.”

Jackson was endorsed at the last minute by Sen. Ted Cruz, and the conservative firebrand from Texas joined Jackson on the campaign trail for a runoff eve rally.

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

“Rick has an extraordinary record, an extraordinary life story. And I also think he’s positioned to win. And the stakes are too high. This election is a battleground all across the country. We can’t afford to lose Georgia,” Cruz told Fox News Digital.

When Cruz endorsed Jackson on Friday, he also supported South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who is facing off in a week against Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette.

Asked if he’s trying to put some daylight between himself and the president on the campaign trail, Cruz quickly responded, “No. Not remotely….The president and I agree on the vast majority of races. What I try to do in every race is endorse the strongest conservative who can win. And typically I get in races late in the race at a time where my support might be able to make a difference and be helpful.”