MANCHESTER, N.H. — As the 2024 White House race appears to be moving toward a rematch between President Biden and former President Trump, the centrist group No Labels is taking steps to prepare for a possible third-party unity ticket.

And the group says it has support, pointing to a slew of public polling that indicates Americans are anything but jazzed about a Biden-Trump presidential election.

‘We’re responding to a clear demand from American voters. The vast majority of them aren’t happy with the likely major party nominees,’ said the group’s chief strategist, Ryan Clancy. ‘They want another choice, and all No Labels is doing is offering them that choice.’

Clancy, in an interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday, said No Labels is ‘doing a lot of dialogue with our members across the country to get a better sense of the kind of candidates, the specific candidates, that people would want to see on the ticket.’

He reiterated that the group hadn’t made a final determination about whether they would be better served with having a Republican rather than a Democrat at the top of their potential ticket.

‘The basis for that is some polling we did over the summer,’ Clancy told Fox News. ‘We just found that a unity ticket on the top just did better, had a better chance to win. And so that was the basis of that thinking. But we haven’t made any final determination as to whether it would be a D or an R or an I on the top.’

Clancy added that ‘we’re going to be doing some more polling here in the next couple of weeks before we make any final decisions.’

Job No. 1 right now for No Labels is getting on the ballot.

The group says it’s on the ballot in 14 states and is currently working in 13 others. It says it intends to have ballot access in 32 states by later this year.

‘Our focus had to be on getting on the ballots in all 50 states. Because if we didn’t do that, there’s no option to run candidates. So, that’s what we’re doing now,’ former Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut said during a news conference Thursday.

Liberman, the 2000 Democrat vice presidential nominee who won his last election to the Senate in 2006 as an independent, is the founding chairman and co-chair of No Labels.

No Labels Co-Executive Director Margaret White said that ‘we will decide in the coming months whether to offer our ballot line to a unity presidential ticket. If we do so, that ticket’s presidential campaign will be responsible for securing access in the final 18 states, plus the District of Columbia.’

As it works to gain ballot access, No Labels is also reaching out to potential candidates on a national bipartisan ticket.

‘The reality is we’re beginning to talk to potential candidates,’ Lieberman said.

Discussing the timetable, he said ‘when it becomes clear — as it certainly looks it will — that Republicans will nominate Donald Trump and Democrats Joe Biden, then as we’ve said, around Super Tuesday of March, or perhaps earlier, we will make a decision about whether the data tell us that there’s a constructive role for us to play by offering our third lines in all the states to a bipartisan unity ticket.’

‘The candidates will emerge, I would say, no later than April,’ Lieberman said. ‘There will be a lot of time between April and the November election for them to offer that third choice to the American people and for the American people to get to know the unity candidates.’ 

A new name that came up this week is former United Nations Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who’s currently battling commanding front-runner Trump for the Republican nomination.

‘If Gov. Haley does not succeed in obtaining the Republican nomination for president, and she declares any interest in being part of our bipartisan unity ticket, I’m sure the people of No Labels would give that the most serious consideration,’ Lieberman said.

The idea was quickly shot down by the Haley campaign.

‘Nikki has no interest in No Labels. She’s happy with the Republican label,’ Haley campaign communications director Olivia Perez-Cubas responded in a statement to Fox News.

While Haley doesn’t have an interest, Lieberman said, ‘[W]e’re talking to a lot of people in both parties about potentially running.’

‘Really, none of them said no. But none of them have said yes,’ he added.

Opponents of No Labels, which includes outside Democrat groups and operatives, have repeatedly argued that if a unity ticket is launched, it would only boost Trump’s chances of retaking the White House. And No Labels opponents have publicly stated that they would put pressure on the organization and its staff as well as with donors and potential candidates.

But No Labels has consistently argued that if they field a ticket, they won’t be spoilers.

Lieberman said that ‘based on our polling, we think there is’ a plausible chance for a bipartisan unity ticket to win in November.

Trump scored a massive victory in this week’s Iowa caucuses, and if he wins big again in next week’s New Hampshire primary, there’s a possibility the GOP presidential nomination race could come to an early end.

But Clancy said an early end to the Republican White House battle won’t speed up the group’s timetable.

‘The reason is because we still have work to do on the ballot, and that’s going to continue,’ he said.

‘We’ve got to just run through the finish line,’ he added. ‘Sometime mid-March is what we’re thinking.’

Former President Trump said he believes the U.S. Supreme Court will ‘intervene’ and rule in his favor by keeping him on 2024 primary ballots across the nation despite challenges, telling Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he has faith that the justices on the high court are ‘not going to take the vote away from the people.’

Trump sat down for an exclusive interview in New Hampshire with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. The interview aired Thursday night on Fox News Channel and came just days before the Granite State’s first-in-the-nation primary, set for Tuesday, Jan. 23.

Several states, like Maine and Colorado, are looking to remove Trump from the 2024 GOP primary ballot in the state, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution, or the ‘disqualifications clause.’

That clause bars individuals who have ‘engaged in insurrection or rebellion’ against America, or aided those engaged in such, from holding office.

Trump has never been charged with insurrection.

‘We put on three great justices, and you have some other great justices up there, and they’re not going to take the vote away from the people,’ Trump said.

Trump, as president, nominated three justices who were confirmed to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court: Justice Neil Gorsuch, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

‘You saw in the history of the Iowa primary – it goes back a long time – I won by the most,’ Trump said. ‘Nobody’s ever won, as you know … there’s nobody even close. I doubled up and more than doubled up.’

Trump dominated the Iowa caucuses, winning 98 of 99 counties. He lost one county by one single vote. Trump collected 20 delegates in the state.

‘I’m sure the Supreme Court is going to say we’re not going to take the vote away from the people,’ Trump said.

But the former president said that it is President Biden who is ‘a threat to democracy.’

‘Biden is a threat to democracy, is an absolute threat to democracy, and he’s very dangerous for a couple of reasons,’ Trump said.

The former president said Biden is ‘grossly incompetent, which is the No. 1 reason’ but said the president is ‘actually in his own way.’

‘It’s not him. It’s the people that surround him,’ Trump said. ‘You got some very bad people surrounding him at that desk.’

Trump said the people running the Department of Justice are ‘young, and they’re smart, and they’re communists, and they’re Marxists, they’re fascists, and they’re running this country.’

‘They’re running it right into the ground,’ Trump said.

But returning to the Supreme Court, Trump said, ‘I don’t think the Supreme Court would do it because … you can’t take the vote. I am leading in every poll. I am leading Biden, but I am leading the remaining Republicans.’ 

Trump said the Supreme Court has ‘two votes that are very important coming up.’

‘One, as we discussed, we call it Colorado or whatever, but you know, I really believe they’re going to leave the people to vote again,’ Trump said. ‘It’s hard to imagine they would do, and most states have already approved it, and as you know, very few states have done that.’

Trump said ‘this is Colorado and a couple of others at this moment.’

But Trump also said the Supreme Court is considering ‘immunity for the president of the United States.’

‘And I’m not talking about myself,’ Trump said. ‘I’m talking about any president has to have immunity because if you take immunity away from the president — so important — you will have a president that’s not going to be able to do anything, because when he leaves office, the opposing party president, if it’s the opposing party, will indict the president for doing something that should have been good.’

Trump used an example of former President Obama dropping ‘missiles, and they ended up hitting a kindergarten or a school or the apartment house.’

‘A lot of people were killed,’ Trump said. ‘Well, if that’s the case, he’s going to end up being indicted when he leaves office. He meant well. The missile went in the wrong direction.’ 

Trump also pointed to Biden.

‘Look at Biden. What would happen to Biden? He’s killed our country with his policies,’ Trump said. ‘The border is a disaster. Everything he does is a disaster.’

Trump pointed to the Biden administration’s withdrawal of U.S. military and assets from Afghanistan, calling it ‘the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country, giving $85 billion worth of equipment, killing our soldiers, wounding horribly our soldiers, leaving people behind.’

‘Well, when he leaves office, if he doesn’t have immunity now, I think it’s horrible what he did, but he probably, I don’t know, it’s hard to believe, but he probably meant well,’ Trump said. ‘But the man is incompetent, but you have to leave immunity with the president.’ 

He added, ‘If a president is afraid to act because they’re worried about being indicted when they leave office, a president of the United States has to have immunity, and the Supreme Court is going to be ruling on that.’

Trump said if presidents don’t have immunity, ‘no president is going to act.’

‘You’re going to have guys that just sit in office and are afraid to do anything,’ Trump said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., is expected to issue a ruling in the case brought by Trump, who is seeking to have the charges against him stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 investigation dismissed. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Trump and his lawyers are arguing that he should be immune from prosecution because he was serving as president of the United States as he pushed to investigate the results of the 2020 election.

If the appeals court rules against Trump, the matter will come before the U.S. Supreme Court.

President Biden raised eyebrows Thursday when he appeared to confuse a woman with whom he took a photo for a Democrat North Carolina congresswoman who wasn’t in attendance.

‘I want to mention Congresswoman Deborah Ross, where’s Deborah?’ Biden asked the audience in North Carolina during a Thursday speech.

‘I just had my picture taken with her, that’s probably why she left,’ Biden continued, sparking a laugh from the crowd.

‘Oh, she couldn’t be here, actually,’ Biden continued. ‘That’s not true. I got it mixed up.’

It is unclear who Biden took a picture with and who he got ‘mixed up.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Rep. Ross’s office for clarification but did not immediately receive a response. 

Conservatives on social media quickly jumped on the comment as a troubling sign of Biden’s mental sharpness.

Biden’s remark also prompted social media users to bring up a previous gaffe in which the president appeared to forget about the death of Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski when he asked where she was on stage after her death.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters 14 times that Biden wasn’t confused about whether Walorski was alive and in the room but rather he had her ‘top of mind’ because he would meet with her family later that week.

Biden has been widely criticized by conservatives for his age since becoming president, including by those who have openly questioned his mental sharpness.

Seventy-six percent of voters agreed Biden is ‘too old’ to serve a second term, compared to 48% who said the same about 77-year-old former President Trump, according to a poll late last year.

Biden has consistently held several closed-door meetings with his top donors to alleviate their concerns heading into the 2024 election, including worries about his age and energy, according to a recent report.

The White House has sternly defended Biden’s mental acuity on multiple occasions, including in November when Jean-Pierre said she ‘would put the president’s stamina, the president’s wisdom, ability to get this done on behalf of the American people against anyone, anyone on any day of the week.’

EXCLUSIVE: Federal investigators suggested banks search private financial transactions using terms beyond ‘Trump’ and ‘MAGA’ after Jan. 6, 2021. Additional suggested terms included ‘Biden,’ ‘Kamala,’ ‘Antifa’ and more, sources familiar told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital on Wednesday reported that the Treasury Department’s Office of Stakeholder Integration and Engagement in the Strategic Operations of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, distributed materials to financial institutions that outlined ‘typologies’ of ‘various persons of interest’ and provided the banks with ‘suggested search terms and Merchant Category Codes for identifying transactions on behalf of federal law enforcement.’ 

Sources familiar told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the search terms, like ‘MAGA’ and ‘Trump,’ were generated by a bank and used to help them identify suspicious transactions when reviewing customer transactional information. It is unclear which bank generated the search terms. 

The sources said FinCEN then shared those terms with other banks to help those financial institutions to comply with their own suspicious activity reports.

But beyond the terms identified by the House Judiciary Committee, the unnamed bank generated other terms, which FinCEN shared with other banks, the sources told Fox News Digital. 

The source said the additional search terms included: ‘White Power,’ ‘Camp Auschwitz,’ ‘Antifa,’ ‘Proud B,’ ‘Storm, the,’ ‘Capitol,’ ‘Groyper Army,’ ‘Threepers,’ ‘boogaloo,’ ‘civil war,’ ‘last sons,’ ‘kill,’ ‘shoot,’ ‘gun,’ ‘death,’ ‘murder,’ ‘Biden,’ ‘Kamala,’ ‘Pelosi,’ ‘Schumer’ and ‘Pence.’

The sources said the distribution of the search terms, including ‘MAGA’ and ‘Trump,’ began in the final weeks of the Trump administration after Jan. 6, 2021.

The initial terms ‘MAGA’ and ‘Trump’ were revealed in a letter sent by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to a former director of FinCEN. Fox News Digital first reported on that letter. 

The committee’s investigation also revealed that FinCEN distributed slides, prepared by Key Bank, to other banks to explain how they could use merchant category codes (MCC) to detect customers whose transactions may reflect ‘potential active shooters, and who may include dangerous International Terrorists/ Domestic Terrorists/ Homegrown Violence Extremists (‘Lone Wolves’).’

Jordan said the slide instructs financial institutions to query for transactions using certain MCC codes like ‘3484: Small Arms,’ ‘5091: Sporting and Recreational Goods and Supplies,’ and the keywords ‘Cabela’s,’ ‘Dick’s Sporting Goods’ and ‘Bass Pro Shops,’ among others.

Key Bank declined to comment.

Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

A source familiar with the documents held by the House Judiciary Committee told Fox News Digital that while Jan. 6, 2021, was the ‘impetus’ for the queries and searches, none of the documents the committee has obtained reveal any specific time frames or limitations for banks searching customer transactions with the terms. The source said the federal government used the information for investigations beyond Jan. 6.

It is unclear if the terms are still being used by banks to search private transactions. 

‘Despite these transactions having no apparent criminal nexus — and, in fact, relate to Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights — FinCEN seems to have adopted a characterization of these Americans as potential threat actors,’ Jordan wrote. ‘This kind of pervasive financial surveillance, carried out in coordination with and at the request of federal law enforcement, into Americans’ private transactions is alarming and raises serious doubts about FinCEN’s respect for fundamental liberties.’

Meanwhile, in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday and obtained by Fox News Digital, Jordan requested a transcribed interview with the senior private sector partner for outreach in the Strategic Partner Engagement Section at the FBI.

Jordan said the committee has received testimony indicating that Bank of America provided the FBI ‘voluntarily and without any legal process’ with a list of individuals who made transactions in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area using a Bank of America credit or debit card between Jan. 5 and Jan. 7, 2021.

Fox News Digital first reported on that portion of the committee’s investigation last year. Bank of America, in November, said the bank ‘followed all applicable laws’ in its interactions with the government. The bank noted that the Treasury Department on Jan. 15, 2021, ‘shared information regarding potential criminal activity that could disrupt the upcoming inauguration.’ 

‘We have cooperated with the committee as they evaluate whether the laws we complied with should be changed,’ Bank of America said Wednesday. 

But in the Wednesday letter, Jordan stated that when that list was later brought to the attention of the FBI, the former section chief of the Domestic Terrorism Operations Section, Steve Jensen, acted to ‘pull’ that Bank of America information from FBI systems because ‘the leads lacked allegations of federal criminal conduct.’

Jordan said the committees obtained documents that show FBI personnel ‘made contact with and provided Bank of America with specific search query terms, indicating that it was ‘interested in all financial relationships’ of BoA customers transacting in Washington, D.C., and customers who had made ‘ANY historical purchase’ of a firearm, or who had purchased a hotel, Airbnb, or airline travel within a given date range.’

Jordan is requesting that the former FinCEN official and an FBI official appear before his committee and the Weaponization Subcommittee for transcribed interviews to aid in the panels’ oversight investigation. 

Former President Donald Trump is on Fox News’ Sean Hannity Thursday night in New Hampshire, just days before the Granite State’s first-in-the-nation primary.

The interview airs Thursday on Fox News Channel starting at 9 p.m. ET.

Trump, who solidified his standing as the frontrunner in the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race after winning the Iowa caucuses Monday night, now has his sights set on New Hampshire.

Trump traveled to the Granite State this week after he dominated his GOP opponents in Iowa by winning 98 of 99 counties. He collected 20 delegates in the state. 

Based on polling, Trump could see similar results after Tuesday’s primary. He leads opponents by double digits.

A daily tracking poll released Thursday morning by Suffolk University, the Boston Globe and NBC10 Boston shows Trump with 50% support among those likely to vote in the New Hampshire primary.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration, stands at 36%, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at just 6%.

In that same poll, 4% of respondents said they were undecided, with 1% saying they would back a different candidate altogether.

Another poll released hours earlier from Saint Anselm College also had Trump with a 14-point lead over Haley, with DeSantis in single digits.

While Trump is ahead by double digits in most New Hampshire polls, one recent poll shows Trump and Haley neck and neck.

A poll from American Research Group Inc. released Tuesday shows Trump and Haley tied at 40% among the state’s likely Republican primary voters.

Independents can vote in the Republican primary in the state, which could be beneficial to Haley, who some have cast as a more moderate Republican option. 

Moderate voters in the Granite State are highly influential, and the state’s independents — who can vote in either major party primary — have long played a crucial role in New Hampshire’s storied presidential contest.

Nevertheless, according to the RealClearPolitics Average between Jan. 3 and Jan. 10, Trump holds a double-digit lead over Haley and DeSantis.

And beyond New Hampshire, Trump holds an even stronger lead.

In Nevada, which holds its primary contests in early February, Trump sits at 69%, which is 58.5 points ahead of DeSantis, who has 10.5% of the vote, according to the RealClearPolitics Average from Sept. 29 through Jan. 8.

And in Haley’s home state of South Carolina, which votes Feb. 24, Trump is up 30.2 points at 52%, with Haley in second place at 21.8% and DeSantis polling at 11%, according to the RealClearPolitics Average from Oct. 18 through Jan. 3.

EXCLUSIVE: A prominent conservative group is coming out against the just-passed short-term spending bill aimed at averting a government shutdown at the end of this week, arguing Americans are ‘exasperated’ with the level of federal spending.

‘Congress has backed itself into a corner — unable to pass responsible spending bills or secure our border, and opting again for a short-term CR that fails to solve any of the problems facing our country. As usual, taxpayers will foot the bill for Washington’s recklessness,’ Ryan Walker, vice president of Heritage Action, said in a statement.

‘Congress has 40 more days to fight for separate funding bills that will roll back inflation-fueling spending and force the Biden administration to reverse the flow of illegal immigration. They cannot waste this time.’

In the statement, which was sent to Republican members, Walker noted that the bill passed on Thursday is the third government funding extension this Congress has passed, as a deal on fiscal year 2024 spending continues to elude negotiators.

‘The American people are exasperated with the Swamp’s dysfunction that puts them last,’ he said. ‘[O]ur government has wasted opportunity after opportunity, and moved the goal posts with a third short-term CR that accomplishes very little for the people.’

The group called for government funding to adhere to ‘statutory caps.’ It comes after the conservative House Freedom Caucus pushed for the next fiscal year’s spending levels to stay at $1.59 trillion, the cap set by ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and President Biden during debt limit negotiations last spring. 

But a side deal made at the time and that is being honored now by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., would include an additional $69 billion side deal for non-defense discretionary spending — something GOP hardliners have rebelled against.

‘Conservatives have been consistent and resolute in our calls for meaningful spending cuts and serious efforts to end the lawless catastrophe at our country’s borders,’ Walker said.

‘The government can and should be funded at levels that adhere to statutory caps — without the backroom side deals that will lead to an increase in spending over Pelosi-era levels. And handing billions to Biden’s border agencies without forcing changes to their policies would be unconscionable.’

The House of Representatives on Thursday voted to advance a short-term government funding extension known as a continuing resolution (CR). The bill now goes to President Biden’s desk, where he will have to sign it before the end of the day on Friday to avert a partial government shutdown.

It passed 314 to 108 and nearly split the House GOP in half — 107 Republicans voted for its passage, while 106 opposed.

Hours before the vote, House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, R-Va., met with Johnson to persuade him to add a border security amendment to the CR. 

Good told reporters Johnson was ‘considering it,’ arguing, ‘The Senate will be forced to consider, are they willing to fund the government and secure the border, or they refuse to fund the government because they don’t want to secure the border.’

But Johnson immediately put the rumors to rest. His spokesman, Raj Shah, posted on X minutes after Good spoke to reporters, ‘The plan has not changed. The House is voting on the stop gap measure tonight to keep the government open.’

Adding such an amendment would have almost certainly led to a showdown with congressional Democrats — and subsequently a government shutdown.

No Labels, the centrist group that’s moving toward potentially launching a third-party unity presidential ticket, is asking the Justice Department to investigate possible criminal charges against some Democratic-leaning groups and activists who are opposed to their ballot access efforts.

The organization says that ‘there is a group of activists and operatives and party officials who have participated in an alleged illegal conspiracy to use intimidation, harassment and fear against representatives of No Labels, its donors, and its potential candidates.’ 

Dan Webb, a No Labels volunteer and lawyer, told reporters at a news conference on Thursday, ‘No Labels has filed a formal complaint with the United States Department of Justice regarding an alleged unlawful conspiracy to subvert American’s voting rights and shut down the organization’s effort to secure ballot access in the 2024 presidential election.’

‘There is a group of activists and operatives and party officials who have participated in alleged illegal conspiracy to use intimidation, harassment and fear against representatives of No Labels, its donors and its potential candidates,’ Webb charged.

‘We decided it was time to fight back,’ he emphasized. ‘Their tactics are becoming increasingly brazen.’

As it works toward launching a potential presidential ticket to give Americans a third option in what may likely end up being a rematch this year between President Biden and former President Donald Trump, No Labels has been working to get on the ballot across the country.

No Labels says they are already on the ballot in 14 states – and currently working in 13 others. The group says it intends to have access in 32 states by later this year.

‘We will decide in the coming months whether to offer our ballot line to a unity presidential ticket,’ No Labels executive director Margaret White said. ‘If we do so, that ticket’s presidential campaign will be responsible for securing access in the final 18 states plus the District of Columbia.’

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, a Democrat turned independent and co-founder of No Labels, stressed that ‘the American people want another choice for president this year.’

‘No one in our country has a right to prevent that choice from being offered to the voters,’ he added, as he pointed to the group’s complaint to the Justice Department. 

No Labels, in their complaint to the Justice Department, wrote that ‘it’s one thing to oppose candidates who are running; it’s another to use intimidation tactics to prevent them from even getting in front of the voters.’

Opponents of No Labels – which includes outside Democratic groups and operatives – have repeatedly argued that if a unity ticket is launched, it would only boost Trump’s chances of retaking the White House. And No Labels opponents have publicly stated that they would put pressure on the organization and its staff as well as with donors and potential candidates.

FIRST ON FOX: Republican House and Senate leaders filed an amicus brief in support of former President Donald Trump’s case against the Colorado Supreme Court for removing him from the state’s 2024 ballot. More than 170 lawmakers signed the brief. 

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., filed the brief on Thursday, arguing the court’s decision ‘encroaches’ on Congress’ powers and that Congress must pass authorizing legislation to enforce the 14th Amendment, which the Colorado Supreme Court cited as the basis for removing Trump. 

‘The radical left consistently does what they claim their opponents are doing. While President Biden and his allies claim they are defending democracy, their supporters are working to undermine democracy by banning Biden’s likely general election opponent from appearing on the ballot,’ Cruz said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘The American people see through this, and I’m confident the Supreme Court will as well.’

Scalise said in a statement that the Colorado court is ‘setting a dangerous precedent’ and ‘subverting the will of the American people.’

‘Not only does the Colorado Supreme Court have no authority to remove President Trump from the ballot in the 2024 presidential election, but the broad and ill-defined justifications they use can easily be abused in the future to block political opponents from assuming office,’ he said. 

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., one of the lawmakers who signed the brief, said ‘liberal activist judges’ are weaponizing the legal system against Trump ‘solely because they despise him.’

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., another signer, said the Colorado Supreme Court ‘mis-stepped and overstepped.’

Lawmakers assert in the 29-page amicus brief that it infringes on the prerogatives of Congress members and argue the court overlooked various textual and structural limitations in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which says no one shall assume office if they have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the U.S. government.

Additionally, they criticized the court for adopting a broad interpretation of what it means to ‘engage in insurrection,’ which they believe could result in the widespread misuse of the 14th Amendment against political opponents.

‘The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision severely intrudes on those congressional powers first by allowing enforcement of Section 3 without congressional authorization, and then by concluding that Section 3 authorizes a state to de-ballot a candidate,’ the brief states. ‘The Fourteenth Amendment expressly gives Congress the ‘power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.’’ 

‘In other words, Section 3 enforcement mechanisms are left to Congress, not to a patchwork of state officials and courts,’ lawmakers wrote. 

The brief states that if Congress decides to approve enforcement legislation outside of criminal contexts, it has the option to narrow down the scope by providing more specific definitions for terms like ‘engaging in’ and ‘insurrection.’ 

‘Congress could even require a factfinding process and standards of proof that accord with the gravity of the consequence,’ the brief read.

The brief contends that ‘in polarized times, it is easy to cast an opponent’s rhetoric about the outcome of elections as encouraging others to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power.’

‘According to President Biden, a sizable portion of the Republican electorate, if not all of it, is determined to destroy democracy,’ the brief read. ‘When partisan state officials believe so much is at stake, they may go to great lengths to interfere with the ordinary democratic process. That makes it all the more critical to minimize the partisan incentive to boot opponents off the ballot using the incredible sanction of Section 3.’ 

In December, the Colorado Supreme Court disqualified Trump from appearing on the state’s ballots in 2024.

The disqualification, which was made under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, is related to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

‘We do not reach these conclusions lightly,’ the court’s majority wrote. ‘We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.’

In a previous ruling, Colorado District Judge Sarah B. Wallace allowed Trump to stay on the ballot, but found that Trump ‘engaged in insurrection’ for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement that she would ‘continue to follow court guidance on this important issue.’

‘The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump is barred from the Colorado ballot for inciting the January 6 insurrection and attempting to overturn the 2020 Presidential Election. This decision may be appealed,’ Griswold wrote.

Fox News’ Bill Mears and Adam Sabes contributed to this report. 

Senate Democrats voted down an amendment on Thursday to freeze aid to any Palestinian government until hostages held by Hamas are released and the Palestinian Authority renounces the terrorist group. 

The measure, proposed by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., failed to reach the required 60 votes needed. The final tally was 44 in favor and 50 against the measure. 

A total of 47 Democrats, plus the three independent senators, voted against the amendment. Only one Democrat — Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V. — cast a vote in favor of the amendment. 

Six Republicans — Sens. Lindsey Graham, John Barrasso, John Kennedy and Rick Scott — did not cast a vote. 

Hamas is currently holding 130 of the 240 hostages captive, including six Americans, whose conditions are unknown.

The amendment would have barred aid to the Palestinian Authority, or any other Palestinian governing entity in the West Bank and Gaza, until certain conditions were met — like formally renouncing the Ot. 7 terror attacks on Israel. 

‘We speak of human rights but reward those who violate them,’ Paul said on the floor. ‘We can no longer afford empty rhetoric. It makes no sense to borrow money from China and turn around and give that money away to foreign countries. It is fiscally irresponsible, and it is weakening our national security. America must demand a change, a change in behavior from those who do not accept Israel’s right to exist from those who actively seek the destruction of the State of Israel and murder innocent Israelis.’

Paul proposed the amendment to the short-term spending bill that extends funding for government agencies until March. Congress is anticipated to pass the bill by the end of Thursday before sending it to President Biden’s desk.

The amendment would have been subject to exceptions if the president certified certain conditions, including the recognition of Israel as a nation and renunciation of terrorism. Additionally, the amendment would require a report on human rights practices of the Palestinian Authority or other governing entities, including violations.

The Palestinian Authority ‘won’t recognize Israel, they won’t even condemn the massacre where 1,200 people were killed October 7,’ Paul told the Senate. ‘American resources should always promote American security interests and values, and any recipient of our tax dollars should be more than willing to adopt the principles that recognize the liberty and dignity of the individual, but we cannot expect the recipient of aid to change their behavior if America does not demand it.’

According to the amendment, the Department of State’s West Bank and Gaza 2022 Human Rights Report identified significant human rights issues with the Palestinian Authority, ‘including credible  reports of unlawful or arbitrary killings.’ 

Other offenses include ‘torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishments by Palestinian Authority officials, arbitrary arrest or detention of political prisoners and detainees, and significant problems with the independence of the judiciary.’

‘The report found that the Palestinian Authority did not adequately investigate or hold accountable gender-based violence, and crimes, violence, and threats of violence motivated by anti-Semitism,’ the amendment text read.

Speaking against the amendment on Thursday, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said it was important to ensure a future for the Palestinian people.

‘We know the tragedy of this war with Hamas, but we hope coming out of it will give us a new opportunity for peace in the region,’ Cardin said on the floor. ‘And that will require us to be able to help deal with the crisis that’s been created through Hamas’s attack, particularly with the Palestinian people, and to work to make sure there’s a future for the Palestinian people living in peace with Israel.’

Paul has consistently taken a hawkish stance against foreign aid that he believes lacks proper oversight, particularly expressing strong opposition to ongoing assistance for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia as well. 

Earlier this week, Paul voted alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as the lone Republican on a resolution that would have halted U.S. aid to Israel unless the Biden administration reports to Congress within 30 days about whether Israel committed human rights violations during its war with Hamas. The measure failed in a 72-11 vote. 

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