WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressional lawmakers agreed that AI needs federal oversight, but several were skeptical that President Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris were capable of leading the effort.

‘I wouldn’t trust Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to be able to successfully operate an iPhone, much less be a key focal point of AI policy,’ Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz told Fox News. ‘That said, there are some leading minds in the Democratic Party here on the Hill who I think are evaluating these issues with great thoughtfulness: Ted Lieu, Ro Khanna.’

Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher told Fox News: ‘Neither the president nor the vice president should run AI. It’s a very complicated subject.’

WHO DO LAWMAKERS WANT TO RUN AI FOR THE WHITE HOUSE? WATCH HERE:

Biden and Harris met tech executives earlier this month to discuss potential risks and opportunities regarding AI. This week, the White House announced new initiatives to improve AI research and development, study its impact on the education system and invite public comment on AI-related priorities to ensure ‘equity.’

The Biden administration, Capitol Hill lawmakers and AI developers are beginning to come to a consensus that AI needs regulations to manage risks. But who should run point is still a point of contention.

Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Democrat, said Biden and Harris should lead the White House’s AI efforts as a team.

‘No one has a real handle on it and no one has the right prescription, so you’re going to need both of them involved in AI,’ she told Fox News.

But Rep. Tim Burchett disagreed.

‘We need to address it, but those two are not the ones,’ the Tennessee Republican said.

‘The government’s involvement in that will make it worse,’ Burchett continued. ‘The market needs to drive this thing.’

A handful of D.C. resident similarly told Fox News last week that Harris wouldn’t be able to effectively run the executive office’s AI efforts.

Some lawmakers said a commission of AI experts would best push the White House’s AI initiatives. 

‘I don’t have a whole lot of faith in either President Biden or Vice President Harris, but I think we need to have industry experts in the room, folks that understand the technology behind AI,’ Republican Rep. Nathaniel Moran said. ‘That can help both the legislative and the executive branch work through what are the practical problems with AI.’ 

Rep. Dan Crenshaw doubted Biden or Harris could ‘really do something with AI.’

‘Maybe it’s a commission that studies it,’ the Texas Republican said. 

To watch the full interviews with lawmakers, click here.

Pennsylvania Republicans’ prospects in their bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Bob Casey hinge on the pending campaign announcements of two high-profile candidates.Hedge fund CEO David McCormick, who narrowly lost his party’s nomination to cardiothoracic surgeon and television personality Mehmet Oz in last year’s Senate race, has shored up the support of moderates, party leaders, and top officials.Meanwhile, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a pro-Trump hardliner who suffered a landslide defeat at the hands of then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro in last year’s gubernatorial race, has long teased a Senate bid and is expected to announce his intent to run Thursday night.

The GOP primary field in Pennsylvania to challenge Democratic Sen. Bob Casey remains wide open, with the hopes of top party officials hanging on the potential entry of a high-profile candidate in a top-tier battleground state contest that could help define the Republican Party’s path forward in 2024.

Former hedge fund CEO David McCormick is the favorite of party leaders and has drawn pledges of financial support from top Republican officials — should he decide to run. Meanwhile, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a hard-right lawmaker who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump in last year’s race for governor but lost in a landslide, has said he will announce Thursday night whether he will run for Senate.

McCormick is facing a complicated decision, with Trump seeking the party’s nomination for president. A Mastriano candidacy could further complicate McCormick’s path.

At the very least, it will ‘force McCormick to go spend millions to defend himself when that money would be better used in a general election or to help other candidates statewide,’ said Sam DeMarco, a McCormick ally and chair of the Allegheny County GOP.

For Republicans, Pennsylvania is a top target in their quest to recapture the Senate majority, while Democrats face a difficult Senate map in 2024.

Of 34 seats up for election, Democrats must defend incumbents in red states — Montana, Ohio and West Virginia — and multiple swing states, including Pennsylvania, if they are to hold their 51-seat majority.

The prospect of a Mastriano victory in a primary is prompting handwringing in some GOP circles.

Mastriano has spent the last few months saying that he could win a Senate primary ‘hands down’ and blaming the party establishment for his 15-point loss in November’s election for governor.

But many Republican officials say Mastriano’s subpar political skills, inability to raise money and extreme positions on abortion — among other issues — will guarantee a Casey victory in a state that has long embraced more moderate voices.

Republican hopes for victory may rest on McCormick, who narrowly lost the GOP nomination for Senate in 2022 to Dr. Mehmet Oz.

McCormick has promises of support from party brass, including a super PAC linked to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

McCormick also has deep pockets and connections across spheres of politics, business and government from which to draw endorsements and campaign contributions — none of which were enough to prevail against Oz, the Trump-backed candidate who went on to lose the general election to Democrat John Fetterman.

If he runs, McCormick may have to share a ticket with Trump, who castigated McCormick in last year’s primary and continues to tell the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

In a book he published in March, McCormick told of an exchange with Trump in which the former president told him that, to win last year’s Senate primary, McCormick would need to say the 2020 election was stolen.

‘I made it clear to him that I couldn’t do that. Three days later, Trump endorsed Mehmet Oz,’ McCormick wrote.

Trump went on to campaign against McCormick, deriding him at one point as the ‘candidate of special interests and globalists and the Washington establishment.’

McCormick lost to Oz by fewer than 1,000 votes.

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A Texas House of Representatives investigative committee recommended impeachment for embattled state Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The Texas House Investigative Committee unanimously voted 5-0 to adopt articles of impeachment for Paxton on Thursday, according to FOX 4.

A vote on the recommendation could come as soon as Friday. 

In Texas, an impeachment from the House would require Paxton to leave his office immediately pending a trial in the Senate.

The committee vote comes as Paxton is under investigation in a corruption case being led by the FBI over accusations that the attorney general used his office to assist a donor. He was also indicted in 2015 on securities and fraud charges, but hasn’t yet faced a trial.

Multiple aides from Paxton’s office became concerned that the attorney general was misusing the office’s power to help donor Nate Paul regarding unproven claims of a conspiracy to steal $200 million of his properties was taking place. 

Paxton also allegedly told staff members that he had an affair with a woman who worked for Paul.

Paxton has previously suggested that the House investigation is politically motivated. 

Chris Hilton, a lawyer in Paxton’s office, told reporters on Thursday that the House investigators are ‘false,’ ‘misleading,’ and ‘full of errors big and small.’

The Attorney General tweeted Thursday, ‘Overturning elections begins behind closed doors.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Paxton’s office for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Seattle Firefighters looking to advance in their careers to become fire lieutenants are being required to learn curriculum from social justice activists and books that espouse woke ideology.

The Seattle Department of Human Resources (SDHR) fire lieutenant test features books from several prominent progressive authors, such as critical race theory (CRT) author Ibram X. Kendi.

The required reading tested on by the SDHR to become a fire lieutenant includes controversial woke books, including the entirety of Kendi’s ‘How to be an Antiracist’ as well as its introduction and acknowledgments, according to a Washington Free Beacon report.

Prospective fire lieutenants are also tested on the entirety of ‘Both Sides of the Fire Lane: Memoirs of a Transgender Firefighter: by Bobbie Scopa, according to the exam bibliography obtained by the Free Beacon, as well as the 800-page memoir ‘A Leader’s Guide to Unconscious Bias and Fighting Fire’ by a female firefighter.

It isn’t just the firehouse brass being tested on woke ideology — fireboat engineers in Seattle are being tested on Robin DiAngelo’s book ‘Is Everyone Really Equal?: An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education’ as well as handouts covering ‘structural interplay between all oppressions.’

Retired Seattle firefighter Wayne Johnson told the Free Beacon this ‘stuff has nothing to do with firefighting.’

‘It has everything to do with social engineering,’ Johnson said.

The SDHR did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Seattle Fire Department’s push for incorporating this woke ideology in their curriculum comes as corporations are facing backlash for doing the same. 

Target CEO Brian Cornell said in a recent interview that ‘woke’ capitalism is ‘great’ for their brand and ‘the right thing for society.’

Cornell was asked to address the backlash to ‘woke’ corporate campaigns, which has caused an uproar among conservative consumers and recently embroiled brands like Bud Light, Nike and Disney.

‘I think those are just good business decisions, and it’s the right thing for society, and it’s the great thing for our brand,’ Cornell said.

Clay Travis called out retail store Target Wednesday for their ‘Pride’ products and said the company faces a ‘real, severe danger’ of suffering damage to their bottom line in the same way as Bud Light. 

The ‘Outkick’ founder joined ‘Fox & Friends’ to react to reports that Target convened an emergency meeting over their LGBTQ products, particularly clothing for transgender women.

‘Most people go to Target because it’s convenient and without any political agenda whatsoever. But so many brands have gone left-wing and decided they have to wave their politics in front of everyone out there. … I would be nervous if I was Target’s CEO,’ he told Ainsley Earhardt.

Target confirmed ‘adjustments’ to the Pride merchandising plans are underway after Fox News Digital learned it rolled back displays at some of its locations.

‘For more than a decade, Target has offered an assortment of products aimed at celebrating Pride Month. Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and wellbeing while at work. Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior. Our focus now is on moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community and standing with them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year,’ a Target spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Heckman contributed reporting.

Republicans in the House and Senate are questioning reported processing delays in the H-2A agricultural worker visa program — and asking if it is related to comments made by a Labor Department official they said may show ‘bias’ against the controversial program.

On Thursday, Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairman Virginia Foxx and Workforce Protection Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Kiley wrote to Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su raising concerns that employers applying for labor certifications for H-2A visas — which are for agricultural workers — are facing ‘substantial delays.’

‘For many farmers and ranchers, especially those with perishable crops, timely processing of applications at DOL and timely arrivals of guest workers are crucial. The planting and harvesting windows offer only a short amount of time to meet the season’s needs. Our understanding is that this worsening problem is caused by unnecessary and avoidable delays at DOL,’ they say.

The lawmakers note a letter sent to Su earlier this month from Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., Ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which noted comments by a regional agriculture enforcement coordinator at DOL’s Wage and Hour Division in a news article.

In the article for PRISM, Mike Rios is quoted as saying that the H-2A program ‘literally is the purchase of humans to perform difficult work under terrible conditions, sometimes including subhuman living conditions.’

Rios is also quoted as saying: ‘You can throw a rock and hit a violation in the agricultural industry.’

The comments are a repeat of long-standing concerns that critics of the program have expressed, arguing that temporary visa programs are often accompanied by exploitation and abuse. Supporters of the program say they are needed to tackle worker shortages.

Foxx and Kiley say the comments are ‘disturbing and puzzling’ as the laws and regulations DOL enforces are supposed to prevent such conditions — including those governing wages must pay those who are employed under the program.

‘The clear bias against farmers expressed in Mr. Rios’ quotes raises the question of whether DOL may be purposely delaying the processing of H-2A labor certification applications because of hostility to the H-2A program and to the agricultural employers who participate in the program,’ they write.

Their comments echo those of the letter sent by Sen. Cassidy.

‘If the officials tasked with enforcing the H-2A program believe the system amounts to ‘wage theft’ and ‘the purchase of humans to perform difficult work under terrible conditions,’ then either DOL is currently unable to competently enforce the law or these statements reflect a startling bias against American farmers who use the program,’ he wrote.

Foxx and Kiley ask the DOL for data on H-2A certifications, the reason for delays in processing, steps it has taken to address the delays and any additional steps it has planned.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson said that the views referenced in the letter ‘do not reflect those of the Department and we are committed to a fair and unbiased enforcement of the law.’

‘The H-2A visa program performs an important role in our economy by providing a vital workforce for the essential agricultural industry when U.S. workers are not available,’ the spokesperson said.

‘The Department of Labor’s role under the H-2A program is to effectively implement this program, which includes protecting worker’s rights and ensuring a level-playing field for law-abiding employers,’ the spokesperson said. ‘To be clear: workers should always be treated with dignity and respect. H-2A includes worker protection provisions that are enforced by the Department of Labor to combat against exploitative labor practices.’

The spokesperson went on to say that the agency is ‘laser-focused’ on ensuring that applications are processed in a timely manner ‘so that eligible U.S. employers are able to hire H-2A workers for agricultural needs when U.S. workers are not available.’

The White House on Thursday released a broad national strategy to fight antisemitism, describing the initiative as unprecedented in scope amid a surge in anti-Jewish crime.

However, the White House evaded an increasingly contentious debate over how to define antisemitism, avoiding a clear endorsement of a mainstream, widely accepted definition while simultaneously welcoming an alternative pushed by progressives who argue the former doesn’t allow sufficient space to criticize Israel, the world’s only Jewish state.

The 60-page document details four pillars that undergird the strategy: increasing awareness and understanding of antisemitism and appreciation of Jewish American heritage, improving safety and security for Jewish communities, reversing the normalization of antisemitism and countering antisemitic discrimination and building solidarity across communities to counter hate.

President Biden called the strategy ‘a historic step forward’ and the ‘most ambitious and comprehensive U.S. government-led effort to fight antisemitism in American history’ in a pre-recorded video message to kick off Thursday’s announcement.

‘It sends a clear and forceful message,’ Biden said of the strategy, arguing silence in the face of antisemitism is the same as complicity. ‘In America, evil will not win. Hate will not prevail. The venom of antisemitism will not be the story of our time.’

Biden’s message also included one explicitly political moment, when he called out former President Trump’s remarks from 2017 that some protesters opposing the removal of Confederate statues in Charlottesville, Va., were ‘very fine people,’ without naming his predecessor.

After Biden spoke, his outgoing domestic policy adviser, Susan Rice, and his homeland security adviser, Liz Sherwood-Randall, along with second gentleman Doug Emhoff, outlined key elements of the strategy, which includes more than 100 policy commitments across the executive branch.

The document also contains more than 100 calls to action for lawmakers and others across society to take in order to combat antisemitism. These include calls for tech companies to establish a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech on their platforms to ensure their algorithms don’t pass hate speech and extreme content to users, among many others.

The strategy also argues that antisemitism must be defined to combat it: ‘If we cannot name, identify, and admit a problem, we cannot begin to solve it.’

However, rather than endorse a definition, the White House refers to several competing definitions of antisemitism as educational tools for both elected officials and the public.

‘There are several definitions of antisemitism, which serve as valuable tools to raise awareness and increase understanding of antisemitism,’ the strategy states. ‘The most prominent is the non-legally binding ‘working definition’ of antisemitism adopted in 2016 by the 31-member states of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which the United States has embraced. In addition, the administration welcomes and appreciates the Nexus Document and notes other such efforts.’

As of the end of last year, a total of 1,116 global entities — from countries to companies — have adopted and endorsed IHRA’s non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism, according to the Combat Antisemitism Movement. In the U.S., this includes at least 30 states and 56 cities and counties. The State and Education departments did the same under the Trump administration.

According to the definition, antisemitism ‘is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.’

IHRA provides 11 specific, contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace and in the religious sphere. Beyond classic antisemitic behavior associated with the likes of the medieval period and Nazi Germany, the examples include denial of the Holocaust and newer forms of antisemitism targeting Israel. such as demonizing the Jewish state, denying its right to exist and holding it to standards not expected of any other democratic state.

Experts have argued the definition is important for a range of practical uses such as adjudicating legal cases, monitoring bigotry on campuses and training law enforcement. Mainstream Jewish advocacy groups, such as the American Jewish Committee and Jewish Federations of North America, have pushed for the administration to adopt IHRA’s definition. 

However, critics have argued the newer examples of antisemitism cited in the definition don’t allow for what they describe as legitimate criticism of Israel and its policies. Progressive groups urged the Biden administration to leave out a definition of antisemitism entirely or consider alternative definitions. 

The Nexus Document, written by a group of academics, argues that applying double standards to Israel and opposing Israel’s continuation as the nation-state of the Jewish people may not necessarily be antisemitic, creating tighter standards around when anti-Israel speech and activity is antisemitic.

The White House’s strategy identifies some forms of anti-Israel rhetoric and activity that can cross the line into antisemitism.

‘Jewish students and educators are targeted for derision and exclusion on college campuses, often because of their real or perceived views about the State of Israel,’ the strategy says. ‘When Jews are targeted because of their beliefs or their identity, when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism. And that is unacceptable.’ 

The strategy also pledges to ‘combat antisemitism abroad and in international fora — including efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel.’ It also notes the administration’s ‘unshakeable commitment to the state of Israel’s right to exist, its legitimacy, and its security’ and the ‘deep historical, religious, cultural, and other ties many American Jews and other Americans have to Israel.’

Proponents of the IHRA definition expressed satisfaction with the president’s strategy. Jewish Federations of North America Chair Julie Platt, for example, said the organization is ‘pleased that the White House reaffirms’ the IHRA definition. Dianne Lob and William Daroff, the chair and CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, similarly said they ‘wholeheartedly applaud the Biden administration’s continuing embrace of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.’

Meanwhile, left-wing advocacy groups critical of IHRA’s definition praised the White House.

‘Importantly, the strategy avoids exclusively codifying any one specific, sweeping definition of antisemitism as the sole standard for use in enforcing domestic law and policy, recognizing that such an approach could do more harm than good,’ J Street said in a statement, adding that the administration ‘rightly cites [the IHRA] definition as just one of a range of illustrative and useful tools.’

The progressive group Bend the Arc said it was ‘pleased that the Biden administration has rejected the idea that government agencies should adopt the IHRA definition as authoritative policy or that it is the sole guide to antisemitism.’

Other Jewish groups were less supportive.

‘This decision seriously weakens the White House strategy. It is yet another instance of Biden caving to the anti-Israel radicals,’ said Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt Brook, who added that Biden ‘blew it’ by not exclusively using IHRA’s definition. He also noted the timing of the announcement — hours before the start of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot and near the end of Jewish American Heritage Month.

Dan Pollak, director of government relations for the Zionist Organization of America, also said he was ‘disappointed’ in the Biden administration, arguing the Nexus Document ‘gives a free pass to Jew-Haters who single out Israel.’

Critics of the strategy also noted the White House’s inclusion of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, as a partner in building ‘cross-community solidarity’ to combat antisemitism. According to experts and advocacy groups such as the Anti-Defamation League, CAIR has numerous ties to Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization that frequently fires rockets at Israel from its neighboring stronghold in Gaza.

In December, more than 100 lawmakers sent a letter to Biden urging him to form a national strategy to combat antisemitism and address threats and violence against Jewish communities. That some month, Biden established a government task force to coordinate efforts to fight antisemitism and other forms of religious bigotry. The group’s first task was to create a national strategy to counter antisemitism.

The new White House strategy comes as levels of antisemitism are at historic highs in the country. Jews are the victims of 63% of reported religiously motivated hate crimes but account for just 2.4% of the U.S. population, according to FBI data. Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League found that antisemitic incidents reported in the U.S. surged to historic levels last year, increasing 36% compared to 2021.

Earlier this week, a man with a Nazi flag crashed a U-Haul truck into a security barrier at the White House, according to police. Court documents reportedly say the suspect praised Adolf Hitler after his arrest and said that he aimed to ‘kill the president’ if necessary to overthrow the government and install himself in power. 

In such an environment, launching the White House’s strategy is a ‘historic moment in the modern fight against what’s known as the fight against the world’s oldest hatred,’ said Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, who also spoke at Thursday’s announcement. ‘Where antisemitism persists, democracy suffers.’

Police in Wisconsin say the fentanyl-laced drugs that killed one person and caused three more to overdose in a village north of Milwaukee were bought at a state lawmaker’s tavern that has been the subject of multiple calls to police in recent years.

Republican Rep. Rob Brooks has owned the Railroad Station in Saukville since 2007 and said he was aware of issues with drugs at the bar shortly after purchasing it but thought they had been addressed.

A regular patron of Brooks’ bar sold cocaine laced with fentanyl to 28-year-old Nick Hamilton and three friends attending a birthday party there on May 5, Village of Grafton Police Chief Jeff Caponera said Monday. Hamilton overdosed that night and died in the hospital on May 8. Brooks said he was not at the bar that weekend.

‘It’s a tragedy what happened, no doubt, and we’ll do everything within our power to ensure nothing like this happens again,’ Brooks said on Thursday. ‘We’re not running a bad establishment.’

But Joe Hamilton, Nick Hamilton’s father, questioned Brooks’ sincerity. Brooks has not reached out to the family or responded to their calls and did not publicly comment on the recent death or answer questions about the bar until Thursday.

‘It ticks me off. It seems like he doesn’t care, like he doesn’t care about the community,’ Joe Hamilton said on Wednesday.

While Brooks has sponsored measures to crack down on drug distribution as a member of the Assembly, police have been called for drug-related complaints at his bar.

In 2018, an undercover informant told Ozaukee County Sheriff’s deputies that a patron regularly dealt drugs at the Railroad Station on Thursday evenings, according to police reports obtained by The Associated Press. Officers searched for the man at the bar and other locations but did not find him.

Brooks said he was not aware of the 2018 police report and had no reason to suspect drugs were being used or sold at his bar in recent years.

In the incident tied to the bar this month, Nick Hamilton and three friends overdosed in the early morning hours of May 6 at a home in Grafton. One of the victims called police after realizing that Nick Hamilton was not breathing and that another victim had been mauled by a dog while unconscious. Officers performed CPR and administered Narcan, a nasal spray that can reverse opioid overdoses, according to a police statement.

Police have not named the surviving victims but said two were expected to recover quickly and the woman who was mauled had received surgery for wounds on her face.

Joe Hamilton called on Brooks to do more to deter drug activity at the bar, including installing surveillance cameras and keeping a closer eye on the business.

Brooks questioned the usefulness of cameras but said Thursday that he does plan to install them. ‘Security cameras are not going to prevent something like this,’ he said. ‘We can’t put security cameras in bathrooms or other areas or cover every square inch of the property.’

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin, is highly addictive and can be lethal in doses as little as 2 milligrams, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. Experts have attributed a national surge in overdose deaths in recent years to fentanyl being laced into many other illicit drugs. The state Department of Health Services said roughly 1,280 people in Wisconsin died from fentanyl overdoses in 2021.

Brooks and fellow Wisconsin Republicans have pushed for harsher criminal penalties to crack down on fentanyl distribution. Brooks cosponsored a bill in February that would set a maximum prison sentence of 60 years for someone convicted of reckless homicide for providing drugs that led to a fatal overdose, up from the current 40. The bill passed the Senate and is awaiting a vote in the Assembly.

‘What’s he going to do now? Promote it more because of the loss of my son? In reality, four people could’ve died, and they almost did,’ Joe Hamilton said. ‘Can I say Robert Brooks knew? No, I can’t honestly say that. But I know that he’s been there enough.’

When asked about other incidents police have responded to at the Railroad Station, Brooks said, ‘We’re a bar, and there is alcohol served.’

Last year, officers arrested a regular patron of the bar after he allegedly beat the son of the bar’s former owner for calling Brooks a racist. The victim told police that a patron repeatedly punched and kicked him in the bar’s parking lot, breaking three ribs and a bone in his face as well as puncturing his lung.

Brooks was not at the bar when the fight took place.

A case in 2014 reached the Wisconsin Supreme Court after an off-duty Railroad Station employee ejected an intoxicated man who had been ordered to leave. The off-duty employee allowed a man to fall down concrete steps and then dragged him onto the grass outside the bar, according to court filings. The man suffered head injuries and hypothermia from the cold weather.

Brooks owns several other businesses in the Saukville area, including a restaurant and rental properties. He was first elected to the Assembly in 2015. A bill he authored that was signed into law in his first term allows landlords to evict tenants with five days’ notice for using, making or selling drugs at a rental property.

Brooks stepped down from a top legislative leadership position in 2018 amid backlash over racial and sexual comments he made to female lawmakers. He ignored calls from former Republican Gov. Scott Walker to resign from office, saying he made ‘stupid comments while under the influence of alcohol.’

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President Joe Biden will nominate Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to replace Army Gen. Mark Milley, who is retiring in October, a senior US official confirmed with Fox News.

The president plans to unveil Brown, a history-making fighter pilot, as his nominee during a Rose Garden event Thursday afternoon.

Brown, 60, was widely considered the frontrunner to replace Milley, especially as the Pentagon transitions its military capabilities away from land wars of the past to meet China’s growing cyber war, space, nuclear and hypersonic threats.

According to a senior administration official, Biden sees Brown as the right person to be the nation’s next top military officer because of how he has modernized U.S. airpower for a potential 21st-century fight, including updating the U.S. fleet and bolstering its nuclear arsenal.

Brown, a career F-16 fighter pilot with more than 3,000 flight hours, has commanded at every possible level in the Air Force and in joint commands, including in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

He served as Pacific Air Forces commander, where he countered China in the Indo-Pacific.

Brown has also been deeply involved in the Pentagon’s efforts in Ukraine, as he has overseen the billions of dollars in U.S. financial and military aid supplied to the country.

Previously, he helped lead the U.S. air campaign against the Islamic State militant group.

Brown has also broken several barriers throughout his career, as he became the first Black Air Force chief of staff, the service’s top military officer, three years ago. The appointment also made him the first African American to lead any of the military branches.

He was first commissioned in 1984 after graduating from the ROTC program at Texas Tech University with a degree in civil engineering.

Brown’s confirmation is not certain, however, as Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has blocked recent military nominations.

He opposes the Pentagon’s policy of allowing funds to be used for military personnel who seek abortions if they are based in states where the operation is illegal.

The Joint Chiefs chairman is the highest-ranking officer in the country and serves as the senior military advisor to the president, the defense secretary and the National Security Council.

The chairman commands no troops but plays a critical role in all major military issues, making policy decisions and giving advice on major combat operations.

The position also leads all the joint chiefs who head the various armed services.

If Brown is confirmed by the Senate, both of the Pentagon’s top military and civilian positions would be held by African Americans for the first time. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the first Black Pentagon chief, was confirmed in January 2021.

Army Gen. Colin Powell is the only other Black person to serve as Joint Chiefs chairman.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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As the House prepares to vote on a bill intended to curb fentanyl overdose deaths, lawmakers weighed in on what’s driving the influx of the synthetic opioid and what’s needed to combat it.

‘We have a circumstance right now where the open southern border is a permission slip to cartels driving fentanyl into our communities,’ Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, told Fox News. ‘The consequences are a direct result of intentional action to keep that border open.’

Rep. Dan Crenshaw said drug overdoses are why he’s ‘been so outspoken about going after cartels, the source of the fentanyl issue.’

WHAT IS CONGRESS DOING TO CURB FENTANYL OVERDOSE DEATHS? WATCH:

Over 200,000 Americans have overdosed and died from synthetic opioids like fentanyl since 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

‘It’s gotten so much worse over the last couple years, so now it’s on everyone’s radar,’ Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, said. ‘Everybody now has multiple people in their district, I think, who are overdosing from fentanyl.’

The House on Wednesday afternoon was expected to vote on the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act, which would create harsher penalties for possessing and distributing the fentanyl mixtures.

‘Hopefully we’re gonna get that passed so we can say ‘enough is enough,’’ Rep. Nathaniel Moran, a Republican, told Fox News.

But Rep. Jim McGovern was skeptical.

‘I don’t think that the bill the Republicans are bringing before us is gonna solve it,’ the Massachusetts Democrat said. ‘That’s more of a soundbite than a solution.’

Several lawmakers had introduced their own bills. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s, for example would increase outreach, put Narcan in schools and enhance penalties for illegal online sales.

‘We’ve got to be sensible,’ the Texas Democrat told Fox News. ‘We’ve got to punish those who do wrong.’

‘We’ve gotta make sure that we embrace our children and youth and educate them extensively to know what will kill them,’ she continued. ‘We’ve got to stop the traffickers in their tracks.’

Moran’s legislation would economically sanction any individuals or entities involved in the fentanyl trade.

Feeling it in the pocketbook is ‘what’s gonna drive some change,’ Moran, of Texas, said.

Rep. Mike Gallagher, who chairs the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, also said more sanctions were needed, but also pointed a finger at entities in China.

‘We need to get aggressive in what is effectively a reverse opium war being waged against the United States,’ the Wisconsin Republican told Fox News. He said his committee aims ‘to expose that the precursor chemicals are coming from China.’

‘You have this unholy alliance between Chinese entities and the drug trafficking organizations that’s resulting in the death of 80,000 Americans annually,’ Gallagher said. ‘It’s absolutely horrific.’

Rep. Jimmy Gomez, a California Democrat who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, said increasing border security would help slow the influx of the synthetic opioid.

‘We’ve gotta break up those entities that are making the fentanyl and then getting it through the border,’ Gomez said. ‘We need to make sure we have more resources at the port of entry where 90% of the fentanyl comes in.’

McGovern, meanwhile, wants to target the problem at home.

‘We need more interventions. We need more mental health counselors,’ he told Fox News. ‘It’s not just about interdiction, but certainly we need to increase funds for that.’

‘This is a problem that is solvable,’ McGovern said.

To hear more from members of Congress, click here.

FIRST ON FOX: Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia recently purchased a luxury waterfront condominium from a senior executive at Dominion Energy, a multibillion-dollar energy company developing a massive offshore wind farm in his home state.

According to his 2022 financial disclosures filed this month, Kaine reported purchasing a residential property worth up to $1 million in March 2022. A Fox News Digital review of local real estate filings showed that Kaine and his wife Anne Holton paid $895,000 for a multi-unit condominium in Richmond, Virginia, from Dominion deputy general counsel George Marget on March 8, 2022.

The condominium’s listing on Redfin, an online real estate firm, state that the residence is ‘one of a kind’ and ‘one of the largest and finest condos’ in Richmond. The condominium has two master suites, a ‘gourmet kitchen,’ dining room and comes with three parking spaces.

Kaine’s disclosures further indicated that the senator earned up to $15,000 renting the apartment back to the ‘previous owner.’ However, a spokesperson for Kaine — who defended the purchase, saying it was negotiated by realtors — said the filing should have stated ‘previous occupant’ since it was rented to a tenant who had been living in the condominium at the time of the purchase.

‘Senator Kaine and Anne Holton bought their condo from the Margets in a transaction negotiated by realtors,’ the spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. ‘The Margets did not live in this condo and instead had a long-term tenant who rented the condo from them. This tenant, who was not a Dominion employee, asked whether he could remain in the condo for a period of time after the sale while he looked for a new place.’ 

‘Senator Kaine and his wife agreed to rent the condo to the tenant for approximately two months for the same rental amount the tenant had previously paid the Margets,’ the Kaine spokesperson continued. ‘Senator Kaine’s financial disclosure form is being corrected to reflect that the condo was rented to the ‘previous occupant,’ not the ‘previous owner.’’

Senate filings showed that Kaine ultimately amended the disclosure form following Fox News Digital’s inquiry.

Dominion, which is based in Richmond, is currently developing the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project, the state’s first offshore wind farm. CVOW, which is located off the state’s southeastern coast near Virginia Beach, currently consists of two operational pilot wind turbines and is on track to be fully constructed by 2026 with between 176 and 205 turbines sprawled across 112,800 acres.

Kaine has been a vocal supporter of the project, which would be the largest offshore wind development nationwide once constructed, urging federal regulators to fast-track its permitting process and successfully winning millions of dollars in funding for supporting projects.

‘I’m thrilled to see this project underway as it’s an exciting step toward a clean energy economy that creates good jobs in the commonwealth,’ Kaine said in a statement included in a July 2021 Dominion Energy press release. ‘I will keep pushing for clean energy investments in Virginia to boost our economy and build a more sustainable future.’

The statement came after the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management advanced the project’s environmental review process. Kaine other Virginia lawmakers wrote a letter to the agency months earlier, urging it to move forward with the review. 

And Kaine helped secure $20 million in federal funds to improve the Portsmouth Marine Terminal, allowing it to serve as a staging area supporting CVOW construction and development.

Fox News Digital reported earlier this month that Dominion’s political action committee (PAC) has funneled $23,000 to Kaine’s campaign since 2011, and another $44,500 to Common Ground PAC, the leadership PAC affiliated with and chaired by Kaine, in that same time span. Kaine announced in January that he would run for re-election in 2024.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Dominion echoed Kaine’s spokesperson and defended Marget, similarly saying that he sold his Richmond condominium through a normal, public process and that the executive and Kaine were kept at an ‘arm’s length.’ 

‘In early 2022, Mr. Marget initiated an open sale process of a residential property he owned in downtown Richmond, with a public listing, open house, and scheduled tours,’ Dominion Energy spokesperson Ryan Frazier told Fox News Digital in an email. ‘The sale was negotiated between real-estate agents representing the buyer and seller, with the buyer and seller at arms’ length.’ 

‘Monthly payments from a renter not related to Marget who was living at the property continued through the end of a lease period, which occurred after the transaction’s close,’ Frazier added. ‘Mr. Marget did not notify Dominion Energy of this transaction, and was under no obligation to do so.’