Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan are set to make a rare appearance on Capitol Hill next week, where they will testify on the Supreme Court’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget.

Their appearance before the House Appropriations subcommittee comes just weeks after the Supreme Court concluded a highly consequential term, delivering major wins for President Donald Trump, including expanding his executive authority, while also ruling against key parts of his agenda, including his executive order restricting birthright citizenship and his Liberation Day tariffs. Barrett, who is part of the conservative supermajority, voted against Trump’s use of the executive order.

The last time Supreme Court justices testified before Congress was in 2019, when Kagan, a member of the Court’s liberal wing, and Justice Samuel Alito, a member of its conservative majority, appeared to discuss the Supreme Court’s fiscal year 2020 budget request.

MORNING GLORY: THE SUPREME COURT OFFICIALLY CLOSES THE BOOKS ON ANOTHER TERM

In next year’s budget, the Supreme Court is requesting a $20.5 million increase, with $14.6 million earmarked to strengthen security protections for justices and an additional $2 million to cover security costs at the justices’ homes. The funding increase would cover the cost of staffing an additional 25 full-time Supreme Court Police officers.

In total, the Supreme Court is requesting a budget of $228 million for the 2027 fiscal year.

The request for additional security funding comes after Congress approved a $30 million increase for the Supreme Court’s security budget in January, which is expected to last through September 2028.

At the time of the additional funding approval, the U.S. Marshals Service, which is tasked with protecting the Supreme Court, had tracked 166 threats against federal judges since Oct. 1. The year before, more than 560 threats were made against judges.

“We just want to make sure nothing happens to any of our justices,” House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., said at the time.

SUPREME COURT FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES REVEAL CONCERT TICKETS FROM BAD BUNNY’S LABEL, MILLIONS IN BOOK PAYMENTS

The U.S. Marshals Service began providing 24/7 security at the justices’ private residences in May 2022 after the leak of the draft Dobbs opinion, which foreshadowed the Supreme Court’s decision ending the constitutional right to abortion. The protection remained in place after the attempted assassination attempt against Justice Brett Kavanaugh outside his Maryland home the following month.

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And in May, Barrett was the target of an apparent swatting incident after a false report of gunshots at her Virginia home prompted a police response. Authorities quickly determined the call was a hoax after coordinating with the Supreme Court Police officers assigned to protect the residence.

Last year, authorities also investigated a bomb threat targeting Barrett’s sister at her South Carolina home. The reported pipe bomb in her mailbox was also determined to be a hoax.

While justices have long been subjected to death threats, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his 2024 year-end report that threats against federal judges have more than tripled over the past decade. The U.S. Marshals Service investigated more than 1,000 serious threats during the previous five years.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday that President Donald Trump has “won the argument” on NATO defense spending, crediting years of U.S. pressure with prompting Canada and European allies to take on a greater share of the alliance’s security burden.

Speaking at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Carney said he spoke with Trump before the gathering and told him that NATO members increasingly recognize the need to boost military spending amid continued security threats from Russia.

“It’s not just that he’s winning the argument — he’s won the argument,” Carney told reporters. “Countries realize they need to take more responsibility. They see the direct threats.”

Carney said Trump’s long-standing push for allies to spend more on defense is producing results.

“The president is looking for a shift of the burden within NATO. That’s appropriate,” Carney said. “That is happening. It is gaining momentum.”

The remarks mark a notable shift in tone from Carney, who has frequently criticized Trump over trade, tariffs and U.S.-Canada relations.

Since taking office, the Canadian prime minister has repeatedly criticized Trump over his tariffs on Canadian goods and his repeated suggestions that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state. 

During his victory speech in March 2025, Carney accused Trump of putting “unjustified tariffs” on Canada and declared, “He’s attacking Canadian families, workers and businesses, and we cannot let him succeed, and we won’t.” 

He also vowed to maintain retaliatory tariffs until “the Americans show us respect.”

Despite those differences, Carney acknowledged that Trump’s yearslong campaign to pressure NATO allies into increasing defense spending has succeeded.

Carney said he relayed that message directly to Trump during a phone call Sunday before both leaders arrived at the summit.

“The president is here, and he’s in a good mood,” Carney said.

At the 2025 NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, alliance leaders agreed to a new goal of spending 5% of GDP on defense and security by 2035 — more than doubling the alliance’s longstanding 2% benchmark. The pledge followed years of Trump criticizing NATO members for relying too heavily on the U.S., warning that allies were not paying their fair share and at times threatening to pull the U.S. out of the alliance if European nations failed to significantly increase defense spending. 

But the alliance has no formal mechanism to force countries to comply. Instead, Trump has increasingly sought to use U.S. economic leverage to pressure allies that fall short.

On Wednesday, Trump singled out Spain after Madrid refused to commit to the alliance’s 5% target, calling it “a terrible partner in NATO” and urging the U.S. to cut off trade and tourism with the country. Spain has argued it can meet NATO’s military capability requirements while spending roughly 2.1% of GDP on defense.

Larger nations like Britain and France also have pledged to move toward the 5% target, but both currently spend well below that level, raising questions about how aggressively the Trump administration will pressure other major allies to accelerate their defense spending.

NATO Ambassador Matthew Whitaker told reporters July 1 that the Trump administration was considering countermeasures for countries that fail to meet their 5% target. 

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte echoed Carney’s assessment, saying Trump had accomplished what multiple U.S. presidents had sought for decades.

“President Trump has been able to finally get done what, since Eisenhower, American presidents tried to do, which was to equalize defense spending between Europe and the United States,” Rutte said during opening remarks.

Canada has announced a series of new defense investments this week, including a submarine procurement program, an agreement to use Telesat’s Lightspeed satellite constellation for secure Arctic military communications, and an approximately $800 million contract for Joint Strike Missiles for Canada’s future fighter aircraft.

Carney said Canada was spending about 1.4% of its gross domestic product on defense when his government took office and is on track to reach 4% before the end of the decade under NATO’s accounting standards.

The comments come after years of Trump arguing that NATO members were relying too heavily on the United States for their defense and should contribute a larger share toward the alliance’s collective security.

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

Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner repeatedly criticized a lawmaker on Reddit for cheating on his wife years before his campaign confirmed he sent sexually explicit messages to women early in his marriage. 

On four occasions between 2018 and 2019, Platner claimed that, while he was working as a bartender in D.C., former GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter had confided in him that he was sleeping with women who were not his wife. Platner called Hunter a “real piece of sh-t” and a “garbage person” because of that.

Platner himself, however, sent sexually explicit messages to women who were not his wife early in his marriage, his campaign confirmed. The Senate candidate also maintained an account on the messenger app Kik, where his profile image was a picture of him topless wearing nothing but a towel.

HOW GRAHAM PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN UNRAVELED: FROM REDDIT POSTS TO RAPE ALLEGATION

The sexually explicit messages were first revealed by Genevieve McDonald, Platner’s former political director, who said that Platner’s wife had told her that he had exchanged sexual messages with up to 12 women. The Platner campaign, however, countered that he had only been communicating with as many as six women, and that their conversations were not ongoing.

“I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend. In the months since, I have had to watch as she spread malicious gossip to anyone who would take her call,” Platner’s wife said in the statement. “I trusted this person with the most private chapter of our lives — the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind — and I am deeply hurt by her betrayal and the invasion of our privacy.”

PLATNER IN THE HOT SEAT AS MAINE VOTERS RIP HIS ‘HORRIBLE’ COMMENTS AMID REDDIT SCANDAL

Back in 2019, Platner, who married his wife in 2023, had harsh language to describe Hunter’s alleged extramarital conduct.

“Real piece of sh-t,” Platner wrote of Hunter in a December 2019 post. “Used to come into a DC bar I worked at, get wasted and brag about all the chicks he was slaying who weren’t his wife. I’ve got a pretty flexible moral compass when it comes to those things, but he was just the epitome of the frat bro officer douchebag.”

PLATNER CAMPAIGN PUTTING ‘THUMB ON SCALE’ TO INFLUENCE POSSIBLE REPLACEMENT, MAINE DEM ALLEGES

In another post, Platner called Hunter a “garbage person” who “loved to brag about all the women he was f-cking who weren’t his wife.”

He also criticized Hunter for heavy drinking, a problem one of Platner’s ex-girlfriends alleges that he faced as well.

Hunter was indicted in 2018 on charges that he converted more than $250,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses and falsified campaign finance records. Prosecutors later alleged that some of Hunter’s campaign spending was tied to extramarital affairs. He pleaded guilty in 2020 and was sentenced to 11 months in prison, but avoided serving his sentence after President Donald Trump pardoned him later that year.

Platner, who has since been accused of rape by a different ex-girlfriend –  an allegation he denies –  is facing calls to drop out of the Maine Senate race as major Democrats rescind their endorsement of him. Democrats have until July 13 to replace him with another candidate, a fact Platner is reportedly using as leverage to name a successor.

The Platner campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration revealed new figures that show a drastic 7,100% spike in Medicare claims for tissue and organ transplants in just six years as the task force led by Vice President JD Vance continues to crack down on fraud across the country.

The staggering increase in claims occurred between 2019 and 2025, surging from $200 million to $14.4 billion, prompting the anti-fraud task force and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to identify potentially fraudulent claims and deny 96% of claims made since March.

The CMS, which is led by Administrator Mehmet Oz, identified 4,200 suspicious claims for tissue and organ transplants, known as allografts, totaling $224 million in charges through May of this year.

DR OZ WARNS MEDICARE SCAMMERS ARE STEALING BILLIONS — AND YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION COULD BE NEXT

The agency also found alleged fraudulent claims for Durable Medical Equipment (DME), which includes wheelchairs, walkers, hospital beds and other essential equipment. The agency says that payments have been suspended to 102 suppliers and revoked billing privileges for an additional 725 suppliers.

“In just six months, the task force has effectively wiped out Durable Medical Equipment fraud in America,” a spokesperson for Vance’s office told Fox News Digital. “After the vice president and Dr. Oz announced a moratorium on new DME companies, paired with aggressive enforcement actions by DOJ and HHS, this kind of fraud has effectively ended.”

The suppliers who were suspected of fraud and had payments suspended represented 8.6% of all Medicare-funded Durable Medical Equipment in 2025.

DR OZ SAYS 800 HOSPICE PROVIDERS SUSPENDED IN CALIFORNIA OVER ALLEGED $1B MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME

Fox News Digital learned from sources at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that fraud was identified for suppliers who filed claims for equipment that was not necessary or ordered, filed claims for equipment more complex or expensive than ordered and claims for equipment that was never delivered.

“Thanks to the whole-of-government approach spearheaded by the White House Anti-Fraud Task Force, we stopped nearly $220 million in fraudulent skin substitute claims and suspended or revoked billing privileges for over 800 DME suppliers,” Oz told Fox News Digital in a statement. “We are keeping our promise to the American people: we will root out corruption, protect vulnerable patients, and hold every bad actor accountable.”

Vance is scheduled to join Oz at a news conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, highlighting the efforts made by the anti-fraud task force.

OPINION: I’M OHIO’S STATE AUDITOR — MEDICAID FRAUD IS NOT JUST A WASHINGTON PROBLEM

In May, the Justice Department charged 15 individuals in Minnesota, finding more than $90 million in alleged fraudulent claims tied to multiple state-funded assistance programs.

The task force and the DOJ announced a massive takedown of two of the largest Medicaid fraud cases in Minnesota state history, as well as the largest autism fraud scheme ever charged by the federal government,” Vance said in a message on X at the time. “Our message is simple: if you’re committing fraud, we will find you, and we won’t rest until justice is served.”

President Donald Trump established the task force through an executive order in May. He appointed Vance to lead the task force, and a number of agencies and departments have been involved in the effort to crack down on fraud across the country.

“Vice President JD Vance and Republicans are doing a great job hunting down Fraud in the various States,” Trump posted on Truth Social in June. “Billions of Dollars is being found, and we’ve just started!”

A top Democratic senator admitted on CBS News that he believes President Donald Trump “wisely” made the critical demand to NATO allies to spend more on defense.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who is in Turkey this week as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation to NATO, spoke with CBS News when an anchor laughingly asked him about Trump’s “strange relationship with NATO over his push for them to spend more on security.” The anchor asked Durbin, “Where does this relationship go from here?”

In response, Durbin described Trump’s relationship with NATO as a “back-and-forth, love-and-hate relationship.” He went on to say that “the president has, I think, wisely asked for our NATO allies, there are 32 members of NATO, to spend more of their own money to protect themselves.”

“That’s not an unreasonable ask,” he added.

TRUMP ENTERS FINAL NATO SUMMIT DAY AS UKRAINE, DEFENSE SPENDING TAKE CENTER STAGE

Durbin, who has served in the Senate for nearly 30 years, is the minority whip and ranking member of the influential Judiciary Committee. He is in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, as part of a congressional delegation led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., to the 2026 NATO Summit. Trump is also attending the summit, accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz.

Durbin did not spend all his time praising the president. Speaking from Ankara, he went on to say that “there have been things that happened during his second presidency which raised the question of our commitment to the future of NATO.”

“I believe in it; that’s why I’m here. And I’ve found that of the delegates that are here from all over the region, part of NATO, that they believe, as I do, that we’re a safer world with the NATO alliance. We have been since 1945.”

TRUMP BETS ON FORMER NATO TROUBLEMAKER AS TURKEY’S STRATEGIC VALUE SURGES

He added that the summit “will be an opportunity for us to convince the president, if we have to, to move forward with this relationship.”

Before traveling to Turkey for the summit, Trump vented his frustration about NATO, writing in a social media post that “the United States spends more money on NATO than any other country, by far, to protect them, without getting any benefit from so doing: U.S. 999 Billion Dollars, United Kingdom, 90.5 Billion Dollars, France, 66.5 Billion Dollars, Italy, 48.8 Billion Dollars, Poland, 44.3 Billion Dollars. Others, including Germany, are MUCH LOWER. (2014-2025) Ridiculous!”

A NATO release stated that the “cut-off date for information used in this report was 3 June 2025” and that “figures for 2024 and 2025 are estimates.” It listed estimated 2025 U.S. defense spending at $980 billion, the United Kingdom’s at $90.508 billion, France’s at $66.531 billion, Italy’s at $48.8 billion and Poland’s at $44.314 billion.

TRUMP CALLS OUT NATO AHEAD OF SUMMIT, CALLING IT ‘RIDICULOUS’ FOR US TO PERSIST ON ‘ONE SIDED PATH’

In another post, Trump said it is “ridiculous for the U.S.A. to continue along this one sided path when the relationship is not reciprocal. They were not there for us!!!”

The president’s comments came after NATO leaders backed a new defense spending benchmark calling on allies to invest 5% of gross domestic product in defense and defense-related expenditures.

Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

A group of radical left-wing groups in California are pushing for schools to add Black vernacular into a Golden State program that pushes multilingualism for kids.

Black Californians United for Early Care and Education (BlackECE) is a “collaborative partnership of organizations committed to advancing language justice for Black children in early childhood education.” Those groups include Californians Together, Catalyst California and Early Edge.

A co-founder of the umbrella group said she was teased a kid for “talking white” and doesn’t want Black children, like her son, to feel “shame” for the way they speak.

CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL BATTLES NEWSOM’S STATE LAW ORDERING IT TO CHANGE ‘INDIANS’ MASCOT

“The workgroup brings together BlackECE, Californians Together, Catalyst California, and Early Edge to challenge harmful language hierarchies and affirm Black English as a legitimate, rule-governed language rooted in Black history, culture, and community,” according to the coalition’s website.

BlackECE’s 10-point policy framework also includes reparations.

Ashley Williams, a co-founder of the BlackECE, spoke with PBS about the importance of the group’s work.

“I don’t want my son to walk into any room and feel like his voice is not valued or his perspective can’t be heard because he’s not saying it in one way or the other,” she told the outlet. “But with that comes a lot of shame and embarrassment because you’re being constantly corrected when you’re still in a moment when you’re just learning language.”

“Black English” is a broad term used to describe the way African Americans speak, according to ScienceDirect.

The most common defined form of “Black English” is African American Vernacular English [AAVE], characterized as a “systematic dialect spoken by many African Americans, characterized by specific phonological, syntactical, and lexical features, including word-final consonant cluster simplification, invariant ‘be’ for habitual meaning, and multiple negation.”

BlackECE insists that the dialect is not slang or broken English, and provides some real life examples of AAVE.

“She be working,” is one example listed on the website.

“They happy” and “bes’ friend” are among others.

“We talk about multilinguals, but we don’t include Black children who may be African-American English speakers,” Xigrid Soto-Boykin, an early childhood language expert at Arizona State University, told PBS. “We completely miss this subgroup of children that could also benefit from their language backgrounds to be sustained, but also to be leveraged for their own learning.”

NEW YORK TIMES CALLS UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA’S ‘TEST-BLIND’ ADMISSIONS POLICY A ‘TERRIBLE’ MISTAKE

California — a state where more than half of children under the age of five live in homes where another language besides English is spoken — implemented a program called “Promoting Equitable Early Learning and Care For Dual Language Learners” in 2020.

The program “declares biliteracy as a state goal and strongly promotes multilingual proficiency for all children, beginning in early childhood.” It focuses on policies that “reflect a dramatic shift in public sentiment away from a focus on English only and to a focus that values bilingualism as an asset and a strength.”

BlackECE says “Black English” should be added to that California program.

Williams recalled being teased for “talking white” by family members, and complained that her teachers were “adamant about proper English,” which she said made her feel insecure.

“Really at the heart of this, it’s about affirming our identity and our culture and our humanity and not having to perform as something you’re not just to be accepted in a room,” she reportedly said.

“We know that with being deemed multilingual learners, there’s resources, there’s supports, there’s teacher training. And we’re saying, ‘Yes, and we belong in that conversation too.’

The crash that killed a Pennsylvania state trooper, allegedly caused by an illegal immigrant truck driver, exposed failures at the intersection of highway safety and immigration enforcement, the architect of Pennsylvania’s move-over law said.

Michael Bon, a 33-year-old Haitian national who entered the U.S. under former President Joe Biden’s mass parole program, according to the Department of Homeland Security, was arrested after his big rig plowed into Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael Pahira Jr. on Interstate 81.

State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Gettysburg, whose district encompasses a large swath of Interstate 81’s heavily truck-trafficked corridor, said his law was meant to prevent tragedies like this, many of which have happened in or near his district.

Mastriano said Bon’s immigration status made the tragedy doubly preventable.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCK DRIVER CHARGED IN DEATH OF TROOPER WHO MOVED HOME TO CARE FOR MOM WITH CANCER

Mastriano said his move-over law came about in 2019 as one of his first efforts after being elected to the legislature.

“I heard from Tom Bricker, a tow truck operator at Abe’s Towing out of Chambersburg,” he said. “He told me all the close calls he’s had, all the friends of his that have been killed or injured by people crashing into the tow trucks … especially on 81, since that goes through our area.”

VIRGINIA BUS CRASH THAT KILLED FIVE INVOLVED DRIVER WHO DOESN’T SPEAK ENGLISH, SEAN DUFFY SAYS

After Bricker visited Mastriano, tow trucker Tyler Laudenslager was struck and killed on Interstate 81 west of Lebanon, prompting his move-over legislation, which Democratic then-Gov. Tom Wolf signed.

Since then, Pennsylvania motorists have been required to move over for tow trucks and other emergency vehicles or slow to a safe speed, something Bon allegedly did not do when he struck Pahira’s cruiser.

“Trooper Michael should be alive today, had the federal government enforce their own laws protecting the border, making sure only people coming in legally can be on the roads,” he said, noting the nexus of his law and immigration enforcement policies.

‘GHOSTS’ ON FLORIDA HIGHWAYS: ROADSIDE STINGS SNARE 249 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, OFFICERS WARN MANY MORE HIDING

Another Mastriano bill passed in 2022 allows tow trucks to use police-issued blue lights while stopped to get motorists to pay attention. The senator said it came about after meeting with Bricker and other tow truck drivers and learned of a pilot program of the sort in the Midwest.

Mastriano said Bon, who had been living in Brockton, Massachusetts, and was issued a CDL by the Bay State’s Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV), drifted out of his lane when he struck Pahira, as the trooper was conducting an unrelated commercial-vehicle inspection south of Frackville.

With Massachusetts and Pennsylvania among the states that have faced cases involving CDLs issued to immigrants in the country illegally, Mastriano said states have authority to address motor vehicle policy.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration previously faulted DHS, whose agency maintains the SAVE registry that identifies a noncitizen’s immigration status, which PennDOT uses to determine licensure eligibility.

When asked about states like Pennsylvania faulting the federal government in part for the problem, Mastriano said the “finger-pointing” must stop.

“Josh Shapiro, please fix this. You have a lot of power here in Pennsylvania, and you’re the governor, and so exercise that power. Ask your secretary of transportation to update records to make sure anyone receiving CDL licenses is somebody who’s here legally and understands the language and can control a vehicle,” he said.

“A lot of mistakes were done and people need to be held responsible and to just shift the blame now to the federal government for a state government problem is just wrong,” he said.

Massachusetts and Pennsylvania both defended their licensing systems, telling Fox News Digital they relied on the federal SAVE database to verify Bon’s eligibility.

“This defendant should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” a Healey administration RMV spokesperson said, echoing the Shapiro administration’s defense of the federal SAVE database and noting it is federally operated.

“Every non-U.S. citizen who applies for a commercial learner’s permit or driver’s license in Pennsylvania must provide proof of identity and … lawful presence in the United States, which is verified with the federal SAVE database, administered by [USCIS],” Shapiro spokeswoman Rosie Lapowsky said.

Under Massachusetts’ procedure, Bon would have been rejected upon any attempted renewal for 2027, a source familiar with Beacon Hill’s policies said.

When asked, as a state lawmaker, what the federal government can do about states where these cases have become common, Mastriano said respecting federalism, the idea that states have semi-autonomy, is important but can make it “tough” to manage.

Mastriano pointed to the federal government’s use of highway funding to encourage state compliance with the 55-mph speed limit during the 1970s gasoline crisis.

The same strategy could be used today, he suggested.

Referring to the Eisenhower Interstate and Defense Highways Act’s inclusion of “defense” concerns, Mastriano said resources could also be allocated by Washington to improve highways based on their linkage between military outposts.

In the case of Interstate 81, where Pahira and many others have been killed, he noted that Letterkenny Army Depot in his district, the U.S. Army War College and Tobyhanna Army Depot are located along it, which he said could spur funding for more lanes and better conditions.

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Lapowsky noted PennDOT has paused all issuances of such licenses following a Sept. 29, 2025, federal order.

Since Bon’s crash, another illegal immigrant has been arrested after authorities said he struck and killed a motorist changing a flat tire on Interstate 80 in Illinois.

FIRST ON FOX: A top Senate Republican accused both The New York Times and high-level Senate Democrats of working together to delay publishing allegations against Maine Senate Democratic candidate Graham Platner until they could do maximum damage.

Stories and allegations against Platner have been piling up for nearly a year, inflicting incremental damage to his candidacy with each report published.

It started with the unearthed footage of him dancing intoxicated, sporting a tattoo of Nazi iconography on his chest last fall, and culminated this week in a bombshell report that Platner allegedly raped his ex-girlfriend, Jenny Racicot. But it was a story from The New York Times in June that sowed deep doubts among Democrats in Washington, D.C., about his candidacy.

NEW YORK TIMES UNDER SCRUTINY OVER GRAHAM PLATNER COVERAGE AS ACCUSERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST PAPER

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who chairs the Senate Republicans’ campaign apparatus, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the media outlet of working together to sit on that bombshell story against Platner to buy time to replace him.

“We should have seen this information long ago,” Scott said. “But what they’ve done is they’ve made a decision to keep him in the race as long as possible so that they had more time to make the necessary change to try to hold onto that power and, frankly, gain power in Maine.”

“Whether or not Chuck Schumer wanted this candidate or not, the fact of the matter is the Democratic Party decided that this was the hill they were all willing to die on,” he continued.

KINGMAKER MAMDANI CALLS ON PLATNER TO ‘DROP OUT OF THE RACE’ AFTER RAPE ALLEGATION

Scott was referring to The Times report in which multiple women that Platner had relationships with, including Racicot, alleged that he knew about his Nazi tattoo well before reports surfaced that he denied, that he displayed “unsettling behavior” with women and was an intimidating presence with flashes of violence.

The Times denied Scott’s claims.

“The Senator’s speculation is flatly untrue,” Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander told Fox News Digital.

That same story sparks an emergency meeting with Democratic high command, Platner’s top supporters in the Senate and the Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., to determine if more damning information was set to come out.

SANDERS BREAKS SILENCE ON PLATNER, CALLS ON SCANDAL-PLAGUED PROGRESSIVE TO ‘STEP ASIDE’

A source familiar told Fox News Digital that the DSCC “had no involvement” in the story. Schumer did not respond to a request for comment.

Still, Scott contended that the story and alleged collusion were “critical pieces of the puzzle,” particularly in the aftermath of Platner’s latest scandal that has seen his entire base of support among Democratic lawmakers and organizations virtually melt away overnight.

And, he charged that their sudden dismissal of Platner was indicative of their desire to beat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to regain power in the upper chamber after months of accepting allegation after allegation.

“Those allegations and realities have been real and true the entire time that Democrats knew it,” Scott said. “And what makes it worse is that you say they’re all lining up to get away from him now, but they all lined up to support him earlier.”

“And what that tells me is that their primary objective is power over principle, and politics over policy,” he continued. “They are more interested in stealing the power so they can control the public.”

President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot air defense systems, a move that could mark a significant shift from supplying Kyiv with American-made weapons to helping Ukraine produce them itself.

Trump made the comments while meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as Kyiv continues to press Western allies for additional air defense capabilities to counter Russian missile and drone attacks.

Trump’s announcement comes as Patriot interceptors have become one of Ukraine’s most urgent military needs. The U.S.-made Patriot system is widely regarded as Ukraine’s most capable defense against Russian ballistic missile attacks and has played a central role in protecting Kyiv and other critical infrastructure.

TRUMP ENTERS FINAL NATO SUMMIT DAY AS UKRAINE, DEFENSE SPENDING TAKE CENTER STAGE

Asked whether he would allow Patriot interceptors to be made in Europe and whether he was comfortable licensing the technology, Trump said the two leaders would discuss it.

“We’re going to talk about that,” Trump said. “Look, it’s a defensive weapon, which I like better than an offensive weapon. It’s the best.” 

Minutes later, Trump went further, saying the U.S. would give Ukraine a license to make Patriots.

“We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots,” Trump said. “That’s pretty cool. Right? This way you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough. I’d say make them yourself.” 

TRUMP COULD HAND PRIZED STEALTH JETS TO NATO ALLY ONCE SEEN AS ALLIANCE HEADACHE

“We haven’t informed the company of that yet, but that’ll work out all right,” he added. “You know, I’m sure they’ll be thrilled, but, you know, they’ll be able to do it. You’ll be able to figure that out.” 

Ukrainian officials have warned that supplies of Patriot interceptors have fallen to dangerously low levels, leaving the country increasingly vulnerable as Russia intensifies missile strikes. Zelenskyy arrived at the NATO summit seeking additional Patriot interceptors from allies while also pressing for longer-term solutions to expand production, arguing that current manufacturing cannot keep pace with Russia’s growing missile campaign.

It was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to Patriot interceptor missiles, the broader Patriot air defense system, or production in Ukraine, Europe or both.

Trump’s comment that the administration had not yet informed the company also raised questions about how far along the licensing plan is and what role RTX, the defense contractor that manufactures Patriot systems, would play in any future arrangement.

The Patriot system has been one of Ukraine’s most sought-after air defense platforms as Russia continues launching missile and drone barrages against Ukrainian cities, energy infrastructure and military targets.

Any effort to expand Patriot production would face significant industrial hurdles. 

RTX serves as the prime contractor for the Patriot air defense system, manufacturing its radars, launchers and the PAC-2 GEM-T interceptor, while Lockheed Martin builds the newer PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptor, which is designed to defeat ballistic missiles. The interceptors are among the world’s most sophisticated air defense weapons, relying on hundreds of specialized suppliers and complex manufacturing processes.

Fox News Digital has reached out to RTX and Lockheed Martin for comment.

Defense officials and industry executives have said it could take more than two years to produce a Patriot interceptor, underscoring why the U.S. and its allies have struggled to replenish stockpiles as demand has surged amid conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

One leftist lawmaker is ramping up her attacks on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after an immigration officer fatally shot an illegal alien during an enforcement operation in Houston on Tuesday.

Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., declared DHS the “greatest threat to our safety” in a social media post, arguing that Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who allegedly resisted arrest during an attempted traffic stop, was the agency’s latest victim.

DHS said Salgado Araujo was shot in self-defense after he allegedly attempted to run over a federal agent with his vehicle, prompting the officer to open fire.

“The greatest threat to our safety is DHS,” Ramirez, a Chicago-based lawmaker who has called for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), wrote Tuesday. “CBP and ICE continue to violently attack our neighbors and trample the rights of our residents.”

ICE SAYS OFFICER SHOT AND KILLED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WHO TRIED TO RAM HIM WITH CAR IN HOUSTON

Democrats have recently taken a hard line against DHS — a sprawling agency that oversees everything from the Secret Service to the Coast Guard and TSA — over its immigration enforcement and border security functions.

Top Democrats refused to fund the department earlier this year following the Trump administration’s controversial Minneapolis immigration enforcement surge that led to the killing of two Americans by federal officers.

The party’s hardball tactics led to the longest partial government shutdown in history and later prompted Republicans to pass a second “big beautiful bill” that funded ICE and CBP for the rest of President Donald Trump’s term.

Ramirez did not mention DHS’ statement that Salgado Araujo allegedly evaded arrest while federal authorities attempted to pull him over or that he was not authorized to be in the country.

“From information we are receiving, he rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands, and weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer, resulting in our officer firing his weapon in self-defense,” DHS wrote in a statement.

“The driver was struck, and emergency services were immediately contacted,” the department continued. “The driver was transported to the hospital where he passed away from his injuries.”

ILLEGAL ALIEN ON THE RUN AFTER ALLEGEDLY RAMMING ICE VEHICLE IN PENNSYLVANIA, PROMPTING AGENT TO FIRE WEAPON

A spokesperson for Ramirez did not immediately respond to a request for comment on DHS’s account.

DHS said the department’s Office of Inspector General is probing the shooting. The FBI’s Houston Office launched a separate investigation into the “potential assault” of the ICE officer, according to DHS’ statement.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, who represents the Magnolia Park neighborhood where Salgado Araujo was shot, issued a more measured statement.

“ICE has released an initial account, but the facts must be independently and thoroughly investigated, including the circumstances that led to the use of deadly force,” Garcia wrote on social media. “All available footage, communications, and other evidence should be preserved and reviewed as part of a full and impartial investigation.”

Ramirez, who is associated with the far-left cohort known as the “Squad,” also called on the Republican-controlled House to pass her Melt ICE Act, which would effectively defund the agency while laying out a timeline to shutter all immigration detention facilities and releasing detained illegal aliens.

The legislation is sponsored by fellow “Squad” members, Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Summer Lee, D-Pa., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. It has no clear path to passage amid widespread opposition from Republicans and likely from some Democrats.

Ramirez’s ICE abolition advocacy comes as she has not commented on a spate of illegal aliens with criminal backgrounds who were arrested in her home state of Illinois in June.

Federal agents recently arrested Venezuelan national Mercedes Moreno Occhipinti, who allegedly assisted in a 2024 mass shooting involving Tren de Aragua members at a house party in Chicago.

Last month, authorities also detained Noe Moreno-Salazar, an illegal alien from Mexico, in St. Charles, Ill. He was previously convicted of sexual abuse and aggravated unlawful use of a loaded weapon, among other offenses, according to DHS.

Ramirez also did not appear to comment on the March killing of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman by a Venezuelan illegal alien in Chicago — an incident that sparked outrage over the perpetrator’s previous arrest.

Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment.