A new poll has found former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in a dead heat among voters, with only one in four saying that the country is heading in the right direction. 

Both candidates are tied with 48% of the popular vote in the New York Times/Siena College survey of 2,516 likely voters nationwide between Oct. 20 and Oct. 23, which has a 2.5% margin of error. 

Harris led Trump nationally 49% to 46% the last time this poll was conducted in early October. 

Just 28% of those who responded feel the U.S. is heading in the right direction with President Biden and Harris in the White House, compared to 61% who believe it’s heading in the wrong direction. 

Twenty-seven percent of voters said the economy – including jobs and the stock market – is their most important issue in deciding their vote in November, followed by abortion and immigration, each at 15%. 

When the likely voters were asked who would do a better job handling the economy, voters preferred Trump by 6%.  

That is down from the 13-point advantage Trump had over Harris the last time this poll was conducted, the New York Times reported. 

Harris maintains a 16% lead over Trump when it comes to protecting abortion access, while Trump holds an 11% advantage on the topic of immigration, the poll also found. 

As for President Biden, only 40% of respondents said they either strongly or somewhat approve of the job he is doing in the Oval Office as his administration is winding down. 

Biden’s age of 81 was a concern among Americans earlier this year while he was still planning his re-election bid, but with just weeks to go until Election Day, the poll results show that 41% of likely voters feel that the 78-year-old Trump is just too old to be an effective president, compared to 58% who don’t. 

A new poll has found former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in a dead heat among voters with only one in four saying that the country is heading in the right direction. 

Both candidates are tied with 48% of the popular vote in the New York Times/Siena College survey of 2,516 likely voters nationwide between Oct. 20 to Oct. 23, which has a 2.5% margin of error. 

Harris led Trump nationally 49-46% the last time this poll was conducted in early October. 

Just 28% of those who responded feel the U.S. is heading in the right direction with President Biden and Harris in the White House, compared to 61% who believe it’s heading in the wrong direction. 

Twenty-seven percent of voters said the economy – including jobs and the stock market – is their most important issue in deciding their vote in November, followed by abortion and immigration, each at 15%. 

When the likely voters were asked who would do a better job handling the economy, voters preferred Trump by 6%.  

That is down from the 13-point advantage Trump had over Harris the last time this poll was conducted, the New York Times reported. 

Harris maintains a 16% lead over Trump when it comes to protecting abortion access, while Trump holds an 11% advantage on the topic of immigration, the poll also found. 

As for President Biden, only 40% of respondents said they either strongly or somewhat approve of the job he is doing in the Oval Office as his administration is winding down. 

Biden’s age of 81 was a concern among Americans earlier this year while he was still planning his re-election bid, but with just weeks to go until Election Day, the poll results show that 41% of likely voters feel that the 78-year-old Trump is just too old to be an effective president, compared to 58% who don’t. 

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority will be maintained regardless of the Nov. 5 election results, constitutional law experts tell Fox News Digital.

With the anticipation of either another former President Donald Trump presidency or a Vice President Kamala Harris presidency, whether the country’s high court remains in its current state is a topic of debate that has yet to be formally broached by either candidate this past election cycle.

Over the years, both politicians and media personalities have called for the resignation of particular justices, including Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, over concerns about their ages and ethical controversies. However, experts say that while the individuals on the court may change, the power balance itself will remain intact no matter who wins the Oval Office in November. 

‘People might change. So, for example, if Harris were to win, Justice Sotomayor might retire. Or if a Republican were to win, then you could imagine Justice Alito retiring, perhaps,’ John Yoo, the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley, told Fox News Digital.

‘The makeup of the individuals of the Court would change possibly, but the ideological balance wouldn’t change.’

Former President Trump named three justices to the Court during his term, preserving the conservative majority, while President Biden most recently named Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Court in 2022, replacing liberal Justice Stephen Breyer after he announced his retirement. 

‘Of course, there can be unforeseen vacancies on the Court,’ Erwin Chemerinsky, dean at UC Berkeley Law, told Fox News Digital. ‘But apart from that, I expect if Trump wins and there is a Republican Senate, Thomas and Alito will retire to let their seats be taken by much younger conservatives. And if Harris wins and there is a Democratic Senate, Sotomayor will retire to let her seat be taken by a younger Democrat.’

Echoing Chemerinsky’s retirement predictions, Richard Epstein, the Laurence A. Tisch professor of Law at NYU School of Law, told Fox News Digital he also expects retirement announcements from several justices, saying he foresees Thomas announcing his retirement if Trump were to win, while Sotomayor would ‘soldier on as long as she is able’ in that case.

‘What you’re going to see is an appointment coming, and I think at this point, [Trump is] going to look at these judicial tracks and try to get somebody who’s more reliable in whatever it is he wants. The problem is you don’t know what he wants,’ Epstein said. ‘With the left, [Kamala Harris] couldn’t think of anything that Biden did that she disagrees with.’

Yoo, however, noted he does not believe the push for retirements would make much of a difference after Nov. 5 either way. 

‘I’m sure that if Trump were to win, you will see some conservative activists hope that older justices might retire, replaced by a much younger justice,’ Yoo said. ‘And, you know, I’ve seen stories that some people are hoping Justice Sotomayor would even retire under President Biden so that she could be replaced by someone who’s 20 years younger, as a way of trying to cement control of those seats in a conservative or liberal direction.’

‘I don’t think pressure like that has really much effect on the justices,’ Yoo added. ‘I mean, they’re insulated from politics more than any other members of the government. And they don’t have to listen to anybody when it’s about when they choose to retire.’ 

Yoo also emphasized the importance of potential appointments to the Circuit Courts of Appeals. There is currently one vacancy in the federal appellate courts, with one nominee pending and four other nominees pending for future vacancies, according to judiciary data. 

‘If you want to advance a direction in the law, it’s really the appellate courts,’ Yoo said. ‘They’re the ones that basically finally decide 99% of the cases in the federal system and only 1% of the cases or less make it ever to the Supreme Court. So those appellate courts, circuit courts are the ones that are really important.’

Yoo said both Biden and Trump did ‘a good job’ of filling those vacancies during their respective terms, but ‘that’s where you will see the biggest impact of a new president is on those appellate courts.’

‘I think that the bottom line is, look at the best of the Trump judges, appointees by either Biden or Obama and that’s going to be the pools from which the Supreme Court justices are going to be selected,’ Epstein stated. ‘And the Democrats are more likely to pick a woman, more likely to pick a minority.’

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon reportedly said he was considering a position in a potential Harris administration, but sources close to the banking magnate argued that was not the case. 

The New York Times reported this week that Dimon confided in three people close to him that he was considering taking a role if tapped by Vice President Kamala Harris to serve in her administration. A position as treasury secretary could reportedly be a possibility.

However, another source close to Dimon said that while he would accept a call from either presidential candidate if they were to win, and wouldn’t dismiss a role in either potential administration if it were offered to him, Dimon has made no decisions and does not even see it as likely that he will be offered a cabinet position from Harris or former President Trump.

During the months leading up to the Nov. 5 presidential election, Dimon has taken steps to remain politically neutral in the public eye. After praising some of Trump’s policies in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, critics began slamming him as a Trump supporter. However, Dimon’s representatives were quick to note that his praise did not amount to support for him. Earlier this month, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that Dimon had endorsed him, but, once again, the claim was refuted by Dimon’s representatives.

When it comes to endorsing or supporting Harris, Dimon has not done that, either. The Times reported that in private conversations with bank executives who do support Harris, the JPMorgan CEO has said he has a duty to shareholders not to put his company in the crosshairs of any politician who may want to retaliate.

Ahead of the Times’ article this week that indicated Dimon was considering a role in a potential Harris administration, he was asked during an earnings call earlier this month whether he would consider serving in the next president’s administration. Dimon responded that he ‘probably’ would not, but left the door open if he does get asked. 

‘I think the chance of that is almost nil and I probably am not going to do it, but I’ve always reserved the right,’ Dimon said during the call. ‘I don’t make promises to people. I don’t have to. But no, I love what I do. I intend to be doing what I’m doing. I almost guarantee I’ll be doing this for a long period of time or at least until the board kicks me out.’

In late June, Trump told Bloomberg he would consider Dimon as a potential treasury secretary but later backtracked on the claim. ‘He is somebody that I would consider, sure,’ Trump said during the interview. 

Fox News Digital reached out to both the Trump and Harris campaigns to see where the candidates’ stand on Dimon today, but a response was not received by publication time.

U.S. adversaries are ramping up their election-interference efforts, and China is going after anti-CCP down-ballot Republicans, according to a new report by Microsoft. 

Russia, meanwhile, is continuing to smear Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign with fake videos, and Iranian actors have been eyeing up election-related websites and mainstream media outlets.

Some of the misinformation campaigns pick up little traction, while others are amplified by thousands of unwitting Americans. 

‘With a particular focus on the 48 hours before and after Election Day, voters, government institutions, candidates, and parties must remain vigilant against deceptive and suspicious activity online,’ Microsoft said in its election report. 

Iran, last week, built a fake online persona known as ‘Bushnell’s Men’ calling on American voters to sit out the election due to both candidates’ support of Israel’s military operations, the report found. 

Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn is running for re-election with a safe double-digit lead over her Democratic opponent. And yet China has deployed influence actors to go after her online due to her efforts to ban TikTok and combat the CCP. 

In addition to Blackburn, China has taken a particular interest in three Republicans: Reps. Michael McCaul, Texas, Barry Moore, Ala., and Marco Rubio, Fla. 

‘This is nothing new. I’ve been informed before about China trying to carry out a malign influence campaign against me,’ Blackburn told Fox News Digital. 

‘China gets upset with me because I believe that you’ve got China trying to spy on our citizens,’ she went on. ‘You have them pushing danger and harm toward our children. They do not keep their trade agreements when it comes to agricultural products and manufactured goods. And I speak out about this. I felt like the Biden administration has treated China like they’re a friend or a business partner.’ 

The report found that in late September, Chinese actor Taizi Flood launched an online campaign criticizing Blackburn and promoting her opponent, state Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Tenn. 

One Flood post claimed that Blackburn ‘took $700,000 from opioid companies,’ referring to her campaign donations from pharmaceutical companies. 

The CCP is also going after McCaul by accusing him of ‘abusing power for personal gain.’ CCP-linked online posts accused McCaul of insider trading and pushing controversial bills. McCaul was sanctioned by China in 2023 after a visit to Taiwan. 

Flood-linked accounts also went after Moore, criticizing him for his support for Israel, with antisemitic language, according to the report. 

Unlike the Blackburn posts, Flood’s attacks on Moore picked up steam online and were further amplified by other Flood assets. 

Flood accounts attacked Rubio, who is not up for re-election, by accusing him of corruption. Microsoft has tracked influence operations surrounding Rubio since 2022.

Russia, China and Iran have all denied claims that they meddle in U.S. political affairs.

Blackburn, who has been pushing for passage of her kids’ online safety bill and has long called for the banning of TikTok, called the popular video-sharing platform a ‘spy mechanism.’ 

‘What they’re doing is building a database for every one of our children who are on — and adults, too — that platform, and they are using this to be able to track you, to monitor you, to control what you see, what you say, what you hear, what you think and ultimately how you vote.’ 

If Republicans take power in the November elections, Blackburn said she would push for them to ban all Confucius Institutes, or higher education centers run by CCP-affiliated scholars, hold China ‘accountable for their role in pushing fentanyl on our people’ and recognize Taiwan’s independence from China. 

The U.S. does not formally support or recognize Taiwan’s independence, though it arms the tiny island democracy against an encroaching Chinese military presence. 

Vice President Kamala Harris declared she’s open to ‘some kind of reform’ of the Supreme Court when asked during a CNN town hall if she would support expanding the number of justices to 12.

‘There is no question that the American people increasingly are losing confidence in the Supreme Court and, in large part, because of the behavior of certain members of that court and because of certain rulings, including the Dobbs decision and taking away a precedent that had been in place for 50 years, protecting a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body,’ Harris said during Wednesday night’s event.  

‘So, I do believe that there should be some kind of reform of the court, and we can study what that actually looks like.’ 

Harris’ remarks come after she did not rule out potentially packing the Supreme Court in 2019 when she sought the party’s nod to face President Trump in the 2020 election. 

Harris reiterated several times during her previous campaign that she wasn’t opposed to a Supreme Court expansion, which would theoretically allow liberal justices to take on a majority role through new appointments.  

‘I’m open to this conversation about increasing the number of people on the United States Supreme Court,’ Harris once told voters in Nashua, New Hampshire, after a question was posed to her about adding up to four seats to the high court, according to Bloomberg. 

Trump had tweeted in 2020 that ‘FDR’s own party told him you cannot PACK the United States Supreme Court, it would permanently destroy the Court.’

Fox News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report. 

A new intelligence report says Iran will keep trying to kill former President Donald Trump regardless of the outcome of the election – and U.S. adversaries will continue trying to undermine confidence in the election even after Nov. 5. 

A partially redacted report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), released Tuesday, found that ‘efforts by Iran to assassinate former President Donald Trump and other former U.S. officials’ are ‘likely to persist after voting ends, regardless of outcome.’

In September, Trump’s campaign said that intelligence officials warned the Republican candidate of ‘real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him.’

The U.S. has gone to unprecedented lengths to protect the former president from retaliation from Iran for the killing of General Qassem Soleimani. 

Both Trump and his high-level officials who ordered the strike in 2020 have faced death threats from Iran, which also recently hacked Trump’s campaign and tried to peddle information to Democrats and the media.

Some $150 million per year has also gone to protecting officials like former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, former head of U.S. Central Command, according to Politico. 

The report also said that Iran prefers Vice President Kamala Harris and will focus efforts on stopping Trump, and that Russia prefers Trump and will continue to attack Harris. 

‘Moscow and Tehran may also see an opportunity to continue pushing content favoring their preferred outcome,’ the report said. ‘For instance, Russian influence actors have pushed negative messaging about VP Harris and publicly alleged conspiracy theories about her elevation to the top of the ticket. Iranian cyber actors may try to publish content denigrating former President Trump.’

The report also warned that China, Iran and Russia are ‘better prepared to exploit’ elections this year due to ‘lessons drawn from the 2020 cycle.’

Those exploitations could amount to information operations, cyber threats and physical threats of violence. They are expected to conduct influence operations until the next president is sworn in, to undermine confidence in the results. 

China, the report said, is likely to focus its efforts on down-ballot congressional races. 

The report found foreign actors ‘will probably refrain from’ trying to alter the vote count since vote casting machines are not connected to the internet and 97% of voters live in precincts with paper records and a paper audit trail — and doing so could prompt Washington to retaliate. 

But U.S. adversaries took lessons from the drawn-out vote counting process in 2020. 

‘Many of these countries did not have a full appreciation for the various election processes that happen after polls close, and now that they have greater awareness of the significance, they have greater ability to attempt to disrupt them,’ an ODNI official told reporters. 

Intelligence officials have routinely warned that Beijing, Moscow and Tehran would be working overtime to sow division and undermine confidence in the U.S. governing system in an election year, and especially in the days leading up to Election Day. 

The official noted that intelligence linked Moscow to a recent unfounded claim circulating on social media about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sexually assaulting a student while he was a high school teacher. 

In June, undercover FBI agents met with a Pakistani man who was looking to hire hit men to assassinate a U.S. politician, according to documents unsealed in August. They arrested the man, Asif Merchant, 46, on July 12, the day before Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally.

In 2022, the Department of Justice charged a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps with attempting to kill former national security adviser John Bolton.