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Marjorie Taylor Greene says she will vote 'NO' on proposed NDAA, blasts foreign aid spending
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia announced Tuesday that she intends to vote against the proposed fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, saying the legislation spends too much taxpayer money on foreign priorities.
Greene said in a post on X that the NDAA is "filled with American’s hard earned tax dollars used to fund foreign aid and foreign country’s wars."
Greene pointed to the rising national debt, which, according to fiscaldata.treasury.gov, is more than $38.39 trillion.
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"These American People are $38 Trillion in debt, suffering from an affordability crisis, on the verge of a healthcare crisis, and credit card debt is at an all time high. Funding foreign aid and foreign wars is America Last and is beyond excuse anymore. I would love to fund our military but refuse to support foreign aid and foreign militaries and foreign wars. I am here and will be voting NO," Greene declared in her post.
But House Speaker Mike Johnson has praised the proposed NDAA.
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"This year’s National Defense Authorization Act helps advance President Trump and Republicans’ Peace Through Strength Agenda by codifying 15 of President Trump’s executive orders, ending woke ideology at the Pentagon, securing the border, revitalizing the defense industrial base, and restoring the warrior ethos," Johnson said in part of a lengthy statement.
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Greene plans to leave office early next month, in the middle of her two-year term.
Melting mountain ice reveals 'rare' 1,500-year-old hunting facility still smelling of reindeer
An ancient reindeer trap and weapons recently emerged from Norway's melting mountains, surprising archaeologists and giving them a glimpse into mountain life 1,500 years ago.
The discovery, announced by the Vestland County Municipality on Nov. 10, was made on the Aurlandsfjellet plateau in Sogn, a remote region in western Norway. Archaeologists from the University Museum of Bergen and Vestland County worked together to document the site.
The research began when a hiker noticed wooden logs near the melting ice and reported them to local authorities.
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The remains, it turns out, were a 1,500-year-old reindeer hunting facility, consisting of several hundred hewn wooden logs and two fences made of wooden stakes.
Officials also found iron spearheads, arrow shafts, parts of bows and a wooden spear — along with a massive number of well-preserved reindeer antlers.
Speaking to Fox News Digital, archaeologist Leif Inge Åstveit said the entire facility came as a "significant surprise" to researchers.
"We have long been aware that stone trapping facilities existed in the mountains of Norway, but the fact that this facility is entirely constructed of wood was unexpected," he said.
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"Building this has been challenging," he said. "Thousands of logs, weighing several tons in total, were transported high into the mountains."
The facility was designed to lure reindeer into a pen. Åstveit said the barriers of the reindeer trap "stretched far out" into a funnel that measured as much as 1,000 feet wide.
"The animals were likely calmly driven forward at first, but as they were funneled into a narrower area, their pace increased and panic may have spread through the herd," he said.
"The barrier probably became more solid closer to the trapping pen, preventing any reindeer from breaking free. Eventually, the animals were clustered into a sluice-like enclosure, and then the animals would be extracted one by one."
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The spears that archaeologists found were used for this purpose.
Researchers also found a pile of antlers that were collected and discarded. Most of them likely belonged to younger reindeer and females, while larger buck antlers were probably repurposed as items like combs and pins.
Remarkably, after 1,500 years, Åstveit said the antlers still smell like the animals that once bore them.
"The antlers are incredibly well-preserved, still retaining a reindeer scent after 1,500 years," he said.
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"[They] are clustered only a few meters from the trapping pen, suggesting they were likely severed from the skull with an axe, as almost all have distinct cut marks."
Oddly, no bones or skeletons have been found at the site so far. This suggests it was a "specialized" facility where animals were processed and transported, Åstveit said.
"Transporting such large quantities of meat — potentially tons — would undoubtedly have been a demanding task," he said.
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Another star find, Åstveit said, was a decorated oar made of pine, which he called a "major revelation."
"What this oar, which clearly belonged to a rowboat located 1,400 meters lower in the landscape, is doing up here is a mystery," he said.
"Our hypothesis is that it may have been used in the assembly of the guiding barriers … [but it] is also eye-opening to consider that an oar features such elaborate ornamentation. These people likely surrounded themselves with items that exhibited various artistic expressions and ornamentation."
Archaeologists also found an axe-shaped clothing pin made of antler, which Åstveit said is "so well-preserved and sharp that it is entirely possible to sting yourself on it."
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He added, "Such items have not been found in Norway previously."
Looking forward, Åstveit said future work won't be a traditional excavation in the way most people imagine; rather, it will involve monitoring and documenting what emerges from melting ice.
"This finding is exceptionally rare and was selected as the ‘Find of the Year’ at the annual archaeology conference in Norway, despite very strong competition this year," he said.
But Åstveit emphasized that much more research will need to be done on the subject, and archaeologists have only collected samples so far.
"This material will likely be vital for research at the University of Bergen in the near future," he said.
"As new scientific methods emerge, it will undoubtedly provide new insights into various aspects of Early Iron Age society."
North Carolina teen sues school after Charlie Kirk tribute sparked ‘criminal investigation’ and censorship
EXCLUSIVE - A North Carolina high school student said she was accused of vandalism by her school and told she was being investigated by law enforcement after she painted her school's "spirit rock" with a religious and patriotic tribute to slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
According to a new complaint filed Monday and shared first with Fox News Digital, Gabby Stout, a junior at Ardrey Kell High School, called her school's front office on September 12 to ask if she could paint the school spirit rock with a patriotic message honoring Kirk, who was killed two days prior. Stout was told she could do so as long as the message didn't contain vulgarity or political speech.
The complaint states that she and two friends proceeded to paint a heart and an American flag with the message "Freedom 1776," and a tribute to Charlie Kirk: "Live Like Kirk—John 11:25" on September 13. The students also painted their first names on the rock.
Within hours, school officials painted over the rock, according to the complaint. On September 14, the principal sent out a school-wide message saying that the spirit rock had been painted with a message that was not authorized. The message called it an act of vandalism and a violation of the student code of conduct, saying that law enforcement had been contacted, and an investigation was underway.
"I was completely shocked," Stout told Fox News Digital. "I was very intimidated and scared as I had no idea what I did wrong or that I could be getting in trouble for simply sharing and expressing my views and beliefs."
Stout sent a message the same day to school officials acknowledging she had painted the rock but had been given permission by the front office.
The next school day, she was repeatedly pulled out of class and sent to the principal's office, where she was questioned and instructed to write a statement about what she had done and then forced to revise it after she forgot to include the Bible verse in her emotional state. She was also told to give up her cell phone to be searched, all without being advised of her constitutional rights or with legal counsel present.
"I was so scared I could barely hold my pen and write it [the statement]," she told Fox News Digital.
The following day, the district announced a revised policy for its Spirit Rock Speech Code that bans all political or religious messages and requires messages to reflect "positive school spirit," "inclusive values," and be in "good taste."
The same day, Stout's mother was told by the principal that the investigation into her daughter had been closed, and no disciplinary action would be taken.
On October 11, the school district sent out an internal message to the Ardrey Kell High School community, to "clarify" the principal's September 14 statement. The message stated that the spirit rock incident was "not an act of vandalism," "was not a violation of the student code of conduct," and "law enforcement was not contacted to conduct an investigation."
The complaint alleges that the school's statement did not acknowledge it had compelled Stout to prepare a written statement without advising her of her rights, and said its claim it had not contacted law enforcement contradicted its prior statement to local news outlet WFAE.
Stout's parents say the school board has refused to issue a public correction to clear Gabby's name, despite their repeated requests.
Since the incident, she has faced health problems from stress, alienation and ostracization from friends and fellow students, the complaint says. On social media, the complaint says, Stout was targeted for roughly six weeks with messages from students and others online celebrating the news that she would be investigated and disciplined. Messages celebrated the idea of Stout and her friends going to prison, labeled them as "racist thugs" and left threats like "Die like Kirk."
The complaint, filed by Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of the student's parents, alleges that the school's actions and policies violated her First, Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. It calls for the school to issue a public statement acknowledging these violations, for the school to remove all negative information from Stout's school records and issue a formal letter of apology.
It also demands the school stop enforcing its vandalism and revised speech code policies regarding the spirit rock, alleging the policies enable viewpoint discrimination.
The school had allowed personal and political messages on the rock before this incident. In 2020, the school allowed students to paint a pro-Black Lives Matter message on the rock. Students painted a "black power" fist symbol along with names of individuals they believed were victims of police brutality, the complaint states. After other students painted over the BLM message, the school board held an emergency meeting and allowed students to repaint the BLM message again, this time with more political messages including "No Justice. No Peace," "I can't breathe" and "End police brutality."
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In November, school officials also facilitated a student walkout from class to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") raids, Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Travis Barham told Fox News Digital.
"So they'll facilitate that kind of left-wing student expression and not just facilitate it, but praise the students who participated," he said. "But let Gabby express a conservative or Christian view on the spirit rock, and criminal charges fly."
Stout told Fox News Digital she felt targeted for her beliefs.
"I don't think it was fair what happened to me because of my beliefs or my views, which are religious and conservative," she said. "This has never happened to another group that the school district or school has agreed with. I thought that I was going to get in trouble for sharing my views and my beliefs."
The complaint is brought by the student's parents against the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. It also asks the court to award nominal and compensatory damages for the constitutional violations, attorneys' fees and costs and any additional relief the court deems proper.
The Board did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Turning Point chapter head rips Christian school for banning political groups after org forced underground
A student at a Christian university in California said her Turning Point USA chapter was barred from being recognized as an official chapter, which the school explained is its official policy for "political advocacy initiatives."
Sadie Burnett is in her third year at Vanguard University, a small private school in Costa Mesa, California. She is the president of the school's Turning Point USA chapter, which is presently unrecognized by the school.
"Since 2023, we've had a lively and very active presence on campus," Burnett told Fox News Digital. "We've hosted several events, we were able to rush at club rush. We had students very enthusiastic about our presence being there. It was even something that made us stand out as a Christian university, was the fact that Turning Point was practiced, and it was not only practiced, but it was also celebrated."
However, the school made an official decision to stop accepting political clubs, and instead funnel any political activism or events through a process that involves the administration.
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"We received an email over the summer stating that the school was taking a new direction with student organizations," Burnett said. "They're going completely apolitical, giving this idea that Christians do not necessarily belong in politics, which is interesting because they do have a political science department, which I'm a part of."
Burnett said that she has met with the school administration, trying to come to an arrangement that would allow Turning Point to operate. She said she's been shut down repeatedly.
The group is able to gather on campus, but only outside, and not in any official capacity as a conservative group.
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"We're not 'conservative,' we're just students hanging out," Burnett explained, adding that some chapter members feel unsafe being out in the open given the "anti-conservative" sentiments on campus and online.
Registered student organizations can host events on campus, along with a litany of other privileges not granted to unaffiliated groups.
"The difference between being an unaffiliated chapter versus being a registered student organization is that chapters or organizations that are registered, they can book rooms for meetings well in advance to make sure that they have a space to speak, they have a space to host events," Burnett said. "They're allowed to receive university funding. They can rush at club rush and interact with students, interact with new-coming students that are coming in [and] prospective students."
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Burnett said that the chapter can't host tabling events, where other students can approach and ask them questions, which she defines as "one of the heart and cores to Turning Point" as a whole. After all, she said, colleges used to be known as places where students were encouraged to freely debate ideas.
"If I wanted to go to a college or a university that was anti-conservative, but at least they let me speak, I would have absolutely chosen to go there," she said. "So I feel like I got the rug pulled out from under me from the decision that I chose to come to this school."
Most importantly, Burnett said, Christians should not be sidelined from political debate.
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"Christians have a place in politics, and not only a place, we have a profound voice, the most profound voice in politics. We have every right to assert ourselves, to make claims, and it's so disappointing to see a Christian university push this idea that Christians should not speak and that politics are taboo," she said.
Amanda Lebrecht, Vanguard University's vice president for student development, said that in 2023, when the Turning Point chapter was in the process of applying to become a registered student group, the school was already moving away from political clubs.
"We were in the process then of disbanding our inter-club council and moving towards what we now have fully established, which is our student clubs and organization model," she told Fox News Digital.
"This fall, it was established that university policy does not permit campus clubs affiliated with political advocacy initiatives," she said, adding that the decision is part of an effort to advance "our educational mission within the context of our small Christian community."
In lieu of political clubs, students at Vanguard are encouraged to work with the university administration on broader initiatives like last year's "Year of Civility," which Lebrecht described as "co-curricular programming." She said the school hosted near-daily events from the beginning of the 2024-2025 academic year up until the November election, meant to meet the school's mission of "lead[ing] a Christ-centered life of leadership and service."
This year's theme is "Courageous Conversations," which, with the help of students, brought pro-life activist Lila Rose of Live Action to campus.
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"So, we've been meeting with these students frequently to help them reach their goals, but in a way that works with serving our community, and we've provided an opportunity that still exists for them to have an academic social club through the history [and] poli-sci department," Lebrecht said.
To Burnett's point about the safety of conservative students on campus, Lebrecht said the students have direct access to the school's head of campus safety, and that, uniquely, the school shares its campus with the Costa Mesa Police Department, along with the city's fire department.
"We will continue to engage these students, and we will continue to try to find a way to help them meet their goals and have it work within the Vanguard community," Lebrecht said.
Lebrecht said that the president of the university prefers not to have various political clubs on campus, politically left or right leaning, but instead "seeks to channel their voice ... in a different way, not silence them."
Vanguard does allow what it calls "cultural and heritage clubs," including a Black Student Union, which Lebrecht said "exist to promote belonging and connection amongst students," are open to all students and have been active on campus for more than 10 years.
Controversial 'October 7' survivors play coming to Trump-led Kennedy Center after past threats
FIRST ON FOX— After facing protests during its run in New York City, a play depicting survivor accounts of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel is coming to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in January.
Its creators say the production reflects a cultural shift at the arts venue since President Donald Trump took over the Kennedy Center's board earlier this year, where conservative perspectives are now more welcome.
"It sends a clear message that, finally, real diversity, as in diversity of thought, is welcome in the heart of the nation’s capital," play co-creator Phelim McAleer told Fox News Digital. "Hopefully this is the beginning of great art being on the stage of the Kennedy Center."
The play, titled "OCTOBER 7," is a dramatized stage reading based on word-for-word testimonies from survivors and family members of the massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which left 1,200 people dead and more than 250 others kidnapped by Hamas terrorists. It presents firsthand accounts from the wounded, the grieving and the heroes "who fought back and saved multiple lives," according to its creators.
McAleer and his wife, Ann McElhinney, are Irish journalists who traveled to Israel directly after October 7 and spent three weeks interviewing people affected by the terror attack. McAleer said they were troubled by how quickly global narratives shifted on Israel, and they hope the play will serve as a reminder of the atrocities of that day.
"The October 7 massacre was still ongoing when many in the media, academia and the streets were already blaming Israel, ignoring the slaughter of innocent men, women and children," McAleer said.
"We were talking about child and baby murder here," he added. "The taking of babies as hostages is almost unprecedented in modern warfare."
The play premiered off-Broadway in New York City for a six-week run in 2024 before launching a nationwide campus tour with performances at Princeton University, UCLA and Bowdoin College in Maine.
According to The Times of Israel, the play faced backlash and threats from anti-Israel activists ahead of its New York run.
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"Performances of 'OCTOBER 7' required security guards, metal detectors, and armed guards in the audience every night due to disruptive, destructive and sometimes violent anti-Israel protesters in addition to the almost taken-for-granted terror threats," the outlet reported.
McAleer said some actors feared participating could damage their careers and the play required a constant police presence.
"What a damning indictment of NYC that a play using just testimony of people who survived a massacre should need police protection," he told Fox News Digital.
The Times reported that discussions in a Facebook theater group bashed the play as "fabricated" and part of an effort to build sympathy for "genocide." Other posts urged actors to "stay away" from the project and encouraged disrupting the play or sending anonymous hate mail, according to the report.
Despite criticism from some in the theater community, the production received positive reviews from several critics.
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"'OCTOBER 7' insists that we look darkness in the face, try to understand what is happening, and make no excuses," a review posted by a critic at Stage and Cinema reads. "It is an effectively rendered eyewitness account offered in the interest of radical truth telling, and altogether admirable."
McAleer said he plans to invite Trump and members of Congress to the performance.
"Their presence sends a clear message that the U.S. will not ignore or memory-hole the events of October 7 and instead will honor and memorialize the survivors and those who lost their lives on the worst day for Jews since the Holocaust," he said. "It’s never been more important to tell the truth about October 7. It’s never been more important to tell the truth about Israel. Both sides of the political divide need to hear it."
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He hopes the Washington audience will leave with a deeper understanding of the victims.
"What will most strike the DC audience is just how like them the victims of October 7 are," he said. "So many of the victims were urbane, young, educated, liberal... Many at NOVA were not religious — they were partying on the Sabbath — they supported and worked with the people from Gaza — and then they were murdered by them."
The play highlights a cross-section of Israelis, from the victims to the bereaved to the heroes who saved lives that day, like an off-duty police officer who killed two terrorists and rescued nearly a dozen people.
"The stories are amazing because they are true — they are also compelling," he said.
The play will be staged Jan. 28, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at the Kennedy Center.
Albuquerque voters to decide mayoral runoff as law-and-order challenger takes on incumbent in blue city
Voters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, are returning to the polls Tuesday as Mayor Tim Keller faces former Sheriff Darren White in a runoff election.
According to results released by the New Mexico Secretary of State's office, Keller secured 36% while White picked up 31% of the vote on Election Day on Nov. 5. Because neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote, the mayoral contest advanced to a runoff election.
Polls close in Albuquerque at 7 p.m. Mountain Time, and the winner of Tuesday's match-up will lead New Mexico’s largest city through the next four years as it confronts crime, homelessness and economic challenges.
The race to lead New Mexico's largest city is officially nonpartisan, but Keller aligns with the Democratic Party while White is a Republican.
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Both candidates have made public safety and housing central to their campaigns as Albuquerque has struggled with some of the highest violent-crime rates in the region and a homelessness crisis.
Keller is a former state senator and auditor who has served as mayor of Albuquerque since 2017, while White is the programming manager for a local radio station, the former chief public safety officer for Albuquerque and lost a congressional race as a Republican in 2008.
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According to Keller's campaign website, he is running for re-election because Albuquerque "needs strong, reliable leadership" to "stand up" against President Donald Trump's sweeping, second-term agenda.
Earlier this year, Keller issued an executive order "reaffirming Albuquerque’s longstanding commitment as an immigrant-friendly city and outlined specific actions to safeguard the rights and safety of immigrant and refugee communities," amid Trump's nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration.
"He’s done the real work to repair decades-long challenges holding our city back. Now we know what’s working —and it’s time to press the pedal down and move Albuquerque forward through these tough times," Keller touts on his campaign website, arguing "these are tough times" locally and nationally.
Keller has leaned on his record throughout the campaign, including efforts to combat crime, reform homelessness and housing services and "breakthrough achievements," including public safety and community investment projects, as outlined on his website.
The mayor has also highlighted his efforts to reform the city's emergency response system, invest in neighborhoods, fight for survivors of sexual violence, modernize the economy, leadership on "climate action" including a commitment to being "100% renewable by 2025," expanding youth programs and "leading with courage" through the COVID-19 pandemic, per his campaign website.
Meanwhile, White has emphasized his law enforcement experience as a U.S. Army veteran who has served as "the head of the New Mexico State Police and Sheriff of Bernalillo County," according to his own campaign website.
Chief among his campaign promises is a commitment to fighting crime by resorting law and order and "giving officers the support and tools they need to enforce the law and clean up our streets" and ending "Mayor Keller’s Sanctuary City law for criminals and fight to end Catch and Release," according to his website.
Drawing a contrast to Keller's own record, White has also campaigned on cleaning up homeless encampments and addressing "the homeless crisis with policies that work."
Other campaign promises include partnering with businesses to create jobs and boost the economy and prioritizing government efficiency by cutting the waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars, per his campaign website.
"I have a proven record of fighting crime, protecting our communities, and upholding law and order," White said. I’ll unshackle the police, end Mayor Keller’s failed sanctuary policies, clean up homeless encampments, and restore safety to Albuquerque’s streets, parks, and businesses while cutting government waste and making our city a place where families and businesses can thrive again."
Keller and White advanced from a 7-candidate field on Election Day on Nov. 5, 2025, when other high-stakes mayoral races were playing out across the United States, from Seattle to New York City.
Trump visited Albuquerque just days before Election Day during his 2024 presidential campaign as the Republican made a rare push in reliably blue states and districts, including the Bronx and New Jersey in addition to Albuquerque.
Trump ultimately lost New Mexico but won the presidential election, securing wins in all seven battleground states. And while Trump didn't pull off a win in New Mexico, his visit ushered the blue city and state into the national political conversation, sparking a debate about which states are "in play."
Flash forward to 2025, Democrats nationwide claim to be "on the offense" following gubernatorial wins in New Jersey and Virginia this year. The Democratic Party has framed its success as a referendum on Trump's second term ahead of next year's midterm elections that will decide the congressional balance of power.
Senate Republicans unveil plan to replace Obamacare subsidies with health savings accounts
Senate Republicans appear to be closing in on a plan to counter Senate Democrats’ proposal to extend expiring Obamacare subsidies as a vote on credits at the end of the week draws closer.
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions chair Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, unveiled their proposal to tackle the Obamacare issue that would abandon the subsidies for Healthcare Savings Accounts (HSAs).
The lawmakers have been leading Senate Republicans’ planning for a counter-proposal to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats’ legislation, which would extend the Biden-era subsidies for three years.
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Cassidy and Crapo pitched the legislation as "an alternative to Democrats’ temporary COVID bonuses, which send billions of tax dollars to giant insurance companies without lowering insurance premiums."
The long-awaited proposal would funnel the subsidy money directly to HSAs rather than to insurance companies, an idea that has the backing of President Donald Trump and is largely popular among Senate Republicans.
"Instead of 100% of this money going to insurance companies, let’s give it to patients. By giving them an account that they control, we give them the power," Cassidy said in a statement. "We make health care affordable again."
Crapo contended that the legislation would build off of Trump’s marquee legislative package, the "big beautiful bill," from earlier this year and would "help Americans manage the rising cost of health care without driving costs even higher."
"Giving billions of taxpayer dollars to insurers is not working to reduce health insurance premiums for patients," he said in a statement.
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Whether the bill gets a vote in the upper chamber this week remains in the air, given the growing number of Obamacare subsidy plans floated by Senate Republicans. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., signaled that he thought their plan could work.
"It represents an approach that actually does something on affordability and lowers costs," Thune said.
"But there are other ideas out there, as you know, but I think if there is going to be some meeting of minds on this, it is going to require that Democrats sort of come off a position they know is an untenable one, and sit down in a serious way," he continued.
Cassidy and Crapo’s plan would seed HSAs with $1,000 for people ages 18 to 49 and $1,500 for those 50 to 65 for people earning up to 700% of the poverty level. In order to get the pre-funded HSA, people would have to buy a bronze or catastrophic plan on an Obamacare exchange.
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The legislation also ticks off several demands from Senate Republicans in their back and forth with Senate Democrats over the subsidies that are unlikely to gain any favor from Schumer and his caucus.
Shortly after the legislation was unveiled, Schumer charged in a post on X that "Republicans are nowhere on healthcare, and the clock is ticking."
Included in Cassidy and Crapo’s bill are provisions reducing federal Medicaid funding to states that cover undocumented immigrants, Requirements that states verify citizenship or eligible immigration status before someone can get Medicaid, a ban on federal Medicaid funding for gender transition services and nixing those services from "essential health benefits" for ACA exchange plans, and inclusion Hyde Amendment provisions to prevent taxpayer dollars from funding abortions through the new HSAs.
Senate Republicans are expected to discuss the several options on the table, including newly-released plans from Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., respectively, during their closed-door conference meeting Tuesday afternoon.
When asked if there could be a compromise solution found among the proposals, Cassidy said, "That's going to be the will of the conference, if you will."
Miami in political crosshairs: Democrat hunts historic upset against Trump-backed candidate
Voters in Miami, Florida, cast ballots Tuesday in a runoff election for mayor in a race that's grabbed plenty of national attention in recent weeks as Democrats aim to end a decades-long losing streak in red-leaning Florida.
Democrat Eileen Higgins, a former county commissioner, is facing off against Republican Emilio Gonzalez, a former city manager backed by President Donald Trump.
While the election is technically nonpartisan, the ballot box face-off has become the latest showdown this year between Democrats and Republicans, with both parties pouring in resources.
And Democrats, energized by last month's decisive 2025 election victories and by last week's double-digit overperformance in a special election in a red-leaning congressional district in Tennessee, are aiming for victory in Miami for an office they haven't held in 30 years.
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The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and allied groups have invested in the race.
DNC Chair Kent Martin told Fox News Digital that following last week's "historic overperformance in Tennessee and the record Democratic momentum across the country this year," the DNC is now "laser focused" on Miami's mayoral runoff.
"The energy is on Democrats’ side and the DNC is all-in support of Eileen Higgins from now until Election Day," Martin emphasized in a statement to Fox News Digital last week.
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Meanwhile, the Republican Party of Florida has been helping Gonzalez.
And Trump, over the weekend, took to social media to try and boost Gonzalez.
"Miami’s Mayor Race is Tuesday. It is a big and important race!!! Vote for Republican Gonzalez," the president wrote.
Florida was once the largest of the general election battleground states, but has shifted dramatically to the right over the past decade.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won re-election by nearly 20 points in 2022, and Trump carried the state by 13 points in last year's presidential election victory.
But Miami remains a rare blue oasis in the Sunshine State. Trump narrowly lost the city in last year's presidential election, although the president won the wider Miami-Dade County by 11 points.
Higgins, a mechanical engineer and former Peace Corps director in Belize, focused on the issue of affordability and of making local government work better and faster during her campaign.
González, a veteran and senior adviser at an asset management firm, spotlighted the fight against overdevelopment and called for the elimination of property taxes for primary homes, as he bid for mayor.
Higgins captured 36% of the vote in the Nov. 4 election, with Gonzalez coming in second at 19%, in the multi-candidate field.
The runoff winner will succeed term-limited Republican Mayor Francis Suarez, who grabbed national attention two years ago as he briefly and unsuccessfully ran for the GOP presidential nomination.
US could burn through key missiles in 'a week' if war with China erupts, top security expert warns
"The U.S. struggle with China is the single greatest competition the United States has ever faced," defense analyst Seth Jones writes in his new book The American Edge.
And in an interview with Fox News Digital, Jones warned that if war broke out over Taiwan, the United States could burn through key long-range missiles "after roughly a week or so of conflict" — a shortfall he says exposes how far behind the U.S. industrial base remains as Beijing moves onto what he calls a wartime footing.
Jones is a former Pentagon official and president of the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He argues the United States isn’t dealing with a superpower like the Soviet Union, whose system was brittle and economically isolated. China’s economy, he noted, is roughly the size of the U.S. and deeply tied into global production. That economic weight is fueling a military buildup across every major domain, from fifth- and sixth-generation aircraft to an enormous shipbuilding sector he describes as "upwards of 230 times the size of the United States." The effect, he said, is unmistakable. "The gap is shrinking."
In "The American Edge," Jones lays out how great powers historically win long wars through production, not just innovation — and that’s where he believes the U.S. has the most to worry about. China’s missile forces now field a wide range of weapons designed to hold U.S. ships and aircraft at risk far from Taiwan. That makes stockpiles and throughput central to any American strategy in the Indo-Pacific.
CHINA’S ENERGY SIEGE OF TAIWAN COULD CRIPPLE US SUPPLY CHAINS, REPORT WARNS
"When you look at the numbers right now of those long-range munitions, we still right now would run out after roughly a week or so of conflict over Taiwan," he said. "That’s just not enough to sustain a protracted war."
Jones stressed that China’s strengths often overshadow a major vulnerability: its limited ability to hunt submarines. He said Beijing "still can’t see that well undersea," a gap the U.S. could exploit in any fight over Taiwan. If China tried to ferry troops across the Strait or impose a blockade, American attack submarines — along with a larger fleet of unmanned underwater vehicles — would pose a serious threat. He called the undersea environment one of the few places where the U.S. retains a decisive advantage, and one where production should accelerate quickly.
China has other problems as well. Jones pointed to corruption inside the PLA, inefficiency across its state-owned defense firms, ongoing struggles with joint operations and command-and-control and the fact the Chinese military hasn’t fought a war since the late 1970s. Its ability to project power beyond the first island chain also remains limited. But none of those challenges, he said, change the broader trajectory: China is building weapons in mass and at high speed — and the U.S. is still trying to catch up.
That theme sits at the center of his book. Jones describes a U.S. defense industrial base constrained by long acquisition timelines, aging shipyards, complicated contracting rules and production lines that aren’t built for a modern great-power conflict. In his view, the United States must rediscover the industrial urgency that once allowed it to surge output in wartime.
That responsibility is now falling to the Trump administration, which has pushed the Pentagon and the services to move faster on drones, munitions and new maritime capabilities. Over the past year, the Army, Air Force and Navy have launched new rapid-acquisition offices and programs aimed at fielding systems more quickly and helping smaller companies survive the long, expensive path to production. Senior defense officials have started using the phrase "wartime footing" to describe the moment — language Jones said is overdue.
"That is exactly the right wording," he said. "The Chinese and the Russian industrial bases right now … are both on a wartime footing."
He said identifying a set of priority munitions for multiyear procurement is a meaningful step, and early moves to streamline contracting are encouraging. But he cautioned that the scale of the problem is much larger than the reforms announced so far. "The Pentagon writ large is a massive bureaucracy," he said. "It’s going to take a lot to break that bureaucracy. There’s been some progress, but it’s trench warfare right now."
Jones said parts of the new National Defense Authorization Act move the needle in the right direction — especially support for expanding shipbuilding and efforts to strengthen the defense workforce. He also pointed to growing interest in leveraging allied shipyards in Japan and South Korea to relieve America’s overburdened maritime industry. But he argued that Washington is still not investing at a level that matches the threat.
"As a percentage of gross domestic product, [defense spending] is about three percent," he said. "It’s lower than at any time during the Cold War. I think we need to start getting closer to those numbers and increase the amount of that budget that goes into procurement and acquisition."
Artificial intelligence is another area Jones believes will reshape the battlefield faster than Washington anticipates. He noted that missile and drone threats now move at a volume and speed no human operator can manually track. "You can’t do things like air defense now without an increasing role of artificial intelligence," he said. The same applies to intelligence and surveillance, where AI-driven systems are already sorting vast amounts of satellite and sensor data.
But Jones said the United States will fall behind unless the Pentagon brings commercial AI leaders — companies like Nvidia and Google — more directly into national security programs. He argued that the United States needs the opposite of the consolidation that collapsed the defense industry in the 1990s. "We’ve got to get to a first breakfast," he said, meaning more tech firms competing in the defense space, not fewer.
Despite his warnings, Jones said the United States still has time to rebuild its industrial advantage. But it must act quickly. The Trump administration is talking about a wartime footing. China, he warned, is already living it.
Far-left firebrand mocked for Texas Senate campaign launch: 'Can't stop laughing'
Conservative leaders and commentators on X mocked progressive firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, for launching a last-minute Senate campaign in red Texas, with one saying she is "about to learn the hard way that most Texans are very different."
After months of speculation whether she would enter the race, Crockett announced her bid on Monday. In a launch speech to supporters in Dallas, she framed her candidacy as a move to stand up against President Donald Trump.
Her announcement came hours after Democratic candidate former Rep. Colin Allred announced he would be dropping out of the race, citing concern over keeping the party united instead of a messy primary battle.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott posted on X that he is "looking forward to watching the circus-- and KEEPING the US Senate seat red."
TOP GOP SENATOR SAYS CROCKETT ANNOUNCEMENT EXPOSES HOW 'RADICAL' DEMS ARE NATIONWIDE
"Jasmine Crockett about to learn the hard way that most Texans are very different from her district, her base & her values. She’ll be pummeled for her progressive socialist agenda & get crushed by the Republican nominee for Senate. The Texas political cemetery is filled with blow hards like her who have no idea what it’s like to run statewide," said the governor.
"On the bright side for her, maybe she’ll end up with a job on The View," he added.
The Republican Party posted on its official X page, commenting, "Low-IQ Jasmine Crockett is officially running in Texas for U.S. Senate. This is really who the Democrats are clearing the field for."
Popular X account End Wokeness posted, "I can't stop laughing. This is Jasmine Crockett's campaign launch video," reposting the 42-second ad, which features sound bites of Trump criticizing Crockett.
RISING DEMOCRAT STAR JAMES TALARICO JUMPS INTO KEY SENATE RACE IN TEXAS
Conservative podcaster Matt Walsh wrote, "I never thought I’d say this but I agree with every word of this Jasmine Crockett ad."
"Jasmine Crockett’s launch video would be clever - if her voters were solely gen-Z tik tok users," remarked Republican operative Matt Whitlock.
Conservative commentator Eric Daugherty also commented on the ad, saying that Crockett "royally SCREWED UP by making her campaign launch video Donald Trump calling her ‘low IQ’ on repeat, while she awkwardly stares into the camera," because "Trump won Texas by 14 points."
"Absolute EMBARRASSMENT," wrote Daugherty.
Political commentator David Freeman predicted "she will LOSE by 17% points, a landslide," adding, "bookmark this."
Crockett’s announcement was not universally mocked, however.
Progressive Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., wrote, "My sister in service @JasmineForUS is a relentless fighter and a brilliant legal mind. She is exactly the kind of authentic, bold, effective leader this moment demands, the people deserve, and the Senate needs. Let’s go."
Texas Democratic Party Chairman Kendall Scudder also reacted, telling Fox News Digital, "Republicans are shaking in their boots because they know their days are numbered in Texas."
Scudder said that "competitive Primaries are the sign of a healthy party" and that "the Texas Democratic Party has contested primaries up and down the ballot with a record number of candidates to fight for working-class people," adding, "It is a real embarrassment of riches" compared to the Republican field.
In her announcement speech, Crockett bashed Trump and incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn.
"I'm done watching the American dream on life support while Trump tries to pull the plug. The gloves have been off, and now I'm jumping into the ring," she said.
"Many people wonder why I jumped in this race so late, and I just want to be clear that this was never my intention, this was never about me, I never put myself into any of the polls," Crockett said. "But the more I saw the poll results, I couldn't ignore the trends, which were clear, both as it relates to the primary as well as the general election, I could have played it safe and continued serving in the United States House of Representatives for as long as my constituents would have me, but I don't choose to do that, because, Texas, this moment we're in now is life or death."
"Many people asked, ‘Can we win this race in November?’ I’m here to say, ‘Yes, we can!’" Crockett fired.
Cornyn is also facing primary challenges from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt.