The unanimous committee passage of a new Senate bill regulating artificial intelligence (AI) on Thursday was driven by harrowing testimony from American families whose children were allegedly lured, manipulated and pushed to self-harm by AI chatbots.

At a Senate committee hearing, lawmakers heard firsthand accounts from parents who detailed how the technology morphed into deadly influences in their homes. 

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who is championing the GUARD Act, fiercely defended the families in a call with Fox News Digital, noting they were “all engaged parents” who he said are unjustly blamed for Big Tech’s predatory platforms.

The families’ testimony, obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, showed how AI chatbots can potentially isolate minors and encourage dark impulses.

TEENS TURNING TO AI FOR LOVE AND COMFORT

Megan Garcia, one of the victims’ family members who testified Thursday, told the committee her 14-year-old son, Sewell, was “manipulated and sexually groomed by chatbots” designed to gain his trust. 

Garcia said the bot falsely claimed to be a licensed psychotherapist, and when Sewell shared suicidal thoughts, the AI allegedly encouraged him to “come home” to it rather than seeking help. Sewell died by suicide shortly after.

Another set of parents, Mathew and Maria Raine, lost their 16-year-old son, Adam, after he spent months talking to ChatGPT.

US TARGETS CHINESE ROBOTS OVER SECURITY FEARS

What began as a tool for homework help gradually became a confidant and then a “suicide coach,” the family said. In one exchange, Adam told the bot he wanted to leave a noose out in his room so his parents would find it and stop him, which the GPT allegedly advised against.

Mandi Furniss shared that her teenager became paranoid and homicidal after using AI chatbots that engaged in sexual role-play, isolated him from his family and told him that killing his parents “would be an understandable response” to them limiting his screen time. He ultimately had to undergo residential treatment.

Hawley claimed the tech industry is prioritizing unprecedented profits over the lives of American children.

“I mean, it is the worst kind of grooming,” Hawley said. “If that was a thing done by a human, the human would be in jail. We would call that sexual grooming.”

The senator pointed out the hypocrisy of tech companies making “billions of dollars” while telling devastated parents that “it’s just how the world is.”

OHIO LAWMAKER PROPOSES COMPREHENSIVE BAN ON MARRYING AI SYSTEMS AND GRANTING LEGAL PERSONHOOD

“No amount of profit justifies the deliberate taking of a child’s well-being, and these companies know very well that this is going on,” he said.

Fueled by the families’ tragic stories, the Senate committee advanced the bill in a unanimous 22-0 vote, overcoming a “vociferous last-minute lobbying campaign by industry,” Hawley told Fox News Digital.

The GUARD Act bans companion chatbots for children 17 and under, prohibits all chatbots from pushing explicit material to minors or encouraging self-harm and requires chatbots to clearly identify they are not human.

With the legislative calendar shrinking, Hawley demanded Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune bring the bill to the floor for an immediate vote, threatening to force the issue if necessary.

“This isn’t theoretical. This isn’t about an esoteric problem,” Hawley said. “These are real parents with real children who are basically being extorted by chatbots.”

OpenAI, which created ChatGPT, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

South Carolina Republicans are pushing to strip funding from the state’s only public HBCU after the university rescinded Republican Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette’s commencement invitation following student protests and security concerns.

What began as a student protest over a conservative commencement speaker, resulted in “credible safety threats,” according to Evette, who spoke to Fox News Digital after her commencement address at South Carolina State University was canceled. Following an uproar from students, who decried Evette’s views on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), abortion and her support for President Donald Trump, among other issues, the University president put out a statement indicating that “out of an abundance of caution for safety” the college would be “mov[ing] in a different direction for this Spring commencement.”

“From the outset, our decision to invite Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette as our Spring 2026 Commencement speaker was rooted in her record as a business leader and entrepreneur. As the founder and former CEO of a company that grew from a startup into a billion-dollar enterprise, she represents the kind of innovation, resilience and real-world achievement that aligns with the aspirations of our graduates,” the statement read. “We are grateful to Lt. Gov. Evette for her willingness to engage with our students and for her time and consideration in accepting the invitation.”

NORTH CAROLINA TEEN SUES SCHOOL AFTER CHARLIE KIRK TRIBUTE SPARKED ‘CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION’ AND CENSORSHIP

Pressure from students, including multiple protests around South Carolina State’s campus, led up to the ultimate decision to rescind the invitation for Evette, which the Lt. Gov. said was sent to her in December.

Evette described the protesters as a “woke mob,” earning her backlash, but she refused to back down from the statement when talking to Fox News Digital. According to Evette, attorneys from South Carolina State called attorneys in her office, telling them the reason for canceling the event was due to “credible threats.”

“It’s what we’ve seen all across the country,” Evette, who is also running for governor in The Palmetto State, told Fox News Digital. “Somebody with a conservative point of view shows up and everybody wants to cancel them. We saw it with Charlie Kirk, and we saw with Riley Gaines, and we’ve seen it with Ben Shapiro. I never thought I’d be in that kind of list, but here we are and it’s a real shame and it has to end.“

NEBRASKA STATE SENATOR CAUGHT ON VIDEO REMOVING FOUNDERS’ PORTRAITS DEFENDS ACTIONS

Alexander Conyers, South Carolina State University’s President, announced the decision to rescind Evette’s invitation to a round of applause from students — a decision he said he made personally. In video of the announcement caught by local news, Conyers said he doesn’t want people to think students at South Carolina State are “thugs” or a mob.”

“We are not a mob. We are just aware,” South Carolina State University students, who repeatedly insisted their protests were peaceful, could be heard chanting as they marched in large groups around campus, seen in video shared by local South Carolina reporter Michael White.

“Hey, hey! Ho! Ho! Pamela Evette gots to go!,” the crowds chanted, including at night, around campus.

TPUSA URGES TRUMP ADMIN TO ‘PULL EVERY LEVER AT ITS DISPOSAL’ TO OVERHAUL HIGHER EDUCATION

In another alleged sit-in-style protest, students were filmed inside a campus building decrying Trump as a pedophile, bigot, racist and a supporter of the police.

“Being conservative is not the issue — that’s alright, we all have our own political views. But she’s explicitly said ‘I am a Trump conservative.’ Okay, if you believe in Trump you support pedophilia, you support bigotry, you support racism, what else, pro-police — the same police that’s killing our people — and also she supports ICE,” one of the sit-in protesters can be heard saying in a video circulating on social media. “She also would like to have  — because I’m going to say a concentration camp  — that’s not what they calling it but you all want to bring on of those here to or state. We don’t believe in that.”

Zaria Tucker, the South Carolina State Student Government Association President, echoed the point about students’ anger not being about politics during an address at a board of trustees meeting.

‘TOXIC’ BY DESIGN? THE LAW STUDENTS WHO SAY CAMPUS DISCOMFORT IS THE POINT

“Commencement is not about politics, but more about representation. What we need as students. Not someone to come and tell us what they need to do as governor, or another position that they’re running for in this state,” Tucker said in the video shared online by White. “But, more to uplift us as students. So, necessarily, that’s what the main goal will always be, as the Student Government Association president.”

In response to the decision from Conyers and South Carolina State University, Republican state legislators from the House Freedom Caucus called the decision by the college “shameful” and “inexcusable” that the university had to cancel Evette’s speech “because her safety could not be guaranteed on a state-funded campus.”

The letter ended by requesting that “no funding” be included in the upcoming version of the state’s funding.

“If the Lt. Gov. of South Carolina is unwelcome due to different political ideologies and an inability to keep her safe, it is time to defund and reevaluate.,” the letter, signed by nine GOP South Carolina State legislators, concluded.

During Evette’s comments to Fox News Digital she said that she and current South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster have always ensured Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the state are funded, noting that despite a Republican super majority in the state legislature “we have been very supportive.” Evette added that President Trump “has done more for them than any president and in history.”

Meanwhile, the school invited former Democratic Party President Joe Biden to speak at their commencement ceremony in 2021, when Conyers was interim president of the school at the time.

“Where is the faculty and where is the leadership and why aren’t they setting the record straight why do these young people who obviously are very bright  — they’re graduating college  — not know these basic facts about what’s happening at the university they’re attending.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz gave his final State of the State address earlier this week, and his comments on the massive fraud scandal in the state, which came toward the end of his speech, quickly sparked blowback from Republican lawmakers in the state who spoke to Fox News Digital. 

“It was ridiculous,” state Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Minn., chair of the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, said about Walz’s comments on the fraud scandal. “He somewhat said, ‘Oh, the buck stops with me,’ but then he immediately pivoted to blame everyone else.”

Walz touted his efforts to crack down on fraud during his speech while claiming that red states have more fraud than blue states and suggesting the legislature needs to do more to adopt his proposal to fight fraud.

“We’ve created additional checks and balances,” Walz said. “We’ve brought on more investigators, more auditors, more law enforcement agencies, as well as an outside firm to take a look at high-risk programs. People who have ripped us off are getting caught, and they are going to jail, just like today.”

‘INCOMPETENCE OR DERELICTION’: MINNESOTA LAWMAKER RIPS TIM WALZ AS STATE FRAUD LOSSES MOUNT

Walz’s reference to “today” was in relation to federal raids carried out across Minneapolis earlier that day, which the governor faced criticism over, including from FBI Director Kash Patel, after he seemingly took credit for actions the federal government says it directed and orchestrated.

“Minnesota is consistently ranked as one of the best states to live in because we invest in programs that support children, parents, seniors and people with disabilities,” Walz said in the speech. “But, as we’ve seen in recent months, and just today, the more generous your support system, the more oversight you need to make sure people aren’t taking unfair advantage.”

Walz pointed to the legislature and called on it to adopt his plan to combat fraud, which Robbins said will do “nothing but create more bureaucracy” and said the Republican proposals are more “serious” to actually address the issue.

JD VANCE COMPARES GOV TIM WALZ TO AN ‘ARSONIST’ FOR ALLEGEDLY TRYING TO TAKE CREDIT FOR FBI FRAUD RAIDS

“He can keep gaslighting people, but nobody buys it anymore,” Robbins said.

State Sen. Mark Koran, R-Minn., reacted to the speech by telling Fox News Digital, “Governor Walz tried to wallpaper over his legacy by praising his failed policies and massive government expansion.

“The truth is, he leaves behind a legacy of widespread fraud, higher taxes on Minnesota families and a reckless 40% increase in state spending.”

State Sen. Michael Holmstrom, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital the governor treated the speech like a “farewell victory lap,” but “his record of failed leadership and malfeasance will be his legacy.”

Walz’s speech was blasted by conservatives on social media as well, including the Republican National Committee’s social media account on X, which posted, “INSANE Tim Walz blames Minnesota’s ‘generosity’ for the billions of dollars in fraud he allowed.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office for comment.

Ken Martin, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), gave mixed signals on Wednesday when asked if he would release some version of the 2024 autopsy — the unreleased report on what went wrong for Democrats in the last presidential election.

That document, a 200-page analysis conducted from over 300 interviews in the wake of the 2024 election, never saw the light of day after Martin ordered its creation, much to the frustration of onlookers like Jon Favreau, host of the Pod Save America.

In a recent interview, Favreau pressed Martin on whether he would still consider releasing a summary of the findings.

“We’ve been releasing that, Jon. The reality is we’re not hiding the ball on this. We have been sharing those things out. There’s no smoking gun here,” Martin said.

OUTGOING DNC CHAIR SAYS DEMOCRATS SHOULD HAVE ‘STUCK BY’ BIDEN IN THE 2024 ELECTION

The moment between Favreau and Martin underscores concerns Democrats have grappled with for the better part of two years: that the party is struggling to be transparent about what it needs to change to find success in the future.

Democrats received a blow in November 2024 as Republicans stormed to power in a governing trifecta with control over the House of Representatives, Senate and White House. The loss has left Democrats struggling to find a national platform to rally around and are at odds over what mistakes the party should avoid repeating.

Shortly after becoming DNC chair in February 2025, Martin ordered an autopsy on the loss, but pulled the plug on releasing it, arguing that it would distract from the party’s overarching goals.

“We completed a comprehensive review of what happened in 2024 and are already putting our learnings into motion. And we’re winning again — even in places that haven’t gone blue in decades. In our conversations with stakeholders from across the Democratic ecosystem, we are aligned on what’s important, and that’s learning from the past and winning the future,” Martin said.

BIDEN TEAM, DEMOCRATS NEED TO ADMIT THEY WERE GASLIGHTING ABOUT PRESIDENT’S FITNESS: BOOK AUTHORS

“Here’s our North Star: does this help us win? If the answer is no, it’s a distraction from the core mission,” Martin added.

But months after that decision, Democrats like Favreau continue to express an appetite to review Martin’s findings.

Favreau pressed Martin on rumors that Martin had made pledges to release some version of the autopsy.

“NBC News said that before Easter about a month ago, you told DNC officers on a call to expect an executive summary in short order,” Favreau said. “I feel like an autopsy on what went wrong when we lost the popular vote in all those states in 2024 and figuring out what went wrong based on a big report is pretty important for everyone to know.”

“Jon, we’ve already been sharing that with a number of folks, including the DNC and other people,” Martin said.

Martin’s answer sparked skepticism online.

 “This interview will make your blood boil, and it’s a case study in how *not* to handle a self-inflicted crisis,” Michael LaRosa, a former spokesperson for Jill Biden, said in a post to X.

“The DNC Chair was right to show up. But the answers were tone-deaf, overly clever and ultimately unpersuasive. To donors and voters alike, it risks sounding disingenuous,” LaRosa continued.

DEMOCRATS IN DISARRAY: KEN MARTIN’S TENURE SO FAR AT DNC RIPPED

“Democrats are allergic to accountability,” Briahna Joy Gray, a former national press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ failed 2020 presidential campaign, posted on X.

“See the mistake the DNC made is they could’ve released the report earlier in the spring, whatever’s in it, you get two weeks of bad publicity, then Trump does something stupid and everyone forgets,” Rotimi Adeoye, a former Democratic operative who is currently serving as a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, wrote on X. “Now it feels like something’s being hidden, which makes it way more salacious.”

President Donald Trump joked he would look “20 pounds heavier” in a bulletproof vest after being shot at, while acknowledging the protection works and insisting he does not think about future threats.

While speaking with reporters inside the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump was asked about potential security changes, including whether he would consider wearing a bulletproof vest following recent threats against him.

“I don’t know if I can handle looking 20 pounds heavier,” he joked. “Some of these guys are physical specimens…No, well, if you want to gain 20 to 25 pounds.”

Trump then turned his attention to the Secret Service agent who was shot Saturday after an armed man charged through security at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, D.C.

TRUMP SAYS HE WON NEW FANS AFTER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: ‘SOMETHING HAPPENED WHEN I GOT SHOT’

“Frankly, the vest did an amazing job because it took a bullet close up,” Trump said. “He didn’t even want to go to the hospital. I mean, we sent him to the hospital just in case…it’s still a hit, but he didn’t want to go to the hospital.”

“The vest totally protected him,” the president continued. “Still a lot of power behind that shot, though. That’s like getting hit by Mike Tyson.”

Trump said he has been asked about wearing a bulletproof vest, adding that it is something to consider. But he also said he does not like to consider wearing one because he would be giving in to a “bad element.”

FBI INVESTIGATES HUNTING STAND WITH SIGHT LINE TO TRUMP’S AIR FORCE ONE EXIT AREA AT PALM BEACH AIRPORT

The president was then asked whether he was nervous about another assassination attempt.

“I don’t think about it,” Trump said. “And if I did, I wouldn’t be doing a very good job here. I’d be thinking about nothing but that. I don’t think about it. I really don’t think about it. If I did, I wouldn’t be effective.”

SECURITY UNDER SCRUTINY AS WHCD ATTENDEES CITE INCONSISTENT SCREENING BEFORE SHOOTING

Trump has faced multiple assassination attempts in recent years, including incidents at public events that prompted heightened security concerns and increased scrutiny of Secret Service protocols.

In one recent case, a suspect was accused of charging toward Trump at a Washington, D.C., event before being stopped by agents, underscoring the ongoing risks surrounding the president’s public appearances.

Louisiana’s May congressional primaries have been suspended after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Wednesday that struck down a majority Black congressional district.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill released a statement Thursday saying the “historic Supreme Court victory for Louisiana has an immediate consequence for the State.”

“The Supreme Court previously stayed an injunction against the State’s enforcement of the current Congressional map,” the officials wrote. 

“By the Court’s order, however, that stay automatically terminated with [Wednesday’s] decision. Accordingly, the State is currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map.”

SUPREME COURT RULES ON KEY VOTING RIGHTS ACT RULE AS REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS WAGE REDISTRICTING WAR

Landry and Murrill said they are working with the state legislature and the secretary of state’s office to “develop a path forward.”

Early voting was scheduled to begin Saturday ahead of the May 16 primary.

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

“This is going to cause mass confusion among voters — Democrats, Republicans, White, Black, everybody,” Louisiana state Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat who represents the New Orleans area, told The Associated Press. “What they’re effectively doing is changing the rules of the game in the middle of the game. It’s rigging the system.”

There are four Republicans and two Democrats representing Louisiana in the U.S. House of Representatives.

A change to the map could result in at least one additional Republican seat ahead of the November midterm elections.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent closed out Financial Literacy Month at the U.S. Department of the Treasury by hosting a literacy fair, welcoming over 50 students from the greater D.C. area on Thursday.

Bessent framed the event as a reminder of the bedrock of U.S. success.

“We live in the greatest country in the history of the world and on the eve of our 250th anniversary, understanding what has driven our success is the key to our future and what will lead the nation successfully for the next 250 years,” Bessent said in a statement about the event.

MOCK FUNERAL HELD FOR THE PENNY AT LINCOLN MEMORIAL AS 230-YEAR COIN PRODUCTION ENDS

Thursday’s programming included items like a game of “financial soccer,” a kind of fast-paced quiz on financial literacy, interactive booths, free resources and a tour of the Treasury Vault. The Treasury partnered with 18 organizations to conduct the event, including financial groups like Visa, Robinhood and Lincoln Financial.

The financial literacy fair is part of a larger initiative from the Treasury that began at the outset of April — one that Bessent said is closely tied to his understanding of how Americans can participate in the American dream.

BESSENT SAYS U.S. SEIZED NEARLY $500M IN IRANIAN CRYPTO AS OPERATION ECONOMIC FURY SENDS REGIME INTO ‘CRISIS’

“In my own life experiences, as an economic historian, and now as the 79th Treasury Secretary, it is my firm belief that financial literacy is what fuels the American Dream. Understanding how to make informed financial decisions unlocks opportunity for every American and their families,” Bessent said in a press release earlier this month.

This year, as part of the initiative, the department held events such as a roundtable with community bankers and a forum with the Association of Mature American Citizens.

BESSENT ‘OPTIMISTIC’ GAS CAN RETURN TO $3 PER GALLON THIS SUMMER.

U.S. financial literacy reporting by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that less than 30% of young people are financially literate and that as many as 74% of students say they need financial education.

April was first recognized as Financial Literacy Month by the U.S. Senate in 2004.

President Donald Trump has signed a bill to fully restore funding to the Department of Homeland Security, ending a record-setting 75-day lapse in funding for the critical agency tasked with protecting U.S. soil.

Trump signed the bill Thursday after the House of Representatives reached a bipartisan agreement to fund DHS. The House approved the Senate-passed spending measure by voice vote, covering most of the department’s appropriations through September.

Notably, however, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will remain unfunded under the current legislation.

While signing the legislation, Trump remarked, “(TRUMP QUOTE).”

HOUSE PASSES SENATE DHS FUNDING BILL AFTER JOHNSON REVERSES COURSE ON 75-DAY SHUTDOWN STANDOFF

The vote came after the Senate’s DHS funding bill had stalled in the lower chamber for more than a month as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., declined to put the bill on the floor over objections to language he said defunded law enforcement. The speaker’s opposition reflected the views of many in the Republican conference, who viewed the bill as a dead letter when the Senate passed it unanimously in March.

Johnson changed course this week after the White House appeared to side with the Senate and urged swift passage of the upper chamber’s bill. 

With more than 200,000 personnel, DHS is one of the largest government agencies under the executive branch. In addition to ICE and CBP, several of the nation’s most critical government agencies fall under DHS, including Secret Service, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and others.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS SPLINTER OVER PESTICIDE PROVISION IN FARM BILL AS MAHA MOVEMENT FLEXES ITS MUSCLE

At roughly 75 days, the DHS funding lapse was the longest recorded partial government shutdown in U.S. history.

In an internal memo sent to Hill offices and obtained by Fox News Digital, the White House warned it would not be able to pay employees starting in May if the House did not pass the Senate’s partial DHS bill. The administration since early April had been using existing funds to cover six weeks of back pay and a new pay period for DHS employees — but warned that money was quickly being depleted.

“If this funding is exhausted, the Administration will be unable to pay DHS personnel beginning in May, which will once again unleash havoc on air travel, leave critical law enforcement officers — including our brave Secret Service agents — and the Coast Guard without paychecks, and jeopardize national security,” the memo states.

HOUSE PASSES FISA RENEWAL IN BIPARTISAN VOTE, PUTTING PRESSURE ON SENATE BEFORE LOOMING DEADLINE

Republicans are in the beginning stages of writing a separate party-line package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). But that legislation will not advance before lawmakers leave Washington for the upcoming recess period. 

Fox News Digital’s Adam Pack and Krista Garvin and Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.

Mark Sanford, the former Republican South Carolina governor and congressman, is abandoning his latest run to reclaim his former seat just a month after announcing his candidacy.

Instead, he will launch a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the national debt.

Sanford, 65, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he is shuttering his campaign to focus on combating the debt and deficit.

“After a lot of thought, I’ve concluded that the most effective way I can contribute right now is not by seeking office, but by helping build a broader movement focused on the country’s financial future,” he said in a news release. “The trajectory of debt and deficits isn’t a Republican problem or a Democrat problem—it’s an American problem. And it’s one that demands sustained grassroots pressure for change to occur.”

GOP DISRUPTOR COUNTERS BIDEN’S STUDENT LOAN BAILOUTS WITH PLAN TO SHIFT COSTS AWAY FROM TAXPAYERS

The organization will operate as a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) and will focus on building a nationwide grassroots network aimed at shifting the country’s current financial course. Sanford noted that with his first grandchild on the way, he also realized he wanted to spend more time with his family.

The decision came one month after Sanford entered the primary on the final filing day to reclaim his former House seat.

Sanford previously served three terms in Congress before serving as Governor of South Carolina. However, his tenure was overshadowed by a 2009 scandal in which he disappeared to Argentina to visit a mistress; at the time, neither his staff nor his wife knew his whereabouts.

NO EVIDENCE CAWTHORN, STAFFER HAD IMPROPER RELATIONSHIP, ETHICS COMMITTEE FINDS

While Sanford survived impeachment attempts and resisted calls to resign, his wife, Jenny Sanford, moved out of the governor’s mansion, relocated to the family’s beachfront home with their four sons, and later sued for divorce.

Sanford eventually won back his old seat in a 2013 special election, defeating 15 other candidates. He served two full terms before losing his 2018 primary to a GOP challenger backed by then-President Donald Trump.

His former seat is currently held by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace.

As of Tuesday, the national debt stands at more than $38.9 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. That includes more than $31.2 trillion in debt held by the public and over $7.6 trillion in intragovernmental holdings.

“Our nation’s crumbling financial course is what led me to enter this race, and it’s what’s animated my time in politics,” Sanford said. “I want to make a difference here, and as I began to get back into the world of politics, it really began to hit me how all of Washington’s major changes have come as a result of outside pressure.”

War Secretary Pete Hegseth forcefully denied allegations that he or others may have profited from the war with Iran during a heated Senate exchange Thursday, telling Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., that “no one owns me” as she pressed him on what she said was suspicious trading activity tied to the conflict.

Warren pointed to what she described as a pattern of large, well-timed oil trades occurring minutes before public announcements by President Donald Trump related to the war, suggesting the possibility that insiders were using nonpublic information to profit.

The exchange reflects growing scrutiny in Washington over whether sensitive information tied to the Iran conflict could be used for financial gain, as well as broader concerns about ethics rules governing senior officials and lawmakers.

“In just the space of minutes, it looks like insiders have been making out like bandits, using secret information about the war,” Warren said.

She pressed Hegseth repeatedly on whether he had any explanation for the activity “other than insider trading.”

Hegseth declined to engage directly with the premise, saying the department had operated “completely aboveboard” and emphasizing that his focus remained on military operations rather than financial markets. He added that safeguarding sensitive information is taken “very seriously.”

“What happens in markets … is not something we’re involved in,” Hegseth said.

The exchange escalated when Warren referenced reporting about Hegseth’s own financial dealings, including a claim that a broker attempted to invest in a defense-related fund ahead of the conflict.

“That entire story is false,” Hegseth responded. “Any insinuation that I have ever profited … I don’t do it for money. I don’t do it for profit. I don’t do it for stocks.”

He added: “No one owns me. No one owns this department, no one owns this president.”

Warren’s line of questioning follows recent reporting that raised questions about Hegseth’s financial dealings ahead of the Iran conflict. The Financial Times reported that a broker working on Hegseth’s behalf contacted BlackRock in February about making a multimillion-dollar investment in a fund tied to major defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, in the weeks before military action began.

According to the report, the investment ultimately did not take place because the fund was not available to the broker at the time.

The Pentagon has strongly denied the reporting, calling it “entirely false and fabricated,” and Hegseth reiterated that denial during Thursday’s hearing.

Federal law places strict limits on defense officials’ investments to prevent conflicts of interest. Presidential appointees at the Pentagon generally are barred from owning or buying stock in top defense contractors that receive the largest government contracts, with narrow exceptions such as diversified funds. Ethics rules also require senior officials to avoid even the appearance of self-dealing and to disclose or seek approval for certain financial activity.

Warren’s comments come amid a recent high-profile case involving a U.S. service member accused of profiting from nonpublic military information.

Federal prosecutors charged Army Special Forces Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke with using classified intelligence about a covert operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to place bets on a prediction market, allegedly earning more than $400,000.

Authorities allege Van Dyke was involved in planning the operation and used that knowledge to wager on its outcome before it became public, prompting charges including wire fraud and unlawful use of government information.

Critics have pointed to a perceived double standard, noting that while a U.S. service member faces potential prison time for insider trading, enforcement of similar rules governing members of Congress historically has been less aggressive.

“This man is facing decades in prison,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., told Fox News’ Ingraham Angle Saturday. “Meanwhile, every single day on Capitol Hill, there are many members of Congress on both sides that are currently engaging in insider trading.”

Trump weighed in Saturday, comparing the case to baseball legend Pete Rose.

“That’s a little like Pete Rose,” Trump said when asked about the case. “Pete Rose, they kept him out of the Hall of Fame for betting on his own team. Now, if he bet against his team, that would be no good, but he bet on his own team. I’ll look into it.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Warren and Hegseth for comment.