Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is calling on Congress to pass an internet user privacy standard as a first step toward making sure Americans are knowledgeable and their data safe amid the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. 

Blackburn is one of four Republicans on the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on intellectual property (IP). The panel is holding a hearing Wednesday afternoon titled, ‘Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property – Part I: Patents, Innovation, and Competition.’

‘We’re going to look at it from the IP angle because when you watch what China is doing, and how they are pushing people from around the globe to come to China and file their patents with AI, different applications and uses. And they have filed right at 1.6 million applications. That’s more than double the number that had been filed in the US…on AI uses,’ she said. ‘We shouldn’t let this issue sit out there without going further into the threat that it’s going to create for our U.S. innovators.’

The senator was referring to statistics from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) that show China filed more patents than both the U.S. and Europe in 2021, more than 1.5 million. China has also filed nearly 75% of the world’s total number of AI patents in the last decade.

However, the ruling Chinese Communist Party has for years been accused of intellectual property theft of Americans — an effort Blackburn worries will only more advanced with AI.

‘I know that it’s a source of aggravation for many of our innovators — whether they’re in the consumables market or after-market auto parts, or you know, auto electric vehicle component parts or music,’ Blackburn said. ‘The thing is, a lot of people don’t know that they’re pirated until somebody sends something in for repair, and they realize they didn’t make this… It is something that is an infringed patent or copyright.’

Asked about what steps Congress could take to safeguard Americans’ IP, particularly as China’s AI capabilities grow more advanced, Blackburn suggested lawmakers start with ensuring user data are safe online. 

‘I think the first thing we’re going to have to do is pass an online consumer privacy protection standard. That law needs to be passed,’ she said. ‘You’re going to have to give the individual the right to protect their information online and to hold it out of that open source, be able to firewall their information and their use in the virtual space.’

‘Secondly, there’s going to have to be a discussion, and we’ll do more of this, how you handle the patent copyright issue. Because our law doesn’t cover those that are generated through technology. They cover those that are filed by humans. So we’ve got to figure that component out,’ Blackburn added.

The AI and intellectual property hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. this afternoon. Senators are scheduled to hear from tech policy experts as well as executives from Google and Novartis.

A northern Indiana abortion clinic will close nearly a year after the state approved a ban on the practice, with ‘unnecessary’ and ‘politically driven’ restrictions on abortions forcing its closure, according to a Monday announcement.

Amy Hagstrom Miller, president of Whole Woman’s Health Alliance, said in the statement that staff have seen over 1,100 women for medication abortions ‘in our small but mighty South Bend clinic’ since it opened seven years ago.

Staff at Whole Woman’s Health Alliance — which has clinics in Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico and Virginia — will still provide remote services, such as referring patients to other abortion clinics in Indiana or states where abortion is legal. Patients have not been able to physically visit the Indiana clinic since December 2022.

‘While we will no longer provide abortions at our South Bend clinic location, our resolve to help Hoosiers is as strong as ever,’ Hagstrom Miller said.

The Indiana clinic was one of seven abortion clinics in the state and the sole provider in South Bend, a city close to the Michigan border and north of Indianapolis by approximately 147 miles.

Indiana lawmakers pushed ahead a ban on abortions last year, with the state’s Republican governor approving the law in August. The law only permits abortions in cases of rape and incest before 10-weeks post-fertilization; to protect the life and physical health of the woman; or if a fetus is diagnosed with a lethal anomaly.

A judge in September 2022 blocked those restrictions one week after the law went into effect, siding with abortion clinic operators — including Whole Woman’s Health — in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.

Abortion clinics would also have lost their licenses under the law, but whether it will go back into effect rests on a decision from the Indiana Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in the case in January.

Until then, the practice remains legal up to 20 weeks. Clinics like Whole Woman’s Health have struggled to remain adequately staffed while navigating the changing laws across the country after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

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Texas has officially become the latest state to ban gender transitioning treatment for minors, including puberty blockers and sex change surgeries.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 14 into law on Friday, adding his state to a growing list of more than a dozen other states that have enacted similar measures to halt what many have referred to as ‘child abuse.’ Texas is the nation’s second-largest state by population, after California.

The law will go into effect on Sep. 1, and will prohibit any sort of procedures like double mastectomies, puberty blockers, sex change surgeries and cross-sex hormones from being performed on underage girls and boys. The law will also prevent state funds being used on such procedures.

An exception is included in the law for minors that are already receiving puberty blockers or hormone treatments, as well as those that have already attended at least 12 mental health counseling sessions within six months prior to beginning treatment. It would, however, require those already receiving such care to be ‘weaned’ off in a medically appropriate manner. 

The medical licenses of those convicted of breaking the law could be revoked.

The bill passed the Texas state legislature last month with support from some Democrats, including Rep. Shawn Thierry – who represents the Houston area. 

‘I just don’t think this is something that we can play politics with. Children are not political pawns,’ Thierry said during an appearance on ‘Fox & Friends First’ ahead of the bill’s passage.

Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives approved legislation Tuesday to require candidates for a state office to file their campaign finance reports electronically, instead of on paper.

The bill passed on party lines, 102-101, with Democrats in favor and Republicans against. The bill goes to the state Senate, which is considering its own version of similar legislation.

Many candidates and PACs already file reports electronically, sponsors said.

Paper filing is costly and inefficient, and moving to an entirely electronic model would reduce costs, sponsors said.

Critics of paper campaign finance filings say the documents must undergo a data-entry process to put the information online, creating the potential for inserting errors into the information and delays in making the information available to the public.

The measure removes the requirement of filing with the county board of elections. It would also allow for remaining campaign funds to be donated to nonprofits.

The state Department of State, which oversees election administration in Pennsylvania, would be responsible for maintaining a searchable site for filing, and any training associated with using the database for campaigns.

The measure would increase the late filing fees for missing deadlines to $20 per day for the first six days late and $100 per day for day seven and each day after. There would be a maximum penalty of $500.

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Republican Vermont Gov. Phil Scott on Tuesday vetoed a $150 million expansion of state child care subsidies.The proposal, which would have tapped into payroll tax revenue for funding, would allow subsidies for households earning up to 575% of federal poverty guidelines.‘Vermont already has one of the highest tax burdens in the nation. The last thing we should be doing is making it worse,’ Scott wrote to lawmakers. ‘Raising new revenue from taxes and fees should be a last resort, not a first step.’

Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott on Tuesday vetoed a bill that would have expanded child care subsidies for some families, saying he objects to the payroll tax to partially pay for it.

Scott wrote in his veto message to lawmakers that increasing the availability and affordability of child care has been a priority during his time as governor but said he can’t support a new tax.

‘Vermont already has one of the highest tax burdens in the nation. The last thing we should be doing is making it worse,’ he wrote. ‘Raising new revenue from taxes and fees should be a last resort, not a first step.’

The Legislature’s $150 million child care plan would have expanded child care subsidies to families with incomes up to 575% of the federal poverty guidelines. It would have also increased pay for child care workers and would be paid for with help from a 0.44% payroll tax split between employers and employees.

Democratic Senate President Pro Tempore Philip Baruth said the governor’s veto came as no surprise and will be the top priority during the Legislature’s veto override session later this month.

‘During his years in office, the Governor has talked about the need to expand and enrich our childcare offerings, but he has never been willing to address the problem at the scale it demands,’ Baruth said in a written statement. ‘H.217 represents an authentic, long-term solution to our childcare crisis by helping parents afford care and helping caregivers afford to stay in their profession.’

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It’s take two for Chris Christie as the former two-term New Jersey governor officially launches his second White House bid, joining a crowded field of presidential hopefuls vying for the 2024 Republican nomination.

Christie formally declared his candidacy Tuesday evening during a town hall event at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire, the state with the first presidential primary.

‘I can’t guarantee you success in what I’m about to do. But I guarantee you that at the end of it, you will have no doubt in your mind who I am and what I stand for and whether I deserve it,’ Christie told the crowd.  

‘So, that’s why I came back to Saint Anselm’s, and that’s why I came back to Manchester, and that’s why I came back to New Hampshire, to tell all of you that I intend to seek the Republican nomination for president of the United States in 2024, and I want your support,’ he said.

In his speech, Christie railed against the division that he said has driven Americans into smaller groups, brought about by the likes of former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. He also touted America’s role throughout its history in ‘fighting evil’ across the world.

He focused a portion of his speech on taking jabs at Trump, describing him as a ‘leader who won’t admit any of his shortcomings’ and referring to him as ‘Voldemort,’ the infamous villain in the ‘Harry Potter’ novels.

Christie, who held New Jersey’s highest office from 2010 to 2018 and was the deep-blue state’s last Republican governor, first ran for president in the 2016 cycle.

He placed all his chips in New Hampshire, but his campaign crashed and burned after a disappointing and distant sixth-place finish in New Hampshire, far behind Donald Trump, who crushed the competition in the primary en route to the nomination and eventually the White House.

Christie became the first among the other GOP 2016 contenders to endorse Trump, and for years he was a top outside adviser to the then-president and chaired Trump’s high-profile commission on opioids. However, the two had a falling out after Trump’s unsuccessful attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to now-President Joe Biden. For the past two years, Christie has become one of the most vocal Trump critics in the GOP.

Christie has been publicly mulling a 2024 presidential run for more than a year, and he recently has repeatedly chimed in on his dissatisfaction with the state of the race. He’s expressed discontent with the Republican field, accusing candidates of not being willing to take on the front-runner directly.

Christie, who is considered one of the best communicators in the GOP and was known during his tenure for the kind of in-your-face politics that Trump has also mastered, has argued that he’s got the debate chops to potentially take down Trump should he face off with the former president.

Trump, who in November launched his third straight White House run, remains the overwhelming front-runner in the early GOP presidential nomination polls.

‘I know what I’m good at. I know how to articulate an argument. I know how to make it. I know how to land it. And I feel like I have the ideas that people are genuinely attracted to. So, if you have those things, you have a good chance to be able to do it. No guarantees, but a good chance,’ Christie told Fox News Digital during an April stop in New Hampshire.

Pointing to his potential rivals, Christie said, ‘[A]s to the others, you guys will have to judge the others. I just know who I am, and I think you all know who I am and what I’ve been able to do before under the brightest of lights … lots of people can do things when the lights aren’t the brightest. But when those lights get really bright and everybody’s watching, can you perform or can’t you? And that’s a lot about what these races have to do with.’

Christie also recently lashed out at Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who recently announced his own White House bid, over his attacks on Disney and it’s ‘woke’ antics.

Since leaving office, Christie has worked for ABC News as a contributor and as a lobbyist.

It’s likely that going forward Christie will once again spend much of his time campaigning in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and second overall contest in the GOP nominating calendar.

When asked in April if he would concentrate a 2024 campaign in New Hampshire at the expense of the other early voting states of Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada, Christie told Fox News, ‘I don’t know. I haven’t thought that all the way through yet. But I like New Hampshire.’

Christie joins a field that also includes former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former two-term Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, multimillionaire entrepreneur and conservative commentator Vivek Ramaswamy, and Michigan businessman Perry Johnson. Former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum are expected to enter the race this week.

Maine’s Democratic secretary of state was questioned after claiming No Labels, a centrist group vying for a third-party spot on the 2024 ballot, was tricking voters into registering with the party.

‘I am concerned about whether the secretary of state is creating concerns among voters who have voluntarily signed cards supporting the No Labels efforts.’ Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine., co-chair of No Labels, told a local news outlet after Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows raised concerns about the group.

‘I don’t know whether she sends a letter like that out to someone who registers for the Green Party or the Libertarian Party,’ Collins added, revealing she found Bellows’ letter ‘surprising.’

Bellows initially suggested several complaints were made from concerned voters who did not realize they had been registered with the No Labels Party. Democrats then reached out to 6,456 Maine voters who were registered with the centrist group to verify whether they had knowledge of their political party affiliation and reportedly received about 300 calls and emails in response.

‘Voter after voter is telling my team that they were instructed that they were merely signing a petition. They were not told they were changing their political party,’ Bellows told NBC Monday. ‘We have had enough similar complaints from voters and clerks alike that it raises serious concerns in our office about No Labels Party organizers.’ 

Democrats for months have called No Labels a spoiler effort designed to hurt President Biden in the 2024 election, but the group insists the U.S. is ready for a moderate alternative to both Republicans and Democrats.

Despite Bellows’ claims the group was ‘highly misleading’ in its voter registration efforts, No Labels insists it was never made aware of any organizers asking Maine voters to sign a ‘petition.’

‘Your office’s apparent effort to leak your letter immediately to the press without affording No Labels any opportunity to respond also raises legitimate questions about your objectivity,’ the group said in a written response to Bellows. ‘No Labels provided detailed written guidance to all organizers in Maine on following all applicable laws and specifically instructed all organizers to ask voters to join the No Labels Party.’

No Labels said it complied with the state laws on voter registration and provided a copy of the packet that is referenced by its organizers when speaking with voters.

The ‘ask’ portion of the packet directs the No Labels organizers what to say when speaking with voters. 

‘Can you take 60 seconds to update your voter registration and change your party affiliation to the No Labels Party? If we can get just 5,000 voters to register with the No Labels party we can ensure you have more than just two options come the next election,’ the packet says.

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, a No Label co-founder, recently told Fox News Digital Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland ‘would be naturals to consider’ for the 2024 No Labels ticket if the party decides to run a candidate.

Officials are urging North Dakotans who receive Medicaid renewal forms to complete and return them within 30 days, given that thousands of people who were still eligible were removed from the program last month.

State Health and Human Services says about 13,000 Medicaid recipients in North Dakota were due for renewal at the end of May, but thousands failed to return their forms, so many lost coverage even though they may still qualify, KFGO reported.

‘Our goal is to maintain coverage for all people who remain eligible with a particular emphasis on children and people with disabilities,’ Interim Medical Services Division Director Krista Fremming said in a statement.

Medicaid provides health coverage to eligible low-income adults, children, pregnant women, elderly adults and people with disabilities.

Agency data shows that most people who return their renewal forms qualify for coverage. Individuals who lost coverage have 90 days to return their renewal forms. For those who qualify, their coverage will be retroactive. The department has created a webpage with information about Medicaid renewals.

Before the pandemic, people would regularly lose their Medicaid coverage if they started making too much money, gained health care coverage through their employer or moved to a new state. But the federal government prohibited states from kicking people off Medicaid during the pandemic, even if they were no longer eligible. Now dozens of states have begun reviews that will remove as many as 14 million people from the program.

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Alex Soros, son of liberal billionaire George Soros, boasted of meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris on social media, drawing sarcastic reactions and questions from several social media users, including at least one Republican senator.

The younger Soros, who chairs the board of directors for his father’s Open Society Foundations network, has maintained access to Biden’s White House and top Democratic lawmakers. 

The meeting with Harris further exemplifies his intimate connection to powerful left-wing politicians in the United States.

‘Great to catch up with Madame Vice President, @KamalaHarris!’ Alex said on Twitter Tuesday afternoon.

Soros’ tweet led to a flurry of reactions from primarily right-leaning social media users. 

‘NOTHING TO SEE HERE FOLKS!’ said Capital Research Center investigative researcher Parker Thayer.

‘It’s laughable that the Left wants you to believe that the Soros family has no influence in politics,’ said Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn. 

‘Is it still offensive to say the Soros family has an outsize influence on Democratic politics,’ added political operative Logan Dobson.

Alex Soros has maintained access to the upper ranks of President Biden’s White House and has frequently taken advantage of the connections. Last week, Fox News Digital reported that he had visited the White House at least 17 times since 2021, according to a review of visitor logs, which still haven’t been fully released

Alex’s most recent visits include three meetings in early February. The visitor logs list Jon Finer, the principal deputy national security adviser; Jordan Finkelstein, special assistant to the president and the chief of staff for senior Biden adviser Anita Dunn; and Mariana Adame, the adviser to the counselor of the president, as the individuals who greeted Alex.

But it remains unclear precisely who Alex may have met with for the sessions, as the records can contain White House staff who book appointments, meet the guests and take them to other personnel.

For instance, a White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital in January that two of Alex’s past visits were with Ron Klain, Biden’s former chief of staff, who was not listed in the records. OSF did not answer previous questions on the nature of his most recent meetings, and the White House did not respond to an inquiry. 

The younger Soros also maintains close contact with Democratic lawmakers, which he often brags about and posts about on social media. His Instagram shows dozens of pictures with top Democrats in the House and Senate between 2018 and 2022. 

Two of the Democrats who appeared the most with him were Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, with at least nine meetings, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, with at least eight visits, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

A Special Counsel that’s been investigating former President Trump’s handling of classified documents has been convening a second federal grand jury located in South Florida, two sources with knowledge of the ongoing probe confirm to Fox News.

The federal grand jury has been hearing testimony from witnesses, the sources said.

Most of the work conducted by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith has been before a grand jury based in Washington, D.C., sources say, which has been meeting secretly for months.

While it’s unclear why the two grand juries have been convened, sources with knowledge have told Fox News that Smith might be close to wrapping up his investigation into the former president.

The news comes as lawyers for Trump met with federal law enforcement officials on Monday at the Department of Justice to discuss allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in the investigation by Smith.

Attorneys for Trump were present at the meeting, including James Trusty, Lindsey Halligan, and John Rowley.

Trump’s legal team wrote to the Department of Justice on Feb. 23 to request the meeting.

‘We represent Donald J. Trump, the 45′ President of the United States, in the investigation currently being conducted by the Special Counsel’s Office. Unlike President Biden, his son Hunter, and the Biden family, President Trump is being treated unfairly,’ the letter reads. ‘No President of the United States has ever, in the history of our country, been baselessly investigated in such an outrageous and unlawful fashion. We request a meeting at your earliest convenience to discuss the ongoing injustice that is being perpetrated by your Special Counsel and his prosecutors.’

Attorney General Merrick Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco weren’t present at the meeting.

Garland appointed Smith as special counsel in November 2022 after the FBI searched for missing classified documents in a raid at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Aug. 8, 2022.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Bret Baier contributed to this report.

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