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.’

<!–>

–>

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.

–>

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is seeking a Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, has pledged to sign a federal ban on abortion.

On Wednesday, Haley spoke at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, where she committed to banning the procedure, should a bill doing so clear a Republican-controlled Congress.

She did not specify details of a potential bill and said passage of such a bill through the U.S. Senate would be highly unlikely unless more Republicans are elected.

‘It would take a majority of the House, 60 senators and a president to sign it,’ Haley said Wednesday, referencing Republicans’ ability to overcome a potential Democratic filibuster. ‘We haven’t had 60 Republican senators in 100 years.’

Answering a question from an attendee, Haley described abortion as ‘incredibly personal’ and said her opposition to it would not waver, even if she were to campaign in a more liberal state.

‘I can’t suddenly change my pro-life position because I’m campaigning in New Hampshire,’ Haley said. ‘It’s incredibly personal, and I’m going to treat it with the respect it deserves.’

The issue of abortion has been front and center of the national conversation after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, returning the legality of abortion to the states.

‘Now it’s back in the states where it belongs,’ Haley said Wednesday.

Republican states have differed on abortion bans, with some lawmakers pushing for total bans, and some drawing the lines at six weeks or 15 weeks. Most bills allow exceptions in the case of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother.

While serving as governor of South Carolina, Haley signed an abortion ban after 20 weeks.

Earlier this week, the South Carolina Senate passed a new ban on abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is usually around six weeks of pregnancy. Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, has said he will sign it into law.

The bill is already facing legal challenges.

Several Republican presidential candidates have already said they would support similar bans.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who launched his presidential campaign on Monday, said he would sign a 15-week ban into law.

Republican frontrunners, including former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis, appear to differ on the issue.

DeSantis, who launched his campaign Wednesday, recently signed a six-week ban in Florida.

Trump, who launched his presidential campaign last year, implied such a ban was ‘too harsh,’ although he has publicly expressed he is pro-life.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is expected to announce a bid for the presidency, has expressed support for Florida’s bill and would sign a similar proposal into law.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

–>

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is hoping to give parents more control over their kids’ access to AI chatbots as Congress starts to wrestle with how to put guardrails around rapidly advancing artificial intelligence systems.

Scott introduced the Artificial Intelligence Shield for Kids (ASK) Act, and told Fox News Digital in an interview that he’s already winning support for the bill from Senate colleagues as well as American parents.

‘They like it. I mean, they’re worried about their kids’ access to social media sites,’ Scott said of parental feedback he’s received. ‘And I think that they’re going to do everything they can, the parents I talked to, but there’s also things that the government can do to make sure that their children are not subjected to things.’

‘Part of government’s responsibility is to keep people safe. And I think this is the basic premise of what government ought to be doing, is keeping kids safe,’ he said.

Snapchat, the popular photo and messaging app geared toward teens and young adults, recently introduced a chatbot feature called ‘My AI,’ powered by OpenAI’s technology. The feature can only be removed by paid Snapchat Plus subscribers. It’s already raised alarm bells among parents who are worried about what kind of exchanges their kids could have and whether interacting with a machine on that level would impede their social development.

Scott said the situation was ‘not fair’ and told Fox News Digital that he was partially inspired to introduce the bill by his own experience raising children.

‘I think about how my wife and I raised our daughters, you know, we signed off if they were gonna go to a school trip. If they were going to stay all night, we made sure we knew the family. We tried to make sure they’re around people that put them in a situation that kept them safe. And I think every parent probably thinks that way,’ the senator said.

‘So I think we’ve got to do the same thing with regard to technology,’ he said. ‘I don’t think that our children ought to be subjected to AI technology without parental consent.’

‘I think we need to have parents involved if their child’s going to see anything with AI technology. And then, don’t make people pay to get rid of it,’ Scott said.

Asked about what kind of feedback he’s gotten on the bill from fellow lawmakers, Scott said, ‘I think people were interested… I’ve been talking to a variety of senators about it, and some of my friends in the House.’

He added that he expects the legislation to move forward in committee, which would set it up for an eventual Senate floor vote.

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.’

Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst called on a Justice Department watchdog Tuesday to investigate whistleblower allegations that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars. 

In a letter sent to Inspector General Micahel Horowitz, Ernst cited ATF whistleblowers and an Office of Special Counsel (OSC) report that accused ATF of wrongfully classifying non-law enforcement jobs as law enforcement. ‘This resulted in ATF bureaucrats being provided pay and benefits reserved for those law enforcement personnel including enhanced retirement benefits and premium pay rates,’ Ernst wrote.

While acknowledging that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is working with the Department of Justice and ATF to take appropriate action, Ernst expressed concern about ‘the limited scope of the remediating actions.’ 

‘According to the whistleblowers, OSC’s report ‘did not adequately capture the extent of ATF’s illegal practices or the full impact of the harm.’ In fact, the whistleblowers believe ‘there were many more misclassified positions than were captured in [OPM’s] audit and that the agency significantly underreported the waste directly and tangentially associated with the widespread practice of misclassifying positions,’ including failing to account for the impact of the wrongdoing on ATF’s non-law enforcement personnel,’ she wrote. 

Earlier this month, Special Counsel Henry Kerner alerted President Biden and members of Congress to ‘substantial waste, mismanagement, and unlawful employment practices’ at ATF. In a May 2 report, the OSC substantiated whistleblower allegations that ATF unlawfully provided law enforcement pay and benefits to non-law-enforcement personnel, resulting in ATF overpaying agents by up to $20 million over a five-year period. 

The OSC said the full extent of waste at ATF ‘could be much higher given that the unlawful job classifications had been common practice at ATF far longer than the five-year timeframe reviewed by investigators.’ 

An OPM investigation subsequently ‘conclude[d] that ATF leadership had acted outside of merit system principles and demonstrated disregard for the rule of law and regulations that implement Federal human capital management policies and practices.’ A total of 108 ATF employees were found to have received law enforcement benefits despite not being eligible to receive them. 

‘I thank the whistleblowers for coming forward with these very serious allegations and am pleased that under OPM’s oversight, ATF has initiated corrective measures,’ said Special Counsel Henry J. Kerner. ‘While I find the report to be reasonable, progress toward full resolution has been slow, which may be attributable to the long-standing nature of the problems and the entrenched culture reinforcing ATF’s practices. I am pleased that OPM continues to monitor progress in implementing required corrective actions, and I urge ATF’s internal affairs to hold the responsible parties accountable.’

Though OPM is addressing the problem, Ernst said, ‘more work remains to be done on this important issue to ensure the ATF’s culture of gross mismanagement of taxpayer funds is fully examined and remediated to stamp out any willingness to abuse the public trust which may exist amongst ATF bureaucrats.’

READ ERNST’S LETTER BELOW. APP USERS: CLICK HERE

‘The American people deserve to know the full extent of the ATF bureaucrats’ dishonest dealings, she wrote. ‘It is incumbent upon all public servants to act with the utmost levels of professionalism but when bureaucrats abuse the public trust it is the responsibility of watchdogs to hold the bad actors accountable for their malfeasance.’

ATF spokesperson Kristina Mastropasqua said the agency has taken ‘extensive corrective actions’ since the OPM’s findings were issued, including, ‘implementation of new policies and procedures, reclassification of numerous positions and reassignment of employees.’

‘Discussions between the Department of Justice, ATF and OPM regarding the appropriate classifications of law enforcement positions are ongoing. ATF and the Department are committed to expeditiously resolving the few remaining issues, in a manner that, consistent with applicable laws and regulations, maximizes public safety,’ Mastropasqua said. 

Orlando, Florida – On Wednesday night, as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was announcing via a campaign video that he’s running for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said that in his opinion, Donald Trump is going to be the GOP nominee. 

He also took a few decided swipes at President Joe Biden.

Wishing all GOP presidential candidates well, the Missouri senator — in Orlando for a faith and values-focused speech at the annual National Religious Broadcasters convention this week — said he feels Trump’s nomination is ‘inevitable,’ he told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

‘And that’s not against anybody else,’ Hawley said. ‘I just think that Trump is going to be the nominee and Biden’s going to be the nominee of the other party.’ 

He added, ‘And I can tell you I know where I am in that matchup.’  

Litigation and lawsuits are not hurting former president Trump, Hawley said. ‘Actually, I think the opposite,’ he said. 

He continued, ‘I think, you know — Bragg, the Manhattan D.A., coming after him in what I think is a blatantly illegal manner — I think he’s just consolidated his support.’  

The senator said, ‘I think he’s going to be the nominee. It’s going to be Trump and Biden — and I know where I’m going to be.’ 

‘Joe Biden has made us dependent on China. He’s made China rich. He’s made America poor.’

The challenge for the next president regardless of party is to ‘make America strong,’ said Hawley. 

‘I mean, you look at what this president has done,’ he said. ‘Joe Biden has made us dependent on China. He’s made China rich. He’s made America poor.’ 

Hawley continued, ‘We have seen blue-collar wages in this country decline, decline, decline. We see families unable to make ends meet.’ 

He added, ‘We see the continued overwhelming surge of drugs into this country, crime that threatens our families.’ 

The next president’s challenge is going to be, ‘How do we build up this country?’ said Hawley, noting border insecurities and crime, among other problems. 

For those who might be wondering, Hawley said he has no plans to try for a position in a Republican administration.

‘It’s infuriating to watch [the Biden administration] trample on the conscience of this nation and on the religious liberty of Americans everywhere.’

<!–>

‘I hope that the people of Missouri will have me for another six years in the Senate,’ he said. ‘My term is up in 2024, so I’ll be running for reelection then. I hope that they’ll have me for another term.’ 

The senator said that fighting daily battles with the current administration is ‘infuriating.’

He said, ‘Day to day, it is infuriating to watch them allow record numbers of drugs across our borders that go straight into our children’s hands and schools.’ 

And ‘it is infuriating to watch them have children be smuggled across that border and sold into sex slavery,’ he said. 

‘It’s infuriating to watch them trample on the conscience of this nation and on the religious liberty of Americans everywhere who thought we’d have an FBI that would try to put informants into churches in this nation,’ he added. 

‘It’s such an assault on who we are as Americans.’  

‘We’re going to get through this presidency and we’re going to have a chance to change course, hopefully soon.’

–>

Noting that sometimes it feels ‘overwhelming,’ he said he stands ready to ‘every day go and represent the people of my state, to stand tall for their principles and their values, no matter what the D.C. press or this establishment thinks of me.’

Hawley also said, ‘I just think we will get through this. We’re going to get through this presidency and we’re going to have a chance to change course, hopefully soon.’ 

Said Hawley, ‘Biden has intentionally tried to divide this country by calling half of the country — or more — fascists, calling them people who threaten our democracy.’ 

He also said, ‘It used to be in America that we could have heated disagreements, but you didn’t say that the other side was un-American and not fit to be citizens.’ 

He added, ‘And this president does that on a daily basis.’  

He also said, ‘Frankly, I think for that reason alone, he is not fit to be president.’ 

Hawley’s newest book is ‘Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs.’ 

<!–>

–>