House Republicans’ campaign arm is announcing that it raised more than $33 million in the first three months of 2024.

It comes as GOP leaders brace for battle to keep and even expand their razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives this November.

‘In a game of inches for the House majority where every seat matters, Republicans are out-recruiting, out-messaging, and out-hustling extreme Democrats,’ Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), told Fox News Digital in a statement.

‘We are building momentum to grow our House Republican majority – this outstanding fundraising is proof we will have the resources we need to make extreme Democrats pay a price for failing America.’

The NRCC raised $33.4 million in the first three months of 2024, according to an early press release obtained by Fox News Digital. Nearly half that total – $16.2 million – was raised in March alone, their best fundraising month of the cycle so far.

It brings the NRCC’s total fundraising for the 2024 election cycle, which began in January 2023, to $124.7 million.

The total is significantly higher than the $25.8 million the NRCC raised in the first quarter of last year, which is not a shocking data point given that it’s an election year.

It comes as the House has spent much of this Congress grappling with a majority of just a few votes. The margin is expected to be whittled down to just one after the April 19 departure of Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis.

The cash will have to be used to defend their swing-district incumbents in places like New York and California, in addition to winning new seats.

But in a brief interview with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., this week, the No. 2 House Republican said there are vulnerable Democrat seats across the country where Republicans could expand their majority.

He named Michigan, Pennsylvania, Alaska, Ohio and even California as places with seats that could flip from blue to red.

‘There’s about 20-plus seats right now that are held by Democrats today that have a very real chance of flipping for Republican candidates,’ he said. 

‘The top issue you hear about everywhere you go is border security. People are furious that we had over 8 million people come across the border illegally and Joe Biden won’t do anything to stop it,’ Scalise said. ‘And then there’s just the high cost of everything – energy, of course, being at the top of the list, but also groceries – you know, just people talking about sharing their stories about how expensive things are because of the inflation caused by all of the spending in D.C. and all of the policies coming out of Washington.’

America First Policy Institute (AFPI) is rolling out an agenda on Thursday that will ’empower women’ and support them in ‘challenging situations,’ including unexpected pregnancies, fertility issues, adoption and more, while providing mental health resources surrounding abortion and pregnancy. 

The introduction of AFPI’s H.O.P.E. agenda comes just days after former President Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, said the issue of abortion should be left to the states. Trump explicitly affirmed his support for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and emphasized his support for states determining their own laws for abortion — so long as there are exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. 

‘The states will determine by vote, or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land – in this case, the law of the state,’ Trump said. ‘Many states will be different. Many states will have a different number of weeks…at the end of the day it is all about the will of the people.’

The H.O.P.E. agenda, obtained by Fox News Digital, is a 20-point plan designed to ’empower women in motherhood, adoption, foster care and fertility treatments while reducing the number of abortions and providing support in challenging situations, including mental health needs.’ 

The ‘H’ stands for ‘Health’ for women and babies ‘at all stages of pregnancy and after, including routine and emergent medical care and mental health support and access to IVF treatments.’ 

The ‘O’ stands for ‘Opportunity’ for women to be ‘supported.’ 

The ‘P’ is for ‘Prosperity’ for women and children to have access to resources needed to live, including childcare assistance.

The ‘E’ is for ’empowerment for women to know fathers will be held financially responsible,’ and more. 

The agenda would allow courts to ‘award child support to mothers while a child is in the womb,’ and it changes tax laws that would allow expectant mothers to claim a dependent or child tax deduction on federal taxes the year the baby was conceived, even if born the following year. AFPI says that could save a mother $3,600. 

The agenda also addresses legal and financial barriers to adoption and foster care through specific tax credits; enhances healthcare access to improve outcomes and reduce maternal mortality; supports pregnancy resource centers and community health centers; and prioritizes the health of women and their babies. 

The agenda also makes counseling available to women before they undergo abortions. 

The plan would also require companies that cover abortion costs to also provide the same level of coverage for pro-family measures, like seeking infertility treatments or pursuing adoption. 

The document also affirms ‘the long-standing exceptions [to abortion bans] for victims of rape and incest, protecting the life of the mother, and ensuring babies born alive receive life-saving medical care.’ 

‘After five decades of tireless advocacy, the pro-life movement succeeded in returning decisions regarding abortion policies to state-elected representatives through the landmark Dobbs decision,’ AFPI president and CEO Brooke Rollins told Fox News Digital. ‘We have an opportunity to prioritize a broader set of pro-life and pro-family principles that compassionately care for the lives of both the woman and unborn child.’ 

Rollins added, ‘Protecting life isn’t just a policy; it’s a commitment to supporting women, children, and those pursuing parenthood.’ 

Rollins told Fox News Digital that AFPI’s agenda proposal ‘upholds the sanctity of every life and offers support to those with financial barriers and those seeking fertility treatments, ensuring access to the journey of parenthood for all.’ 

‘We recognize that every situation is unique and vow to provide the care and support they deserve,’ Rollins added. 

AFPI, a 501C3 non-profit, non-partisan research institute focused on ‘advancing policies that put the American people first,’ is led by senior leaders from the Trump administration, including Rollins, the former White House director of the Domestic Policy Council, former Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon, and other former Cabinet-level officials. 

The issue of abortion is high on voters’ list ahead of the 2024 presidential election. 

The Supreme Court, in 2022, delivered its decision to overturn the 1973 landmark case, Roe v. Wade, bringing the issue of abortion back to the states for the first time in nearly 50 years.

The Trump campaign is calling for additional 2024 presidential debates and for them to take place ‘much earlier’ than initially proposed by the debate commission, with former President Trump telling Fox News Digital that he is ‘totally committed’ to debating President Biden ‘anytime, anywhere, anyplace.’ 

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a letter Trump co-campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita sent Thursday to The Commission on Presidential Debates co-chairs Frank Farenkopf Jr. and Antonia Hernandez. 

Wiles and LaCivita told the commission they were writing ‘in agreement with the pending letter,’ reported by The New York Times, ‘from television networks advocating for presidential debates to occur in 2024.’ 

‘While the Commission on Presidential Debates has already announced three presidential debates and a vice-presidential debate to occur later this year, we are in favor of these debates beginning much earlier,’ they wrote.

First, Wiles and LaCivita said ‘voting is beginning earlier and earlier, and as we saw in 2020, tens of millions of Americans had already voted by the time of the first debate.’ 

‘Specific to the Commissions proposed 2024 calendar, it simply comes too late,’ they wrote, adding an estimate of how many Americans will have already voted by the date of each scheduled debate. 

‘By the date of the first proposed debate, September 16, 2024, over 1 million Americans will have likely voted,’ they wrote. ‘By the date of the second proposed debate, October 1, 2024, the number of Americans who will have likely cast a ballot will be over 3 million, an increase of 225%.’ 

By the third proposed debate date on Oct. 9, 35 days from Election Day, Wiles and LaCivita estimated that ‘approximately 8.7 million Americans will have already voted.’ 

The Trump campaign argued that in 2020, Americans ‘were robbed of a true and robust debate,’ with the commission only hosting two debates that took place ‘much too late in the election calendar despite voting timelines having moved up exponentially.’ 

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday, Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said it is ‘very important to have the debates now because the country is doing so badly.’ 

Trump listed the crisis at the southern border, national security, America’s standing on the world stage, rising crime, the economy and more.

‘The country is in such trouble,’ Trump told Fox News Digital. ‘What are Biden’s plans?’ 

‘I would fully accept any debate, anywhere, anytime, anyplace,’ he continued. 

When asked if he thought Biden, too, would commit to a debate against him on the issues that matter most to voters, Trump replied: 

‘Perhaps he will, perhaps he won’t. I really don’t care,’ he said. ‘I am totally committed to debating him anytime, anywhere, any place.’ 

As for the debate schedule, Trump told Fox News Digital ‘the earlier the better.’ 

‘I think it is important that we debate and the earlier the better because people have to find out what is going on with America,’ he explained. ‘We are no longer respected around the world. There are so many things that are happening.’

He added: ‘It’s not the same country that we had just four years ago.’ 

Meanwhile, in their letter to the debate commission, the Trump campaign said that in 2020, the commission ‘ceded to the wishes of the Biden campaign on every front.’ 

‘Fairness in such a setting is paramount and the Commission must ensure that the 2024 Commission-sponsored debates are truly fair and conducted impartially,’ they wrote. 

‘The Commission must move up the timetable of its proposed 2024 debates to ensure more Americans have a full chance to see the candidates before they start voting, and we would argue for adding more debates in addition to those on the currently proposed schedule,’ they wrote. ‘We have already indicated President Trump is willing to debate anytime, anyplace, and anywhere—and the time to start these debates is now.’ 

‘Former President Abraham Lincoln and former U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas held seven debates in their storied 1858 U.S. Senate battle in Illinois,’ they added. ‘Certainly today’s America deserves as much.’ 

Biden and his campaign have yet to commit to debates against Trump. 

When asked last month if he would debate the former president, Biden said it was dependent on Trump’s ‘behavior.’ 

‘Depends on his behavior,’ Biden said. 

Earlier this year, Biden addressed previous calls for earlier debates with Trump.

‘If I were him, I would want to debate me, too,’ Biden told reporters in Nevada when asked about Trump wanting to debate him earlier in the election cycle.

‘He’s got nothing else to do,’ Biden said.

While former President Trump was out on the campaign trail meeting with everyday Americans at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Georgia on Wednesday, President Biden was fine dining with the Clintons and other prestigious guests at the White House.

In Atlanta, Trump met with locals and had unscripted conversations, bought them ‘the Lord’s chicken’ and urged them to support his third bid for the presidency. More than 500 miles away, in Washington, D.C., Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a White House State Dinner.

Some notable attendees of the dinner included: Bill and Hillary Clinton, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez, Apple CEO Tim Cook, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink, actor Robert DeNiro and his girlfriend Tiffany Chen, former president of Planned Parenthood Cecile Richards and others.

Several of Biden’s family also attended. These included the president’s daughter, Ashley Biden and her husband, Dr. Howard Krein, and Hunter Biden’s daughters, Finnegan Biden and Naomi Biden Neal.

Several lawmakers and state executives also attended the distinguished dinner, including Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gov. Tony Evers of Wisconsin, and Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina.

‘Today, without question, our alliance is literally stronger than it’s ever been,’ Biden said at the dinner, referencing the U.S.-Japan relationship. ‘Tonight, we pledge to keep going. We stand at an inflection point where the decisions we make now are going to determine the course of the future for decades to come. A future that the kids of our two families and children of our two countries remember. But I also know that Japan and the United States stand together and everyone should know that as well, committed to each other and committed to keeping building the future worthy of the highest hopes.’

The Japanese prime minister also shared brief remarks, saying he and his wife were ‘speechless’ by the number of ‘huge number of prominent American and Japanese guests.’

‘Mr. President. Dr. Biden. Distinguished guests and ladies and gentlemen, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to you for hosting such a wonderful dinner and your warm welcome and hospitality,’ Kishida said. ‘First and foremost, to be honest, my breath is taken and I’m speechless in front of such a huge number of prominent American and Japanese guests. And my wife Yuko, also left breathless, just told me that it was hard to tell who the guest of honor is.’

Fox News Digital made repeated attempts to reach out to the Trump and Biden campaigns for a statement but did not immediately receive a response.

In contrast, the presumptive Republican nominee joined everyday Americans at a Chick-fil-A restaurant, where he chatted with staff and treated customers inside the store to chicken and milkshakes.

‘Can I have 30 milkshakes and some chicken?’ Trump can be heard asking the employees. ‘We’re going to take care of the customers.’

In various videos of the exchange, Trump is seen surrounded and conversing with a group of people. The former president flattered crew members and asked if they were making ‘a lot of money.’

‘Business is good?’ the former president asked, prompting nods from the workers. ‘Making a lot of money? Getting rich, right? That’s wonderful.’

He then took photos with the various customers and asked if everyone was having a good time.

‘We don’t care what the media says, we support you,’ one woman can be heard saying. The former president responded kindly, hugging the woman, who added: ‘Tell my mom that I made it.’

Trump also praised the Chick-fil-A brand, saying, ‘They do very well.’ He also joked that he knew the menu better than the employees.

Trump then instructed the staff that he was going to hand them out to the customers and take some for his entourage.

The videographer then jokingly said, ‘It’s the Lord’s chicken,’ and Trump agreed.

‘It’s the Lord’s chicken, you’re right,’ he said. ‘It’s good chicken, too.’

After his visit to Georgia, Trump is expected to go to Orlando, Florida.

The former President and Biden are expected to be certified as their respective party’s official nominees over the summer ahead of their 2020 rematch in November. 

Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

We are less than a week away from the tax deadline, and McAfee is out with new data on tax season that can help ensure you stay safe this tax season. 

With tax return scams on the rise, rushing to get your taxes done before the deadline can be one of the ways you are more vulnerable to becoming a victim of one of these scams.

So, how can you strike the balance of utilizing tax filing software to support you in getting those taxes on time while ensuring you’re protecting yourself from the various tax scams that are out there?

Steve Grobman, senior vice president and chief technology officer at McAfee, a cybersecurity company, advises that filing your taxes on time is a key step in avoiding tax scams.

What are the most common tax scams?

Tax scams have become more sophisticated over the last few years, but they are in no way new. However, with AI becoming more commonplace, scammers can utilize this technology to expedite their malicious scams. These scams can come in many different forms, but some of the most common ones are:

Scammers impersonate IRS officials to solicit back payments or personal information over the phone, using threats of arrest or fines to pressure immediate compliance. They may use fake badge numbers, caller IDs or robocalls enhanced with AI voice-overs.

Scammers commit fraud by sending emails or messages pretending to be from tax authorities or reputable tax software companies. They entice recipients to click on links that lead to fake websites designed to steal personal and financial information or directly request sensitive data under the guise of tax filing or refunds.

This occurs when identity thieves use stolen personal information to file fraudulent tax returns. Signs of such theft include receiving a letter from the IRS about a tax return already filed in your name, an electronic filing rejection because a return has already been filed using your Social Security Number, or a notification about the creation of a new online IRS account you did not initiate.

What you need to know about tax filing software

Today’s tax landscape is dominated by online engagement, with nearly nine out of 10 (89%) individuals turning to online platforms for at least one part of the tax filing process. More than half of consumers (54%) struggle to differentiate between scams and legitimate messages. In February alone, cybersecurity firm McAfee blocked more than one million attempts to engage with malicious, tax-related URLS.

Steve says, ‘With less than a week left until Tax Day, early filers are awaiting refunds and tax procrastinators are likely feeling the pressure and stress of the deadline. Scammers exploit these heightened emotions by offering easy filing, faster refunds or urgent information requests, so it’s not surprising that Americans report an average of $8,199 per person lost to tax-related email and text message scams.’

‘We encourage people to maintain healthy skepticism, pause before sharing sensitive information online, and to use the right tools to protect their privacy, identity and personal information during tax season and beyond.’

How scam attempts and detection look in different states

According to Steve, ‘Our recent tax scam survey uncovered notable disparities in scam susceptibility. Residents of some states – particularly Texas, New York, California, Alaska and Arkansas – have a much higher rate of receiving fraudulent tax refund messages than others.’

‘These messages often contain malicious links or malware, increasing vulnerability to scams, so we encourage people to be extra alert and use AI-powered online identity and information protection measures to safeguard themselves against potential scams.’

Here’s some more information by state:

: Despite being highly confident in spotting tax-related scams, Texas has a significant percentage to online tax scams, indicating a gap between confidence and reality.

: While New Yorkers are confident in identifying tax-related scams, 70% have received messages purporting to be from tax authorities, and have received requests for personal information, suggesting a significant issue with scam attempts.

: Although West Virginia has a high confidence level in spotting fake tax preparation services, of its residents are likely to click on links from supposed tax software companies, indicating vulnerability to scams.

: Despite being less likely to click on links from purported tax preparation software companies, Kansas has a relatively high percentage () of people who wouldn’t recognize a scam message from the IRS or state tax authority, suggesting a need for awareness and education on tax scams.

: of Tennessean respondents who clicked on links from supposed tax software companies lost money, and all respondents who received messages about tax refunds clicked on those links, highlighting a vulnerability to scam messages in the state.

How to protect yourself from tax-related identity theft

There are several ways you can protect yourself from tax-related identity theft:

Utilize tax software to get your taxes done faster and on time, but be sure to research and check the reviews.

The IRS will NEVER call you and ask you to make any sort of payment over the phone.

Request an Identity Protection PIN from the IRS. This will help to ensure your account is protected going forward and make it less likely that someone can file a fake tax return in your name.

In the future, try to file your taxes as early as you can. By doing this, you’re essentially beating the scammer to it. Once you file the return, they will be unable to commit fraud by filing a return in your name.

Don’t click on suspicious links, even if you recognize the name of the tax software company. The best way to protect yourself from clicking malicious links that install malware that may get access to your private information is to have antivirus protection installed on all your devices. 

This can also alert you of any phishing emails or ransomware scams. Get my picks for the best 2024 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices.

Steve adds, ‘The rise of AI-generated tax scams has made it incredibly challenging for Americans to tell the difference between real and fake communications. Cybercrooks can now easily create malicious robocalls that sound like they could come from a neighbor and send error-free text and email messages.’

‘With 1 in 4 Americans losing money to online tax scams, it’s crucial for consumers to stay informed about the latest scams, exercise skepticism when something seems too good to be true, and utilize AI-powered tools to protect their privacy, identity and personal information.’

What to do if you’re a victim of a tax scam?

The hope is that by being aware of the different tax scams that are out there – especially when the deadline for filing your taxes is right around the corner – you’ll be less likely to become a victim of one. That being said, we know that these scammers are pretty clever. So, if you do find that you’ve been a victim of a scam, follow these steps:

This is the form that all victims of fraud must fill out for the IRS. It will let them know that the person claiming to be you is a fraud. You can find the form on the IRS website.

You can do this by going to this page on the IRS website on dealing with fraudulent returns and following the instructions to order a copy.

Let the national bureaus, such as Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, know that there has been fraud and freeze your account so that the scammers cannot access it.

The FTC is there to help track down scammers, and your report can also help them record how many scams are happening in a single year to improve better how to warn others. You should also report the crime to identitytheft.gov/.

Make sure there aren’t any suspicious transactions on any of your accounts.

As tax season approaches, the risk of tax fraud significantly increases. It’s crucial to be vigilant and proactive in protecting your personal information. One effective measure is to enlist the help of an identity theft protection service. 

Identity theft companies can monitor personal information like your Social Security Number, phone number and email address and alert you if it is being sold on the dark web or being used to open an account. They can also assist you in freezing your bank and credit card accounts to prevent further unauthorized use by criminals.

One of the best parts of using an identity theft protection service is that it might include identity theft insurance of and a white-glove fraud resolution team where a . See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft.

Kurt’s key takeaways

Taxes are a necessary evil that we have to do every year. Because it can be complicated, many people resort to software to help get the job done. Whatever route you take, be on the lookout for suspicious links from these software companies and any strange messages or phone calls claiming to be from the IRS – and claim your IRS Identity Protection PIN ASAP.

Considering the advancements in cybersecurity, what steps should companies take to protect their customers’ sensitive financial data? Let us know by writing us at

For more of my tech tips & security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to

Ask Kurt a question or let us know what stories you’d like us to cover.

Answers to the most asked CyberGuy questions:

What is the best way to protect your Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android devices from getting hacked?What is the best way to stay private, secure and anonymous while browsing the web?How can I get rid of robocalls with apps and data-removal services?

Copyright 2024 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.

South Korea’s prime minister and senior presidential officials have offered to resign en masse following Wednesday’s parliamentary elections.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and all senior presidential advisers to conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol submitted their resignations, according to Yoon’s office, after Wednesday’s elections dealt a huge blow to Yeol’s party. The elections secured the liberal opposition forces’ control of parliament until after Yoon completes his single five-year term in 2027. 

The results will likely set back Yoon’s domestic agenda and weaken his grip on the party. He will also have to face the opposition’s intensifying political offensive during his remaining three years, experts say.

Yoon’s office did not immediately say whether Yoon would accept their resignations.

With most of the votes counted, the main opposition Democratic Party and its satellite party appeared to have won a combined 175 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, according to South Korean media tallies.

Yoon’s ruling People Power Party was projected to have obtained 108 seats.

The final official results were expected later Thursday.

The final voter turnout for South Korea’s 44 million eligible voters was the highest for a parliamentary election since 1992, according to the National Election Commission.

In a news conference, ruling People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon announced he was stepping down to take responsibility for the election defeat.

‘I apologize to the people on behalf of our party, which wasn’t good enough to win the people’s choices,’ he said.

Yoon, a former top prosecutor who took office in 2022, will stay in power and his major foreign policies will likely be unchanged. 

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, who lost the 2022 presidential election to Yoon, praised Wednesday’s results. 

‘The results of the parliamentary elections are not the victory by the Democratic Party, but the great victory by our people,’ Lee said Thursday. ‘Now, the elections are over. Both the ruling and opposition political parties must pull together all their strength to resolve economic and public livelihood problems.’

In South Korea, executive power is mostly wielded by the president, but the prime minister is the country’s No. 2 official and would take power if the president becomes incapacitated.

The incoming parliament is to begin meeting on May 30 for a four-year term. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

We live in extremely polarizing times.

Can anyone really dispute that?

The two major presidential candidates are calling each other a threat to democracy.

Donald Trump says Joe Biden is pulling the strings to have him jailed in the hush money case. Joe Biden says Donald Trump is a dictator in waiting.

Biden says Trump’s election would lead to a national ban on abortion. Trump says Biden’s election would mean Democrats would keep aborting babies through the ninth month and even after birth.

Trump says Biden has opened the borders in ways that will lead to a crime surge across the country. Biden says Trump torpedoed a tough border security bill because he’d rather have the issue than a solution.

Most Republicans believe Trump that the 2020 election was stolen. Most Democrats believe that is a big lie.

Trump says the Jan. 6 defendants are hostages who are being held illegally. Biden says they were rightfully convicted for attacking police officers and trying to overturn the election.

There are exaggerations, distortions and outright falsehoods in these and many other statements. But they are believed or disbelieved based largely on pure partisanship. And nasty personal attacks have become so routine in this social media age that they are almost the price of admission.

But what if these are just a limited set of players – journalists, pundits, operatives, influencers and trolls – who are poisoning the atmosphere?  

Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen, co-founders of Axios, explore that question in a thought-provoking piece:

‘What if we’ve been deceived into thinking we’re more divided, more dysfunctional and more defeated than we actually are?’

They’ve come up with a phrase –’reality distortion bubble’ – to describe the world we live in.

They don’t deny that ‘deep divisions’ exist. They say the loudest voices are amplified, which has been true going back to the earliest days of talk radio.

But when I think of ordinary people in my life – by which I mean those who are not political or media junkies, and live relatively normal lives – I’m reminded that they don’t walk around with their fists up and use Facebook mainly for family and pet updates.

This is particularly true when I escape the Beltway hothouse.

Here’s how Axios puts it: 

‘No, most Christians aren’t white Christian nationalists who see Donald Trump as a God-like figure. Most are ignoring politics and wrestling with their faith.

‘No, most college professors aren’t trying to silence conservatives or turn kids into liberal activists. Most are teaching math, or physics, or biology.

‘No, most kids don’t hate Israel and run around chanting, ‘From the river to the sea.’ On most campuses, most of the time, students are doing what students have always done.

‘No, most Republicans don’t want to ban all abortions starting at conception. No, most Democrats don’t want to allow them until birth.

‘No, immigrants who are here illegally aren’t rushing to vote and commit crimes. Actual data show both rarely happen — even amid a genuine crisis at the border.

‘No, most people aren’t fighting on X. Turns out, the vast majority of Americans never tweet at all. [What??]

‘No, most people aren’t cheering insults on Fox News and MSNBC in the evening. Turns out, less than 2 percent of Americans are even watching.’

Anticipating complaints that they are ‘naive,’ the authors concede that politics on the Hill, especially in the House with its miniscule majority, are dysfunctional. I’d say that dramatically understates the case.

Crucial aid to Israel and Ukraine has been stalled for months because of petty partisanship. Marjorie Taylor Greene is talking about toppling another speaker, Mike Johnson, six months after her ally Kevin McCarthy got the boot. This is sheer chaos.

VandeHei and Allen make the intriguing point that politics has infested everything, from football to beer to Target.

And, yes, there’s blame on both sides:

‘The acceptance of former President Trump’s language and tactics by so many Republicans can be partly explained by this reality distortion phenomenon. His base often feasts off edge-case outrages — wacky liberal professors saying wacky things, illegal immigrants committing brutal but isolated crimes, surges in shootings in specific cities…

Similar edge cases pulse through liberal channels and the word police. This helps explain how ‘LatinX’ went mainstream, then got dumped.’

Maybe people will grow sick of the perpetual polarization and rediscover that there’s more that binds us than separates us. But I don’t see it happening anytime soon.

House Republican lawmakers left a closed-door meeting late on Wednesday afternoon furious at their 19 GOP colleagues who blocked the chamber from advancing a bill to renew a key surveillance tool of the federal government.

‘When you have a majority, where members in the majority will not support the rules and the procedures set forth by the majority, you effectively are turning control over to the minority party. And that’s what these members are doing,’ Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., told Fox News Digital.

It comes after a normally sleepy procedural vote, known as a rule vote, on a bill to reform and renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act failed 193 to 228 Wednesday afternoon — the seventh time a rule vote failed this Congress. Prior to that, a rule vote had not failed in two decades.

‘Here’s what frustrates me — is that the same members who are taking down this rule are vociferously advocating for reforming FISA. There are 56 major reforms of FISA 702 that are embedded in the base bill. I understand they don’t think those 56 reforms go far enough…But by taking down the rule and by making it impossible to pass this reform base bill, they’re gonna get nothing,’ Barr said.

Conservative privacy hawks who tanked the bill were angry over how it was handled, including the exclusion of an amendment mandating warrants for the purchase of U.S. citizens’ data from third-party data brokers.

But Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., suggested that the group’s tactics on House floor votes take away from their actual goals.

‘I think people make good, salient arguments. The problem is in the delivery — if all you do is scream, no one listens to you anymore,’ he said. ‘And I think there can be merits on lots of good arguments, but when you cry wolf all the time, when everything’s a no, you undermine your credibility.’

A rule vote would typically fall along party lines, with even lawmakers opposed to the bill voting in favor of allowing it to proceed if it was introduced by their own side. However, small factions of the House GOP’s razor-thin majority have weaponized rule votes to kill their own party’s legislation as a form of protest against their leadership.

‘What I heard in there was that they weren’t p—ed off about the underlying bill. The FISA bill itself was 56 reforms, all that stuff. That’s good,’ another GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital. ‘Why they voted against the rule, it wasn’t because of the FISA bill itself. It was the process. It was the amendments that they didn’t get allowed to bring to the floor that actually made them move against it.’

Section 702 is a tool that allows the federal government to surveil non-Americans on foreign soil with suspected terror links without a warrant, even if the person on the other side of their communications is an American.

The fight ahead of its April 19 expiry deadline has put Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in a difficult spot between the House Judiciary Committee and its allies, and the U.S. intelligence community and national security hawks in Congress. The former have cast Section 702 as a tool of exploitation and privacy infringement, while the latter have maintained it’s a narrowly focused tool critical to preventing terror attacks.

Another issue for GOP hardliners has been Johnson’s opposition to an amendment backed by Judiciary Republicans, which would force the federal government to seek a warrant to query data about a U.S. citizen.

One of the 19 Republicans who sunk the bill, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good, R-Va., told reporters, ‘Some of us would rather see it expire than see it not reformed properly.’

But another GOP lawmaker who is supportive of the bill argued that such an amendment would gut the tool’s purpose. 

They explained that if a suspected terrorist overseas is communicating with a U.S. citizen at home, a Section 702 search would already pick up their specific communications with that U.S. citizen. The amendment would force authorities to seek a warrant before seeing the contents of that communication, which critics have warned could waste valuable time in the event of a serious threat.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, meanwhile, suggested to reporters on Wednesday evening that letting Section 702 expire on April 19 would have dire consequences, warning, ‘We will go blind on April 20.’

‘Unfortunately, there’s a great deal of misinformation about FISA. FISA is not a bulk data collection program. It is not spying on Americans,’ he continued. ‘It is collecting foreigners’ data that are abroad that represent a very small group of 250,000 who are a national security threat. Unfortunately, the proposed warrant would render our ability to see communications with people who… are with national security threats like the head of ISIS, head of Hamas, head of Al Qaeda, in an unworkable structure.’

It’s not immediately clear what House GOP leaders’ next steps would be. Multiple GOP lawmakers told Fox News Digital that among the considerations are a short-term extension of the current Section 702 program, which both sides of the argument have criticized as ripe for abuse, or being forced to take up the Senate’s renewal bill.

Privacy hawks, meanwhile, are pushing Johnson to allow as many amendment votes on the bill as requested to ensure all members have a voice in shaping the bill — even if those amendments would not get past the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Long-shot presidential candidate Cornel West tapped Melina Abdullah, a professor and one of the co-founders of Black Lives Matter,as his running mate for his independent presidential bid.

West announced his pick on Wednesday’s episode of ‘The Tavis Smiley Radio Show’ on KBLA radio.

‘I wanted somebody whose heart, mind, and soul is committed to the empowerment of poor and working peoples of all colors,’ West said. ‘Melina has a history of longevity of putting her heart, mind and soul in the struggle.’

West commended Abdullah’s ‘unique Black analysis and witness’ and ‘keen intellect.’

‘At this historic and pivotal moment, it is my profound honor to stand alongside my dear sister, Dr. Melina Abdullah, a fierce and tireless advocate for truth, justice, and transformative change,’ West said in a press release. ‘Sister Melina’s incredible courage, keen intellect, and deep vision have greatly served the cause of liberation in education, worker rights, and both racial and gender justice. Her unique Black analysis and witness helps us confront our crumbling era of empire, white supremacy, and patriarchy. I look forward to working with her as we strengthen our commitment in our campaign for truth, justice and love!’

‘Heart just soared’

Abdullah, a professor of Pan-African studies and formerly chaired the Department of Pan-African Studies at Cal State, said that her ‘heart just soared’ when she was asked to be West’s vice president.

‘I regard [West], and many of us regard him as one of the most brilliant people to walk this earth, and so I’ve been following him and have been really enthusiastic about his candidacy,’ Abdullah said on Smiley’s show.

‘He and his wife, Annahita, asked and immediately my heart just soared,’ she said. ‘I said ‘yes’ immediately. Like, shouted ‘yes.’’

Abdullah said that she first met West when she was an undergraduate student at Howard University, but the pair recently reconnected at a Black Lives Matter event.

Muslim faith

The professor also discussed her Muslim faith during the segment, sharing that she hopes to bridge divisions.

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‘When we talk about Islam we talk about people who submit to the will of God,’ Abdullah said. ‘Christianity and Islam and every other faith, if you think about the core of who we are as spiritual people, we’re all aligned.’

Abdullah has been outspoken on X, comparing the New York Police Department as the KKK.

‘The KKK, the police, and government officials are one in the same,’ she wrote in a X post in Dec. 2023.

After the releaseof Beyoncé’s latest album release last month, which features the singer holding an American flag, Abdullah wrote on X, ‘The #AmericanFlag symbolizes the genocide of Indigenous people, the theft of their land, the enslavement, dehumanization, and exploitation of Black people, and settler colonialism. Critique around @Beyonce’s artistic choice is important and healthy, not hate.’

West’s campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Former President Donald Trump’s request to delay his hush money criminal trial was denied Wednesday, marking the third time this week his lawyers’ attempts to delay the trial have failed. 

Trump’s arguments for the delay hinged on three reasons: that Judge Juan M. Merchan should be recused; the requirements to file pre-motion letters were too restrictive; and the defense should be permitted to argue presidential immunity as a defense.  

Lawyers from the district attorney’s office and the court administration argued against a delay, calling Trump’s arguments meritless. The court’s attorney said Merchan does not stand to benefit from the outcome of the trial. 

The former president’s lawyers filed paperwork on Wednesday asking the state’s mid-level appeals court to intervene and to issue an order preventing jury selection from starting as scheduled. Paperwork related to Trump’s latest appeal was sealed and no documents were publicly available.

A docket listing shows that Wednesday’s action was framed as a fresh attempt to sue Merchan under a state law known as Article 78 that allows judges to be sued over some judicial decisions.

An appeals court judge was expected to hear arguments at an emergency hearing Wednesday afternoon.

One appeals court judge on Monday rejected Trump’s bid to delay the trial while he seeks to move it out of Manhattan. A different judge on Tuesday denied a request, framed as part of a lawsuit against Merchan, that the trial be delayed while Trump fights a gag order imposed on him in recent weeks.

Trump has separately demanded that Merchan step aside from the case, accusing him of bias and a conflict of interest, citing his daughter’s work as the head of a firm whose clients have included President Biden, Vice President Harris and other Democrats.

Merchan rejected a similar request in August and has not ruled on Trump’s pending request. The judge has also yet to rule on another defense delay request, which claims that Trump won’t get a fair trial because of ‘prejudicial media coverage.’

Last week, Merchan rejected the presumptive Republican nominee’s request to delay the trial until the Supreme Court rules on presidential immunity claims he raised in his Washington, D.C., election interference case. The Supreme Court is slated to hear arguments in that matter on April 25.

Trump’s hush-money trial, which is scheduled to start on Monday, is the first of his four criminal indictments slated to go to trial and would be the first criminal trial ever of a former president.

He is accused of falsifying his company’s records to hide the nature of payments to his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who helped Trump bury negative stories during his 2016 campaign. 

Cohen’s activities included paying porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to suppress her claims of an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.

Fox News’ Maria Paronich and The Associated Press contributed to this report.