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White House officials were adamant in a virtual briefing with governors on Monday that flying objects recently spotted over North America are not of extraterrestrial origin, according to a recording of the briefing obtained by Fox News Digital.  “There are no UFOs. This is not an invasion of the aliens,” White House Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall told governors on the half-hour call.

California’s electric grid faces years of potential blackouts and failure as state leaders continue pushing aggressive measures to transition to renewable energy sources, policy experts tell Fox News Digital.  The state’s grid, which is still mainly powered by fossil fuels, is undergoing a major shift from natural gas and coal power to renewable power like wind and solar.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took to Twitter Monday evening to address the disastrous Ohio train derailment after completely avoiding any mention of the situation while speaking at a conference earlier in the day.

North Carolina House Republicans are again proposing to modify their chamber’s operating rules on veto overrides for the next two years, only now offering Democratic colleagues some broad limits on when they could be attempted. Temporary House rules approved on a party-line vote last month omitted a rule from previous years that required chamber leaders to give at least two days’ notice before holding an override vote.

A top Virginia Department of Health official has been tapped to lead agency operations for now, after Senate Democrats effectively ousted the former health commissioner, Dr. Colin Greene. Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration has asked VDH chief operating officer Christopher Lindsay to handle the day-to-day operations at the agency, a Youngkin spokeswoman said in a statement Monday. VIRGINIA SENATE DEMOCRATS VOTE TO REJECT 3 APPOINTEES OF GOP GOV.

New Jersey state Sen. Samuel Thompson said Monday he’s leaving the Republican Party and plans to seek reelection this year as a Democrat. Thompson, 87, said in a phone interview that he decided to leave the GOP after party leaders questioned his fitness for office because of his age. “The betrayal by so many of my friends — that was too much for me,” he said. “I am not leaving my party. My party leadership has left me.

The United States continues to lead the world in contributions to Ukraine with nearly $200 billion in promised or sent aid, as the U.S. ally continues its fight against Russia. According to the Ukrainian government, the U.S. leads all countries with $196 billion in total military, financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine between Jan. 24, 2022 through Nov. 20, 2022. Germany has sent the second-most funds, with $172 billion sent in that span.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced Saturday that it issued a temporary flight restriction over a portion of Montana shortly after an unidentified object was shot down over Canada and later said the restriction was lifted. “The FAA closed some airspace in Montana to support Department of Defense activities,” the FAA told Fox News Digital in a statement on Saturday evening. The airspace closed down was in the area around Havre, Montana not far from the U.S.

The Pentagon issued a statement Saturday revealing details about how an unidentified object was shot down by the U.S. military over Canada on Saturday. Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement that President Biden authorized NORAD to work with the Canadian government to shoot down a “high-altitude airborne object” on Saturday after a call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Republicans are reacting after the U.S. military shot down a “high-altitude airborne object” on Saturday, saying that the U.S. is facing an “unprecedented” challenge Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a tweet that an “unidentified object” over Canadian airspace was shot down. “I ordered the take down of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace,” Trudeau tweeted. “@NoradCommand shot down the object over the Yukon.

House and Senate Democrats this week introduced a bill that would force the Supreme Court to adopt a code of conduct for justices, a step they say is needed to restore trust in the conservative majority court that has eroded because of recent Republican actions. “The word unprecedented is starting to lose its meaning as we see more and more questionable behavior from justices,” said Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga.

Inflation and the war in Ukraine are top issues Americans told Fox News they would like to hear President Biden address during the State of the Union on Tuesday night. “I would like you to explain to the American people why eggs are $6 a dozen,” said one man in Nashville. “It isn’t because of the bird flu, it’s because of other issues that your administration has not addressed.

President Joe Biden is set to deliver his second State of the Union address Tuesday night, in which he is expected to explain his strategy to “reassert America’s leadership around the world,” a White House official told Fox News, as his administration grapples with the fallout from the Chinese surveillance balloon that transited across the continental United States for nearly a week.

Texas has resumed building a wall along the state’s border with Mexico, after months of negotiations with private property owners. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott boasted about building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday, posting a video on social media of the wall being constructed. “Texas is building our own border wall,” the governor tweeted.

Millions of extra dollars are working their way through the Minnesota Legislature to both beef up the ability of Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office to prosecute violent crime and the state’s public defender system to relieve the staffing shortages that nearly led to a strike last year.

Arkansas legislation that originally restricted where drag shows could be held, classifying them in the same category as adult strip clubs and theaters, was modified and approved on Monday, no longer considering them as “adult oriented.” The bill was approved with a 78-15 vote in a majority-Republican House, and eased concerns from opponents and LGBTQ advocates.