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    House Republicans call for Biden Administration to address nationwide baby formula shortage

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    EXCLUSIVE: More than 100 House Republicans are calling on the Biden Administration and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to immediately address the ongoing baby formula shortage that has left parents scrambling to feed their infants. 

    Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee led a letter with 106 GOP lawmakers to the White House and the FDA commissioner Robert M. Califf Wednesday seeking data on the nationwide shortages and demanding answers as to what the Administration is doing to address the empty store shelves. 

    “This issue is a matter of life and death, and it is time this administration treats it with the appropriate urgency it deserves,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter obtained first by Fox News Digital. 

    BABY FORMULA SHORTAGE SENDS TENNESSEE MOM OF 8-MONTH-OLD INTO A ‘PANIC’: ‘I BROKE DOWN’

    Parents across the nation have been panicked and desperate as supply disruptions and a massive safety recall by manufacturer Abbott have created widespread shortages. For the first week of May, the nationwide out-of-stock percentage for baby formula rose to 43%, according to Datasembly, which tracks product data for retailers. That’s up from 30% at the start of April. 

    CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JANUARY 13: Baby formula is offered for sale at a big box store on January 13, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. Baby formula has been is short supply in many stores around the country for several months. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

    “This issue has been compounded by supply chain challenges, product recalls and historic inflation,” CEO of Datasembly Ben Reich said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The category started to see stocking challenges beginning in July 2021, and the situation has continued to worsen into 2022.”

    Abbott in February recalled powdered formula sold under the labels Similac, Alimentum and EleCare after four infants were sick with bacterial infections, including two who died. Abbott closed its plant in Sturgis, Mich., that produced the formula.

    STEFANIK, HINSON DEMAND FDA ADDRESS BABY FORMULA SHORTAGE, BLAME BIDEN’S POLICIES: ‘FAMILIES DESERVE BETTER

    Both the White House and the FDA said they are working to address the shortages.

    “Ensuring that infant formula is safe and available for families across the country is a top priority to the White House and this administration,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House principal deputy press secretary, said Wednesday. 

    She said April sales of formula were up about 10 percent from March and consumers should be able to find general powdered infant formula in stores as the FDA is working with the industry to maximize production capabilities and supply lines here and abroad. 

    “This is an urgent issue that the FDA, as you all know, and the White House is working 24/7 to address,” Jean-Pierre told reporters. 

    White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks at a press briefing at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) ((AP Photo/Andrew Harnik))

    The FDA issued an update on Tuesday on its plan to address the baby formula shortages. In a statement to Fox News Digital, the agency said it is “using all available tools” to ensure access to safe products. The agency said it is closely working with Abbott to resume the safe resumption of production at the Sturgis facility.  

    PARENTS ‘PANICKING’ TO FIND BABY FORMULA SOUND ALARM ON NATIONWIDE SHORTAGE: ‘NOTHING ON THE SHELVES’

    “Our first and foremost priority is ensuring that any recalled product remains off the market and we are working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and manufacturers to ensure that parents have access to alternative, safe infant formula,” the FDA said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “We will and must continue focusing on taking all steps possible to protect the health of those who rely on safe powdered infant formula.”

    Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee announced Wednesday they would convene a hearing on the baby formula shortages on May 25. 

    Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said he commends the Biden Administration and the FDA’s recent actions to increase the supply. The focus of the hearing will be on better understanding the causes of the shortages and what more needs to be done.

    “The nationwide infant formula shortages are increasingly alarming and demand Congress’ immediate attention,” Pallone said in a statement. 

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    But Republicans on the committee – led by Ranking Member Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington – say the Biden Administration was “too late” in addressing the shortages.  They submitted a series of questions to the Administration on the scope of the problem.

    Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., speaks during the House Republican Conference news conference in the Capitol on Tuesday, February 8, 2022. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

    “Baby formula shortages are an urgent problem that must be addressed immediately,” the lawmakers wrote. “House Republicans call on the administration to do more to help parents across this country.”

    Fox News’ Kelly Laco contributed to this report. 

    Senate fails to advance bill to guarantee abortion access nationwide

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    A Democratic-led bill to guarantee abortion access nationwide failed to advance in the Senate Wednesday in a show vote designed to draw sharp political lines ahead of the midterm elections.

    Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act. It needed 60 votes to advance, but died in a 51 to 49 vote with West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin joining with all Republicans in voting no.  

    President Biden immediately condemned Republicans for blocking the abortion rights legislation at a time when “women’s constitutional rights are under unprecedented attack.” He called on voters to elect more Democrats in November, so the legislation can get passed next year. 

    “Republicans in Congress – not one of whom voted for this bill – have chosen to stand in the way of Americans’ rights to make the most personal decisions about their own bodies, families and lives,” Biden said in a statement. “To protect the right to choose, voters need to elect more pro-choice senators this November, and return a pro-choice majority to the House.”

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., pushed a vote on the legislation after a leaked Supreme Court opinion signaled the court would overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade opinion that legalized abortion nationwide. He called the bill “urgent” to prevent states from passing extreme anti-abortion legislation that “would send women’s rights back into the Stone Age.”

    MANCHIN TO VOTE NO ON DEMS’ ROE V. WADE BILL, SAYING IT GOES TOO FAR

    Manchin, a pro-life Democrat, said the legislation goes far beyond codifying the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision by wiping away state regulations, including bans on abortion earlier than 24 weeks.

    Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a key holdout vote on President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda, chairs a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    “Make no mistake, it is not Roe v. Wade codification,” Manchin said. “It is an expansion.”

    Even two pro-choice GOP senators — Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine – rejected the legislation as going too far by undercutting state limits on abortion, including bans on gender-based abortion. They wanted narrower legislation that would enshrine the legal right to abortion while protecting certain state regulations permitted under Roe. 

    Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, decried the Women’s Health Protection Act as a “radical, abortion on-demand bill” that will sweep away protections for religious liberty, conscience, taxpayer funding and partial-birth abortions. It “essentially makes abortion available on demand from the time of conception till the time of delivery,” he said. 

    Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, questions Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

    Democrats, however, framed the debate as chance for senators to show where they stand on women’s rights and warned that many will be hurt if abortion rights are rolled back and women are forced to stay pregnant.  

    “Let’s get something straight: overturning Roe isn’t going to stop abortions. It’s only going to stop women from getting safe abortions and women will die as a result,” said Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.

    FILE – In this May 1, 2019 file photo, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said women’s freedoms are in jeopardy with trigger laws already in place in at least 13 states that immediately roll back abortion access if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

    “The people of this country do not want to go backwards,” Klobuchar said. 

    Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., harkened back to the suffragette and civil rights movements. He said those who vote against the Women’s Health Protection Act are standing in the way of equality.  

    “It’s a vote against women, plain and simple,” Leahy said. 

    DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAS GONE TOO EXTREME ON ABORTION: PRO-LIFE DEMOCRATS

    The House already passed its version of the legislation back in September. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, was the only Democrat to vote against the legislation. Cuellar and Manchin are the only two reliably pro-life Democrats left in Congress. 

    Without a nationwide federal law on abortion, states would be left to decide abortion access if Roe v. Wade is overturned. That could set up a patchwork system where abortion is banned or severely restricted in sections of the country, but allowed in other parts – where women may have to travel great distances to see abortion providers.

    Pro-abortion rights activists protest outside the Supreme Court building, ahead of arguments in the Mississippi abortion rights case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, in Washington, December 1, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

    Recent Fox News polling shows more than six in 10 registered voters continue to believe the U.S. Supreme Court should uphold Roe v. Wade, but more than half favor banning abortions after 15 weeks.

    SCHUMER TO FORCE DOOMED ABORTION ‘SHOW VOTE,’ AS TOUGH MIDTERMS LOOM FOR DEMOCRATS

    The national poll was completed shortly before the recent leak of Associate Justice Samuel Alito’s draft majority opinion showing the high court may be poised to strike down the landmark Roe ruling.

    At issue for the Supreme Court is a Mississippi law that would ban abortions, except in certain cases, after 15 weeks of pregnancy and return the question of abortion and its legality back to the states.  

    Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said while the Democratic proposal was too extreme he wants to work across the aisle to build up care for pregnant women. 

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    “I want to lock arms with pro-life Democrats and work to build a culture of life,” Sasse said. “If we can pair pro-life laws with increased spending on prenatal care and safety nets for struggling moms, great – let’s do it.”

    Fox News’ Caroline McKee and Victoria Balara contributed to this report.  

    Democratic Party has gone too extreme on abortion: Pro-life Democrats

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    Pro-life Democrats say the party has gone too extreme on abortion and worry the legislation leadership is pushing this week to expand abortion access nationwide will alienate voters in an already tough midterm election. 

    Currently, there are only two consistently pro-life Democrats left in Congress – one in each chamber – as the national Democratic Party has taken the position that abortion is an essential health care. With the Supreme Court poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, Democrats in the Senate will seek to codify the right to an abortion into federal law with a vote Wednesday that is doomed to fail, but will lay the groundwork for midterm campaigning.

    But in a very crowded Democratic primary election in Chicago to succeed retiring Rep. Bobby Rush, one candidate is running on a pro-life platform that he hopes will propel him to Congress and force the Democratic Party to rethink its abortion stance.

    PRO-LIFE DEMOCRATS SOUND OFF ON SUPREME COURT LEAK, DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM NATIONAL PARTY LEADERS

    “My pro-life position is a distinguishing factor which is important in a 17-way race,” Democratic candidate Chris Butler told Fox News Digital. “If folks want to vote for somebody who is going to go to Congress and take the very unpopular position of abortion on-demand up to the ninth month of birth paid for by tax dollars… they’ve got 16 people to choose from.”

    “That’s the thing about the Democratic primary, if you do not sign on to that extreme orthodoxy, then you have only one candidate.”

    Chris Butler is a pro-life Democrat running in a crowded primary in Illinois’ First Congressional District to succeed the retiring Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill. (Photo courtesy of Chris Butler campaign )

    Butler, 37, is a pastor at Chicago Embassy Church Network and said it’s a “huge mistake” for the Democratic Party to position itself as pro-abortion which signals to certain people of faith there’s “no room” for them. Butler is endorsed by former Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski, a longtime anti-abortion Democrat in Congress who was booted out of office by a pro-choice challenger, Marie Newman, in 2020. 

    If he wins, Butler says his victory should “stir something” on the national level and help “the party to see that Democrats need to make room for pro-life Democrats in the party.”

    The bill Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is bringing for a vote Wednesday is the Women’s Health Protection Act. It’s been criticized by pro-choice Republican Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, as “overly broad,” including striking down state limits on abortion, even bans on gender-based abortion. 

    SCHUMER TO FORCE DOOMED ABORTION ‘SHOW VOTE,’ AS TOUGH MIDTERMS LOOM FOR DEMOCRATS

    Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats For Life of America, called out the Democratic Party for actively pushing out anti-abortion Democrats and going “way off the rails” with extreme abortion legislation, including the Women’s Health Protection Act.

    Kristen Day, Executive Director of Democrats For Life of America  (Democrats For Life of America)

    “It’s a huge mistake,” Day said of Schumer forcing a vote on the abortion bill. “He thinks he’s motivating his base, which maybe he is, but he already has that base. So who is he trying to reach? Because he’s alienating people like me with doubling down on this extreme abortion policy goes further than Roe. It’s like Roe on steroids. It basically eliminates all health and safety regulations across the nation.”

    Day worries the party is alienating some 20 million pro-life Democrats with its legislative agenda and official stance that “abortion is health care.” She calls that messaging “ridiculous.” Abortion, she said, “is the death penalty.”

    The House passed the Women’s Health Protection Act back in September and just one Democrat voted against it — moderate Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar — in a sign that the pro-life Democratic caucus is in the verge of extinction on the federal level.

    As a life-long Catholic, Cuellar said he’s pro-life and won’t support “extreme” positions like late-term or partial birth abortion. 

    Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., announced Tuesday he would join with Democrats in voting in favor of the bill to ensure access to abortion nationwide despite calling himself “pro-life.” The announcement is notable since he’s the son of the prominent pro-life former Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey who is the namesake of the landmark 1992 Supreme Court case on abortion restrictions, Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

    UNITED STATES – JANUARY 27: Sen. Bob Casey, Jr., D-Pa., walks through the Senate Reception Room to the Senate chamber for the start of the Senate impeachment trial proceedings on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. ( (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images))

    Day said the elder Casey was unapologetically pro-life and slammed the senator’s stance on Tuesday. “His spine must be made of jelly,” she said. 

    For his part, Sen. Casey said he’s concerned about a number of states banning abortion outright if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, as expected by the leaked draft opinion. He’s also troubled by Republicans in Congress seeking legislation to impose a six-week ban nationwide. 

    “I don’t support a ban on abortion,” Casey said Tuesday.

    The Senate abortion bill marks a political line in the sand, but it’s expected to fail Wednesday without the necessary 60 votes. 

    Republicans oppose the measure and they are likely to get the support from the one remaining pro-life Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. 

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the vote is needed to show Americans exactly “where their elected representatives in Congress stand.”

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    “Every senator will have to explain whether they defend the right of every person to have control over their own bodies and their own futures,” Warren said in a speech Tuesday. “Or whether they will stand by as women’s constitutional rights are brazenly stripped away.”

    Butler, the Democrat running in Chicago, said there should be no litmus test on abortion for Democrats. He wants the pro-life Democratic caucus in Congress to grow beyond Cuellar and Manchin.

    Pro-life Democrats who could be outstanding candidates are too afraid to run because “they know that the party … would rather smack them down on this one issue than see them provide leadership,” Butler said.

    Fox News’ Caroline McKee and Tyler Olson contributed to this report. 

    Elise Stefanik endorses Indiana veteran vying to make history in Congress

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    EXCLUSIVE: An Indiana congressional race once considered solidly Democratic is getting national attention as a possible GOP pick-up opportunity in November — with a history-making candidate. 

    Jennifer-Ruth Green, an Air Force veteran, pilot and backer of former President Trump’s “America First” policies, won the GOP primary election Tuesday to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District. If successful on Nov. 8, she’d be poised to become the only Republican Black woman in Congress.

    “I have the opportunity to be a different kind of messenger,” Green told Fox News Digital of bringing Republican policies to minority communities.  “Eighteen months ago, we were better off. I think that resonates across the board. But having someone who looks like you say it, it’s been an opportunity for me to be able to get into places where perhaps other people couldn’t.”

    INDIANA VETERAN COULD BECOME ONLY BLACK GOP CONGRESSWOMAN: ‘I’M EXHIBIT A AGAINST CRT’

    Green, who already has an endorsement from former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, got another big boost Thursday with Rep. Elise Stefanik, the House GOP conference chairwoman, backing her candidacy. The endorsement of Stefanik’s E-PAC carries with it campaign cash, support and a publicity boost.

    Jennifer-Ruth Green is the Republican nominee for Indiana’s 1st Congressional District. (Jennifer-Ruth Green campaign)

    “Jennifer-Ruth honorably serves as a Lt. Col in the Indiana Air National Guard, and when she wins on November 8, she will make history as the first Black woman veteran ever to serve in Congress,” Stefanik said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

    “As Republicans continue to make historic gains with Hispanic, Black and other minority communities, I couldn’t be prouder to endorse Jennifer-Ruth and help elevate her voice and incredible story.”

    Green, 40, is the founder of MissionAero Pipeline, a non-profit group that teaches at-risk youth the aerospace industry. Green is one of about 150 Black female professional pilots in the United States, and she’s striving to expand that number through her nonprofit youth work. 

    AIR FORCE VETERAN WINS PRIMARY, RUNS TO BECOME ONLY BLACK WOMAN REPUBLICAN IN CONGRESS

    Green said she’s humbled by Stefanik’s support during her first run at public elected office. 

    “She’s just a powerhouse,” Green said of Stefanik, who made history in 2014 when she became the youngest woman ever elected to the House at the age of 30.

    Jennifer-Ruth Green is the Republican nominee for Indiana’s 1st Congressional District. (Jennifer-Ruth Green campaign)

    “She stands for the America First movement. And her goal of electing women in Congress is something that she’s taken to heart,” Green added. “She continues to push forward to encourage others to be effective. That’s a sign of leadership. Leaders build leaders and that’s what she does.”

    Green will face incumbent Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan in November. Mrvan entered Congress in 2020 with the endorsement of longtime retiring Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., and the help of name recognition from his father, Frank Mrvan, who worked in Indiana Democratic politics for more than 40 years until retiring from the state Senate this year at the age of 88.

    The First District, based in Gary, Indiana, has been reliably Democratic for nearly a century. A Republican has not won the seat since 1928. Mrvan won the 2020 election with 56.6% of the vote.

    But national Republican groups have been eyeing the seat this year, thinking that President Biden’s low approval ratings and an anticipated red wave could mean Mrvan is vulnerable. Green also notes the district became a little more purple after redistricting, the once-a-decade redrawing of congressional lines. 

    REP. FRANK MRVAN SAYS DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEEDS TO DELIVER FOR WORKING MEN AND WOMEN

    Matt Calderon, Mrvan’s campaign manager, told Fox News Digital that Mrvan will serve the people of northwest Indiana better than his “extreme conservative opponent.”

    Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Ind., campaigning with steelworkers. (Frank Mrvan campaign)

    “Congressman Mrvan is running for re-election to continue to be a public servant and address the pressing issues of the day on behalf of the residents and families of the 1st Congressional District of Indiana,” Calderon said in a statement. “He is proud of his record in his first term in office, supporting the American Rescue Plan to rescue our economy, working families, schools and small businesses.”

    Calderon touted Mrvan’s work as the co-chair of the Congressional Steel Caucus and advancing strong Buy America requirements to support domestic manufacturing.

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    “Frank’s extreme conservative opponent and national Republicans do not know or represent the interests of Northwest Indiana,” Calderon said, “and Frank trusts that the voters will support his district-centric record of accomplishments that have helped get communities past the pandemic and made critical investments in the Northwest Indiana economy and have helped create more good-paying job opportunities.”

    Republican conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

    Stefanik’s E-PAC aims to increase the number of conservative women in Congress. Green is Stefanik’s 19th endorsement for the 2022 midterms. This cycle, E-PAC has already raised and donated more than $700,000 directly to GOP women running for Congress.

    “Vulnerable far-left Democrat Frank Mrvan is asleep at the wheel, while Jennifer-Ruth is fighting hard each day to bring the red tsunami to northwest Indiana,” Stefanik said in statement. “I look forward to working closely with Jennifer-Ruth to flip this key seat red and usher in the most historic and diverse class of GOP women ever in our nation’s history.”

     

    Republicans blast Mayorkas for pushing ‘absolutely shameful’ narrative about ‘domestic terrorism’

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    The inability of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this week to name a single case of domestic terrorism that his department has referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution has outraged Republicans and amplified their calls for Mayorkas to resign or be impeached.

    During testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, Mayorkas reaffirmed his assessment that “domestic violent extremism represents the greatest terrorism-related threat to the homeland.” 

    Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., pressed Mayorkas for data on any referrals he has made to the DOJ on the grounds of domestic terrorism. Mayorkas did not offer any, saying he would provide it after the hearing.

    MAYORKAS WON’T NAME 1 DOMESTIC TERROR, WHITE SUPREMACY CASE REFERRED TO DOJ

    Steube told Fox News Digital he hasn’t heard back from DHS, and he’s doubtful he’ll ever get a response. 

    Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas faced questions from Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., during a hearing April 28, 2022. (Fox News)

    In interviews with several GOP lawmakers following the testy exchange, Republicans accused the Biden Administration of overstating or even fabricating the threat of domestic terrorism as a way to avoid the real issue of the surge of migrant border crossings that have reached historically high numbers.

    “It tells you that they haven’t referred anybody from Homeland Security to DOJ on domestic terrorism or White nationalism-related charges,” Steube told Fox News Digital. “And it just goes to show you that the narrative that the Biden administration is trying to create that the No. 1 threat to the homeland is White nationalism and domestic terrorism isn’t true.”

    Steube supports Mayorkas’ impeachment if the GOP retakes Congress. 

    “They’re trying to avoid the clear threat to our democracy and to the safety and security of the American people at the southern border,” Steube said. 

    DHS did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital seeking data on domestic terrorism criminal referrals and further information on the DHS assessment that domestic terrorism is a greater threat to the homeland than the surge of immigrants at the border. 

    There were more than 1.7 million migrant encounters in FY 2021, and FY 2022 is on pace to exceed that, with what is expected to be more than 1 million encounters in the first six months of the fiscal year alone. At least 23 people coming across the southern border in 2021 were on the terror watch list. 

    BORDER PATROL STOPPED 23 PEOPLE ON TERRORIST DATABASE AT SOUTHERN BORDER IN 2021: CBP DATA

    “Democrats are absolutely gaslighting the American people,” Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said of Mayorkas’ domestic terrorism claims. “I do not believe that is the biggest threat to our homeland. Our biggest threat is the southern border and the invasion that is taking place.”

    Boebert backs impeachment and Friday authored legislation to defund another Mayorkas’ initiative — the “Disinformation Governance Board,” which is designed to root out misinformation. 

    Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., speaks at a news conference held by members of the House Freedom Caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 29, 2021, to complain about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and masking policies.  (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

    Rep. Jim Banks, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, accused President Biden’s homeland security chief of spreading falsehoods. Banks already led a letter with 130 fellow Republicans, including GOP leadership, that questioned Mayorkas’ “suitability for office.”

    “The Biden administration continues to shamelessly lie to the American people and uses ‘disinformation’ as a label to slander and discredit their critics,” Banks, R-Ind., said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Mayorkas’s inability to cite a single case of White supremacist terrorism, despite claiming it’s the single greatest threat to the nation, is exactly why DHS has created a new ‘Disinformation Governance Board.'”

    LAUREN BOEBERT LEADS EFFORT TO DEFUND BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S ‘DISINFORMATION’ BOARD

    House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa., scolded Mayorkas for focusing more on U.S. citizens than the “criminals and potential terrorists” crossing the border.  

    “His goal is to stigmatize Democrat political opponents by accusing them of being domestic terrorists but couldn’t name a single prosecution referral made to the Justice Department,” Perry told Fox News Digital. “He should be securing our nation from the invasion on our southern border and protecting Americans, instead of acting as the handmaiden for the messaging machine of the radical left.”

    During the hearing, Mayorkas touted efforts to root out domestic terrorism, including creating a new Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) to help communities prevent radicalization to violence and designating domestic violent extremism as a national priority area in FEMA grant programs. He also touted the creation of a dedicated domestic terrorism branch within the Department’s Office of Intelligence & Analysis that “has been disseminating an unprecedented level of information and intelligence” to state and local partners to counter threats. 

    “We remain vigilant against all forms of terrorism and targeted violence,” Mayorkas said. “The nature of these threats has evolved, but our vigilance and resolve are constant.”

    Mayorkas is not alone in his assessment that domestic violent extremism is the greatest terrorism related threat to the homeland. Other high-ranking officials in the Biden administration and congressional Democrats have shared the same message. 

    MAYORKAS SAYS WHITE SUPREMACISTS POSE ‘MOST PROMINENT THREAT’ TO US HOMELAND

    Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray have testified before Congress that domestic violent extremist groups, including White supremacists, pose a growing threat to the United States.

    “The threat of lethality is higher than it ever was … I have not seen a more dangerous threat to democracy than the invasion of the U.S. Capitol” on Jan. 6, Garland told a Senate committee in May, according to Reuters. 

    FBI Director Christopher A. Wray (Mark WIlson/Getty Images)

    Wray said in September 2021 the FBI has “surged” resources to handle a growing caseload, which has jumped from about 1,000 investigations in the spring of 2020 to about 2,700 investigations. 

    Wray said in congressional testimony the greatest terrorist threat in the U.S. is from lone actors. That includes homegrown jihadists espousing ISIS ideologies, as well as domestic violent extremists “radicalized by personalized grievances ranging from racial and ethnic bias to anti-government, anti-authority sentiment to conspiracy theories,” he said. 

    Wray classified the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as “domestic terrorism.” 

    Though Mayorkas didn’t mention this in his response to Steube Thursday, the Homeland Security leader previously pointed to the “repeated and persistent bomb threats” against Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as reason for concern. In talking about the threat of domestic violent extremism earlier this month, Mayorkas further specified that “the most prominent threat is the threat of White supremacists.”

    Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, Thursday, April 28, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

    This year, more than one-third of the country’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have received bomb threats, according to the White House. No explosive devices were found, but the campus disruptions and the fears the threats generated prompted the Biden Administration to announce new grant funding in March to HBCUs ranging from $50,000 to $150,000 per school affected.

    The FBI has investigated at least 59 threats of violence against HBCUs, including Howard University, since the beginning of the year, according to Inside Higher Ed. The threats are classified as racially motivated violent extremism and hate crimes, according to the FBI. 

    “This investigation is of the highest priority for the Bureau,” the FBI said in February. 

    House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., agrees with Mayorkas that domestic violent extremism represents the greatest terrorism threat to the homeland. His committee has held hearings examining the domestic terrorism threat, including against Black churches and colleges. 

    Thompson’s office points to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) 2022 official threat assessment report that said lone wolves and small terrorist cells motivated by various ideologies “probably present the greatest terrorist threat to the United States,” including racial/ethnic violent extremism and militia extremism. 

    House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., shares a similar concern. He opened the Mayorkas hearing on Thursday sounding the alarm on domestic terrorism.

    TOP HOUSE REPUBLICANS QUESTION MAYORKAS’ ‘SUITABILITY FOR OFFICE’ AMID BORDER CRISIS

    “America faces a multitude of challenges,” Nadler said Thursday. “But one of the greatest modern threats to our homeland is the danger posed by violent far-right extremists and White supremacists.”

    Nadler added that “2020 had the highest number of domestic terror incidents and plots in over 30 years; 66% of those were by White supremacists, extremist militia members and other violent far-right extremists.”

    Rep. August Pfluger R-Texas, talks with migrants he encountered at the Texas-Mexico border June 30, 2021.  (Jessica Weiner, Republican Study Committee)

    But Texas GOP Rep. August Pfluger, a former Air Force fighter pilot and former national security adviser to President Trump, said the American people just don’t believe the Biden administration’s threat assessment.

    “His testimony in front of Congress was absolutely shameful,” Pfluger told Fox News Digital. “He should be deployed to the southern border right now.”

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    Pfluger, who has called for Mayorkas’ resignation, said the pressing threats are not from domestic White supremacists, but from Russia, China, cyberattacks and people on the terror watch list coming across the southern border.

    “I’ve spent my entire professional career analyzing threats, fighting against those threats [and] strategizing how to put our country into a better position to deter those [threats],” Pfluger said. “It’s 100% political narrative. At what point in time is Secretary Mayorkas going to put patriotism over politics?”

    Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson gave repeat illegal immigrant drug offender ‘kid glove’ sentence

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    Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson once sentenced a previously-deported drug dealer to less than two years in prison, when prosecutors, defense and sentencing guidelines recommended a longer term behind bars. 

    Jackson acknowledged from the bench the sentencing guidelines called for 27 to 33 months in prison for Daniel Garcia-Guerrero of El Salvador. Both the prosecutor and the defense team had told Jackson they’d recommend the lower end of the guidance at 27 months.

    But Jackson told the defendant — who was previously convicted of dealing drugs in 2002 — that she’d sentence him below the guidelines at 21 months, noting when he returned illegally to the United States he did not commit an additional crime and there “were family circumstances that appeared to be the motivation for your return.”

    NEW AD CAMPAIGN ACCUSES JUDGE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON OF BEING TOO LENIENT ON ‘PEDOPHILES’

    “The Court believes that the just and appropriate sentence … does fall below the guideline range, both in fairness to you because you were told at the plea stage that the guideline range would be significantly lower and in light of the fact that you would be deported upon release,” Jackson said at the sentencing hearing in 2013, according to a court transcript obtained by Fox News Digital.

    Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

    The transcript was first reported by Breitbart News. 

    The case has come to light during Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation process as Republicans are digging through her sentencing record and noting patterns where Jackson deviated from guidelines to impose lesser sentences. Her record of handing down shorter sentences than the guidelines recommended for child pornography offenders has especially been condemned by Republicans. 

    Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans, led by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, highlighted this case as an example of Jackson being too lenient on certain criminals. She chose to give a “light” sentence to a felon who had reentered the U.S. after being deported once for selling crack cocaine, according to a press release from Grassley’s office.

    “Repeat illegal immigrant and drug dealer gets kid glove treatment,” the statement is titled. 

    GRAHAM FLIPS ON KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, WILL OPPOSE HER SUPREME COURT NOMINATION

    After being caught for reentering illegally in the United States, Garcia-Guerrero pleaded guilty and was before Jackson for sentencing in 2013. His defense lawyer told Jackson he initially came to the United States from El Salvador for a better life and started dealing drugs as “an act of desperation.”

    Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, left, listens as Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, speaks during Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

    He was convicted on the drug offense in 2003 and sent to prison. Afterwards he was deported to El Salvador in 2008. Garcia-Guerrero asked Jackson for forgiveness for returning to the United States in 2013 for the birth of his daughter and told Jackson he was a changed man.

    KETANJI BROWN JACKSON CONFIRMATION: SENATORS SPAR ON ‘SOFT ON CRIME;’ JACKSON DEFENDS CHILD PORN SENTENCES

    “I have become a new person,” Garcia-Guerrero told Jackson. “And when I came back here, I didn’t come back with the intention of doing anything bad or doing any harm. I came because my child was about to be born. And I came because I had to find a way — I had to find a way to fight for the economic well-being of my daughter and my wife.”

    Jackson seemed to accept Garcia-Guerrero’s argument in court. 

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    “It is also evident that Mr. Garcia-Guerrero keeps returning for economic reasons, to make a better life for himself and also presumably for his children — one of whom is an infant — who are here in the United States with their mothers,” Jackson said at the sentencing. 

    Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

    Josh Blackman, a law professor at the South Texas College of Law Houston, said Jackson’s downward departure from 27 to 21 months doesn’t seem unreasonable. 

    “Judges are allowed to deviate from the guidelines,” Blackman told Fox News Digital. “That’s not prohibited unless it’s what’s called an ‘unreasonable’ departure. And this doesn’t strike me as unreasonable.”

    The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

    Sen. Marshall says Biden ‘created’ the gas price hike due to dependence on Russian oil

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    Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, said President Biden is to blame for the high gas prices that are hitting Kansans hard — despite Biden claiming it’s “Putin’s price hike.” 

    RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR LIVE UPDATES

    Both Biden and Marshall acknowledge there will be further pain at the pump after Biden announced Tuesday the U.S. will ban Russian imports to stop funding Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine. But Marshall, who had been pushing for the Biden administration to give up Russian oil, said the pain could have been avoided if Biden had embraced domestic oil and gas production. 

    President Joe Biden speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

    “This 25 or 50 cent hike has been created by Joe Biden because he made us depend upon Russian oil,” Marshall told Fox News Digital. “We’re funding that darn war over there. So the short-term solution is to give American energy certainty, and they will go to work.”

    SEN. MARSHALL INTRODUCES BILL BANNING US IMPORTS OF RUSSIAN OIL

    Americans are experiencing the highest gas prices since the 2008 financial crisis, with the national gas price average reaching more than $4 per gallon — the highest average to date, according to AAA.

    Biden announced Tuesday a ban on Russian oil imports to the U.S. amid bipartisan pressure as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine.

    Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, has been pushing for the White House to ban Russian oil imports. 

    Biden pushed back hard on the notion that his policies — including freezing new permits for oil and gas drilling on federal lands — have hampered domestic oil production.

    DEMS URGE BIDEN TO INCREASE DOMESTIC ENERGY PRODUCTION IN THE FACE OF SKYROCKETING GAS PRICES

    “It’s simply not true that my administration or policies are holding back domestic energy production,” Biden said Tuesday, noting that 90% of onshore oil production takes place on non-federal lands. 

    Firefighters try to extinguish a fire after a chemical warehouse was hit by Russian shelling on the eastern frontline near Kalynivka village on March 8, 2022, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

    “That’s simply not true. Even amid the pandemic, companies in the United States pump more oil during my first year in office, than they did during my predecessor’s first year. We’re approaching record levels of oil and gas production in the United States.” 

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    Fresh off of town hall meetings in Kansas over the weekend, Marshall said his constituents are very concerned about inflation and rising gas prices. They are willing to make sacrifices to help the people of Ukraine, but also think the situation was avoidable, Marshall said. 

    “The No. 1 sanction we could put on Putin’s war is to sanction his oil,” Marshall said. “And I think that Americans are willing to do that. But they also realize that Joe Biden has created this dependence, and this is really another tax on hardworking Americans by Joe Biden.”

    Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

    Republicans troubled by ongoing talks to revive Iran nuclear deal: ‘Russia should not be at any table’

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    Republicans are raising alarms about a possible breakthrough to restart the Iran nuclear deal, amid reports that the U.S. and Iran are coming close to restoring the 2015 nuclear agreement.

    Negotiations have been ongoing in Vienna for the United States to rejoin the international deal that President Trump pulled out of in 2018. Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China are still part of the deal with Iran and have been trying to salvage it.

    Republicans have long been skeptical of the Iran nuclear deal, but say the timing for any restart is particularly troubling given Russia’s involvement during its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

    RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: LIVE UPDATES

    Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., talks about his planned trip to the Ukraine border on March 4, 2022.  (Fox News Digital)

    “Russia should not be at any table with us right now,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital, adding that he’s “very concerned” about a new deal. “They’re committing egregious acts of terrorism and murder in a free democracy in Ukraine, in Europe right now.”

    REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK HEADS TO UKRAINE BORDER: ‘I WILL GO AS FAR AS THEY WILL ALLOW ME TO GO’

    Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., also spoke out against any restart of a deal, calling it “exceedingly dangerous and exceedingly misguided” on the “The Guy Benson Show” on Fox News Radio.

    And Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, warned on Twitter that a nuclear deal with Iran could make it “EASIER for the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism to obtain a nuclear weapon.”

    The ramped-up concern is following reporting from the Wall Street Journal on March 3 that the U.S. and Iran were closing in on an agreement after weeks of intense negotiations in Vienna involving the U.S. and Iran, and Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. Officials from both the U.S. and Iran warned that they were still resolving sanctions relief provisions. 

    A European diplomat told Fox News on Friday that a new deal is expected within days.

    Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Associated Press)

    Congressional Republicans say they haven’t been consulted about any deal the Biden administration is negotiating with the help of the Russians. They are pushing for any new agreement to be reviewed by Congress.

    CRUZ, SENATE REPUBLICANS THREATEN TO BLOCK ANY IRAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT NOT SUBMITTED TO CONGRESS

    The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act passed in 2015 with bipartisan support requires the administration to submit any deal to Congress for review within five days of it being reached.

    A group of 33 Republican senators led by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, already pledged last month to do everything in their power to block a new nuclear deal if President Biden doesn’t get Senate approval. 

    In addition to Russia’s involvement in the Iran nuclear deal, Fitzpatrick said that the Iranian government “does not operate in good faith” and the U.S. doesn’t even enforce existing agreements. 

    Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and other members of the Republican Conference leave a luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    Fitzpatrick, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was referring to the 1994 agreement where Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons after the fall of the Soviet Union in exchange for commitments from Russia and the West to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty. 

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    “Does anybody think that if Ukraine were the third-largest holder of nuclear weapons that Russia would be invading them right now?” Fitzpatrick said. “Of course not. They gave them up based on our word, based on the commitment that the United States, the UK gave to Ukraine and to Kazakhstan as well. 

    “And we’re not upholding our end of the agreement,” Fitzpatrick continued. “So what does that mean for future nuclear anti-proliferation agreements? They’re proceeding down the wrong path on all these fronts.”

    Fox News’ Kelly Laco and Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report. 

    Republicans troubled by ongoing talks to revive Iran nuclear deal: ‘Russia should not be at any table’

    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    Republicans are raising alarms about a possible breakthrough to restart the Iran nuclear deal, amid reports that the U.S. and Iran are coming close to restoring the 2015 nuclear agreement.

    Negotiations have been ongoing in Vienna for the United States to rejoin the international deal that President Trump pulled out of in 2018. Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China are still part of the deal with Iran and have been trying to salvage it.

    Republicans have long been skeptical of the Iran nuclear deal, but say the timing for any restart is particularly troubling given Russia’s involvement during its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

    RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: LIVE UPDATES

    Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., talks about his planned trip to the Ukraine border on March 4, 2022.  (Fox News Digital)

    “Russia should not be at any table with us right now,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital, adding that he’s “very concerned” about a new deal. “They’re committing egregious acts of terrorism and murder in a free democracy in Ukraine, in Europe right now.”

    REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK HEADS TO UKRAINE BORDER: ‘I WILL GO AS FAR AS THEY WILL ALLOW ME TO GO’

    Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., also spoke out against any restart of a deal, calling it “exceedingly dangerous and exceedingly misguided” on the “The Guy Benson Show” on Fox News Radio.

    And Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, warned on Twitter that a nuclear deal with Iran could make it “EASIER for the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism to obtain a nuclear weapon.”

    The ramped-up concern is following reporting from the Wall Street Journal on March 3 that the U.S. and Iran were closing in on an agreement after weeks of intense negotiations in Vienna involving the U.S. and Iran, and Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. Officials from both the U.S. and Iran warned that they were still resolving sanctions relief provisions. 

    A European diplomat told Fox News on Friday that a new deal is expected within days.

    Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Associated Press)

    Congressional Republicans say they haven’t been consulted about any deal the Biden administration is negotiating with the help of the Russians. They are pushing for any new agreement to be reviewed by Congress.

    CRUZ, SENATE REPUBLICANS THREATEN TO BLOCK ANY IRAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT NOT SUBMITTED TO CONGRESS

    The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act passed in 2015 with bipartisan support requires the administration to submit any deal to Congress for review within five days of it being reached.

    A group of 33 Republican senators led by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, already pledged last month to do everything in their power to block a new nuclear deal if President Biden doesn’t get Senate approval. 

    In addition to Russia’s involvement in the Iran nuclear deal, Fitzpatrick said that the Iranian government “does not operate in good faith” and the U.S. doesn’t even enforce existing agreements. 

    Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and other members of the Republican Conference leave a luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    Fitzpatrick, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was referring to the 1994 agreement where Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons after the fall of the Soviet Union in exchange for commitments from Russia and the West to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty. 

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    “Does anybody think that if Ukraine were the third-largest holder of nuclear weapons that Russia would be invading them right now?” Fitzpatrick said. “Of course not. They gave them up based on our word, based on the commitment that the United States, the UK gave to Ukraine and to Kazakhstan as well. 

    “And we’re not upholding our end of the agreement,” Fitzpatrick continued. “So what does that mean for future nuclear anti-proliferation agreements? They’re proceeding down the wrong path on all these fronts.”

    Fox News’ Kelly Laco and Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report. 

    Republicans troubled by ongoing talks to revive Iran nuclear deal: ‘Russia should not be at any table’

    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    Republicans are raising alarms about a possible breakthrough to restart the Iran nuclear deal, amid reports that the U.S. and Iran are coming close to restoring the 2015 nuclear agreement.

    Negotiations have been ongoing in Vienna for the United States to rejoin the international deal that President Trump pulled out of in 2018. Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China are still part of the deal with Iran and have been trying to salvage it.

    Republicans have long been skeptical of the Iran nuclear deal, but say the timing for any restart is particularly troubling given Russia’s involvement during its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

    RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: LIVE UPDATES

    Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., talks about his planned trip to the Ukraine border on March 4, 2022.  (Fox News Digital)

    “Russia should not be at any table with us right now,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital, adding that he’s “very concerned” about a new deal. “They’re committing egregious acts of terrorism and murder in a free democracy in Ukraine, in Europe right now.”

    REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK HEADS TO UKRAINE BORDER: ‘I WILL GO AS FAR AS THEY WILL ALLOW ME TO GO’

    Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., also spoke out against any restart of a deal, calling it “exceedingly dangerous and exceedingly misguided” on the “The Guy Benson Show” on Fox News Radio.

    And Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, warned on Twitter that a nuclear deal with Iran could make it “EASIER for the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism to obtain a nuclear weapon.”

    The ramped-up concern is following reporting from the Wall Street Journal on March 3 that the U.S. and Iran were closing in on an agreement after weeks of intense negotiations in Vienna involving the U.S. and Iran, and Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. Officials from both the U.S. and Iran warned that they were still resolving sanctions relief provisions. 

    A European diplomat told Fox News on Friday that a new deal is expected within days.

    Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Associated Press)

    Congressional Republicans say they haven’t been consulted about any deal the Biden administration is negotiating with the help of the Russians. They are pushing for any new agreement to be reviewed by Congress.

    CRUZ, SENATE REPUBLICANS THREATEN TO BLOCK ANY IRAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT NOT SUBMITTED TO CONGRESS

    The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act passed in 2015 with bipartisan support requires the administration to submit any deal to Congress for review within five days of it being reached.

    A group of 33 Republican senators led by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, already pledged last month to do everything in their power to block a new nuclear deal if President Biden doesn’t get Senate approval. 

    In addition to Russia’s involvement in the Iran nuclear deal, Fitzpatrick said that the Iranian government “does not operate in good faith” and the U.S. doesn’t even enforce existing agreements. 

    Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and other members of the Republican Conference leave a luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 24, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    Fitzpatrick, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was referring to the 1994 agreement where Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons after the fall of the Soviet Union in exchange for commitments from Russia and the West to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty. 

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    “Does anybody think that if Ukraine were the third-largest holder of nuclear weapons that Russia would be invading them right now?” Fitzpatrick said. “Of course not. They gave them up based on our word, based on the commitment that the United States, the UK gave to Ukraine and to Kazakhstan as well. 

    “And we’re not upholding our end of the agreement,” Fitzpatrick continued. “So what does that mean for future nuclear anti-proliferation agreements? They’re proceeding down the wrong path on all these fronts.”

    Fox News’ Kelly Laco and Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.