Politics

Rubio bill aims to upend Biden admin’s ‘equity’ approach to monoclonal antibody treatment

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced a bill aimed at upending the Biden administration’s “equity” approach to the distribution of monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID-19.

Rubio introduced the Treatment for Emergency Antibody Therapeutics (TREAT) Act on Tuesday in response to a Biden administration change that forces states to go through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to receive the treatments, and places caps on how many treatments each state can receive.

Previously, medical providers could order the antibody treatments directly from the supplier.

If passed, Rubio’s bill would prevent HHS from putting policies in place that prevent health care providers and hospitals from purchasing monoclonal antibody treatments from distributors and manufacturers.

DESANTIS HAMMERS BIDEN ADMIN FOR LIMITING FLORIDA’S USE OF MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES: ‘VERY, VERY PROBLEMATIC’

“This abrupt change in policy from the Biden administration is nothing but an attempt to punish Florida,” Rubio told Fox News in an email statement. “We cannot let vindictive, politically motivated actions by this administration jeopardize the health and safety of Floridians and others.”

“My bill would bring back fairness by allowing hospitals and other appropriate health care facilities to directly access this life-saving treatment from manufacturers.” the Florida senator continued.

Joining Rubio on the bill as cosponsors are his fellow Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Rick Scott of Florida, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, and Roger Marshall of Kansas.

Florida is one of seven states, alongside Texas and Alabama, making up the majority of demand for the treatment. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday the seven states made up roughly 70% of the requests.

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Some reports have alleged the new HHS policy is a political punishment against red states by Biden for not supporting mask and vaccine mandates.

HHS did not immediately provide comment on Rubio’s bill.

Houston Keene is a reporter for Fox News Digital. You can find him on Twitter at @HoustonKeene.

Milley defends ‘absolute’ loyalty to US, says Trump officials knew of calls with China

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley maintained his “absolute” loyalty to the United States Tuesday, and said he made top Trump administration officials aware of calls with his Chinese counterpart, despite reports to the contrary.

Milley, in his opening statement during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, addressed allegations that he held “secret” calls with his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army in October 2020 and days after the Capitol riot in January 2021.

MILLEY, AUSTIN, MCKENZIE TESTIFY AT SENATE ARMED SERVICES ON US WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN

Milley has faced calls to resign since the revelations were made public earlier this month. The book “Peril” by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa claims that Milley contacted Li after he had reviewed intelligence that suggested Chinese officials believed the United States was planning an attack on China amid military exercises in the South China Sea. The book claims Milley contacted Li a second time to reassure him that the U.S. would not make any type of advances or attack China in any form.

Milley, on Tuesday, addressed the allegations, saying he has served the U.S. for 43 years.

“My loyalty to this nation, its people, and the Constitution hasn’t changed and will never change as long as I have a breath to give,” Milley said. “My loyalty is absolute, and I will not turn my back on the fallen.”

Milley, went on to deliver a point-by-point rebuttal to the claims in the book, saying he “routinely communicated” with his counterpart “with the knowledge and coordination of civilian oversight.”

“I am specifically directed to communicate with the Chinese by Department of Defense Guidance, Policy Dialogue System,” Milley said. “These military to military communications at the highest level are critical to the security of the United States in order to deconflict military actions, manage crisis and prevent war between great powers armed with nuclear weapons.”

Milley explained that the calls, which took place on Oct. 30, 2020, and Jan. 8, 2021, were “coordinated before and after” with then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper and then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller’s staffs, as well as the interagency.

“The specific purpose of the October and January calls was generated by concerning intelligence which caused us to believe the Chinese were worried about an attack by the U.S.,” Milley explained.

Milley added: “I know, I am certain, President Trump did not intend on attacking the Chinese and it is my directed responsibility to convey presidential orders and intent.”

“My task at that time was to de-escalate. My message was consistent: calm, steady, de-escalate,” Milley said. “We are not going to attack you.”

TRUMP ACTING DEFENSE SECRETARY MILLER SAYS HE ‘DID NOT’ AUTHORIZE MILLEY CHINA CALLS, SAYS HE SHOULD RESIGN

For the October 2020 call, Milley said it took place at Esper’s direction, and said “eight people sat in on the call with me.”

Milley said on Dec. 31, 2020, the Chinese requested a call with him. Milley testified that the deputy assistant of Defense for Asia Pacific policy “helped coordinate my call, which was scheduled for 8 January.”

“Shortly after my call ended with Gen. Li, I informed both Secretary of State Pompeo and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about the call among other topics,” Milley said. “Soon after that, I attended a meeting with Acting Secretary Miller where I briefed him on the call.”

Milley went on to address other allegations included in the book, regarding his conversations with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Milley acknowledged that Pelosi called him on Jan. 8 to “inquire about the president’s ability to launch nuclear weapons” following the Capitol riot on Jan. 6.

“I sought to assure her that nuclear launch is governed by a very specific and deliberate process,” Milley said, noting Pelosi was “concerned and made various personal references characterizing” then-President Trump.

“I explained that the president is the sole nuclear launch authority but he doesn’t launch alone,” Milley said. “There are processes, protocols and procedures in place and I repeatedly assured her there is no chance of an illegal, unauthorized or accidental launch.”

Milley explained that he, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, “is part of this process to ensure the president is fully informed when determining the use of the world’s deadliest weapons.”

“By law, I am not in the chain of command,” Milley said. “However, by presidential directive and DoD instruction, I am in the chain of communication to fulfill my statutory role as the president’s primary military adviser.”

BIDEN HAS ‘GREAT CONFIDENCE’ IN MILLEY AFTER REPORT OF CALLS WITH CHINA TO AVOID CONFLICT

Milley said, following his call with Pelosi, he “convened a short meeting in my office with key members of my staff to refresh on these procedures, which we practice daily at the action officer level,” and added that he “immediately informed Acting Secretary of Defense Miller of her call.”

“At no time was I attempting to change or influence the process, usurp authority or insert myself into the chain of command, but I am expected to give my advice and ensure that the president is fully informed,” Milley said.

Milley went on to offer lawmakers “a more detailed unclassified memorandum of my actions surrounding these events,” and offered a classified session to discuss intelligence which “motivated these actions and the specific timeline.”

“I am also happy to make available all emails, phone logs, memoranda, witnesses or anything else you need to better understand these events,” Milley said.

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“My oath is to support the Constitution of the United States of America, against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and I will never turn my back on the oath,” Milley said. “I firmly believe in civilian control of the military as a bedrock principle essential to this republic and I am committed to ensuring the military stays clear of domestic politics.”

Milley’s comments come amid calls for his resignation, including from former acting Defense Secretary Miller. Miller said he “did not and would not ever authorize” Milley to have “secret” calls with his Chinese counterpart, describing the allegations as a “disgraceful and unprecedented act of insubordination,” and calling on him to resign “immediately.”

President Biden, though, has said he has full confidence in the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In Virginia governor’s race, Dem group ‘posing’ as Republicans to try driving wedge into GOP: report

A political committee tied to Democratic strategists is reportedly posing as a conservative group to try to drive a wedge between Virginia gubernatorial nominee Glenn Younkin and Republican base voters in November’s closely watched election.

During the past week, some voters in Virginia have been targeted with ads on Facebook, Instagram, Google and Snapchat questioning Youngkin’s commitment to the Second Amendment, Axios reports.

“While the NRA backs Donald Trump, they REFUSED to endorse Glenn Youngkin. We can’t trust Glenn Youngkin on guns,” one of the ads says.

TIGHT VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL RACE BETWEEN MCAULIFFE AND YOUNGKIN WITH FIVE WEEKS TO GO UNTIL ELECTION

The ads come from a group called Accountability Virginia PAC, which on its website doesn’t give details about who’s behind the organization. But the group’s online donation page is accessed through ActBlue, the main Democratic fundraising platform; its bank account sits with Amalgamated Bank, a financial institution owned by labor unions and frequently used by pro-Democratic political groups; and consultants at a firm that works with Democrats helped incorporate Accountability Virginia, according to Axios.

According to public records, the group spent roughly $25,000 to run the ads, which have been viewed at least 1 million times. The ads appearing on Snapchat appear to be targeted to users in largely rural and heavily Republican parts of western Virginia.

Youngkin, a successful businessman and first time candidate, is facing off against former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe in an election that’s seen as a key barometer ahead of next year’s midterm elections, when control of Congress will be up for grabs. The latest polls indicate McAuliffe holding a very slight advantage in the contest, with five weeks to go until the election.

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Virginia, once a top political battleground, has shifted blue over the past decade, and it’s been a dozen years since Republicans won a statewide election in the commonwealth. Virginia – along with New Jersey – are the only two states that hold gubernatorial races in the year after a presidential election, and thus grab outsized attention.

There’s also a long-running trend of voters in the state defeating the party that controls the White House. McAuliffe temporarily broke that tradition in 2013 with his election as governor. Virginia governors are barred from serving two straight terms.

November’s election in Virginia, as with this month’s gubernatorial recall election in California, is being viewed as an early referendum on President Biden’s tenure in White House.

But while Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s landslide victory in the California recall contest came in a deep blue state, Virginia remains a competitive battleground. And a McAuliffe loss in November, or even razor-thin victory, will set off major alarms with Democrats aiming to hold onto their congressional majorities in next year’s midterms.

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Following in Newsom’s footsteps, McAuliffe has been spotlighting Youngkin’s ties to former President Trump and his opposition to COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates.

But Youngkin, a wealthy former investment executive who’s poured more than $17 million of his own money into his gubernatorial campaign, has been able to keep his distance from Trump as well as other issues that could trip up Republicans in a purple state.

Obama calls open borders ‘unsustainable,’ migrant crisis ‘heartbreaking’

Former President Obama called for comprehensive immigration reform to fix a “dysfunctional” system as the Biden administration grapples with what he called a “heartbreaking” migrant crisis at the southern border.

Obama, during an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” that aired Tuesday, said reform to the U.S. immigration system is “something that is long overdue.” He added that immigration is a “tough” issue because Americans want to be compassionate but that the U.S. having open borders is an “unsustainable” idea.

Obama’s comments come after more than 14,000 Haitian migrants camped under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, after a surge in border crossings.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas admitted Sunday that the vast majority of Haitian migrants who crossed the southern U.S. border in recent weeks have already been released into the United States and it is possible that more will follow them.

MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS OVER 200,000 AGAIN IN AUGUST, AS BORDER SURGE CONTINUES

So far, approximately 12,400 of the people are having their cases heard by immigration judges, while another 5,000 are being processed by the Department of Homeland Security. Only 3,000 are in detention.

Obama said the situation in Del Rio “is a painful reminder that we don’t have this right yet and we’ve got more work to do.”

“As big-hearted as he is, nobody understands that better than Joe Biden,” Obama said. “And the question is now: Are we gonna get serious about dealing with this problem in a systemic way, as opposed to these one-offs where we’re constantly reacting to emergencies? And I think that that’s something that every American should wanna put an end to.”

Obama added that “immigration is tough” and “always has been.”

“Immigration is tough. It always has been because, on the one hand, I think we are naturally a people that wants to help others,” Obama said. “And we see tragedy and hardship and families that are desperately trying to get here so that their kids are safe, and they’re in some cases fleeing violence or catastrophe.”

He added: “At the same time, we’re a nation state. We have borders. The idea that we can just have open borders is something that … as a practical matter, is unsustainable.”

The Biden administration has faced fierce criticism for its handling of the crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border, which Republican critics have blamed on the dramatic rollback of Trump-era policies, like border wall construction and the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). It has also narrowed interior Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) priorities and pushed hard for legalization of illegal immigrants already in the country. It has also been releasing migrants into the interior, processing UACs to sponsors already in the country and releasing migrant families — angering Republican governors and other lawmakers.

MAYORKAS SAYS AS MANY AS 12K OUT OF 17K MIGRANTS HAVE BEEN RELEASED INTO US, AND ‘IT COULD BE HIGHER’

There were more than 200,000 migrant encounters at the southern border in August, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed earlier this month, the second month in a row where the number has been over the 200,000 mark as migrants continue to attempt to enter the U.S.

Fox News first reported that there were 208,887 encounters in August. While it marks the first decrease in migrant encounters seen under the Biden administration, where migrant encounters have been sharply rising for months, it is only a 2% drop over the more than 212,000 encounters in July.

CRUZ BLAMES BIDEN FOR HAITIAN MIGRANT CRISIS, CITES ‘CANCELED’ DEPORTATION FLIGHTS

The Biden administration has pushed back, blaming the Trump administration for sealing off legal pathways to asylum while emphasizing the role that root causes – like poverty, violence and corruption in Central America – play in encouraging migrants to travel north.

Mayorkas said the administration intends to continue with its border strategy, which he said involves rebuilding “safe, legal and orderly pathways for migrants,” improving processing, and going after smugglers.

“We have a plan, we are executing our plan and that takes time,” he said in August, when he announced the July border numbers.

He also told border agents in audio leaked to Fox News that the situation is “unsustainable.”

Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

Florida sues Biden administration over catch-and-release policy, alleging violation of federal law

EXCLUSIVE: The state of Florida is suing the Biden administration over its “illegal” catch-and-release policies at the Southern Border, saying they cause harm to the state’s “quasi-sovereign interests,” while claiming officials are either in violation of federal immigration law, or simply abusing their authority.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed the suit against the administration Tuesday, as part of a joint effort with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to “uphold the rule of law despite the Biden administration’s decision to violate the law.”

MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS OVER 200,000 AGAIN IN AUGUST, AS BORDER SURGE CONTINUES

The suit was filed in the Pensacola Division of the Northern District of Florida. Moody is not seeking a preliminary injunction. The defendants in the suit are the Department of Homeland Security, its component agencies, like Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, top officials from ICE, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The attorney general is also suing the United States itself.

Fox News exclusively obtained Florida’s lawsuit against the Biden administration Tuesday.

“The Biden administration’s illegal border policies cause Florida harm,” the lawsuit states. “Many of the aliens illegally released by the Biden administration are arriving, or will arrive in Florida, harming the state’s quasi-sovereign interests and forcing it to incur millions of dollars in expenses.”

Under U.S. code 1225, when individuals arrive in the United States, either at ports of entry, or when caught crossing the border illegally, they are considered “arriving aliens” under immigration laws.

Under U.S. code, those individuals are required to be detained until a decision is made as to whether they are to be admitted to the country. This rule applies even if the individual is claiming asylum–an immigration judge would determine if they are entitled to asylum before release into the U.S. interior.

The only exception to the rule is the federal government’s “parole authority,” which allows releasing aliens into the interior immediately, but may only be used on a “case-by-case basis” and only for “urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.”

Moody’s suit alleges that the Biden administration’s immigration policy is either in violation of these rules, or simply an abuse of their parole authority.

“The government is not free to ignore the clear commands of Congress,” the lawsuit states. “It has claimed that it lacks the resources and detention capacity to process the surge of migrants at the border.”

The lawsuit alleges that the Biden administration “has actively sought to eliminate measures that increase its resources and detention capacity, such as the Migrant Protection Protocols (also known as the ‘wait in Mexico policy’), and has even asked Congress to reduce the number of immigration detention beds available to it.”

“Further, it is the Biden administration’s misguided policies that have encouraged more migrants to make the dangerous journey to the United States,” the lawsuit says. “The government cannot, therefore, use a purported lack of resources as an excuse to ignore congressional mandates.”

Moody warned that most people who claim asylum are ultimately denied, and many who claim asylum do so fraudulently.

“Once people are released into the interior, the federal government may never find them,” Moody’s office said.

Moody’s office said that the United States, since President Biden took office in January, has released at least 225,000 migrants at the border.

DESANTIS REQUESTS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION STOP RESETTLING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN FLORIDA

Moody argued that those illegal border crossers come to Florida– a state that spends more than $100 million per year incarcerating criminal illegal aliens, and provides a number of other services to unlawfully present individuals, including education, substance abuse treatment, crime victim’s services, and emergency medical services.

Florida is asking the court to “hold unlawful and set aside” the Biden administration’s policy of “releasing arriving aliens subject to mandatory detention, of paroling aliens without engaging in case-by-case adjudication or abiding by the other limits on that authority; and of failing to serve charging documents or initiate removal proceedings against plainly inadmissible aliens who are being released into the interior of the United States.”

Florida is also asking the court to issue “permanent injunctive relief,” compel the Biden administration to comply with requirements pursuant to U.S. code; issue declaratory relief declaring the policy unlawful’ and award Florida costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.

The lawsuit comes after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered more than 200,000 migrants at the southern border in August–the second month in a row where the number has been over the 200,000 mark as migrants continue to attempt to enter the U.S.

Additionally, the 208,887 number for August represents a 317% increase over last August 2020 which saw 50,014 encounters — and a 233% increase over August 2019, where there were 62,707 amid that year’s border crisis.

In August, 49% of apprehensions were single adults, down 7% from July, and 44% of migrants overall were expelled via Title 42 public health protections put in place under the Trump administration and extended by the Biden administration.

The Biden administration has been expelling single adults and some migrant families under the order, implemented due to COVID-19, but has not been expelling unaccompanied children or migrant families with young children.

There were 18,847 encounters of unaccompanied children in August, down slightly from July, and 86.487 encounters of family units, marking a 4% increase over July. Just 19% of encounters involving family unit individuals resulted in a Title 42 expulsion.

The lawsuit also comes after DeSantis, last month, wrote to the Biden administration asking that it stop resettling illegal immigrants in Florida. DeSantis asked that administration officials either deport them or instead send them to a state that supports the “flouting of our immigration laws.”

The Florida governor cited Border Patrol statistics that 59,691 immigrants were issued either a notice to appear in court or an order of recognizance in July alone, and that as of June, 6,254 unaccompanied children had been released to sponsors in Florida this fiscal year.

BIDEN WARNS MOUNTED BORDER PATROL AGENTS CHARGING MIGRANTS IN DEL RIO SECTOR: ‘THOSE PEOPLE WILL PAY’

DeSantis, one of a number of Republican governors who has objected to the Biden administration’s immigration policies and has blamed them for fueling the surge at the border, told Mayorkas not to resettle migrants in the Sunshine State.

“I ask that DHS immediately cease any further resettlement of illegal aliens in Florida and that the aliens instead be removed from the United States or resettled in states that support the administration’s continued flouting of our immigration laws,” he said.

“Floridians welcome responsible immigration that serves the interests of Florida and the American people, but we cannot abide the lawlessness that your department is aiding and abetting on the southwest border,” he wrote.

A DHS spokesperson told Fox News in a statement that DHS policy remains that single adults and families are removed under Title 42. Those who Mexico will not take are transported to an ICE facility are released with either a notice to appear or a notice to report at an ICE office.

“As part of the process, Border Patrol agents collect biometric and biographic information – fingerprints, photos, phone numbers, and an address in the United States – and run a background check to identify criminals or those who pose a public safety risk,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that many immigrants are “proactively reaching out to ICE to begin their official immigration processing, including by receiving a Notice to Appear” and that community partners also play a role in getting individuals to report to ICE and court.

SCOTUS ‘REMAIN IN MEXICO’ RULING’ MARKS LATEST IMMIGRATION DEFEAT FOR BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

“Those who do not report, like anyone who is in our country without legal status, are subject to removal by ICE,” they said.

The Biden administration has faced fierce criticism for its handling of the crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border, which Republican critics have blamed on the dramatic rollback of Trump-era policies like border wall construction and the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). It has also narrowed interior Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) priorities and pushed hard for legalization of illegal immigrants already in the country. It has also been releasing migrants into the interior, processing UACs to sponsors already in the country and releasing migrant families — angering Republican governors and other lawmakers.

The Biden administration has pushed back, blaming the Trump administration for sealing off legal pathways to asylum, while emphasizing the role that root causes — like poverty, violence and corruption in Central America — play in encouraging migrants to travel north.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the administration intended to continue with its border strategy, which he said involves rebuilding “safe, legal and orderly pathways for migrants,” improving processing, and going after smugglers.

“We have a plan, we are executing our plan and that takes time,” he said in July when he announced border numbers.

He also told Border agents in audio leaked to Fox News that the situation is “unsustainable.”

“A couple of days ago I was down in Mexico, and I said look, you know, if, if our borders are the first line of defense, we’re going to lose and this is unsustainable,” Mayorkas said. “We can’t continue like this, our people in the field can’t continue and our system isn’t built for it.”

Liz Cheney headed to New Hampshire in November, sparking 2024 speculation

In a move that will spark speculation about her potential national ambitions, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming will headline an awards dinner later this autumn in New Hampshire, the state that for a century has held the first presidential primary in the race for the White House.

Cheney, one of the most well-known and vocal members of the small group of GOP lawmakers and leaders opposed to former President Trump, will be the featured speaker at the annual Nackey S. Loeb School’s First Amendment Honors program on Nov. 9. The former president and his allies have backed a primary challenger to Cheney when she’s up for reelection next year as Trump aims to oust Cheney from Congress.

FORMER PRESIDENT BUSH TO FUNDRAISE FOR LIZ CHENEY, SETTING UP CLASH WITH TRUMP

The school was named after its founder, the late publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader. New Hampshire’s largest newspaper, which was first to report the Cheney visit, noted that the event “honors individuals or groups who have in some extraordinary way exercised or sought to protect the Constitution’s First Amendment rights of free speech, assembly, press, religion or government petition.”

Cheney, in a statement, said she was honored to participate.

“Protecting our First Amendment freedoms is at the heart of our responsibility as elected officials,” Cheney wrote. “I look forward to helping to recognize New Hampshire citizens and organizations who are working to defend those freedoms.”

The event will be held for the first time at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, which has become a must-stop for White House hopefuls over the past two decades.

“In recent times, no other American figure has been closer to the freedom afforded by the First Amendment than Rep. Cheney,” Neil Levesque, the institute’s executive director, told Fox News in a statement. “It is a testament to the Nackey Loeb School’s national reach that she is coming to speak.”

TRUMP BACKS CANDIDATE IN CROWDED WYOMING GOP HOUSE PRIMARY TO OUST CHENEY

Trump was a past featured speaker at the event. His headlining of the gala in the autumn of 2014 was one of his first trips to New Hampshire as he began exploring a potential run for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.

Cheney, in April, didn’t close any doors to a potential 2024 White House run.

“I’m not going to rule anything in or out. Ever is a long time,” the third-ranking GOP lawmaker in the House of Representatives told the New York Post in an interview. Cheney, who at the time was attending the House Republican retreat in Orlando, Florida, was asked if she’d consider a 2024 presidential bid.

CHENEY DOESN’T CLOSE ANY DOORS TO A 2024 RUN

Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, was the most senior of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump on a charge of inciting the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by right-wing extremists and other Trump supporters, who aimed to disrupt congressional certification of Trump’s presidential election defeat to now-President Biden.

Cheney immediately came under verbal attack by Trump and his allies, but in February she easily crushed an effort by Trump loyalists in the House to dump her from her leadership position as House Republican Conference chair.

CHENEY TELLS FOX NEWS SUNDAY TRUMP SUPPORTERS WERE ‘MISLED … BETRAYED’

Trump continued to target Cheney as well as the other nine House Republicans who voted to impeach him and the seven GOP senators who voted to convict him in his impeachment trial in February. And in May she was ousted from her No. 3 House GOP Republican leadership position.

Cheney has been very vocal in emphasizing the importance of defending the nation’s democratic process and in May gave a well-covered speech in the House chamber about putting love and defense of the country above partisan politics. She’s one of only two Republicans serving on a special committee organized by House Democrats to investigate the insurrection at the Capitol.

CHENEY FUNDRAISING SURGE CONTINUES AS WYOMING CONGRESSWOMAN SETS SECOND STRAIGHT RECORD

Stepping up his efforts to oust Cheney, Trump earlier this month backed one of the candidates hoping to defeat Wyoming’s at-large House member in next year’s election. The former president endorsed lawyer and former gubernatorial candidate Harriet Hageman, writing in a release put out by his political action committee that “Harriet is all in for America First.”

After Trump pilloried Cheney as “the Democrats number one provider of soundbites,” she fired back on Twitter, writing, “Here’s a sound bite for you: Bring it.”

After making his endorsement, Trump and his allies successfully urged some, but not all, of the other anti-Cheney candidates to drop out of the primary and coalesce around Hageman.

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The attacks this year by Trump have fueled Cheney’s fundraising. She raised a record $1.5 million during the first three months of the year, and as Fox News first reported, the congresswoman topped that with a roughly $1.9 million haul during the April-June second quarter of fundraising. Former Republican House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan have helped raise campaign cash for Cheney.

Former President George W. Bush will headline a fundraiser for Cheney in Texas next month.

With 13 months until midterms, 4 senators mum on if they’re running for reelection in 2022

The 2022 midterm elections are just over 13 months away.

While that may seem like a long time to go, the race has long been well underway, with contenders announcing their candidacies, fundraising in full swing, and campaign ads already running in hot contests across the country.

Republicans are defending 20 of the 34 Senate seats up for grabs next year, but they need a net gain of just one seat to win back the majority in the chamber they lost when the Democrats swept January’s twin Georgia Senate runoff elections.

FIVE BIG QUESTIONS AS THE GOP TRIES TO WIN BACK THE SENATE MAJORITY IN 2022

The oldest member of the Senate – 88-year-old GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley – on Friday said that he would seek reelection next year to another six-year term.

Grassley’s announcement leaves four remaining senators – three Republicans and one Democrat – who have not yet spelled out if they’re running for reelection next year.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.

Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., talks with a reporter before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Dec. 16, 2020. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Sen. Ron Johnson has yet to say if he’s seeking a third term in the 2022 midterms. Johnson vowed in 2016 to only serve two-terms, but he’s left open the possibility of running again.

“I have plenty of time to make that decision,” Johnson told reporters last month.

TRUMP URGES ‘RUN RON, RUN’ AS HE GIVES UNDECIDED JOHNSON HIS ENDORSEMENT

Johnson has said he feels no pressure to decide anytime soon, noting that he didn’t launch his first Senate campaign in 2010 until seven months before the election.

Democrats are targeting the GOP-held seat in Wisconsin, a key battleground state which now-President Biden narrowly captured in last November’s election.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a Senate Transportation subcommittee hybrid hearing on transporting a coronavirus vaccine on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020, in Washington. (Samuel Corum/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Sen. John Thune, who as Senate minority whip is the No. 2 Republican in the chamber, has not said yet if he’ll run in 2022 for a fourth six-year term.

Thune is next in line to lead his party in the chamber if Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, the longtime senator from Kentucky, retires in the coming years. The senator has said he’s dong the necessary things to prepare for another run, but hasn’t made any formal announcement.

NUMBER TWO SENATE REPUBLICAN FACING 2022 PRIMARY CHALLENGER

Thune incurred the wrath of former President Trump during the final days of the Trump presidency for publicly acknowledging that Biden won the 2020 presidential election, and he’s currently facing what appears to be a long-shot primary challenge from the right in the solidly red state of South Dakota.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee business meeting in Washington on Thursday, March 4, 2021. (Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski has also yet to file for reelection.

Trump has vowed to campaign against Murkowski if she runs in 2022, as she was one of seven Republicans in the Senate to vote to convict Trump in his impeachment trial earlier this year, following the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by right-wing extremists aiming to disrupt congressional certification of Biden’s election victory.

Trump has endorsed Republican candidate Kelly Tshibaka, who’s challenging Murkowski. And the Alaska GOP has endorsed Tshibaka’s campaign too.

TRUMP ENDORSES MURKOWSKI CHALLENGER IN ALASKA SENATE RACE

But Murkowski has the support of the NRSC, which backs Senate GOP incumbents running for reelection. And earlier this year the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), which is aligned with McConnell, announced that it was endorsing Murkowski for reelection.

Murkowski is no stranger to fierce opposition from her own party. When she was running for reelection in 2010, the senator lost the GOP primary to Tea Party challenger Joe Miller, who was backed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — then at the pinnacle of her political influence. But Murkowski, following her primary defeat, launched a write-in campaign and won the general election.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

Sen. Patrick Leahy on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 1, 2019. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Sen. Patrick Leahy, who was first elected to the Senate in 1974, has yet to announce whether he’ll seek another term in next year’s midterm elections.

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“I don’t even think of it and I really put it out of my mind until the winter before,” the 81-year-old Leahy told reporters in Vermont this summer.

If Leahy, chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee, runs and wins a ninth term, he would surpass the late Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia to become the longest-serving senator in history by the end of his term.

New Dem group aims to ‘put the nail in the coffin of the abortion industry’

Terrisa Bukovinac speaks in front of the Supreme Court. Photo credit Terrisa Bukovinac. (Terrisa Bukovinac)

Early next month, one day before the Women’s March, an outspoken pro-life Democrat will launch a new organization dedicated to uniting feminists and progressives against abortion and pressuring the Democratic Party to oppose the killing of unborn babies.

Terrisa Bukovinac, a self-identified Democrat liberal atheist who founded Pro-Life San Francisco and temporarily served as the president of Democrats for Life of America, is set to announce the name of her new organization at a launch event in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 1, featuring 20 young progressive activists. Bukovinac explained to Fox News, “The Democratic establishment is completely out of touch with their constituents on the issue of abortion.”

She said that while the DNC has been “radically pro-abortion,” most Democrats still have supported restrictions on the practice.

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She cited Marist polling finding that only 27% of self-identified Democrats say they would allow a woman to get an abortion at any point during pregnancy, while 58% of them say abortion should be restricted to the first three months of pregnancy, allowed only in cases of rape, incest or to save the mother’s life, or banned completely.

Pro-life Democrats protest at the DNC in 2020. Terrisa Bukovinac shouts in a microphone with Matt Tuman, board chair of Democrats for Life of America, marching behind her and Herb Geraghty, executive director of Rehumanize International, at the right. (Maria Oswalt)

Bukovinac accused the Democratic Party and abortion providers of “silencing and stigmatizing” pro-life liberals and Democrats, in part by insisting that only Catholics or Christians oppose abortion, when secular people have always been part of the pro-life movement.

Her new organization “will create a space for left-leaning people who oppose abortion,” she told Fox News. “The unjust killing of the unborn is a violation of our progressive values of equality, nonviolence and nondiscrimination.”

“The scientific position is that life begins at conception,” Bukovinac argued. Disagreeing with the Bible shouldn’t make a person “think it’s OK to unjustly end the lives of 60 million unborn human beings.”

“Denying the humanity of the unborn is science denial, it is literally anti-progressive,” she said, claiming that denying rights to unborn babies was a form of “ableist” discrimination. “The expansion of rights to those who are marginalized is what progress is all about.”

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Bukovinac said abortion intersected with many key progressive issues, such as combatting racism. She also said abortion providers were “exploiting” Black women, who have been disproportionately more likely to undergo abortions.

She also noted that Lothrop Stoddard, who helped Margaret Sanger found the organization now known as Planned Parenthood, was a White supremacist. Stoddard, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, was said to have influenced Nazi Germany’s approach to race.

Kay Fellows, a liberal pro-life activist, protests at the Supreme Court. (Photo credit: Maria Oswalt) (Maria Oswalt)

“On the left, we recognize that racism exists in every part of our society. Not only does it exist at Planned Parenthood, but it is the reason this industry exists at all,” Bukovinac said. “We cannot dismantle White supremacy without dismantling Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry.”

Planned Parenthood has faced a reckoning over Sanger’s views. “We must fully take responsibility for the harm that Sanger caused to generations of people with disabilities and Black, Latino, Asian-American, and Indigenous people,” the organization’s president and CEO, Alexis McGill Johnson, wrote in a New York Times op-ed earlier this year. “Margaret Sanger harmed generations with her beliefs.”

Planned Parenthood also removed Sanger’s name from its New York City clinic last year.

Speaking about her new organization, Bukovinac declared, “We are willing to actually put our bodies in between the oppressor and the oppressed and that will be the nail in the coffin of the abortion industry.”

Herb Geraghty, executive director of Rehumanize International, protests with Maria Oswalt and Kirsten Vail, liberal pro-life activists. (Photo credit: Terrisa Bukovinac) (Terrisa Bukovinac)

She also framed her new organization as an important government outreach for the pro-life movement with Democrats in control of Congress and the White House.

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Herb Geraghty, executive director of Rehumanize International, speaks in a megaphone. (Maria Oswalt)

She had some rather harsh words for the president.

“I think President Biden is a traitor to our party. He’s a traitor to human rights. He’s completely untrustworthy on this issue,” she said, noting that Biden reversed his decadeslong support for the Hyde Amendment in 2019. The Hyde Amendment bars the use of federal funding to pay for most abortions.

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Even so, Bukovinac expressed optimism that “victory is absolutely possible.” She acknowledged hoping the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade, a step that she described as “merely the beginning.”

The Democratic National Committee did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

Milley, Austin, McKenzie to testify on chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal at Senate hearing

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and head of U.S. Central Command Gen. Kenneth McKenzie are set to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee Wednesday morning and are expected to face a grilling from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle over the Biden administration’s chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The hearing comes nearly a month after the Biden administration, on Aug. 31, withdrew all U.S. military assets from the region after having a presence there for 20 years following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

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The top military officials are expected to take questions on a number of factors – including their plans leading up to the withdrawal, their plans for evacuating Americans and Afghan allies from the country and the Aug. 26 suicide bombing outside of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport.

The bombing took the lives of 13 U.S. service members – including 11 Marines, one Navy sailor and one Army soldier. Eighteen other U.S. service members were wounded. The bombing also left more than 150 civilians dead.

As the Biden administration began the withdrawal of military assets, provincial capitals across Afghanistan began to fall to the Taliban. By mid-August, the Taliban attained control of two-thirds of Afghanistan. And by the time the U.S. withdrew all U.S. troops from the country on Aug. 31, Kabul had also fallen to the Taliban. In mid-August, U.S. intelligence assessments projected the capital city could fall to the Taliban within 90 days.

Austin, Milley and McKenzie are also likely to face questions on the botched U.S. drone strike in Kabul on Aug. 29 aimed at ISIS-K terrorists. The Pentagon later admitted that it was unlikely any ISIS-K members were killed in the strike and it instead led to multiple civilian casualties – including seven children.

In this June 17, 2021, file photo, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley talk before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool via AP) (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool via AP)

The drone strike, which was intended to target ISIS-K operatives, resulted in the deaths of an aid worker and up to nine of his family members, including seven children. According to U.S. officials, the strike on the vehicle, formerly believed to have been a threat that included bombs and that was operated by ISIS-K militants, took place after the suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members.

PENTAGON: ‘NO QUESTION’ AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL MAKES IDENTIFYING TERROR THREATS MORE DIFFICULT

Prior to the Pentagon’s admission, Milley defended the strike as “righteous,” but later, described it as a “horrible tragedy of war,” and said the Pentagon is “committed to being fully transparent about this incident.”

The withdrawal concluded on Aug. 31, with administration officials admitting to leaving more than 100 American citizens behind. Administration officials, though, said their mission in Afghanistan had shifted from a military mission to a diplomatic one, with some saying they were working with the Taliban to ensure safe passage for those Americans and U.S. visa holders, as well as some Afghan allies, to evacuate the country.

Since the withdrawal, Austin and other top military officials have admitted that without troops on the ground in Afghanistan it will “no question” be “more difficult” to identify and counter terror threats from the region.

Austin said officials are “committed to making sure that that threats are not allowed to develop … that could create significant challenges for us in the homeland.”

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And earlier this month, Austin said it is “possible” that the U.S. will work with the Taliban against ISIS-K in Afghanistan.

Separately, Milley is expected to face questions about revelations published in the new book “Peril” co-authored by Washington Post correspondents Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.

The allegations, made public earlier this month, said Milley made two secret phone calls, both to his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army, during the Trump administration. The book alleges that the phone calls took place prior to the 2020 presidential election, on Oct. 30, 2020, and then two days after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, on Jan. 8, 2021.

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The book claims Milley contacted Li after he had reviewed intelligence that suggested Chinese officials believed the United States was planning an attack on China amid military exercises in the South China Sea. The authors of the book also claim Milley contacted Li a second time to reassure him that the U.S. would not make any type of advances or attack China in any form, as Milley promised, “We are 100% steady. Everything’s fine. But democracy can be sloppy sometimes.”

Col. Dave Butler, Milley’s spokesperson, has defended the talks, saying the conversations are “vital” to “reducing tensions” and “avoiding unintended consequences or conflict,” maintaining that the calls were coordinated with high-level defense officials.

“The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs regularly communicates with Chiefs of Defense across the world, including with China and Russia. These conversations remain vital to improving mutual understanding of U.S. national security interests, reducing tensions, providing clarity and avoiding unintended consequences or conflict,” Butler said earlier this month.

Butler said Milley’s calls “with the Chinese and others in October and January were in keeping with these duties and responsibilities conveying reassurance in order to maintain strategic stability.”

“All calls from the Chairman to his counterparts, including those reported, are staffed, coordinated and communicated with the Department of Defense and the interagency,” Butler said.

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“Also in keeping with his responsibilities as senior military advisor to the President and Secretary of Defense, General Milley frequently conducts meetings with uniformed leaders across the Services to ensure all leaders are aware of current issues,” Butler continued. “The meeting regarding nuclear weapons protocols was to remind uniformed leaders in the Pentagon of the long-established and robust procedures in light of media reporting on the subject.”

Butler added: “General Milley continues to act and advise within his authority in the lawful tradition of civilian control of the military and his oath to the Constitution.”

Since the revelations, Milley has faced calls to resign. But President Biden has said he has full confidence in the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

‘Woke’ issues distracted leaders from Afghanistan, former military officials say

As the Senate Armed Services Committee gets ready to grill military leaders about the Afghanistan debacle on Tuesday, multiple recent Department of Defense officials tell Fox News that an internal focus on left-wing cultural battles likely distracted top brass from Afghanistan planning and military readiness.

One former senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that under President Biden, top officials held meetings on “culture war” issues every week, and sometimes more. The roster of those attending included Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the secretaries of all the military departments, that official said.

“They never met once on readiness. But they met every week on transgender issues, extremism, racism, sexual assault, sexual harassment, et cetera,” a former official said, adding that that the focus likely distracted from Afghanistan planning.

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“There’s only 168 hours in a week. They were spending all their time on these things, particularly early on. Yes, they were distracted,” an official said.

The U.S. military was slow to adjust its withdrawal plans even as the Taliban began taking the country piece by piece throughout the summer, culminating in the fall of Kabul and the seizure of billions of dollars of U.S.-supplied military equipment.

“The political leadership are unfocused on mission. They’re focused on just waging a culture war against our service members,” an official said.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, right, answers a question during a briefing with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, left, at the Pentagon in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021, about the end of the war in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Military leaders maintain that they lead an “apolitical” military and say the focus on cultural issues is necessary to ensure fair treatment of everyone in the military.

“I want America to know that the United States military is an apolitical institution,” Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in July.

But the information provided to Fox from insiders comes on the heels of a host of political controversies for the military, such as the White House’s appointment of Bishop Garrison to senior adviser and head of the Pentagon’s “Countering Extremism Working Group”.

Garrison tweeted in 2019 that Trump backers were supporters of racism, misogyny and extremism. “Support for [Trump], a racist, is support for ALL his beliefs,” Garrison argued.

The Navy also faced criticism in March after leaked slides from the military’s “extremism” training said sailors could not discuss “politically partisan” subjects on duty but that advocating for Black Lives Matter while on duty was acceptable.

Another controversy came when the Navy placed “How to be an Anti-Racist” by Ibram Kendi on its recommended reading list. Despite its title, critics consider the book itself to be racist, citing words from the book such as “the only remedy to racist discrimination is antiracist discrimination” and the book’s opposition to a color-blind society.

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The so-called “woke” ideology exemplified by that book has led to trainings that many also call racist. Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. Dan Crenshaw have created a tip line for soldiers to report “woke” mismanagement and have received hundreds of tips.

“An airman told us their unit was forced into a racist exercise called a privilege walk, where members of the wing were ordered to separate themselves by race and gender, in order to stratify people based on their perceived privilege,” Cotton said in hearings this year.

“One Marine told us that a military history training session was replaced with mandatory training on police brutality, White privilege and systemic racism,” Cotton noted.

“A member of the Special Operations community has told us that they are being instructed that, ‘The U.S. special operations community is racist,’” the senator added.

Cotton’s report also cited servicemembers who were angry, citing a Navy lieutenant who said, “sometimes I think we care more about whether we have enough diversity officers than if we’ll survive a fight with the Chinese navy.”

“It’s criminal. They think my only value is as a Black woman. But you cut our ship open with a missile and we’ll all bleed the same color,” the lieutenant continued.

A senior official who spoke to Fox noted that the trust squandered by “woke” political actions had devastating consequences, especially in light of Afghanistan.

“Disasters happen all the time, to all kinds of administrations,” the official said. “So that’s when you need bipartisan support, right? It’s right now that military leaders need the support of the force — they need our service members to think that they’re credible leaders. They don’t have that. Our service members don’t trust them. They need the support of the American people, too. And a large fraction of the American people just watched the last eight months and said, ‘These people don’t have our country’s interest at heart.’”

Military leaders have often cited the need for a more inclusive military as the reason for their focus on rooting out extremism, racism and sexual harassment. But a senior official who spoke to Fox said these problems had been exaggerated beyond what the data support.

“There’s 2 million service members. They were seeing only a few dozen individuals who were hanging out on these real wack-job websites saying, ‘We’re going to tear down the government.’”

“A few dozen out of 2 million — that is peanuts. Still they made the entire military take a day off of training to talk about extremism,” a senior official said.

A senior official also discussed who exactly was behind the “woke” push, suggesting that Austin may be the least ideological of the top brass.

“The White House also put all these staffers in, and these were not Austin’s people. Austin is surrounded – his chief of staff, the special assistant for extremism, the special assistant for climate change, the special assistant for COVID, by all these White House extremists. They were trying to control Austin, and they were trying to control the information flow through to him,” an official said.

“The Department of Defense is a multi-tiered organization with the ability to focus on various missions – from combat to humanitarian – while ensuring the preparedness and readiness of our forces as well as holding our members to the highest standards of conduct,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told Fox News in an emailed statement.

“Secretary Austin is committed to maintaining and enhancing the combat readiness needed to defend our nation from enemies foreign and domestic, which means the Department places high importance on treating all personnel with dignity and respect.”

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Asked how different things were between the Trump and Biden administrations, a former senior official laughed.

“Oh my goodness. The last administration was so different … Leaders were going though war plans. Planning an audit, trying to improve efficiency,” the former senior official said.

Under Trump, officials focused on three primary objectives: “Increasing lethality and readiness, strengthening relationships with allied partners, and department reform,” an official said.

Politics

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

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