Fox News

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a state court ruling that allowed for the counting of certain provisional ballots, in a major setback for the state GOP and Republican National Committee just four days before the election.

The Republican National Committee and the state GOP filed an emergency appeal to the nation’s top court last week seeking to temporarily halt a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that ordered the state to count voters whose provisional ballots had been incorrectly filled out or were missing an inner “secrecy” envelope. 

Attorneys for the Republican Party urged the Supreme Court to grant a full stay of the state’s decision, writing in a final reply brief submitted Thursday evening that such an order would “prevent multiple forms” of “irreparable harm” to the state. 

At a minimum, the court was urged to grant a “segregation order” to allow the ballots to be set aside and counted separately. 

“The actual provisional ballots contain no identifying information, only a vote,” the GOP’s lawyers wrote. “Once ballots are separated from their outer envelopes, there is no way to retroactively figure out which ballots were illegally cast. In other words, once the egg is scrambled, it cannot be unscrambled.”

THE 1.6M VOTERS WHO COULD DETERMINE THE US ELECTION DON’T CURRENTLY RESIDE IN THE COUNTRY

At issue is a lower court ruling in Butler County, Pa., where a local election board had disqualified provisional ballots cast by two residents in the 2024 primary election. That duo joined the Pennsylvania Democratic Party in a lawsuit that sought to have their votes counted, which ultimately was the outcome granted by a state Commonwealth Court and upheld last week by a 4-3 Pennsylvania Supreme Court majority.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court noted in its ruling that provisional votes can be counted only after a person’s eligibility to vote and the rejection of their mail-in ballot are confirmed. 

“Counting Electors’ provisional ballots, when their mail ballots are void for failing to use a Secrecy Envelope, is a statutory right,” state Supreme Court Justice Christine Donohue wrote in the majority opinion, adding that the rule in question is “intended to alleviate potential disenfranchisement for eligible voters.”

In their response to the Supreme Court Wednesday, opponents argued that Republican plaintiffs had left out important case history in the state — primarily, that in the six years since Pennsylvania’s General Assembly had updated its voting law in 2019 to allow mail-in ballots, “most county boards of elections, and most Pennsylvania courts to consider the issue, have counted provisional ballots submitted by voters who had made a disqualifying mistake in attempting to complete their mail ballots.” 

In fact, Butler County was among the few counties that refused to count provisional ballots for votes that were lacking secrecy envelopes, until it became the subject of a lawsuit earlier this year by the two plaintiffs whose votes were not counted.

“Applicants, advancing a divergent interpretation of state law, asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to take the case and decide it before the 2024 General Election,” they wrote. “Last week the Pennsylvania Supreme Court did just that. That the RNC does not like the result is no reason for this Court to intervene on an emergency basis and disrupt the status quo on the eve of the election.” 

That was contested by Republican plaintiffs. In joining the state GOP in the lawsuit, lawyers for the Republican Party described the case as one of “paramount public importance, potentially affecting tens of thousands of votes in a state which many anticipate could be decisive in control of the U.S. Senate or even the 2024 presidential election.”

26 REPUBLICAN ATTORNEYS GENERAL JOIN VIRGINIA IN PETITIONING SUPREME COURT TO RULE ON VOTER ROLL

The appeal comes as Republicans have filed nearly 100 election-related court challenges in recent weeks, legal challenges they say are aimed at preventing voter fraud through absentee and mail-in ballots. (Democrats, in return, have sought to position themselves as the party that supports free and fair elections, seizing on the Republican lawsuits as a means of disenfranchising voters.)

Many of the lawsuits have been filed in one of seven swing states considered pivotal for either candidate to win the presidency.

In Pennsylvania, the Republican Party’s decision to join a lawsuit over provisional ballots in the final days of the campaign is likely a strategic move, analysts said—a “placeholder” of sorts that allows them to cite a preexisting legal challenge in a swing state that they can point to in pushing for courts to act after an election.

It’s “absolutely” easier to get a court to involve itself in a case after an election if plaintiffs already have a legal challenge on the books, Andrew McCarthy, a former U.S. assistant attorney general for the Southern District of New York, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

In those cases, “you could at least look [judges] in the eye and say, ‘look. I’m not asking you to change the result of the election, I’m asking you to address the rules, which is what we tried to do before,’” McCarthy said.

This is especially important in Pennsylvania, the battleground state with the most electoral votes at stake in 2024. 

APPEALS COURT RULES AGAINST GOP IN CASE CHALLENGING 225K VOTER REGISTRATIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA 

It is unclear how many residents in Pennsylvania will be impacted by the provisional ballot ruling, and the Republican Party did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

Estimates have been murky at best: A 2021 study conducted by the MIT Election Data and Science Lab estimated roughly 1.1% of mail-in ballots were not counted due to missing secrecy envelopes. Mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania have been lower so far in 2024 than 2020, when many relied on that process due to COVID-19 precautions.

More recently, New York University law professor Richard Pildes estimated that the case could affect between 400 and 4,000 ballots in the state – though his “back-of-the-napkin” math focused solely on naked ballots, and not others sent with incomplete information.

In a close race, the wave of recent court cases has led some observers to fear the lawsuits will either disenfranchise would-be voters, keep one or the other candidate’s supporters from participating in the election or sow doubt about the election results.

But analysts told Fox News they doubt that any of these lawsuits will have a protracted impact on the 2024 election, despite the additional scrutiny and media coverage. 

“In the five presidential elections I’ve covered, I don’t think any pre-election challenge had a huge impact,” George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.

“I think we’re going to have a lot of litigation, but I would be surprised if we have any jugular hits,” Turley said.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

A federal judge on Friday denied Elon Musk’s request to move a Pennsylvania lawsuit over his $1 million daily giveaways to federal court, remanding the case — which centers on whether the giveaways amount to “illegal bribery” under Pennsylvania law — back to the state for a hearing.

The decision is a victory for Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who filed a lawsuit earlier this week to stop Musk and his Trump-supporting political action committee from continuing its $1 million giveaways to swing state voters. 

Judge Angelo Foglietta on Friday ordered the hearing to take place Monday at 10 a.m., in accordance with Krasner’s request that the matter be heard “immediately.”

It is unclear whether Musk, whose attorneys filed a motion Friday evening to quash a mandatory attendance provision in the lawsuit, will show up to court.

The D.A.’s office has described the giveaways as an “illegal lottery” aimed at influencing the results of a presidential election and a violation of Pennsylvania law.

It also accused Musk and his PAC of violating consumer protection laws, citing the “deceptive” and “misleading” statements Musk had made about the nature of the contest. 

SWING-STATE’S SUPREME COURT ISSUES PIVOTAL RULING ON MAIL-IN BALLOTS SENT WITHOUT POSTMARK

Musk’s attorneys had requested the case be heard in federal court, delaying an original hearing scheduled for Thursday. 

Attorneys for the Tesla founder and Trump supporter also used this as a pretext for his failure to show up at an originally scheduled court date in Philadelphia.

They accused Krasner’s office of creating a “circus atmosphere” by naming him in the suit.

In a filing on Thursday night, Krasner urged the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia to “immediately” remand the lawsuit back to the state, noting that the lawsuit brought against Musk rests solely on state law claims and has no basis for removal. 

The push to have a federal court oversee the case “is a stunt to obtain a procedural advantage,” he said, and “run out the clock” until the election.

Until the hearing occurs, Musk and the PAC are likely free to continue their daily giveaways.

“Brazenly, they have done so every day since the filing of the Complaint — including this morning, the day of the scheduled hearing,” Krasner said Thursday in filing the emergency request.

The legal battle comes as Musk’s America PAC has awarded $1 million prizes to 14 people to date — which it said it plans to do through Election Day.

Musk had billed the $1 million daily giveaways as an effort to increase voter registration across seven major swing states, and claimed its daily winners are selected at “random.” 

But the district attorney’s office contested this, noting: “Though Musk says that a winner’s selection is ‘random,’ that appears false because multiple winners that have been selected are individuals who have shown up at Trump rallies in Pennsylvania.”

BATTLEGROUND STATE’S HIGH COURT REJECTS GOP CHALLENGE TO PROVISIONAL BALLOT RULES

The lawsuit notes that all lotteries in Pennsylvania are required to be “operated and administered by the state.” Musk’s daily giveaways, the suit claims, run afoul of that law. 

The Tesla founder and CEO has come under increased scrutiny for the daily giveaways.

Last week, the Justice Department sent a letter to Musk warning that the giveaway scheme might violate federal election laws, which criminalize paying voters to register or participate in elections. 

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. 

Pennsylvania’s election is likely to go down to the wire Tuesday, meaning support from the commonwealth’s sizable, yet traditionally private Amish community might just make a difference.

The Amish-Mennonite community has long been a reliably conservative group, given its devout faith, humility and reluctance to engage with aspects of contemporary societal norms such as driving cars and using cellphones.

Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., the first Amish-born member of Congress, said he’s seeing a real change lately.

“You have a minority of the Amish who are now farming and agricultural. They ran out of land in Lancaster County a long time ago. So, there’s a new generation of Amish who are business owners,” he said.

ACTIVIST TALKS AMISH VOTING

“So, they’re becoming much more engaged politically than their parents were.”

A report from Elizabethtown College estimated 90,000 Amish live in Pennsylvania and 84,000 live in Ohio, in addition to sizeable populations in Indiana, Wisconsin, New York and Missouri.

Smucker said there were 1,500-2,000 new voter registrants in his district who are Amish, adding he expects thousands more to cast ballots this cycle.

Two former presidents — George W. Bush and Donald Trump — actively canvassed the community, which by and large doesn’t vote due to customs surrounding privacy.

Bush visited Smoketown during the 2004 campaign, meeting with Amish leaders without photographers out of respect of religious customs.

Excepting Democrat James Buchanan, a Greencastle native who maintained a residence in the city of Lancaster, Bush was the first president since George Washington to visit at least twice during his term.

CRISS-CROSSING PA TO REGISTER VOTERS, PRESLER SEES COUNTIES FLIP RED

“We hate that abortion issue,” a farmer named Sam Stoltzfus told The Associated Press during Bush’s visit. “You could hold up a dead mouse with a sign ‘I love Bush,’ and we’d still probably think twice about stomping that mouse underfoot.” 

In contrast to Bush’s quiet visit, Trump held a raucous 2016 rally in Manheim. Men in traditional Amish garb were seen seated throughout the venue, cheering the mogul’s pitch and critiques of Hillary Clinton.

Of the criticism that Trump’s New York bombast isn’t a fit for humble Lancaster, Smucker said many Amish “love” Trump for his small-government platform.

With faith at the core of Amish life, they also appreciate Trump’s own focus on religious liberty. That focus, he said, also mirrors many other conservatives’ priorities outside Lancaster.

Smucker said while Bush and Trump have had most of the Amish attention, the Amish were very politically active in the 1950s when compulsory age-based education was an issue for youth who often returned to farming.

Today, Trump signs sit on some farms and occasionally on a horse and buggy clip-clopping down Old Philly Pike in Bird-in-Hand.

Many Fridays, Republican activist Scott Presler registered voters at the Green Dragon Farmers Market in Ephrata, where he told Fox News Digital the Amish he’s interacted with have been very fervent in their support of Trump.

In a tweet, Presler also pointed to Democratic officials who investigated Amish farmer Amos Miller over his raw milk sales. The case drew national attention from the likes of Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who called the litigation “shameful.”

Donald Trump Jr. also lambasted a raid on Miller’s property, saying he “can’t be the only person sick of this s—.”

Asked whether the government’s run-ins with Miller inspired new political enthusiasm, Smucker said other dairymen have found ways to comply with the law, but the intrusion into Miller’s business was not well taken.

“Yes, Amos Miller was a good case of that. But there are plenty of others that the Amish can point to as well,” he said.

The Amish first arrived from Germany in the 18th century, when many Germans landed in Philadelphia and initiated a diaspora throughout Pennsylvania.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Amish headed west toward Lancaster, while other “Pennsilfaanisch” headed northward to the Lehigh Valley, settling in places with ethnic names like Hamburg, Heidelberg, Neffs and Seisholtzville.

Today, Lancaster is a little less quiet than it’s traditionally been, with an explosion in tourism and new residents who are “English,” as the Amish refer to those outside their sect, since the turn of the century.

Smucker recounted being born the tenth of 12 in an Old Order family, the stricter of the sect, who wear plainclothes, speak “Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch” and drive buggies.

He suggested his own story illustrates how Amish values mesh well with conservative principles and those forwarded by Trump.

After completing Amish schooling, which ends around the ninth grade, Smucker took a nighttime job hanging drywall to fund private Christian school tuition to finish his studies.

“That was the deal,” he said of his time at Lancaster Mennonite School. 

He later purchased a fledgling business from a sibling for $1,000 and developed it into a regional leader in construction and commercial contracting.

“I talk about that as what we think of as the American dream,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter where you start. You know, if you work hard … play by the rules, you’re going to have a really great chance of getting ahead in this country of ours.

“It’s the idea of strong individual responsibility, a strong family unit and then a strong local community or local church. And when you have all of that in place, you don’t need a big government. And that’s exactly how the Amish look at that.”

Fox News Digital also reached out to the Lancaster County Democratic Committee for comment. 

Welcome to the Fox News’ Politics newsletter, with the latest political news from Washington, D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. 

Here’s what’s happening…

-Michigan Dem Slotkin leads as GOP aims to win first US Senate race in state since 1994

-Discovery of ‘fraudulent’ voter applications prompts PA probe of Arizona company’s potential involvement

-Netanyahu signals Tehran’s nuclear program could be next target as Iran plans future attack

Two House Republican lawmakers are in political trouble with Election Day just four days away, according to a new analysis.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report issued a ratings update late Friday morning projecting races for Reps. Don Bacon, R-Neb., and Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., to “lean Democrat.”

They were both ranked as “toss-up” races, meaning it was anyone’s game ahead of Nov. 5. The Cook Partisan Voting Index (PVI) ranks Bacon’s race as “even,” whereas D’Esposito’s is five points in favor of Democrats…Read more

IDENTITY POLITICS: Biden-Harris admin pushed more than 500 ‘DEI actions’ across government, report finds…Read more

‘NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT’: Top House committee subpoenas Biden admin for docs on faulty border cameras: ‘National security threat’…Read more

DANGEROUS STREETS: NY Republican slams Biden, Harris for ‘total lack of respect’ after illegal charged in 5-year-old’s rape…Read more

TURNING UP THE HEAT: Harris slammed for hiring advisor with ties to dark money group pushing gas stove ban: ‘Par for the course’…Read more

CAVING TO ACTIVISTS: Harvard, Northwestern failed Jewish students during college campus protests: House report…Read more

‘ABSOLUTELY ZERO SUPPORT’: Ted Cruz knocks McConnell-aligned super PAC for ‘zero support’ in competitive race…Read more

PUT ON BLAST: McConnell issues smackdown of Kentucky Dem governor’s call to abolish the Electoral College…Read more

NOVEMBER SURPRISE: Dismal jobs report gives Trump last-minute political ammunition to fire at Harris…Read more

TRUMP COUNTRY: Rural Georgia counties outpace Dem strongholds as Peach State shatters early voting records…Read more

BLUE WALL HOLDING?: Harris holds narrow lead over Trump in ‘blue wall’ states Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin: poll…Read more

‘IRRESPONSIBLE’: Trump criticism of Liz Cheney as ‘radical war hawk’ framed as call for violence by ‘irresponsible’ media…Read more

FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Video of Haitian migrants saying they plan to vote multiple times in Georgia is Russian-made: US intel…Read more

‘DOESN’T THINK’: Chris Christie blasts Mark Cuban for ‘really stupid’ remark about Trump and ‘strong’ women…Read more

FOR RICHER TO POORER: Oregon ballot measure would tax big corporations more, return revenue as rebate to residents…Read more

‘A VIOLATION’: Montana to probe nation’s leading pediatrics group for claim puberty blockers are ‘reversible’…Read more

‘RED FLAGS’: State treasurers push for divestment from China citing ‘red flags’ regarding the CCP…Read more

‘VOTER SUPPRESSION’: Stacey Abrams claims voter suppression in Georgia despite record early turnout…Read more

‘ALL HANDS ON DECK’: Republicans are running a ‘successful’ early voting campaign in battleground North Carolina: NRCC chair…Read more

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

With just four days to Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris holds a commanding 10-point lead over former President Trump in Virginia among likely voters, according to a new poll by Roanoke College.

The Trump campaign is hoping to flip the Old Dominion State red after losing in 2016 and 2020, with the former president making a last-minute stop in Salem on Saturday for a campaign rally. No Republican presidential candidate has won Virginia since former President George W. Bush’s re-election in 2004.

Only 2% of likely voters say they are undecided and another 2% say they will vote for someone other than the five candidates on the ballot, according to the poll.

VIRGINIA GOVERNOR SLAMS ‘ASTOUNDING’ FEDERAL RULING REINSTATING VOTING RIGHTS FOR ALLEGED NONCITIZENS

Harris leads Trump by 51% to 41%, with independent Cornel West and Libertarian Chase Oliver both polling at 2%. Green Party candidate Jill Stein is polling at 1%.

The economy was named as the most important issue by 43% of respondents, followed by abortion (20%) and immigration (12%). Foreign affairs (8%) came in next, followed by crime (3%). 

In the U.S. Senate race, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., leads his Republican challenger Hung Cao by 51% to 40%. 

The poll interviewed 851 likely registered voters in Virginia from Oct. 25-29 and has a margin of error of 4.6%.

Several polls out of the state have shown Harris with a comfortable lead over former President Trump since President Biden withdrew from the ticket and Harris clinched the Democratic Party’s nomination. 

DAVID MARCUS: IN VIRGINIA, SIGNS THAT TRUMP COULD PULL OFF A BLUE STATE ELECTION SHOCK

Her rise has marked a significant turnaround at the top of the Democratic ticket in Virginia. A Fox News poll in June had Biden and Trump in a dead heat.

Biden swept Virginia in 2020 by more than 10 points, and Hillary Clinton beat Trump by more than five points there in 2016 — although Trump went on to win the presidency.

The GOP has been making progress in the state, with the 2021 election of Gov. Glenn Youngkin as the first Republican to be elected to the governorship since 2009 and further success in the 2022 midterms and the state’s 2023 off-year elections.

“With so few undecided voters, it’s a tough uphill climb for Trump,” said Dr. Harry Wilson, senior political analyst for IPOR and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Roanoke College.

“Democrats continue to take advantage of early voting. Republicans are catching up, but they need massive turnout on Election Day.” 

A large majority (85%) of those who have not yet voted are very certain of their choice and another 9% are somewhat certain. Two-thirds (66%) are very enthusiastic about voting, and another 17% are somewhat enthusiastic, according to the poll.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

About 95% of Democrats support Harris, and she leads 49%-36% among independents. Trump is supported by 90% of Republicans, per the poll. 

Of the 851 responses to the poll, 19 (2%) were landline interviews, 450 (53%) were cellphone interviews and 382 (45%) were completed by text to web.

Virginia has become a focal point for election integrity, with the Supreme Court this week greenlighting the state’s efforts to remove possible noncitizen voter registrations.

MILWAUKEE — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump will hold competing rallies around the same time Friday night just a few miles apart in battleground Wisconsin’s largest city.

With just four days until Election Day, the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees make their final stops in Wisconsin, where nearly all the latest public opinion polls indicate a margin-of-error race between the two candidates.

“As of this weekend, the way to predict the winner is to flip a coin. It’s that close,” University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor emeritus Mordecai Lee told Fox News.

Two days after Harris and Trump held competing rallies in Wisconsin — the vice president stopped in Madison, the state capital, while the former president was in Green Bay — they will hold dueling rallies again, this time in the same city.

NOVEMBER SURPRISE: DISMAL JOBS REPORT HANDS TRUMP INSTANT AMMUNITION TO FIRE AT HARRIS

Trump’s event will take place in Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum, where he accepted his party’s presidential nomination during the Republican National Convention in July. Harris will be a few miles away for a get-out-the-vote rally at the Wisconsin State Fair Park Exposition Center.

The former president will be arriving in Wisconsin from Michigan, another key battleground, where he held campaign events earlier on Friday.

VICE PRESIDENT KEEPS HER DISTANCE FROM BIDEN IN FINAL STRETCH TO ELECTION DAY

Harris’ Milwaukee rally — where popular rapper and songwriter Cardi B will also make remarks — will be her third Wisconsin event of the day. She stopped by a union hall in Janesville during the afternoon.

As a group of union members started shouting “Madam President,” Harris responded, saying, “Not yet! Four days.”

The vice president also argued that “Donald Trump has been no friend to labor.”

The vice president then headed to Appleton to headline a rally at a school.

The Democratic and Republican Parties’ vice presidential nominees — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, respectively — have both crisscrossed Wisconsin, and major surrogates — including former Presidents Obama and Clinton for Harris — have parachuted into the Badger State.

Both campaigns and their aligned committees and super PACs have also flooded Wisconsin airwaves with TV ads in the closing stretch leading up to Election Day next week.

Wisconsin, along with Michigan and Pennsylvania, are the three Rust Belt states that make up the Democrats’ so-called “blue wall.”

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION

Democrats reliably won all three states for a quarter-century before Trump narrowly captured them in the 2016 election over Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton to win the White House.

Four years later, in 2020, President Biden swept all three states by razor-thin margins to put them back in the Democrats’ column and defeat Trump. In Wisconsin, Biden carried the state by just over 20,000 votes out of more than 3.2 million cast.

With a race within the margins, it may likely come down to turnout in Wisconsin.

The Harris campaign highlights that they have over 50 offices across 43 counties in the state, and 250 full-time coordinated staff on the ground. 

They spotlight that they have knocked on more than 1.5 million doors in the battle for Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes.

NFL LEGEND BRETT FAVRE LAMENTS AMOUNT OF ‘HATE’ DURING ELECTION CYCLE: ‘IT’S CERTAINLY SAD TO SEE’

The Trump campaign, pointing to the pro-football rivalry between Wisconsin’s Green Bay Packers and neighboring Minnesota’s Vikings, took aim at the vice president.

“Kamala Harris doesn’t know the first thing about Wisconsin — she chose a Vikings fan as her running mate. Wisconsin voters are already running up the score for President Trump as evidenced by his lead in the polls, encouraging early vote turnout, and big endorsements from hometown favorites including Hall of Famer Brett Favre and Wisconsin’s Former Governor Tommy Thompson,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt argued in a statement to Fox News.

Lee, who’s been involved in Wisconsin politics for nearly five decades, pointed to all the attention his home state is receiving.

“We feel like we’re the ones who are going to select the next president,” he said.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

FIRST ON FOX: A conservative group is suing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over documents related to the housing and sheltering of illegal immigrants in the U.S. amid broader concerns about how taxpayer money is being spent on the crisis.

The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) is suing HHS after it submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking documents about HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement and information about how money has been spent on non-governmental organizations that help migrants.

The FOIA request sought documents “showing the total list of non-governmental organizations that received federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Refugee Resettlement for years FY 2023, and FY 2024 to assist with housing, educational, medical, legal, or other services made available to migrants apprehended at the Southern border.”

DOZENS OF SENATE AND HOUSE LAWMAKERS UNLEASH ON BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN’S CHILD MIGRANT ‘COVER UP’ 

The lawsuit says it is in the public interest “because it will help the public understand whether HHS is using taxpayer dollars consistent with the law and whether appropriate oversight of federal funds provided to non-governmental organizations is in place.”

HHS did not respond to the FOIA, and so the group is suing to get the necessary documents.

“The southern border is out of control, and American communities are being forced to deal with thousands of unvetted migrants pouring over the border each day. ” CASA Director James Fitzpatrick said in a statement. 

“The American people are entitled to know specifically how much money taxpayers are spending on non-profit organizations providing social services to illegal migrants. CASA’s FOIA requested this information, and now this lawsuit will force the Office of Refugee Resettlement to provide it for FY 23 and 24 just as they have provided it before.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

While the Department of Homeland Security is the primary agency dealing with the migrant crisis and the influx of migrants across the southern border, HHS plays a role, particularly in the resettlement of migrant children who come across into the U.S. unaccompanied by an adult.

More than 500,000 unaccompanied alien children (UAC) have crossed the border without a parent or guardian since 2021. When unaccompanied children come to the border, they are turned over by Border Patrol to Health and Human Services (HHS), which will attempt to find them a sponsor within the country, typically a family member.

Lawmakers have regularly been scrutinizing the money going to nonprofits that resettle migrants, and some Republicans see such spending as a misuse of taxpayer money.

THOUSANDS OF MIGRANT KIDS MISSING, ACCORDING TO WATCHDOG REPORT, GOP SENATOR SLAMS DHS: ‘RECKLESS DISREGARD’ 

HHS, meanwhile, has been under particular scrutiny over its handling of resettling migrant children, and Republican lawmakers recently criticized HHS for “rushing” them out of custody and into the hands of sponsors.

A September letter to the White House from Republicans in both chambers claimed the administration has cut back on background checks and vetting procedures as part of an effort to speed up the process. The White House, however, pushed back on the claims.

“The administration has taken action to protect unaccompanied children through exacting sponsor vetting for those caring for unaccompanied children and post-release services for all children in sponsor care,” a White House spokesperson said.

“HHS is also implementing the strongest rule to protect unaccompanied children ever through the Foundational Rule on Unaccompanied Children, which further implements detailed policies and procedures providing for the safe and timely release of unaccompanied children to vetted and approved sponsors, requiring background and criminal records checks for all sponsors and adults residing in the potential sponsor’s household, strengthened post-release services to ensure child well-being and immigration compliance and enhanced standards for private care facilities that house unaccompanied children.

HHS CHIEF ‘UNFAMILIAR’ WITH REPORTS THAT AGENCY CAN’T CONTACT 85,000 UNACCOMPANIED MIGRANT KIDS 

“It is outrageous that Republican members of Congress are trying to end these protections for children through use of the Congressional Review Act to repeal this critical rule.”

HHS came under the spotlight last year when The New York Times reported on how the agency had been unable to reach 85,000 minors and lost immediate contact with a third of them.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said at that time that the number “doesn’t sound at all to be realistic,” and “what we do is we try and follow up as best we can with these kids.

“Congress has given us certain authorities. Our authorities end when we have found a suitable sponsor to place that child with. We try and do some follow-up, but neither the child nor the sponsor is actually obligated to follow up with us.”

Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday called former President Trump’s rifle remarks about Liz Cheney “disqualifying,” accusing him of increasing his “violent rhetoric.”

“He has increased his violent rhetoric about political opponents – Donald Trump has – and in great detail suggested rifles should be trained on former Rep. Liz Cheney,” Harris told reporters at a presser after getting off Air Force Two in Wisconsin. “This must be disqualifying. Anyone who wants to be President of the United States who uses that kind of violent rhetoric is clearly disqualified and unqualified to be president.”

She called Cheney, who has endorsed Harris and has been campaigning with her, a “true patriot who has shown extraordinary courage in putting country above party. Trump is increasingly, however, someone who considers his political opponents the enemy, is permanently out for revenge and is increasingly unstable and unhinged.” 

In calling Cheney a “radical war hawk” at an event in Arizona on Thursday, Trump said: “Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? Let’s see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face. They’re all war hawks when they’re sitting in Washington in a nice building saying, ‘Oh, gee, well, let’s send 10,000 troops into the mouths of the enemies,’ but she’s a stupid person and I used to have meetings with a lot of people and she always wanted to go to war with people.” 

TRUMP CRITICISM OF LIZ CHENEY AS ‘RADICAL WAR HAWK’ FRAMED AS CALL FOR VIOLENCE BY ‘IRRESPONSIBLE’ MEDIA

Trump’s comments immediately drew a backlash on the left, with some clips online not playing the full context of what he was saying. 

Harris told a reporter who asked if she was concerned about Cheney’s safety that she hadn’t talked to the former Wyoming congresswoman since Trump’s comment was made, “but I know Liz Cheney well enough to know she is tough, she is courageous and has shown herself to be a true patriot at a very difficult time in our country where, to your point, we see this kind of rhetoric that is violent in nature, where we see this kind of spirit coming through with Donald Trump that is so ladened with the desire for revenge and retribution.” 

LIZ CHENEY BASHES TRUMP IN NEW KEY BATTLEGROUND HARRIS AD AS ELECTION HITS FINAL SPRINT

She added it’s important to make sure “we are fighting against and speaking out against political violence.” 

Trump clarified his Cheney comments on Truth Social on Wednesday afternoon, writing, “All I’m saying about Liz Cheney is that she is a War Hawk, and a dumb one at that, but she wouldn’t have ‘the guts’ to fight herself. It’s easy for her to talk, sitting far from where the death scenes take place, but put a gun in her hand, and let her go fight, and she’ll say, ‘No thanks!’ Her father decimated the Middle East, and other places, and got rich by doing so. He’s caused plenty of DEATH, and probably never even gave it a thought. That’s not what we want running our Country!”

Cheney reposted a clip on X of Trump’s remarks about her that didn’t include the part about him accusing Cheney and others all being war hawks, writing, “This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death. We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant.”

She included the hastages “#Womenwillnotbesilenced” and “VoteKamala.” 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Republicans have also accused Democrats of increasing the possibility of violence against Trump with rhetoric claiming he’s “fascist” and a “threat to democracy.”

Trump was shot by a would-be assassin in July and was later targeted by another suspect near his home in Florida. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, boasted about Minnesota hosting several top Chinese leaders in a letter unearthed by Fox News Digital.

The Minnesota International Chinese School showcased a 2021 letter from Walz on its YouTube channel celebrating the 10th anniversary of the school’s Chinese New Year.

“Minnesota has a longstanding relationship with the people of China,” Walz said in the letter. “The state has promoted Minnesota’s connections with China and has hosted numerous senior Chinese leaders for decades. Thousands of Minnesotans claim ancestral connections to China, which has helped foster numerous ties between Minnesota and China.”

“These ties are rapidly expanding through the growth of education, trade, and investment opportunities between our two peoples,” he added before congratulating the school on a “very important milestone” and “teaching our language learners and future leaders the importance of speaking multiple languages and of being global citizens.”

HARRIS VP PICK SPENT YEARS PROMOTING RESEARCH FACILITY THAT COLLABORATED WITH ‘CHINESE MILITARY COMPANY’

The letter came within 10 days of Zhao Jian, the Consul General of China in Chicago, recording a four-minute greeting in Chinese for the school, according to the school’s YouTube channel. Walz’s connection to Jian has been under scrutiny in recent weeks after the House Oversight Committee unearthed a meeting between Walz and Jian earlier this year discussing “China-U.S. relations and sub-national cooperation.”

While the specifics of the meeting aren’t clear, a 2022 report from the Biden administration’s Director of National Intelligence (DNI) highlighted how U.S.-based Chinese consulates like the one Walz met with “play an active role” in “foreign influence operations” on behalf of the CCP. 

DHS EMPLOYEE WARNED COLLEAGUES THAT WALZ’S NOMINATION ‘FEEDS INTO’ CHINA’S EFFORTS TO INFLUENCE DC

Walz’s decades-long ties to China have come back to haunt him since Vice President Harris picked him to join her Democratic ticket as the vice presidential nominee. He worked briefly in China as a teacher, traveling to Guangdong in 1989 for a teaching-abroad program to teach English and American history. 

Walz was initially believed to have made dozens of trips to China over his lifetime, but a campaign spokesperson would later try to walk that number back and say he made approximately 15 visits to China, which included his honeymoon in 1994. 

“I’ve lived in China and, as I’ve said, I’ve been there about 30 times. . . . I don’t fall into the category that China necessarily needs to be an adversarial relationship. I totally disagree, and I think we need to stand firm on what they’re doing in the South China Sea, but there’s many areas of cooperation we can work on,” Walz previously said in an interview with Agri-Pulse Communications.

He also came to the defense of the Chinese Communist system, saying during a 1991 school lesson that it “means that everyone is the same, and everyone shares.” 

“The doctor and the construction worker make the same,” he continued, according to the Washington Free Beacon. “The Chinese government and the place they work for provide housing and 14 kg or about 30 pounds of rice per month. They get food and housing.”

Walz was also quoted by a local outlet in 1990 reflecting on his visits to China, saying, “No matter how long I live, I will never be treated that well again. . . . They gave me more gifts than I could bring home. It was an excellent experience,” Walz said, adding that he had been “treated exceptionally well.”

Fox News Digital recently reported that a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official sounded the alarm with colleagues about how Harris’ decision to pick Walz for the presidential ticket “feeds into” activities the People’s Republic of China (PRC) were conducting “with him and local government,” warning that Beijing could “target” him to exert influence on U.S. policy. 

“Walt’s [sic] got the Vp,” reads the message, with the identity of the sender redacted. “You all have no idea how this feeds into what prc has been doing here with him and local gov.”

The official added, “It’s seriously a line of the intel. Target someone who is perceived they can get to DC.” 

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer wrote in a letter to Mayorkas on Tuesday that the Committee is “releasing the above message as an example of communications within DHS’s possession in which DHS officials express concern about the CCP targeting politicians and their influence operations at the state and local levels — and specifically, concerns about the CCP’s influence operations as they related to Governor Walz.”

Walz has also faced scrutiny for his ties to a Minnesota-based medical research institute with a long track record of collaborating with a firm labeled by the Pentagon as a “Chinese military company” and with Chinese officials with controversial ties to the CCP.

In 2014, Walz welcomed a delegation from China to the institute that included Wang Yanling, the vice governor of Henan Province and a Communist Party doctor. Yanling is listed as holding several positions in the Chinese Communist Party over the course of many decades.

Several members of the Chinese Communist Party have sat on the board of directors at the Henan Cancer Institute, according to an archived version of the organization’s website.

Fox News Digital reached out to Harris-Walz campaign.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

House Republicans are demanding answers about potential retaliation against IRS whistleblowers who brought claims of political influence in the Hunter Biden investigation to Congress.  

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.; Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.; House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.; Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., began investigating in June whether the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) contributed to alleged retaliation and a “smear campaign” against IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler.

HOUSE GOP PROBES WHETHER SPECIAL COUNSEL OFFICE HELPED RETALIATE AGAINST HUNTER BIDEN WHISTLEBLOWERS

Fox News exclusively reported on that initial letter requesting a briefing to determine whether there had been improper influence surrounding the IRS whistleblowers’ claims pending before the OSC. 

But on Friday, Comer, Jordan and Smith sent another letter to the acting principal deputy special counsel, Karen Gorman, demanding answers. 

The lawmakers notified Gorman that Shapley’s attorney “recently revealed that approximately one hour after an investigative journalist released an interview with the whistleblowers in which they discussed damaging evidence of the IRS’s disparate treatment of U.S. taxpayers, the IRS issued [Supervisory Special Agent] Shapley a 15-day notice to either accept a demotion or resign.” 

Shapley and Ziegler sat down with a journalist on Tuesday to “discuss their disclosures to Congress and how their lives have been affected by making those disclosures.” 

During the interview, Shapley said the IRS “has a smothering blanket on me. [They’re] hoping that I quit, that they find some way to terminate me. Or they probably hope that I commit suicide or something,’” the lawmakers wrote. 

Less than an hour after the release of the interview, the IRS sent Shapley a memo informing him that he “could no longer keep his position,” the lawmakers wrote.

“This reassignment appears to give SSA Shapley effectively two options: accept a demotion or resign,” they wrote. “The IRS is giving SSA Shapley 15 days to decide.” 

They added: “This is egregious, and OSC must take immediate steps to pause this action while it examines the IRS’s decision.” 

The lawmakers are now requesting a “prompt” update on the OSC’s investigation into the whistleblowers’ allegations and for OSC to “use its lawful authority to seek an immediate stay at the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board pausing the IRS’s latest threatening action.” 

HOUSE REPUBLICANS REFER HUNTER BIDEN, JAMES BIDEN FOR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AMID IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

“SSA Shapley’s and SA Ziegler’s whistleblowing took courage and bravery,” the lawmakers wrote. “Because of their important disclosures, Americans learned how the IRS treats individuals differently based upon their last names.” 

Comer, Jordan and Smith reminded that Shapley and Ziegler “made lawfully protected disclosures to Congress that resulted in unrelenting personal and professional attacks on them.” 

“But they have not wavered,” the lawmakers wrote. “As this case has rightfully garnered significant public attention, OSC must show the whistleblower community that OSC will take appropriate and immediate action to stand up for whistleblowers.” 

Fox News Digital reached out to the IRS and OSC for comment.