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Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli has seized on Democratic nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s recent refusal to rule out raising New Jersey’s sales tax.

While Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli easily pledged against raising New Jersey’s 6.625% sales tax on the gubernatorial debate stage last weekend, Sherrill said, “I’m not going to commit to anything right now, because I’m not just going to tell you what you want to hear.”

Ciattarelli quickly capitalized on the comment, posting on X later that evening, “We just can’t afford Mikie.”

Both candidates have tried to position their campaigns as the solution to New Jersey’s affordability crisis since securing their party’s nominations this summer. According to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, monthly electricity bills were expected to rise 17% to 20% as of June 1. 

TRUMP NOT ON BALLOT, BUT PRESIDENT FRONT AND CENTER IN 2025 ELECTIONS

“Tonight, Mikie outlined her bold vision, beginning on Day One with a State of Emergency on Utility Costs to end the rate hikes and lower costs,” Sherrill campaign manager Alex Ball said in a statement Sunday. 

NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR’S RACE: DEMOCRAT SHERRILL LEADS REPUBLICAN CIATTERELLI BY SIX POINTS IN 2026 BELLWETHER

Earlier in the debate, Sherrill said her campaign wants a 10% tax hike “off the table.” But despite Sherrill’s commitment to freezing utility rate hikes as governor, the Democrat couldn’t extend that same guarantee to the state’s sales tax when asked directly. 

“He’ll tell you whatever you want to hear,” Sherrill said of her opponent. “Well, I’m going to tell you the truth. I’m going to be fiscally responsible with your money. I’m going to drive down your cost at every level. And I’m going to make sure your kids have great opportunities here in the state of New Jersey.”

In a statement after the debate, Sherrill’s campaign seemed to walk back her answer on the debate stage. 

“While Jack has repeatedly said a 10% sales tax is on the table, I have been very clear on this: it’s off the table for me and I will not raise the sales tax as your governor,” Sherrill said in the statement Monday. 

Ciattarelli’s campaign strategist Chris Russell told Fox News Digital that Sherrill’s comment Sunday proves her plan is to “follow in the footsteps of Phil Murphy and Trenton Democrats and raise taxes again.”

Greater Garden State, a super PAC backed by the Democratic Governors Association, released an ad last week dubbing Ciattarelli, “High Tax Jack,” for his comments referencing Tennessee’s “10% sales tax on everything,” during a rally earlier this summer, according to The New Jersey Independent. 

But the Republican nominee rejected the claim on the debate stage. 

“If any of you think I’m going to raise your sales tax to 10%, I got a bridge I want to sell you for about 50 cents. She knows it’s a lie. They’re trying to exploit you. They’re trying to manipulate you. She knows she’s in trouble in this campaign. So, this campaign is going to lie to you over and over again,” Ciattarelli said. 

Ciattarelli’s campaign also created a website debunking the Democrats’ attack line against him. 

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The former New Jersey state representative, who is running his third consecutive bid for New Jersey governor, vowed to “cut the size and cost of the state government to afford a tax cut for everybody,” in order to decrease tax burdens for New Jerseyans. 

“We are not raising the sales tax here in New Jersey. What we need to do is lower the income tax and the property tax. Here in New Jersey, those are the most burdensome taxes we pay,” Ciattarelli said. 

When the Obama Foundation snagged a sweetheart deal to build its beleaguered Obama Presidential Center on a Chicago public park, it pledged to create a $470 million reserve fund to spare taxpayers should the project ever go belly up.

But new tax filings show the foundation has only deposited $1 million into the fund and has not added to it in years, with critics saying the empty promise could potentially leave Chicagoans on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Under its agreement with the city, the foundation was required to create the fund, known as an endowment, before it could take control of the sprawling 19.3-acre section of Jackson Park — often described as Chicago’s Central Park equivalent — where the complex is now slowly rising. 

The foundation ultimately secured the public land for just $10 in 2018, under a 99-year deal.

OBAMA LIBRARY, BEGUN WITH LOFTY DEI GOALS, NOW PLAGUED BY $40M RACIALLY CHARGED SUIT, BALLOONING COSTS

But when former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama turned the sod at the site in September 2021, just $1 million — or 0.21% of the pledged funds — had been deposited into the endowment, and that figure has remained unchanged ever since.

With construction progressing at a snail’s pace and costs ballooning from an original estimate of $330 million to at least $850 million, the lack of progress on the promised endowment has fueled fears the Obama Presidential Center could leave taxpayers holding the can if finances spiral into the red.

It comes as the Obama Foundation’s latest tax return shows its finances under strain with revenue swinging wildly year to year, fundraising shortfalls and unfulfilled donor pledges.

On news that the endowment has largely remained unfunded, Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi slammed the project as an “abomination” while blasting Democrats for potentially exposing taxpayers with the deal.

“It should come as no surprise that the Obama Center is potentially leaving Illinois taxpayers high and dry — it’s an Illinois Democrat tradition,” Salvi told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Democrats in this state, when not going to prison for corruption, treat taxpayers like a personal piggy bank giving sweetheart deals to their political benefactors.”

Scholar sounds alarm

Richard Epstein, a University of Chicago law professor emeritus and a New York University law professor, has raised concerns about the endowment for years and advised the local nonprofit Protect Our Parks with legal challenges to try to stop the Obama Center’s construction. 

Epstein argues the foundation’s failure to fund its endowment confirms his long-held view that the city never should have signed over the large section of Jackson Park. 

“They put a million dollars into a $400 million endowment, so it’s endowed. That gets you in jail as a securities matter,” Epstein told Fox News Digital. “An endowment means that you have the money in hand… But they have nothing. They just have the same $1 million that they put in in 2021 as far as I can tell. So I regard this as something of a public calamity.”

An endowment is a pot of money meant to earn enough interest each year to cover operating costs without touching the principal in order to avoid the taxpayer stepping in. 

“Without an endowment, they’ll have to scramble every year to cover $30 million in operating costs,” Epstein said. “The whole point of an endowment is to avoid that volatility. They just haven’t endowed it. Of that I’m 100% sure.”

Epstein argues that if the foundation or center falters, the public could be saddled with traffic rerouting costs, environmental impacts, or even the bill for an incomplete building.

“Nobody knows exactly who is responsible for what if the project is abandoned or incomplete,” Epstein said. “There is a risk that the public will then have to bear that loss because the foundation won’t have the money.”

Epstein said the city has effectively looked the other way, declaring the foundation “compliant” on the endowment despite only $1 million ever being deposited. Proof, he argues, that officials never intended to enforce the requirement.

The Obama Foundation told Fox News Digital that it will be making “significant investments in the endowment in the coming years” as it has been prioritizing fundraising for the center and leadership programs. 

“The Obama Presidential Center is fully funded and it will open in the spring of 2026,” a spokesperson for the foundation said. 

CharityWatch, a nonprofit watchdog, told Fox News Digital that the foundation technically complied with its agreement by creating an endowment because the deal never set a dollar figure. The group also said that the foundation remains “well-funded” overall while also acknowledging the pledge risks, volatility and lack of a real endowment.

While the foundation’s agreement with the city required it to create an endowment, it did not specify an amount. The $470 million figure was being reported on as the city council deliberated on the deal and the foundation committed to that sum in its 2020 annual report.

In 2021 documents, the foundation said that first-year operating costs would be as much as $40 million. By that math, the center would actually need an endowment of between $800 million to $1 billion to fund operations without tapping the principle.

It’s also unclear how much revenue the foundation expects to generate each year.

Epstein said the lack of funds has long been the project’s Achilles heel. Without the endowment it promised, the project’s financial underpinning remains shaky, he said.

CHICAGO RESIDENTS CALL OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER A ‘MONSTROSITY,’ FEAR THEY’LL BE DISPLACED: REPORT

Despite financial pressures, the Obama Foundation has already spent about $600 million constructing the center, which aims to honor former President Barack Obama’s political career and be a civic hub. It consists of a 225-foot-tall museum, a digital library, conference facilities, a gymnasium and a regulation-sized NBA court. It will also house the Obama Foundation.

The new tax filings show the foundation ended 2024 with $116.5 million in cash, down nearly $80 million from the year before, while still owing about $234 million in construction costs. Of the funding gap, $216 million comes from firm pledges — promises of future donations — while another $201 million is tied up in conditional pledges that may never materialize if benchmarks aren’t met. 

Epstein said the foundation’s financial assurances ring hollow, because a large chunk of the money it counts on is tied up in pledges and credit rather than cash in hand — leaving the center vulnerable to donor fatigue and year-to-year uncertainty.

WATCH: The Brian Kilmeade Show: Obama Presidential Center rocked by $40M racial bias lawsuit

Public trust doctrine

In the Protect Our Parks lawsuit, Epstein argued that handing Jackson Park to the Obama Foundation violated the public trust doctrine — which bars cities from giving away public land without a clear public benefit. The plaintiffs said the city gave away land worth nearly $200 million without securing enforceable returns for taxpayers.

However, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey, an Obama appointee, dismissed the case in 2019, ruling that the Obama Center qualified as a public use and that courts should defer to the city’s determination. The Seventh Circuit upheld the dismissal in 2020 and various other challenges by the plaintiffs have also failed on the public trust doctrine argument.

Epstein now points to the foundation’s failure to fund its promised endowment as proof the project never truly met the public benefit test and that a core part of his argument was valid.

As well as not being able to fill the endowment, the foundation is also financing a $250 million revolving credit line that it has yet to draw down but is costing the foundation hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual fees, according to the tax filings.

Easing oversight

Epstein argues the endowment shortfall is just one example of how the project has skirted safeguards.

Its 99-year deal with the city was rebranded as a “use agreement,” instead of a land lease, a legal pivot that he said let the city sidestep public-trust oversight and other regulatory checks. 

The move grew out of an earlier fight over filmmaker George Lucas’s bid to build a Museum of Narrative Art on the lakefront. In 2016, a federal judge ruled the city’s plan to hand Lucas a 99-year lease of public parkland violated the public trust doctrine, sending Lucas packing for Los Angeles.

When the Obama Foundation arrived the following year, city officials adopted the new user agreement label. The terms were effectively the same — exclusive control for nearly a century in exchange for $10 — but by calling it a “use agreement,” the city claimed it no longer triggered the same scrutiny.

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Epstein called it a textbook case of bending the rules. “You can’t get out of a government regulatory relationship by changing the name on something,” he said.

Epstein said the foundation’s finances have never been fully scrutinized and his team was never allowed to examine the center’s internal records — from construction contracts to day-to-day statements — leaving the true state of its fundraising and shrouded in secrecy.

“They’ve gotten a free pass on both the environmental side and the financial side,” Epstein said. “Unless somebody cracks open the books, nobody really knows if they can actually fund this project. And if they can’t, it’s the public that will be left holding the bag.”

The offices of Mayor Brandon Johnson, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Illinois did not respond to requests for comment.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ highly anticipated book detailing her experiences on the unprecedented 2024 campaign trail only included three mentions of Michelle Obama, the majority of which were quotes about the former first lady and prominent Democrat voice, a Fox News Digital review of the memoir found. 

The name “Michelle” or “Michelle Obama” appears in the book, “107 Days,” only three times across its 300 pages, including two mentions related to the Obamas’ delayed public endorsement of the vice president to serve as the 2024 Democratic nominee for president. 

“Saddle up! Joe did what I hoped he would do. But you have to earn it,” former President Barack Obama told Harris when the pair shared a conversation about a presidential endorsement following then-President Joe Biden dropping out of the race in July 2024. 

“Michelle and I are supportive but not going to put a finger on the scale right now. Let Joe have his moment. Think through timing,” Obama continued, according to Harris’ notes of their conversation, which she published in her book. 

OBAMA, PELOSI, OTHER TOP DEMS RESISTED INSTANT HARRIS ENDORSEMENT CITING NEED TO ‘EARN IT,’ ‘HIKING’ EXCUSE

In another section of the book, Harris details that on July 26, 2024, the Obamas endorsed Harris through a video message after holding off an endorsement since July 21, 2024. 

“The big news of the day for my campaign wasn’t news to me. Barack and Michelle Obama had decided the time was right to endorse me. They’d wanted to make a film of them calling me, and it was now up on social media,” she wrote in a second example of mentioning Michelle Obama. 

The former first lady is again mentioned for a third and final time in a section of the book detailing that Harris’ husband, attorney Doug Emhoff, was “moved way up the roster” of speakers at the Democratic National Convection (DNC), delivering a prime-time speech the same evening as the former first couple. 

KAMALA HARRIS BREAKS SILENCE ON BIDEN DROPOUT, ADMITS SHE HAS REGRETS ABOUT HER HANDLING OF SITUATION

The book detailed Harris’ account of the conversation Emhoff shared with DNC planners of the speech, which included the final mention of Michelle Obama: 

“‘You’re going Tuesday,’ he was told.” 

“‘Oh, okay, who am I on with?’ he asked.”

“‘Barack and Michelle. You three are the prime-time package.’” 

“No pressure.”

Fox News Digital searched “first lady” and “the Obamas” for any other mention related to Michelle Obama, but turned up empty-handed. 

The lack of mention regarding Michelle Obama in a personal manner came despite the former first lady hitting the 2024 campaign cycle, including stumping for the Harris–Walz ticket at rallies; the New York Times publishing an opinion piece capturing Michelle Obama’s speech during a Harris–Walz rally in Michigan; and addressing the DNC in Chicago to champion the Democratic ticket. 

“My girl, Kamala Harris, is more than ready for this moment,” Michelle Obama said of Harris during her DNC speech. “She is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency. And she is one of the most dignified. A tribute to her mother, to my mother and to your mother, too. The embodiment of the stories we tell ourselves about this country. Her story is your story. It’s my story. It’s the story of the vast majority of Americans trying to build a better life.” 

KAMALA HARRIS REVEALS WHAT BIDEN TOLD HER JUST BEFORE CRUCIAL DEBATE WITH TRUMP THAT LEFT HER ‘ANGRY’

Conversely, former first lady Hillary Clinton is mentioned 14 times in Harris’ book, including personal anecdotes. Former first lady Jill Biden was mentioned five times, all of which included anecdotes, an assessment of Jill Biden’s mood during a meeting or a photo of the first couple accompanied by a favorable caption reading, “Hillary supporters sour that she’d been run over by Barack.” 

Barack Obama is mentioned nine times, including reflecting on conversations the pair shared, anecdotes about his White House and staff, as well as a comment that “Hillary supporters sour that she’d been run over by Barack” during the 2016 election. 

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Current first lady Melania Trump is mentioned zero times, former first lady Laura Bush also was left out of the book, while former President George W. Bush was mentioned four times. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Michelle Obama’s office, as well as Harris’ office, for any comment on the brief mentions of the former first lady but did not immediately receive replies. 

The National Archives apologized to Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill after the National Personnel Records Center released her military records, including sensitive information like her social security number, to “unauthorized requester” Nicholas De Gregorio.

CBS News referred to De Gregorio as an ally of Republican Garden State gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, who is currently vying against Sherrill for the governorship. 

De Gregorio told the outlet that Chris Russell, a GOP consultant in New Jersey, asked him to see what he could uncover about the Democratic lawmaker. He also indicated to the outlet that the Republican candidate’s campaign did not hire or encourage him to access the materials.

REPUBLICAN AIMING TO FLIP BLUE STATE RIPS DEM RIVAL FOR BLAMING ‘EVERYTHING ON TRUMP’

NPRC Director Scott Levins issued the mea culpa in a letter to Sherrill, which her campaign posted online.

“On behalf of the National Archives, I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and aggravation this situation may cause you and for our failure to safeguard your military record from unauthorized release,” he noted in the letter.

When responding to a Freedom of Information Act Request from De Gregorio, the NPRC “released the comprehensive official record, including personal information such as your social security number and date of birth,” Levins told Sherrill, describing the “breach” as “exceedingly rare,” and offering her “free credit monitoring services.” 

TRUMP TOUTS REPUBLICAN GARDEN STATE GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE WHILE TRASHING DEM OPPONENT

“We will hold our staff accountable for failing to follow proper administrative procedures with regard to the release of your records. Additionally, we will review our policies and procedures to add additional controls to prevent a similar occurrence in the future and provide additional training to staff to re-enforce our commitment to safeguarding the personal information of our nation’s veterans,” he wrote.

Sherrill decried the release as unlawful government “weaponization.”

“This is an illegal and dangerous weaponization of the federal government. That @Jack4NJ [Jack Ciattarelli] and the Trump admin are breaking the law and exposing private records for political gain is a violation of anyone who has ever served. No veteran’s record is safe,” she asserted in a post on X.

President Donald Trump, who is backing Ciattarelli in the gubernatorial contest, slammed Sherrill as “close to incompetent” in a Truth Social post on Thursday, misspelling her first name as “Mike.”

TOP GUBERNATORIAL RACE ROCKED BY ALLEGATIONS OF LEAKS AND DIRTY TRICKS AMID IMPROPER MILITARY RECORDS RELEASE

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Ciattarelli lost the 2021 governor’s race to incumbent Democratic Gov. Phil Murhpy.

United States Customs and Border Protection now has boats along the Chicago River amid Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s “Operation Midway Blitz” in the region.

“Operation Midway Blitz” started last month in the Chicago area despite opposition from local Democratic leaders. The operation has yielded over 500 arrests, including those with serious past convictions and criminal charges.

“Lakes and rivers are borders too. … Wherever the border’s at, that’s where Border Patrol is gonna be,” CBP Commander Gregory Bovino told Fox News Channel. Chicago is only a few hundred miles from Canada, and the river connects to the Great Lakes, specifically Lake Michigan.

DHS ‘BLITZES’ CHICAGOLAND, NETTING ‘MANY ARRESTS’ AS NOEM ONSITE FOR IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN

“Where streets end, our Marine Unit begins. On the Chicago River, CBP leadership stays vigilant. Our ability to patrol on the water extends the reach of enforcement,” USBP Chief Michael Banks posted to X on Thursday.

CBP Air and Marine Operations Executive Assistant Commissioner Jonathan Miller posted to X on Thursday a video from one of the boats, writing that “Operation Midway Blitz here in Chicago is as vital as anywhere else in the country! We will not back down.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

Democrats continue to rail against the federal immigration surge in Chicago, including Rep. Chuy Garcia, D-Illinois, who said in a recent post that President Donald Trump “has terrorized immigrant communities” for the past eight months as mass deportations continue nationwide.

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Trump has wanted to take things a step further and deploy National Guard troops to Chicago in hopes of quelling crime. 

However, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker recently told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” the policy would “impose his authoritarian rule on big cities across the United States” as he continues to decline cooperation with the federal government on the matter. 

Meanwhile, Trump said the next city on the list for National Guard deployment is Memphis, Tennessee.  

CHICAGO CRIME, NATIONAL GUARD PUSH MOVE TO FOREFRONT OF TRUMP’S WEEK

Washington, D.C., the first city where the National Guard strategy was tried, continues to have a strong troop and federal law enforcement presence, which has won some praise from Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser because of the drop in crime despite initial criticism about the policy.

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“We’re going to clean up our cities. We’re going to clean them up so they don’t kill five people every weekend,” the president said earlier this month. “That’s not war. That’s common sense.”

Two immigrants granted legal U.S. status under the Biden administration are being charged with shooting up a children’s baseball game in the Houston area, according to a DHS statement.

The two immigrants, Mustafa Mohammad Matalgah, a 27-year-old from Jordan, and Ahmad Mawed, a 21-year-old from Lebanon, are facing felony charges of deadly conduct with a firearm after allegedly firing in the direction of a baseball field during a prayer at a youth game in Katy, Texas, on Sunday. They are being held on $100,000 bond. 

One coach was hit in the shoulder, reportedly attempting to shield a child. He was hospitalized due to the injury, but has since been released.

According to a statement by the Department of Homeland Security, both immigrants were allowed into the country during the Biden administration.

SUSPECT IN ANTI-ICE TEXAS SHOOTING GRANTED GREEN CARD UNDER BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

Matalgah was granted U.S. citizenship by the Biden administration Aug.1, 2023, according to the agency. The statement said Matalgah was granted citizenship despite prior arrests for drug possession.

Meanwhile, Mawed was given lawful permanent resident status by the Biden administration through an IR-2 visa on June 3, 2021, according to DHS. An IR-2 visa is given to the children of U.S. citizens.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin slammed the Biden administration after the shooting for “not vetting” the immigrants let into the country, especially from high-threat nations.

“Not only did Biden fail the American people by leaving our borders wide open to criminals, but he also legally allowed them to gain status and citizenship to terrorize our communities,” said McLaughlin. “These individuals from high-threat counties were let in by the Biden administration. They clearly were not vetting the aliens they were letting legally enter our country and even become U.S. citizens.

EXCLUSIVE: IMMIGRATION AGENT REVEALS ‘BIGGEST FEAR’ AFTER DEADLY ANTI-ICE SHOOTING

“This horrific act of terror, the firing on children praying before the start of a baseball game, is pure evil,” she added.

The chaos unfolded at Ameripark youth baseball field, known as The Rac, after three people fired weapons from a nearby pasture in the direction of the field as a youth baseball event was ongoing, according to the Waller County Sheriff’s Office.

Video of the incident showed the 12-year-old Texas Colts players in light blue jerseys running frantically for cover as bullets flew past them. One adult appeared to be struck and fell to the ground near home plate.

Houston Warriors founder Andy Baize told KHOU-TV that after the coach, a 27-year-old man, was shot during a pregame prayer with his team, the wounded man’s first reaction was to protect the children. The sheriff’s office said the victim was transported to Memorial Herman Hospital in downtown Houston, where he was treated and later released.

A statement by The Rac said the incident was due to “recreational shooting on a nearby property.” The statement said that local police were immediately notified of “possible illegal hunting.” 

A third suspect, Mahmood Abdelsalam Rababah, 23, is also being charged in the shooting.

DALLAS MAYOR WARNS RISING POLITICAL VIOLENCE COULD MEAN ICE FACILITY ATTACK ‘WON’T BE THE LAST’

Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. State Department has expanded screening and vetting for visa applicants. In a June statement, the State Department said that “every visa adjudication is a national security decision.”

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The department said, “The United States must be vigilant during the visa issuance process to ensure that those applying for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests and that all applicants credibly establish their eligibility for the visa sought, including that they intend to engage in activities consistent with the terms for their admission.”

Fox News Digital reached out to a spokesperson for former President Joe Biden but did not immediately receive a response.

Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening…

-Sinclair ends Jimmy Kimmel ban after sidelining host amid Charlie Kirk controversy

-Who is the Biden-appointed judge taking James Comey’s perjury case?

-Top gubernatorial race rocked by allegations of leaks and dirty tricks amid improper military records release

Kelly Loeffler: Mamdani’s socialist plans threaten NYC’s business core

EXCLUSIVE: As New York City considers the potential election of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler is warning that the city’s economic foundation is already under strain from inflation, high taxes and regulation. 

Loeffler told Fox News Digital that small business owners in New York City fear socialist policies could accelerate population loss and drive even more jobs and investment to red states.

She said New York City’s more than 100,000 small businesses employ nearly 1 million people, making them the powerful pulse of the city’s economic heartbeat.

“New York is the capital of capitalism and small businesses,” Loeffler said on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, where she addressed the economic downside of progressive politics…READ MORE.

White House

FEAR FACTOR: New poll reveals majority of voters believe U.S. is experiencing a political crisis after Kirk assassination

‘RECKLESS DISREGARD’: Trump admin cracks down on truckers’ licenses for foreign drivers after deadly Florida crash

‘HE GOT CAUGHT’: Trump answers whether Comey indictment is about justice or revenge

World Stage

REGIME REJECTED: Iranian president slams U.S. at UN, but protesters outside say regime ‘does not represent us’

LIVESTREAM DIPLOMACY: Netanyahu broadcasts United Nations message into Gaza accusing world leaders of appeasing ‘evil’

SEARCH IS OVER: Convicted cop killer Assata Shakur, an FBI Most Wanted terrorist, dead in Cuba, communist regime says

Capitol Hill

FLIP FLOP: Schumer, Democrats face heat for shifting stance on government shutdown threat

COP VS. SWAMP: Mark Warner faces GOP challenge from Airborne Ranger-turned-lawmaker Bryce Reeves

Across America 

UN-FAIRFAX: ‘Nonsense’: Earle-Sears blasts Fairfax transgender bathroom rules in fiery campaign stop

ANOTHER POL TARGETED: Top Virginia delegate latest victim of post-Kirk political violence after death-threat suspect arrested

CHAOS NEAR CHICAGO: Chicago anti-ICE protesters block vehicles, get hit with tear gas and pepper balls

CLASS DISMISSED: Oklahoma state superintendent Ryan Walters leaving for new job where he will wage war against teachers unions

‘TRULY DISTURBING’: Dallas ICE shooting triggers heightened security at facilities nationwide: ‘Truly disturbing’

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

The Trump administration announced late Friday it is revoking the U.S. visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro over alleged “reckless and incendiary actions” in New York City. 

“Earlier today, Colombian president @petrogustavo stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence,” read a post on the U.S. State Department’s X account. “We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Colombian embassy but did not hear back before publication. 

TRUMP UNLEASHES US MILITARY POWER ON CARTELS. IS A WIDER WAR LOOMING?

The visa revocation comes on the heels of the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City this week. 

Videos circulating online show the Colombian president addressing a crowd gathered at a demonstration against Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in New York City Friday to address the assembly. 

TRUMP SAYS ‘WE’LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS’ WHEN ASKED ABOUT POSSIBILITY OF STRIKING VENEZUELA AMID RISING TENSIONS

In a fiery speech earlier this week, Petro called for a criminal investigation against President Donald Trump and other administration officials over deadly strikes on boats in the Caribbean that the White House said were carrying drugs. 

Petro repudiated the attacks, calling them an “act of tyranny,” while also accusing Trump of criminalizing poverty and migration.

“Criminal proceedings must be opened against those officials, who are from the U.S., even if it includes the highest-ranking official who gave the order: President Trump,” Petro said of the strikes, adding that boat passengers were not members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang as the Trump administration claimed after the first attack.

VENEZUELAN MILITARY JETS BUZZ US NAVY SHIP IN ‘HIGHLY PROVOCATIVE’ MOVE, PENTAGON SAYS

If the boats were carrying drugs as alleged by the U.S. government, Petro said, their passengers “were not drug traffickers; they were simply poor young people from Latin America who had no other option.”

Petro, a former Marxist guerrilla and Colombia’s first leftist leader, has had a rocky relationship with Trump since the inauguration.

In January, Trump threatened to impose 50% tariffs on all imports from the Latin American country if it did not accept military planes full of deported Colombians as part of Trump’s deportation sweep. Petro threatened to retaliate with counter tariffs but later relented and agreed to lift his ban on the flights. 

In April, Petro claimed that the Trump administration had revoked his travel visa to the U.S. During a cabinet meeting that month, Petro said he could not attend meetings with international organizations in Washington, D.C., because “they took away my visa.” 

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“I didn’t need to have one, but anyway, I’ve already seen Donald Duck several times, so I’ll go see other things,” Petro said. 

Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall, Anders Hagstrom and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A massive cheating scandal that rocked the U.S. Naval Academy in 1994 and involved New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill also involved her husband, Jason Hedberg, according to reporting by the New York Post.

This follows the improper release of bombshell private military records by the National Archives and Records Administration, which revealed that Sherrill was not allowed to walk with her graduating class at the Naval Academy and that her name was not included in the commencement program due to her involvement in the scandal.

Sherrill, a congresswoman representing New Jersey, has not been accused of cheating at the Naval Academy but rather of failing to report those who had cheated on an exam.

The Post reported that Hedberg was also caught up in the scandal. The outlet said Hedberg was one of nearly 50 midshipmen who sued the Naval Academy, the Navy and the Pentagon to block an honor board at the school from deciding whether they should be dismissed.

NJ GOVERNOR’S RACE ESCALATES AS GOP CONTENDER THREATENS LEGAL ACTION AMID DEM LEAK CLAIMS

The suit alleged that each named plaintiff was denied due process by the academy and ordered by their superiors to make incriminating statements, according to the outlet.

The complaint stated that “in compliance with the orders of their superior military officers, each named plaintiff was compelled to make inculpatory statements to Navy Inspector General investigators.”

While Sherrill did not walk in her commencement ceremony, Hedberg’s name is included in the 1994 commencement program, indicating he was cleared to take part in the ceremony, which took place three months after the suit was filed.

Sherrill is locked in a tight race against Republican Jack Ciattarelli to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.

Sean Higgins, a spokesperson for Sherrill’s campaign, responded to the development by telling Fox News Digital that “the fact Jack Ciattarelli and MAGA Republicans are going after Mikie’s family is sick and desperate.

“Jason graduated, served honorably as a Naval Officer and the illegal disclosure of Mikie’s unredacted personal military records, including her Social Security number and the unlawful dissemination of those records by the Ciattarelli campaign is a disgrace and must be investigated.” 

While investigating Sherrill’s suspected involvement in the 1994 cheating scandal, Ciattarelli’s campaign also submitted its own FOIA request, which confirmed her name was not on the U.S. Naval Academy graduation program that year. 

The revelations have rocked the already tight race in blue-leaning New Jersey.

CIATTARELLI DEMANDS SHERRILL ‘COME CLEAN’ AFTER NAVAL ACADEMY CHEATING SCANDAL RESURFACES

The Ciattarelli campaign said Nicholas De Gregorio, a friend who is not directly involved in the campaign, “submitted a lawful FOIA request” about Sherrill’s military background of his own accord. 

A spokesperson for the National Archives and Records Administration stated that the technician who responded to De Gregorio’s request about Sherrill’s military record “should NOT have released the entire record,” which included private information such as her Social Security number.

The National Archives apologized for the breach of privacy and has committed to holding its staff accountable for the blunder. 

In response, Sherrill has accused Ciattarelli of illegally obtaining the records.

“To have a guy I’m running against, it will stop at nothing, it will stop at nothing, who will illegally obtain records. It’s just beyond the pale,” Sherrill charged Thursday night on the campaign trail in Plainfield, New Jersey.

REPUBLICAN AIMING TO FLIP BLUE STATE RIPS DEM RIVAL FOR BLAMING ‘EVERYTHING ON TRUMP’

“I didn’t turn in some of my classmates, so I didn’t walk but graduated and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy, serving for nearly ten years with the highest level of distinction and honor,” Sherrill told the Globe when confronted with the commencement program. She defended not releasing any disciplinary records from her time at the academy. 

Sherrill has also accused the Trump administration of colluding with Ciattarelli’s campaign.

“This is an illegal and dangerous weaponization of the federal government,” Sherrill said in a statement Thursday as she criticized Ciattarelli and the Trump administration for “breaking the law and exposing private records for political gain.”

On Thursday, Higgins accused the Trump administration of “targeting political opponents with an absolute disregard for the law, this time in concert with the Ciattarelli campaign.”

NEW JERSEY DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR FACES NET WORTH QUESTIONS AS VIRAL CLIP RESURFACES

For his part, Ciattarelli is calling on Sherrill to release her records to prove why she was blocked from attending her graduation ceremony.

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In a letter sent to Sherrill’s lawyers, a lawyer representing the Ciattarelli campaign said that any claim that Ciattarelli for Governor (CFG) was “part of a conspiracy to smear [Sherrill] with ill-gotten documents is completely false. In fact, it is defamatory and if [Sherrill] and her campaign continue to push this false narrative and allege that CFG and/or [campaign strategist Chris] Russell acted illegally, we will pursue defamation claims.”

Sherrill’s campaign did not immediately provide a response to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on her husband’s involvement in the scandal.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

The Trump administration on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship, a move that could redefine what has become known as a bedrock constitutional guarantee. 

The request comes as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and allied groups filed a class action in federal court in New Hampshire, escalating a legal clash that reaches back to the Reconstruction era. 

At stake is whether the U.S. will continue to recognize nearly all children born on its soil as citizens, a principle the Supreme Court decided in “United States v. Wong Kim Ark” (1898).

The outcome could reshape the 14th Amendment‘s Citizenship Clause, which has long been understood to guarantee citizenship to virtually every child born on U.S. soil regardless of parents’ status.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT WEIGHS TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER AS ADMIN OUTLINES ENFORCEMENT DETAILS

Trump’s order seeks to narrow that interpretation to children of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. If upheld, it could deny automatic citizenship to many children born in the U.S. each year.

In “Wong Kim Ark,” the Court ruled that a San Francisco-born man whose Chinese parents were barred from naturalization was nonetheless an American citizen under the 14th Amendment. That decision cemented “jus soli,” or citizenship by birth on American soil, with narrow exceptions for children of diplomats, foreign occupiers and sovereign tribal nations.

Critics of the executive order argue that the text and history are clear. UC Berkeley law professor John Yoo has written that the Framers borrowed British “jus soli” traditions and that Reconstruction lawmakers expanded citizenship to ensure formerly enslaved people and their descendants were fully included.

TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BLOCKED BY ANOTHER FEDERAL APPEALS JUDGE IN LATEST RULING

“It is simply beyond doubt that the Framers operated by borrowing and adopting common law principles … to adopt an interpretation that rejects that meaning, we would want to see historical evidence that the Framers had adopted a radically new interpretation,” Yoo wrote.

Supporters of the order counter that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” requires full and lawful political allegiance, not simply being born on U.S. soil. John Eastman, who advised on drafting the policy, has argued that the Constitution requires both birth on U.S. soil and “complete” jurisdiction. “Complete” means allegiance to the U.S., not to another sovereign. 

The order has already faced multiple challenges. Federal courts initially blocked it with broad injunctions, though the Supreme Court later narrowed those rulings.

In a recent dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor suggested class actions could provide a way forward for challengers, writing that “parents of children covered by the Citizenship Order would be well advised to file promptly class action suits … and lower courts would be wise to act swiftly.” 

The ACLU’s new lawsuit in New Hampshire reflects that strategy. 

“Every court to have looked at this cruel order agrees that it is unconstitutional … we are fighting to make sure President Trump cannot trample on the citizenship rights of a single child,” said Cody Wofsy, an attorney with the ACLU.

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“This executive order directly opposes our Constitution, values, and history, and it would create a permanent, multigenerational subclass,” added Devon Chaffee, executive director of ACLU-NH.

Karla McKanders of the Legal Defense Fund called the order “an unlawful attempt to entrench racial hierarchies,” saying, “Citizenship is a right afforded to us by birth, not by privilege.”

Fox News Digital has requested comment from the White House and the ACLU and its partner organizations.