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Tag: Republicans

  • Republican voter ID bill stalls in Senate despite Trump demands

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    By MARY CLARE JALONICK

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Election-year legislation to impose strict new proof-of-citizenship requirements on voting appears stalled in the Senate, for now, despite President Donald Trump’s call in his State of the Union speech that Republicans in Congress pass the bill “before anything else.”

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    The Associated Press

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  • CBS News: The State of the Union Address

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    CBS News: The State of the Union Address – CBS News









































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    President Trump delivers the 2026 State of the Union to a joint session of Congress.

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  • Democrats’ fear rising that too many candidates in governor’s race could lead to a Republican victory

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    SAN FRANCISCO — Leaders of the California Democratic Party, along with liberal activists and loyal power brokers, are openly expressing fear that their crowded field of candidates running for governor may splinter the vote and open the door to a surprise Republican victory in November.

    Because of those concerns, the Democrats lagging at the bottom of the pack are being urged to drop out of the race to ensure that the party’s political dominance in statewide elections survives the 2026 election.

    “California Democrats are prepared to do what’s required,” state party chairman Rusty Hicks told reporters at the California Democratic Party’s annual convention on Friday. “We are ready and willing and able to do what’s required … to ensure we have a strong candidate coming out of the primary to do what’s required in November.”

    Nine prominent Democrats are running to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom, compared with two top GOP candidates, and could divide the Democratic electorate enough that the two Republicans could receive the most votes in the June primary and advance to the November election. Under California’s “jungle primary” system, the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation.

    Hicks was deferential to the Democratic candidates who have long served in public office and have compelling personal tales and the experience to take the helm of the state. But he said there is the harsh political reality that a viable candidate needs to raise an enormous amount of money to have a winning campaign in a state of 23.1 million registered voters and some of the most expensive media markets in the nation.

    The party, its allies and the candidates themselves have a “collective commitment to ensuring we do not see a Republican elected [for governor],” Hicks said.

    While Hicks and other party leaders did not publicly name the candidates who ought to leave the race, among the candidates lagging in the polls are state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, former state Controller Betty Yee, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon.

    Democratic voters vastly outnumber the number of registered Republicans in the state, and no Republican has been elected to statewide office since 2006.

    But given the sprawling field of gubernatorial candidates, the lack of a clear front-runner and the state’s unique primary system, the race appears up for grabs. According to an average of the most recent opinion polls, conservative commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco — both Republicans — are tied for first place, according to Real Clear Politics. Each received the support of 15.5% of voters. The top Democrat, Rep. Eric Swalwell of Dublin, Calif., was backed by 12.5%.

    In 2012, Republicans finished in first and second place in the race for a San Bernardino County congressional district — despite Democrats having a solid edge in voter registration. The four Democrats running for the seat split the vote, opening the door for a victory by GOP Rep. Gary Miller. Pete Aguilar, one of the Democrats who lost in the primary, went on to win that seat in 2014 and has served in Congress ever since.

    Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) on Friday pushed back at the fears that two Republicans will win the top two gubernatorial spots in June.

    “That’s not going to happen,” she said in an interview after speaking at a young Democrats’ reception. “And everything that you should know about the Democrats this year is we are unified. As I say, our diversity is our strength, our unity is our power. And everybody knows that there’s too much at stake.”

    However, the scenario has prompted a cross section of the typically fractious party to unite behind the belief the field must shrink, whether by candidates’ choice or through pressure.

    Jodi Hicks, the leader of Planned Parenthood’s California operations, said that the organization is laser-focused on congressional races, but having two Republican gubernatorial candidates “would be nothing short of devastating.”

    “We have not weighed in on the governor’s race, but we are paying close attention to whether this comes to play, and whether or not we do decide to weigh in and make sure that doesn’t happen,” she said.

    Newsom and legislative Democrats have tried to buffer the massive federal funding cuts to reproductive care. A November election with two Republicans on the gubernatorial ballot would eliminate a key partner in Sacramento, and could affect turnout in down-ballot congressional and legislative races.

    “A top-two Republican [race] would certainly have dire consequences for the midterm battle and to the governor’s office,” Jodi Hicks said.

    Lorena Gonzalez, the leader of California Federation of Labor Unions, noted that her organization’s endorsement process begins on Tuesday.

    “I think we are going to have some pretty honest discussions with candidates about their individual paths and where they are,” she said. “They’re all great candidates, so many of them are really good folks. But it’s starting to get to be that time.”

    She expects the field to begin to thin in the coming days and weeks.

    The conversation went beyond party leaders, taking place among delegates such as Gregory Hutchins, an academic labor researcher from Riverside.

    “My goal at the convention, it’s not necessarily that the party coalesces around one particular candidate, but more, this is a test to see what candidates have a level of support that they can mount a successful campaign,” said the 29-year-old, who said he hopes to see some candidates drop out after the weekend.

    “Am I concerned long term that [a top-two Republican runoff] could be a thing? Yes and no,” he said “I’m not concerned that we’re not going to solve this problem before the primary, but I do think we need to start getting serious about, ‘We need to solve this problem soon.’”

    Not everyone agreed.

    Tim Paulson, a San Francisco Democrat who supports Yee, called efforts to push people out of the race “preemptive disqualification.”

    “This is nothing but scare tactics to get people out of the race,” he said. “This is still a vibrant primary. Nobody knows who the front-runner is yet.”

    Bob Galemmo, 71, countered that many people did not believe Donald Trump would be elected president in 2016 and fears two Republicans could advance to the general election.

    “You should never say never,” he said. “If we could get down to like four or five [candidates], that would be helpful.”

    The efforts have already begun.

    RL Miller, the chair of the state Democratic Party’s environmental caucus, said Yee ought to drop out.

    Yee, “who is at the bottom of the polls, needs to be taking a good long look at whether she is serving the party or being selfish by staying in the race,” Miller said.

    Yee, a former state party vice chair, pushed back forcefully, saying pressure to drop out of the race “would just be undemocratic.”

    “First of all, I’ve served this party for a long time. I don’t do it out of selfishness, by any means,” she said at a Saturday gathering where she provided breakfast burritos to delegates. “But I’ll just say this — the race is wide open.”

    Yee‘s campaign manager noted that the largest group of voters is still undecided, and the candidate said no one has asked her directly to exit the race, but that someone started a rumor a month or two ago that she was going to drop out and run for insurance commissioner instead.

    “I’m not dropping out, and I don’t think any candidate should go out,” Yee said.

    Calderon said Swalwell had urged him to get out of the race.

    Calderon defended staying in the race to try to reach undecided voters during a gubernatorial forum at the Commonwealth Club on Friday.

    “I stay very consistent in that 1 to 3% range,” he joked. “But my challenge is access to resources and visibility, which is something that could change within a day with the right backing and support.”

    Swalwell and his campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

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    Seema Mehta, Nicole Nixon

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  • EPA scraps Biden coal restrictions as advocates say move will restore American dominance

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    NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

    A leading domestic energy advocacy group praised EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s announcement that his agency would undo recent additions to the federal “mercury and air-toxics standards” (MATS) for coal-fired power plants.

    Zeldin said removing the restrictions allows the already “robust” MATS standards to remain in effect, ensuring both public health and the health of America’s coal industry amid a push for U.S. energy dominance.

    “The Biden-Harris Administration’s anti-coal regulations sought to regulate out of existence this vital sector of our energy economy. If implemented, these actions would have destroyed reliable American energy,” Zeldin said at the Mills Creek Power Plant in Kentucky, adding that protecting the environment and supporting industry and baseload power is not a “binary choice.”

    In response, Power the Future founder Daniel Turner told Fox News Digital the move is a significant step toward revitalizing the American coal industry and, in turn, fueling economies in economically depressed industrial communities throughout Appalachia and beyond.

    TRUMP DIRECTS MILITARY TO STRIKE NEW DEALS WITH COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS: ‘GOING TO BE BUYING A LOT OF COAL’

    “Since the war on coal, we have weakened our grid, driven electricity prices through the roof, outsourced major industries to Mexico and China, but most of all driven tens of thousands of Americans into ruin because of a globalist agenda,” Turner said Friday, adding that the costs of a crippled coal industry went far beyond shuttered infrastructure:

    “The cruel Obama-led war on coal ruined numerous towns across rural America, drove families into poverty, caused alcoholism, opioid addiction, domestic violence, and suicide to skyrocket.”

    “Power The Future started because of coal miners, the acceptable casualties in the globalist climate change agenda,” said Turner, whose group is based in coal-heavy Virginia.

    EPA CHIEF WRAPS NATIONAL TOUR AS CRITICS SLAM DEREGULATION AGENDA

    “Restoring America’s coal dominance is good for our national security and economy, and it restores the dignity of small-town coal workers whose labor is vital to America’s survival.”

    Many of America’s poorest counties are in what were once very wealthy coal communities — including McDowell and Mingo counties in West Virginia and Bell, Letcher, McCreary, and Breathitt counties in Kentucky, where Vice President JD Vance’s family is from.

    During much of the 20th century, McDowell County — and its seat, Welch — was the No. 1 coal-producing county in the U.S. and home to 100,000 people — a population boom some credit with spurring construction of what became the nation’s first parking deck, which is still standing today in Welch.

    TRUMP ADMIN RELAUNCHES KEY COUNCIL AFTER BIDEN ADMIN SHUTTERED IT: ‘IGNORANCE AND ARROGANCE’

    Now, about one-quarter of McDowell residents live in poverty while the median income is around $30,000.

    Turner alluded to those conditions in comments to Fox News Digital, saying people must “never forget or forgive the drivers of the war on coal for their cruel attacks on a vital industry found only in rural America.”

    “[Anti-coal politicians] fly private jets to attend global climate summits while they orchestrated an evil attack on the coal miner making America weaker and China richer.”

    Turner quipped that any “anti-coal activist” is invited to join him in visiting coal-producing communities but may be unhappy to get dirt on their clothing and find lodging not up to “Four Seasons” standards.

    “We need coal. There is not one product around you right now that was not touched by coal, and to lower prices, bring market stability and ensure economic growth, we need to dominate the coal industry,” Turner said.

    The Mill Creek power plant in Kentucky, where Lee Zeldin made his announcement, is seen. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

    CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

    “Sadly, the liberal elite who launched the war on coal are too ignorant or too indifferent to know this. The ignorant can be educated, and that’s what I try to do at Power The Future. But the indifferent must be defeated, as they are a threat to our liberty, property and prosperity. I will never stop until I defeat them all,” he said, calling President Donald Trump the “greatest coal president in history.”

    Former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy fired back at the policy change, telling the AP that “by weakening pollution limits and monitoring for brain-damaging mercury and other pollutants, they are actively undermining any attempt to make America — and our children — healthy.”

    Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. 

    He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant. 

    Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

    Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.

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  • Commentary: With immigration losing its edge, Republicans find a new boogeyman: ‘Radical Islam’

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    Imagine if a candidate for, say, the California Assembly appeared at a political event and delivered the following remarks:

    “No to kosher meat. No to yarmulkes. No to celebrating Easter. No, no, no.”

    He, or she, would be roundly — and rightly — criticized for their bigotry and raw prejudice.

    Recently, at a candidates forum outside Dallas, Larry Brock expressed the following sentiments as part of a lengthy disquisition on the Muslim faith.

    “We should ban the burqa, the hijab, the abaya, the niqab,” said the candidate for state representative, referring to the coverings worn by some Muslim women. “No to halal meat. No to celebrating Ramadan. No, no, no.”

    Brock, whose comments were reported by the New York Times, is plainly a bigot. (He’s also a convicted felon, sentenced to two years in prison for invading the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. No to hand-slaughtered lamb. Yes to despoiling our seat of government.)

    Brock is no outlier.

    For many Texas Republicans running in the March 3 primary, Islamophobia has become a central portion of their election plank, as a longtime political lance — illegal immigration — has grown dull around its edges.

    Aaron Reitz, a candidate for attorney general, aired an ad accusing politicians of importing “millions of Muslims into our country.”

    “The result?” he says, with a tough-guy glower. “More terrorism, more crime. And they even want their own illegal cities in Texas to impose sharia law.” (More on that in a moment.)

    One of his opponents, Republican Rep. Chip Roy — co-founder of the “Sharia-Free America Caucus” — has called for amending the Texas Constitution to protect the state’s tender soil from Islamification by “radical Marxists.”

    In the fierce GOP race for U.S. Senate, incumbent John Cornyn — facing a potentially career-ending challenge from state Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton — has aired one TV spot accusing his fellow Republican of being “soft on radical Islam” and another describing radical Islam “as a bloodthirsty ideology.”

    Paxton countered by calling Cornyn’s assertions a desperate attack “that can’t erase the fact that he helped radical Islamic Afghans invade Texas,” a reference to a visa program that allowed people who helped U.S. forces — in other words friends and allies — to come to America after being carefully screened.

    There hasn’t been such a concentrated, sulfurous political assault on Muslims since the angst-ridden days following the Sept. 11 attacks.

    In just the latest instance, Democrats are calling for the censure of Florida Republican Rep. Randy Fine after he wrote Sunday on X: “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.” He’s since doubled down by posting several images of dogs with the words “Don’t tread on me.”

    In Texas, the venom starts at the top with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who’s waltzing toward reelection to an unprecedented fourth term.

    In November, Abbott issued an executive order designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations — the latter a prominent civil rights group — as terrorist organizations.

    Not to be out-demagogued, Bo French, a candidate for Texas Railroad Commission, called on President Trump to round up and deport every Muslim in America. (French, the former Tarrant County GOP chair, gained notoriety last year for posting an online poll asking, “Who is a bigger threat to America?” The choice: Jews or Muslims.)

    Much of the Republican hysteria has focused on a proposed real estate development in a corn- and hayfield 40 miles east of Dallas.

    The master-planned community of about 1,000 homes, known as EPIC City, was initiated by the East Plano Islamic Center to serve as a Muslim-centered community for the region’s growing number of worshipers. (Of course, anyone could choose to live there, regardless of their religious faith.)

    Paxton said he would investigate the proposed development as a “potentially illegal ‘Sharia City.’ ” The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development last week jumped in with its own investigation — a move Abbott hailed — after the Justice Department quietly closed a probe into the project, saying developers agreed to abide by federal fair housing laws. That investigation came at the behest of Cornyn.

    The rampant resurgence of anti-Muslim sentiment hardly seems coincidental.

    For years, Republicans capitalized on the issues of illegal immigration and lax enforcement along the U.S. -Mexico border. With illegal crossings slowed to a trickle under Trump, “Republicans can’t run on the border issue the way [they] have in the past,” said Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.

    What’s more, cracking down on immigration no longer brings together Republicans the way it once did.

    General support for Trump’s get-tough policies surpasses 80% among Texas Republicans, said Henson, who’s spent nearly two decades sampling public opinion in the state. But support falls dramatically, into roughly the high-40s to mid-50s, when it comes to specifics such as arresting people at church, or seizing them when they make required court appearances.

    “Republicans need to find something else that taps into those cultural-identity issues” and unifies and animates the GOP base, said Henson.

    In short, the fearmongers need a new scapegoat.

    Muslims are about 2% of the adult population in Texas, according to the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study, completed in 2024. That works out to estimates ranging from 300,000 to 500,000 residents in a state of nearly 32 million residents.

    Not a huge number.

    But enough for heedless politicians hell-bent on getting themselves elected, even if it means tearing down a whole group of people in the process.

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    Mark Z. Barabak

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  • Trump’s revenge tour could have thousands of federal agents in Colorado next (Letters)

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    Federal agents coming en masse to Colorado next?

    RE: “Trump plans to host governors at White House, but only Republicans,” Feb. 8 news story

    President Trump’s initial ban on Democratic governors from the National Governors Association meeting at the White House was bad enough. Worse, for Colorado, Trump personally uninvited Gov. Jared Polis from the bipartisan dinner (with gubernatorial spouses) that follows. It’s obvious Trump is royally enraged at our state.

    Why? Recall: Tina Peters, former Mesa County clerk and current MAGA martyr, is sitting in state prison, beyond the reach of Trump’s presidential pardon. And Congresswoman Lauren Boebert was a key Republican vote in forcing the release of the Epstein files — in revenge, Trump cancelled a big water project in her district.

    But Trump is never really done with revenge, is he?

    Don’t be surprised if Trump targets Colorado as the next stop on the ICE circus tour. Aside from his pre-existing grievances against us, we’re a natural target. Deep blue state. A “sanctuary city” as the state capital, run (like Minneapolis) by another young, earnest, progressive mayor. Tons of undocumented immigrants, easily swept up in the dragnet.

    Coloradans need to start preparing.

    Marty Rush, Salida

    Political Armageddon could really be on the horizon

    Re: “The problem with making every election an existential threat for the U.S.,” Feb. 8 commentary

    While I appreciate David M. Drucker’s notion that we need not declare that the sky is falling before and after each election, I do believe this administration and its Republican cohorts in the House and Senate have crossed some governance red lines that contradict the basic principles this country was founded on.

    Shooting and beating American citizens in the streets, demolishing history, covering up obvious crimes, threatening our allies, targeting political adversaries and using the office for personal enrichment are just a few things that have occurred and gone unchecked by powers that control Congress.

    Most recently, they have been trying their absolute hardest to preserve power or at least limit the damage in the upcoming elections with their calls for gerrymandered districts, laws that will restrict voting and a needless investigation into a settled election.

    While Drucker points out the pendulum frequently swings back in our politics, I fear this time the damage left behind by the lack of checks and balances will exist for many election cycles to come. For these reasons, the next election and certainly the following could be political Armageddon, resulting in the sky actually falling on this republic.

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    DP Opinion

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  • In North Carolina, a tight primary could upend the balance of conservative power

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    ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. — Phil Berger entered the small auditorium at Rockingham Community College and prepared to defend his record to a crowd of MAGA-hat-wearing constituents, with just weeks to go before the primary for his North Carolina Senate seat.

    On paper, his odds looked good. He had represented these voters for more than two decades in the state Senate and had led the chamber ever since Republicans took over in 2011. He had built a political machine that in many ways now runs the state. And his clamp on policy decisions, as well as his network of lobbyists and wealthy donors, had turned him into North Carolina’s most powerful politician, making his seat virtually untouchable.

    But at the conservative candidates forum at the college in Wentworth, North Carolina, last week, there was a popular sheriff in town eager to take down Berger, representing the first time in years that the Senate leader’s reign has been threatened.

    “Too many times we elect officials that forget who their bosses are, and whom they serve,” the sheriff, Sam Page of Rockingham County, North Carolina, told the crowd, flashing his trademark cowboy hat, gray mustache and thick glasses. Several nodded in approval.

    To much of North Carolina, the most talked-about race so far this year has not been the high-profile contest for U.S. Senate nor one of the few potentially competitive races in congressional districts across the swing state. Instead, all eyes have zeroed in on a surprisingly tight Republican primary on March 3 for state Senate District 26, a rural stretch of land in the north, that could upend the balance of conservative power in North Carolina.

    “North Carolina hasn’t seen a primary race like this in decades, and probably hasn’t ever seen one like this where the stakes could not be higher,” said Andrew Dunn, a GOP strategist and the publisher of Longleaf Politics, a conservative newsletter. “If Sen. Berger loses, that creates a gigantic power vacuum in North Carolina politics, and it’s unclear who would fill that.”

    President Donald Trump endorsed Berger last year shortly after the Senate leader spearheaded the approval of a new congressional map that is likely to give Republicans an extra U.S. House seat this year. Berger has denied accusations that he pushed for redistricting to secure Trump’s approval.

    But even the endorsement has underscored the peculiarities of the race and has mirrored the ways some voters feel about both candidates. Trump has also been friendly with Page, whom he has described as “right out of central casting.” In December, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he wanted Page “to come work for us in Washington, D.C., rather than further considering a run against Phil — Both are such outstanding people!”

    For many in rural Rockingham County, Page — who has served the county for almost three decades — has been a near-constant affable figure steeped in Trump world. He texts with Tom Homan, the White House border czar, and jokes that the way to fix U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s image is to add “National” to its name so the acronym spells “NICE.”

    The sheriff, whose phone wallpaper is a photo of him smiling next to the president, said in an interview that he had been watching a comedy channel on TV when Trump called to tell him that he wanted to endorse Berger but that “I want to endorse you, too.”

    Page told the president that he appreciated the job offer, but he was “committed to the people” of Rockingham and Guilford counties. There, billboards, TV commercials and flyers advertise Trump’s adoration for Berger and portray the sheriff as “shady,” calling him Sombrero Sam and saying he is weak on immigration.

    The sheriff said those ads were a farce.

    “If you see me toting a shotgun over my shoulder, if you see me riding a horse, or if you see me standing with Donald Trump, it’s not AI — it’s real,” he said. “I am who I am.”

    Some of Berger’s allies privately acknowledge that despite all those flyers and hours of ads, the longtime sheriff still has him on the ropes. It has become a campaign for political survival, one that is testing the antiestablishment restlessness coursing through voters of all stripes.

    “The way I’ve described it is, I’ve had the opportunity to exercise political muscles that I haven’t had to exercise in a while,” Berger said in an interview, clenching his fists as if he were flexing. “And it feels good.”

    Two Very Different Candidates

    In both personality and campaign style, the sheriff and the senator are worlds apart. Page, typically wearing some kind of vest and boots, is extroverted. Berger, rarely seen without a suit, appears more reserved, working his power behind the scenes.

    Since at least 2012, Page has been hawkish on immigration, even visiting the border. Berger has mainly prioritized fiscal policy and building up the private sector, which his supporters say has contributed to North Carolina’s being named by CNBC as the best state for business for three of the last four years.

    Page says his favorite campaign strategy is visiting Walmart and Sam’s Club stores to shake hands. His vehicle is outfitted with campaign stickers. Berger’s campaign and organizations supporting him have flooded TV airwaves and are likely to spend millions of dollars doing so through the end of his primary campaign, according to two people familiar with his operation who were not authorized to speak publicly.

    Berger declined to specify how much his campaign would spend or what his internal polls showed, but he noted that his team would invest “probably more than we need to” in order to win. In the past, campaigns in tough state Senate primaries have spent anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

    Such high spending may cost Republican state senators who are facing tight races in November and need the money in order to maintain a supermajority in the chamber. There are questions whether Berger, a prolific fundraiser, will have sufficient money left over for his caucus.

    Some polls show that Berger will almost surely lose in Rockingham County, which accounts for about 40% of votes in the district; the other 60% lie in parts of Guilford County.

    His poor showing in Rockingham is partly because of what happened in 2023, when the Senate leader tried to rush through legislation that would have brought a casino to the county. The community, deeply conservative and Christian, angrily pushed back on the proposal, prompting Berger to abandon the measure. But many voters have not forgotten.

    (BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.)

    Also entangled in the race is the fact that North Carolina remains the only state in the country without an approved budget. As the Republican-controlled chambers remain in a stalemate, mainly over tax disagreements, Berger’s fate next month could steer the way negotiations go.

    (END OPTIONAL TRIM.)

    On a recent afternoon at the Farmer’s Table, a restaurant in Rockingham County, Page waved at customers and talked about the Reidsville High School Rams’ state football championship. Several brought up Berger.

    “He’s like a chameleon,” Page said of his opponent’s transformation into a pro-Trump politician, taking a bite from his plate of hush puppies.

    “I don’t think we need him anymore,” said Yancy King, a 66-year-old former emergency management worker, arguing that Berger cared more about his personal interests than about his constituents.

    “I know it,” the sheriff said.

    The county of about 93,000 is not entirely against Berger. Some residents, like Wayne Hamilton, 55, said there were tangible benefits from the fact that the most powerful person in the state was a local. He cited the recruitment of a pet food manufacturing facility as an example.

    “It’s about what he brings to the table for our county,” Hamilton said.

    Several voters in Guilford County said they were sick of Berger’s ads, saying the volume felt worse than a presidential election year, which is saying a lot for swing state residents. Others said the Trump endorsement was all the guidance they needed.

    That connection has deeply mattered to Berger, who last year shepherded an immigration bill and a sweeping crime bill through the legislature. Asked what he made of the assertion that Page was more like Trump, Berger said there was “an old story here in Rockingham County that the most dangerous place to be is between Sam Page and a camera.”

    “If that’s what you mean by being more Trumpy, then that’s him,” he added.

    (STORY CAN END HERE. OPTIONAL MATERIAL FOLLOWS.)

    At the forum at Rockingham Community College last week, the men were cordial, shaking hands as they took the stage.

    In a rapid-fire, punctual tone, Berger listed off his accomplishments.

    “I am the most effective conservative candidate in this race — the most effective conservative leader for legislative Republicans,” Berger said, adding, “I’ve fought every conservative battle there is and come out on top.”

    Then came closing statements. The sheriff stood up and delivered a message about working for “we the people.”

    Berger remained seated as he spoke his closing thoughts. All night, candidates in other primary races had stopped talking as soon as the moderator banged his gavel.

    Berger paused briefly when he was interrupted by a thud at the podium. But then he continued.

    “I’m the leader of Republicans in the Senate,” he said. “I ask for your vote.”

    This article originally appeared in The New York Times.



    Signs for Phil Berger, the State Senate majority leader, and his opponent, Sam Page, outside Rockingham Community College in Wentworth, N.C. on Feb. 5, 2026. (Cornell Watson/The New York Times)
    CORNELL WATSON




    Phil Berger, right, the State Senate majority leader, at a forum for Republican candidates with his opponent, Sam Page, center, at Rockingham Community College in Wentworth, N.C. on Feb. 5, 2026. Phil Berger has led the State Senate for years with an iron grip. But in a March election, he faces a popular, horse-riding sheriff who could topple his reign. (Cornell Watson/The New York Times)

    CORNELL WATSON




    Sheriff Sam Page in Reidsville, N.C. on Feb. 6, 2026. Phil Berger has led the State Senate for years with an iron grip. But in a March election, he faces a popular, horse-riding sheriff who could topple his reign. (Cornell Watson/The New York Times)

    CORNELL WATSON




    Phil Berger, left, the State Senate majority leader, at Rockingham Community College Wentworth, N.C. on Feb. 5, 2026. Sam Page, right, in Reidsville, N.C., on Feb. 6, 2026. Phil Berger has led the State Senate for years with an iron grip. But in a March election, he faces a popular, horse-riding sheriff who could topple his reign.(Cornell Watson/The New York Times)

    CORNELL WATSON

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  • 2/11: The Takeout with Major Garrett

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    Takeaways from Bondi’s fiery Epstein files testimony; Nancy Guthrie tip line gets over 4,000 calls in 24 hours, officials say.

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  • 2/8: CBS Weekend News

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    Search for Nancy Guthrie reaches Day 8; Lindsey Vonn breaks leg in Olympic crash.

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  • Judge orders DOJ to unseal records on Georgia 2020 ballot raid by Tuesday

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    A federal judge ruled Department of Justice records related to the recent seizure of 2020 ballots and documents in Fulton County, Georgia, must be unsealed by Tuesday. Willie James Inman has more.

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  • Lindsey Vonn breaks leg in Olympic crash, Trump calls skier a loser for comments on U.S. politics

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    Lindsey Vonn breaks leg in Olympic crash, Trump calls skier a loser for comments on U.S. politics – CBS News









































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    Lindsey Vonn’s Olympic hopes were dashed Sunday by a devastating crash that forced her to undergo surgery for a broken leg. Seth Doane is in Cortina with the latest on her recovery and other news from the 2026 Winter Games.

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  • How Political Parties Die

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    Who needs a right-wing minor-party demagogue like Nigel Farage when you have Donald Trump?
    Photo: Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images

    If you aren’t too distracted by the unprecedented events in America’s political system recently, you might have noticed that even more shocking developments have overtaken established and once-indomitable political institutions in Europe. These include the stunning, real-time apparent collapse of the two major parties in Great Britain.

    Politico’s Jamie Dettmer observes it like this:

    They seem like punch-drunk prizefighters struggling to catch their breath as they slog it out. Is the party over for Britain’s storied heritage parties?

    Neither the Conservatives nor their traditional Labour rival have proven strikingly fit for purpose for some time. Their combined share of the vote in recent elections has been falling and the tribal loyalties they could always rely on in the past are eroding. Increasingly the public impression is that neither has the ability to tackle the country’s huge post-Brexit problems.

    The Conservatives (a.k.a. Tories), a center-right party from the 19th century that gave the U.K. Disraeli, Churchill, and Thatcher, suffered the worst electoral fiasco in British history in 2024:

    They lost almost 70 percent of the 362 seats won just five years earlier. And equally alarming for party bosses, they attracted their lowest share of the vote ever in their modern history — a remarkable humbling for a party often cited as the most successful in the democratic world.

    Meanwhile, the left-leaning Labour Party has rapidly lost popularity since its massive electoral win in 2024.

    With the two major parties in freefall, the ascendant entity is U.K. Reform, formerly the Brexit Party. Until very recently, Reform was a pariah party widely considered to be a xenophobic gang of demagogues. But it has not only won over the Tory rank and file, it has also attracted a growing number of high-level Conservative converts — former Tory members of Parliament and government officials who have switched their affiliation to Reform. This upstart, right-populist party generally comes out on top in U.K. polling these days.

    In general, the two-party system in Britain as we’ve known it seems to be in danger of collapsing, Dettmer suggests:

    Scottish and Welsh nationalists have chewed away at the mainstream parties. So, too, have the revived Liberal Democrats — had they attracted two or three percent more of the overall vote 16 months ago, they might have won more seats than the Tories, becoming the main official opposition party. And now the Tories have a genuine competitor on the right.

    For many years, Britain’s first-past-the-post election system (like ours) was considered an unassailable barrier to minor parties, but it doesn’t appear that way right now.

    This phenomenon is not limited to Britain — across Europe, many other center-left and center-right parties are seemingly being marginalized by new populist parties. In Germany, the far-right AfD party — endorsed by Elon Musk in late 2024 and defended by J.D. Vance in early 2025 — is threatening the power of the conventionally conservative Christian Democratic Union, the party of Angela Merkel and many other German leaders. At the same time, the center-left Social Democrats, an electoral powerhouse dating back to the late 19th century, is losing vote-share to the recently created left-populist BSW party. In France, fragmentation of past political allegiances has become the rule, along with predictable instability. But there, too, a far-right party (if an older, better-established one), Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, has become the largest political force in the country.

    There is no single reason for these destabilizing political trends, but it’s clear that ambivalence about economic globalization, heavy levels of refugee migration, and the dislocations created by the COVID pandemic have all contributed to the struggles of the old centrist parties and the rise of more politically extreme competitors.

    Of course, this isn’t limited to Europe — similar dynamics have roiled American politics. So it’s worth asking: Can the major-party meltdown spread to the United States?

    Certainly there are pervasive signs of popular disgruntlement with both Republicans and Democrats. Gallup has been tracking self-identified party affiliation since 2001, when Americans were almost evenly divided into Democrats, Republicans, and independents. As of 2025, 45 percent self-identified as independents, an all-time high, while 27 percent identified with each of the major parties. But in contrast to Europe, none of this disaffection has fed the growth of minor parties. Indeed, in both 2020 and 2024, the major-party share of the presidential vote rose to 98.1 percent, as compared to 94.3 percent in 2016 (and as low as 81 percent in 1992). Nor have any of the periodic efforts to organize a new “centrist” third-party borne any fruit, despite constant complaints about partisan and ideological polarization. Yes, America’s own first-past-the-post system has made it hard to organize, fund, and gain ballot access for nonmajor parties. The major parties have fought like hell to maintain their duopoly.

    But something else is clearly going on. And the most obvious thing when you compare the United States to Europe is that the “populist” movements that have upended the centrist parties across the pond have gravitated here toward one of the major parties, the GOP. Indeed, instead of undermining the two-party system, the enemies of globalization, refugee migration, and pandemic-driven anti-elitism have reinforced it as they took control of the Republican Party via the MAGA movement of Donald Trump.

    There are, unsurprisingly, distinctly American mutations of right-wing populism in the MAGA takeover of the GOP. There’s the very un-European religiosity of both pre-Trump and post-Trump grassroots conservatives, compounded by an anti-government ethos that helped fuse the interests of populists and economic elites. Trump’s own cult of personality helped make the transition from the old to the new system relatively smooth not only in his party but among Democrats — where ideological differences were generally subsumed in a common response of horror at the changes in the GOP.

    But overall what killed off much of the old pre-Trump Republican Party was the dynamic that accompanied its birth back in the 1850s: the rapid replacement of one of the two major parties by a new and different electoral coalition. America didn’t need a Reform U.K. or an AfD or a National Rally party to represent a radical new movement of cultural, economic, and social reaction. It had Trump’s GOP.

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    Ed Kilgore

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  • Ben Shapiro Is Waging Battle Inside the MAGA Movement

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    The conservative commentator on the antisemitism in MAGA media and why he condemns President Trump as corrupt yet sticks with him.

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    David Remnick

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  • California leaders decry Trump call to ‘nationalize’ election, say they’re ready to resist

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    WASHINGTON — President Trump’s repeated calls to “nationalize” elections drew swift resistance from California officials this week, who said they are ready to fight should the federal government attempt to assert control over the state’s voting system.

    “We would win that on Day One,” California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta told The Times. “We would go into court and we would get a restraining order within hours, because the U.S. Constitution says that states predominantly determine the time, place and manner of elections, not the president.”

    “We’re prepared to do whatever we have to do in California,” said California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, whose office recently fought off a Justice Department lawsuit demanding California’s voter rolls and other sensitive voter information.

    Both Bonta and Weber said their offices are closely watching for any federal action that could affect voting in California, including efforts to seize election records, as the FBI recently did in Georgia, or target the counting of mailed ballots, which Trump has baselessly alleged are a major source of fraud.

    Weber said California plays an outsized role in the nation and is “the place that people want to beat,” including through illegitimate court challenges to undermine the state’s vote after elections, but California has fought off such challenges in the past and is ready to do it again.

    “There’s a cadre of attorneys that are already, that are always prepared during our elections to hit the courts to defend anything that we’re doing,” she said. “Our election teams, they do cross the T’s, dot the I’s. They are on it.”

    “We have attorneys ready to be deployed wherever there’s an issue,” Bonta said, noting that his office is in touch with local election officials to ensure a rapid response if necessary.

    The standoff reflects an extraordinary deterioration of trust and cooperation in elections that has existed between state and federal officials for generations — and follows a remarkable doubling down by Trump after his initial remarks about taking over the elections raised alarm.

    Trump has long alleged, without evidence and despite multiple independent reviews concluding the opposite, that the 2020 election was stolen from him. He has alleged, again without evidence, that millions of fraudulent votes were cast, including by non-citizen voters, and that blue states looked the other way to gain political advantage.

    Last week, the Justice Department acted on those claims by raiding the Fulton County, Ga., elections hub and seizing 2020 ballots. The department also has sued states, including California, for their voter rolls, and is defending a Trump executive order seeking to end mail voting and add new proof of citizenship requirements for registering to vote, which California and other states have sued to block.

    On Monday, Trump further escalated his pressure campaign by saying on former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino’s podcast that Republicans should “take over the voting in at least 15 places,” alleging that voting irregularities in what he called “crooked states” are hurting his party. “The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”

    On Tuesday morning, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, appeared to try to walk back Trump’s comments, saying he had been referring to the Save Act, a measure being pushed by Republicans in Congress to codify Trump’s proof-of-citizenship requirements. However, Trump doubled down later that day, telling reporters that if states “can’t count the votes legally and honestly, then somebody else should take over.”

    Bonta said Trump’s comments were a serious escalation, not just bluster: “We always knew they were going to come after us on something, so this is just an affirmation of that — and maybe they are getting a step closer.”

    Bonta said he will especially be monitoring races in the state’s swing congressional districts, which could play a role in determining control of Congress and therefore be a target of legal challenges.

    “The strategy of going after California isn’t rational unless you’re going after a couple of congressional seats that you think will make a difference in the balance of power in the House,” Bonta said.

    California Democrats in Congress have stressed that the state’s elections are safe and reliable, but also started to express unease about upcoming election interference by the administration.

    Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) said on “Meet the Press” last week that he believes the administration will try to use “every tool in their toolbox to try and interfere,” but that the American people will “overcome it by having a battalion of lawyers at the polls.”

    California Sen. Adam Schiff this week said recent actions by the Trump administration — including the Fulton County raid, where Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard put Trump on the phone with agents — were “wrong” and set off “alarm bells about their willingness to interfere in the next election.”

    Democrats have called on their Republican colleagues to help push back against such interference.

    “When he says that we should nationalize the elections and Republicans should take over, and you don’t make a peep? What is going on here?” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday. “This is the path that has ruined many a democracy, and our democracy is deep and strong, but it requires — and allows — resistance to these things. Verbal resistance, electoral resistance. Where are you?”

    Some Republicans have voiced their disagreement with Trump. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Tuesday that he is “supportive of only citizens voting and showing ID at polling places,” but is “not in favor of federalizing elections,” which he called “a constitutional issue.”

    “I’m a big believer in decentralized and distributed power. And I think it’s harder to hack 50 election systems than it is to hack one,” he said.

    However, other Republican leaders have commiserated with Trump over his qualms with state-run elections. House Majority Leader Mike Johnson (R-La.), for example, took aim at California’s system for counting mail-in ballots in the days following elections, questioning why such counting led to Republican leads in House races being “magically whittled away until their leads were lost.”

    “It looks on its face to be fraudulent. Can I prove that? No, because it happened so far upstream,” Johnson said. “But we need more confidence in the American people in the election system.”

    Elections experts expressed dismay over Johnson’s comments, calling them baseless and illogical. The fact that candidates who are leading in votes can fall behind as more votes are counted is not magic but math, they said — with Democrats agreeing.

    “Speaker Johnson seems to be confused, so let me break it down. California’s elections are safe and secure. The point of an election is to make sure *every* eligible vote cast is counted, not to count fast,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) wrote on X. “We don’t just quit while we’re ahead. It’s called a democracy.”

    Democrats have also expressed concern that the administration could use the U.S. Postal Service to interfere with counting mail-in ballots. They have specifically raised questions about a rule issued by the postal service last December that deems mail postmarked on the day it is processed by USPS, rather than the day it is received — which would impact mail-in ballots in places such as California, where ballots must be postmarked by election day to be counted.

    “Election officials are already concerned and warning that this change could ultimately lead to higher mailed ballots being rejected,” Senate Democrats wrote to U.S. Postal Service Postmaster General David Steiner last month.

    Some experts and state officials said voters should make a plan to vote early, and consider dropping their ballots in state ballot drop boxes or delivering them directly to voting centers.

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    Ana Ceballos, Kevin Rector

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  • 2/2: CBS Evening News

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    Sheriff believes Savannah Guthrie’s mom, Nancy, was “abducted”; Bomb cyclone pummels South with snow, ice and freezing temperatures.

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  • Groundhog Day and Friday the 13th

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    Congress is a very superstitious place. Only on Capitol Hill would temporal markers like Groundhog Day and Friday the 13th hold legislative resonance.

    The partial government shutdown will continue until at least Tuesday. This impacts 78% of the federal government after Democrats scuttled a multi-bill spending plan last week over concerns about ICE.

    The charge now for the House of Representatives is to align with a revised Senate-passed plan from Friday. This bill would fund the Pentagon, HUD, transportation programs and a host of agencies through September 30. But it would only operate DHS temporarily as Democrats demand reforms to ICE.

    Many House Democrats balked at the plan supported by many Senate Democrats on Friday. That contributed to uncertainty about whether the House can reopen the government this week. First, House Democrats argued they weren’t a party to the deal cut by many Senate Democrats to partly fund the government and only apply a Band-Aid to DHS funding.

    DEMOCRAT WHO BROKE WITH PARTY SAYS HIS DHS FUNDING VOTE A ‘MISTAKE’ AFTER 2ND MINNEAPOLIS ICE SHOOTING

    The partial government shutdown will continue until at least Tuesday. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

    House Democrats seethed — not so privately – last March when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other Democrats agreed to help Republicans avoid a shutdown. So last Thursday, I asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) if he and Schumer were in sync this time.

    “First of all, that question is, so March of 2025,” Jeffries chided.

    He then ran through a litany of examples of House and Senate Democrats aligning, ranging from health care to the fall government shutdown. Jeffries then answered the question.

    “Yes. Short answer. We are on the same page,” said Jeffries.

    And then added a caveat — which is so February 2026.

    “Now with respect to what emerges from the Senate, as is always the case, we will evaluate whatever bill comes over to us on its merits,” said Jeffries.

    Some Democrats were fine with the funding deal. Moderate Democrats didn’t want to continue the government shutdown. It’s bad politics back home. Others embraced earmarks they secured in the funding package. Yet progressives argued they couldn’t support any funding bill until they saw concrete plans to reform ICE. That’s to say nothing of some on the left wanting to defund ICE.

    “I will be voting no on this funding package. I refuse to send another cent to (White House Adviser) Stephen Miller or (Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi Noem,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee.

    But Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, planned to vote yes. The bill funds most of the government for the rest of the fiscal year. And it buys time to get a deal on ICE.

    “If we do not do that, we will not be able to bring the kinds of pressure that is necessary to make sure that ICE does not continue to terrorize our communities,” said DeLauro.

    So there may be the votes to pass the bill. But the real problem may be on a test vote, known as the rule.

    The House must approve the rule first to determine how it will handle a bill on the floor. If the House adopts the rule, it can debate and vote on the bill. If the vote on the rule fails, the gig is up.

    Some Republicans may oppose the rule. And Democrats made clear they would not assist on the procedural measure which is customarily carried by the majority party.

    “Republicans have a responsibility to move the rule,” said Jeffries. “If they have some massive mandate, then go pass your rule.”

    House Republicans feel the pressure.

    HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS DRAWS LINE ON DHS, ICE FUNDING AS MINNEAPOLIS UNREST FUELS SHUTDOWN RISK

    Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer

    House Democrats seethed last March when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats agreed to help Republicans avoid a shutdown. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

    “We always work until the midnight hour to get the votes. You never start the process with everyone on board,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).

    It’s about the math.

    The Republican majority shrank Monday after the House swore-in Rep. Christian Menefee (D-TX). He won a special election in Texas over the weekend. The GOP majority now holds a 218-214 advantage. In other words, Republican can lose one vote and still pass a bill on their own if every Member casts a ballot.

    “Does his election make your job a little tougher tomorrow?” I asked House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as he met with Menefee for the ceremonial swearing-in.

    “We have a one vote margin now. So what could go wrong? That’s fine. We’re happy for him. And, I hope the first vote is not to shut the government down. That’s not a good way to start,” said Johnson.

    “Are you going to make the job a little harder on the Republican side tomorrow?” I queried Menefee.

    “I just got elected on Saturday and just jumped off the plane to get here. So my first job is to figure out what the bathroom is,” said Menefee.

    I followed up.

    “Does that mean a no vote tomorrow?”

    “It means I’ve got to consider the issues very thoughtfully and cast a vote that matches my values,” deflected Menefee.

    “Good answer!” exclaimed an ecstatic Johnson.

    So everything hinges on the rule vote. If the House crosses that procedural hurdle, it can probably pass the bill and end the shutdown. If not, there’s trouble.

    President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he hoped there was a bipartisan solution to what he termed a “long, pointless and destructive shutdown.”

    Perhaps it’s only appropriate that everyone was talking about ending a government shutdown on Groundhog Day. Especially after the record-breaking 43-day shutdown last autumn.

    By the way, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. He forecast six more weeks of winter. After all of these funding fights, when is someone going to ask Phil for his prognostication about the shutdown?

    But forget Groundhog Day. What everyone should really focus on is Friday the 13th. As in a week from Friday. If the House aligns with the Senate and ends the partial government shutdown, lawmakers only have until 11:59:59 pm et on Friday the 13th to fund DHS. Otherwise, DHS remains broke. Again. That means FEMA has issues. TSA agents aren’t getting paid. You name it.

    SENATE DEMOCRATS THREATEN SHUTDOWN BY BLOCKING DHS FUNDING AFTER MINNESOTA ICE SHOOTING

    Donald Trump speaking at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington.

    President Donald Trump said that he hoped there was a bipartisan solution to what he termed a “long, pointless and destructive shutdown.” (Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo)

    CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

    It’s hard to address issues with ICE in such a tight timeframe.

    “Republicans need to take a good look at what’s happening around the country and realize too that it’s time to rein in ICE’s abuses,” said Schumer.

    Some Republicans agree.

    “We should have been focusing on criminals and gang members and people with active deportation orders. I don’t think we should have been focusing on people that have been here for a long time, grandmothers, et cetera, that happen to be in a neighborhood when you’re doing an enforcement action,” said Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) on Fox Business. “I think that that was a mistake and I think it’s coming back to haunt us right now.”

    So there’s bipartisan agreement on addressing ICE. But those reforms must make it through both the House and Senate by Friday the 13th.

    Only Congress could create a nightmare like this.

    Chad Pergram currently serves as Chief Congressional Correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.

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  • 2/2: The Takeout with Major Garrett

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    2/2: The Takeout with Major Garrett – CBS News









































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    Survivors ask DOJ to take down Epstein files because of redaction failures; DHS funding at center of government budget talks.

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  • Epstein survivor attorney: “Department of Justice doesn’t care about victims one bit”

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    Spencer Kuvin, an attorney for multiple survivors of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, joins CBS News to discuss the Justice Department’s failure to redact identifiable details about survivors in its Epstein file releases.

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  • Survivors ask DOJ to take down Epstein files because of redaction failures

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    Survivors ask DOJ to take down Epstein files because of redaction failures – CBS News









































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    Some of the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein are calling for the Justice Department to take down the files it has released concerning the dead sex offender due to redaction failures. CBS News justice correspondent Scott MacFarlane has more.

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  • Trump says federal government should ‘take over’ state elections

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    WASHINGTON — President Trump said Monday that the federal government should “nationalize” elections, repeating — without evidence — his long-running claim that U.S. elections are beset by widespread fraud.

    Speaking on a podcast hosted by former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Trump said Republicans should “take over the voting in at least 15 places,” alleging that voting irregularities in what he called “crooked states” are hurting the GOP.

    “The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting,” Trump said.

    The proposal would clash with the Constitution’s long-standing framework that grants states primary authority over election administration, and underscored Trump’s continued efforts to upend voting rules ahead of this year’s midterm elections.

    Trump, for example, lamented that Republicans have not been “tougher” on the issue, again asserting without evidence that he lost the 2020 election because undocumented immigrants voted illegally for Democrats.

    “If we don’t get them out, Republicans will never win another election,” Trump said. “These people were brought to our country to vote and they vote illegally, and it is amazing that the Republicans are not tougher on it.”

    In his remarks, the president suggested that “some interesting things” may come out of Georgia in the near future. Trump did not divulge more details, but was probably teasing what may come after the FBI served a search warrant at the election headquarters of Fulton County, Ga.

    Days after FBI agents descended on the election center, the New York Times reported that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was with agents at the scene when she called Trump on her cellphone. Trump thanked them for their work, according to the report, an unusual interaction between the president and investigators tied to a politically sensitive inquiry.

    In the days leading up to the Georgia search, Trump suggested in a speech during the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland, that criminal charges were imminent in connection to what he called a “rigged” 2020 election.

    Georgia has been central to Trump’s 2020 claims. That’s where Trump called Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on January 2021, asking him to “find” 11,780 votes to overturn the state’s results. Raffensperger refused, affirming that a series of reviews confirmed that Democrat Joe Biden had won the state.

    Since returning to office a year ago, Trump has continued to aggressively pushed changes to election rules.

    He signed an executive order in March to require proof of U.S. citizenship on election forms, but months later a federal judge barred the Trump administration from doing so, saying the order violated the separation of powers.

    “Because our Constitution assigns responsibility for election regulation to the States and to Congress, this Court holds that the President lacks the authority to direct such changes,” Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia wrote in October.

    In Congress, several Republican lawmakers have backed legislation to require people provide proof of citizenship before they register to vote.

    Some conservatives are using the elections bill as bargaining chip amid negotiations over a spending package that would end a partial government shutdown that began early Saturday.

    “ONLY AMERICAN CITIZENS SHOULD BE VOTING IN AMERICAN ELECTIONS. This is common sense not rocket science,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) wrote on X on Monday as negotiations were continuing.

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    Ana Ceballos

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