Contributing Writers

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Saturday that the federal response to the deadly floods in Texas Hill Country last weekend was a good indication of the improved disaster response the Trump administration is committed to providing.Devastating floods on the Fourth of July claimed at least 119 lives, and more than 150 others are missing. Among those killed were 27 girls attending Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas.

President Donald Trump on Friday said he has given federal immigration agents “Total Authorization” to protect themselves after clashes with protesters during an enforcement operation at a California cannabis farm. Trump was traveling to Washington from Texas, where he toured the region where devastating floods have left at least 120 people dead, and he penned a lengthy post on Truth Social about the violence against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

Ashley Williams, a longtime ally of former President Joe Biden, met with House investigators behind closed doors for nearly six hours Friday as Republicans probe allegations the Democrat’s top aides hid his mental decline.A source familiar with the transcribed interview told Fox News Digital Williams said she did not “recall” various things “an untold number of times.

David Gergen, who worked for four presidents, including Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, before becoming an academic and political TV pundit, has died. He was 83. Gergen died in a retirement home in Massachusetts on July 10, his son said, according to several outlets. The Washington, D.C., veteran had been suffering from Lewy body dementia, his son said.

The Senate is seeking to rein in the Trump administration’s policy toward Ukraine, which has oscillated between support and sudden withdrawal, leaving allies and officials guessing.After President Donald Trump recently agreed to resume sending weapons to Ukraine, the Senate’s annual defense policy bill would curb the kind of executive branch adventurism that has sparked bipartisan concern, particularly regarding Pentagon decisions.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed an executive order Friday to bolster protocols and support immigrant neighborhoods, including offering cash assistance, in response to raids by the Trump administration targeting those living in the United States illegally. The order is intended to help protect the city’s workforce and residents from the federal government during immigration enforcement operations.

The State Department informed U.S.-based employees on Thursday that it would soon begin laying off nearly 2,000 workers after the recent Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump administration to move forward with mass job cuts as part of its efforts to downsize the federal workforce.The agency’s reorganization plan was first unveiled in April by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to eliminate functions and offices the department considered to be redundant.

The White House maintains that last month’s Operation Midnight Hammer “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites despite a new report from The New York Times suggesting Israeli officials have concluded some enriched uranium survived the targeted U.S. attack.

Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), dismissed concerns over NYC Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s unwillingness to explicitly condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada,” adding in an interview with PBS that the key to developing a winning coalition is through welcoming people with whom you disagree.

Details about the shooter who opened fire on Border Patrol agents at an annex in McAllen, Texas, Monday remain scant days later as assaults against federal immigration officials are on the rise. Authorities identified Ryan Louis Mosqueda, 27, as the suspect Monday, confirming Mosqueda was killed at the scene. “Both Border Patrol agents and local police helped neutralize the shooter,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Monday.

Republican state lawmakers in Minnesota have not held back with criticism after news Gov. Tim Walz spent $430,000 in taxpayer money to prepare for a House congressional hearing probing blue state governors on their “sanctuary city” policies.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced he is tapping Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to serve as interim administrator of NASA, a move the president said reflects the growing importance of space in national priorities.”I am pleased to announce that I am directing our GREAT Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, to be Interim Administrator of NASA,” Trump posted to Truth Social.

The Justice Department on Wednesday said it has subpoenaed more than 20 doctors and clinics that are involved in providing minors with sex change procedures.The agency is investigating healthcare fraud, false statements and more, it said. “Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday called for a special session to consider legislation to improve warning systems and emergency response in flood-prone areas across the state.The proclamation comes days after more than 100 people died, and nearly 200 others went missing, in the July Fourth Texas Hill Country floods.The floods, which were caused by excessive rainfall near the Guadalupe River, swept away people and homes across multiple counties early Friday morning.

Zohran Mamdani’s democratic socialist allies may be eyeing primary challenges next year against some congressional Democrats in New York City, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.But a senior political advisor to Jeffries is promising that anyone who tries to oust the top Democrat in the House in next year’s primaries will face a “forceful and unrelenting” response.

While debate over why the Texas floods were so deadly has centered around President Donald Trump’s cuts to key weather agencies, left-wing critics have also complained that policy inaction and “climate denialism” were major factors.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised Florida after Palm Beach County approved renaming a busy stretch of roadway after the commander-in-chief.The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a resolution that would rename a 4-mile stretch of Southern Boulevard that runs from Palm Beach International Airport to the president’s home at the Mar-a-Lago resort.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday announced that her city will be joining the class-action lawsuit to stop what she says is “the unconstitutional reckless raids in the LA region.”Bass said Los Angeles was joining the lawsuit because the Trump administration is treating the city “as a test case for how far it can go in driving its political agenda forward while pushing the Constitution aside.

Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani clinched a historic, and deeply polarizing, victory by officially receiving the most votes ever recorded in a New York City mayoral primary.After three rounds, Mamdani received 565,639 votes, surpassing the previous record of 547,901 votes held by David N. Dinkins in 1989, according to updated ranked-choice voting totals released Tuesday by the NYC Board of Elections.

The Cato Institute is warning that the federal government is testing the outer limits of executive power with President Donald Trump’s use of emergency tariffs, and it wants the courts to put a stop to it.In a new amicus brief filed in V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, Cato argues that the president overstepped his legal authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by imposing steep tariffs on imports from countries including China, Mexico and Canada.

Former President Joe Biden’s persistent use of a teleprompter during public events, including during a fundraiser with just a couple dozen supporters, left donors complaining for months and dashed their expectations of hearing from the 46th president, a new book claims.

As Elon Musk moves forward with forming a third party in hopes of rocking the nation’s longstanding two-party system, the world’s richest person is reaching out to a one-time presidential candidate who has started his own independent party.

After Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s leading mayoral candidate, pledged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the city, Netanyahu responded to questions about whether he’s worried. In December, Mamdani, who identifies as a democratic socialist and is the Democratic Party’s nominee for New York City mayor, said, “as mayor, New York City would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu.

A federal judge on Monday prevented the Trump administration from enforcing part of a massive tax and spending bill that would block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood health centers.The temporary restraining order by Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts blocks the “big, beautiful bill’s” provision to defund the family planning provider.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he had sent a letter to the Nobel Prize Committee to nominate President Donald Trump for the peace prize.Trump and Netanyahu met at the White House on Monday to discuss developments in the Middle East.While speaking to reporters, Netanyahu spoke about the relationship between Israel and the U.S.

The U.S. Navy will drop from 11 to 10 aircraft carriers for about a year once the USS Nimitz is decommissioned next year, as recent budget documents show a new carrier will be delayed from its original delivery date.According to the Department of Defense Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget estimates, Newport News Shipbuilders was expected to deliver the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) to the Navy by July 2025, but that has since shifted to March 2027.