Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, along with a number of his fellow Republicans, launched a flurry of criticism at the FBI following Monday’s release of Special Counsel John Durham’s report on the origin’s of the Trump-Russia investigation.

‘The Durham Report confirmed what we already knew: weaponized federal agencies manufactured a false conspiracy theory about Trump-Russia collusion. It reminds us of the need to clean house at these agencies, as they’ve never been held accountable for this egregious abuse of power,’ DeSantis wrote on Twitter.

He was joined by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who simply wrote, ‘Defund and dismantle the FBI,’ and Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., who wrote, ‘These liars worked hand-in-hand to interfere in our election. They MUST be held to account.’

Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy called the report ‘a scathing indictment of the FBI,’ and repeated his calls for the agency to be shut down. 

‘Enough is enough. Root out the corruption & shut down the FBI. This is achievable. At the local level, we have police & prosecutors. At the federal level, we have U.S. marshals & the DOJ. An intermediary bureaucracy is rife with risk for politicized corruption & it’s been happening since J. Edgar Hoover in the 60s,’ he wrote.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote that the FBI’s actions according to the Durham report ‘can’t be dismissed as mere carelessness or even a severe example of garden-variety misconduct,’ and described its reported actions ‘corrupt and as subversive of the Constitution as it gets.’

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a statement that ‘the baseless and politically motivated Russia collusion lie robbed the American people of three years and tens of millions in taxpayer dollars,’ and that FBI and DOJ officials ‘at best, consciously avoided their duty of due diligence, and at worst, knowingly and willingly participated in one of the dirtiest smears in American history.’

He added that the FBI ‘allowed itself to be hijacked and weaponized by political actors to target a political rival during a presidential election and administration.’ 

‘Where does President [Donald Trump] go for his apology??? What about all of the other lives ruined by Witch-Hunt #1?’ Trump campaign advisor Jason Miller tweeted. 

House Judiciary Chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote that he had reached out to the DOJ to have Durham testify before the committee next week.

‘Where are the Democrat voices on the Durham report? They need to get loud on this. If it’s only Republicans who care when a Republican is targeted then we’re in a world of hurt as a country,’ former U.N. Ambassador and presidential candidate Nikki Haley wrote.

Durham’s report was released Monday afternoon after his years-long investigation into the origins of the FBI’s original investigation, known as ‘Crossfire Hurricane.’ That investigation looked into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election, and his report spanned more than 300 pages.

‘Based on the review of Crossfire Hurricane and related intelligence activities, we conclude that the Department and the FBI failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report,’ the report said.

Durham added that his investigation also revealed that ‘senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor towards the information that they received, especially information received from politically-affiliated persons and entities.’ 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has nominated Michael Noriega, a 45-year-old immigration lawyer and public defender from Fanwood, for a seat on the state’s Supreme Court.If confirmed, Noriega will officially succeed retired Justice Barry Albin, whose seat has been temporarily filled by Appellate Court Judge Jack Sabatino since July.Republican State Sen. Jon Bramnick, a partner at Noriega’s law firm, praised him as ‘an attorney of immense integrity.’

Gov. Phil Murphy has nominated Michael Noriega to be the next justice on the state Supreme Court, who if confirmed would be the first former public defender to sit on New Jersey’s top court.

Noriega, 45, of Fanwood, is a longtime immigration lawyer and criminal defense attorney. He would replace Barry Albin, who retired last July after 19 years on the bench. Since that time, Appellate Court Judge Jack Sabatino has been temporarily filling that seat.

The Democratic governor announced his choice Monday. The nomination will first be considered by the state Senate Judiciary Committee and, if they approve, the full senate would then hold a confirmation vote.

Noriega is a partner with the Scotch Plains-based law firm of Bramnick, Rodriguez, Grabas, Arnold and Mangan. The firm’s principals include state Sen. Jon Bramnick, a Republican from Union County who called Noriega ‘an attorney of immense integrity.’

The son of Peruvian immigrants, Noriega was born in Weehawken and was raised in Union City. He graduated from Rutgers University and received his law degree from Seton Hall, where he has also served as an adjunct law professor. He was an assistant deputy public defender in Essex County from 2003 to 2008.

Noriega and his wife, Melissa, a school psychologist, are the parents of four daughters.

The Biden administration may halt plans to move U.S. Space Command’s headquarters from Colorado to Alabama over the latter’s restrictive abortion laws. 

Multiple U.S. officials, including at least one in defense, told NBC News that the White House may be laying the groundwork to halt those plans because of ‘abortion politics.’ 

Just days before leaving office and following an intense lobbying battle, then-President Trump announced that the U.S. Space Command would be headquartered in Huntsville, Ala. 

The move from its current headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs was expected to take several years and cost more than $1 billion. 

A review by Biden Defense Department’s inspector general found the relocation ‘lawful’ and ‘reasonable.’ 

The Biden administration later requested a ‘review of the review’ over concerns that the relocation could mean a protracted delay in settling the Space Command in a new location. The review also came after Alabama implemented a law that outlawed abortion at any stage of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest. 

In March, the administration signaled it was ready to reverse Trump’s decision and keep the Space Command’s headquarters in Colorado Springs, where it has been for decades. 

The White House has not said Alabama’s abortion law was a factor in its ongoing review of the decision to move Space Command’s headquarters. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to Space Command and the White House for comment. 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

The Biden administration cleared a large West Virginia-to-Virginia natural gas pipeline project to be constructed through federal forest land, a key step in approving it to resume construction.

The Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service issued a record of decision Monday afternoon, allowing the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project to cut through a 3.5-mile stretch of the Jefferson National Forest (JNF) along the West Virginia-Virginia border. The determination clears the way for the project — which is 94% complete, but has been mired in a lengthy permitting process for years — to finish construction.

‘Under the proposed action, the Forest Service would amend the JNF Forest Plan as necessary to allow for the MVP to cross the JNF and concur in a decision by the [Bureau of Land Management] to grant a [right of way permit] and a [temporary use permit] under the [Mineral Leasing Act],’ Agriculture Under Secretary Homer Wilkes wrote in the decision.

While the decision allows MVP developer Equitrans Midstream, a Pennsylvania-based natural gas transmission company, to construct the pipeline in the 3.5-mile stretch through the JNF, the Forest Service is requiring it to obtain any outstanding federal and state permits before beginning on construction. 

The project is awaiting a record of decision from the Bureau of Land Management and authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. And the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s recent permitting decision in favor of the pipeline is being challenged in federal court while a permit issued by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection was struck down by a federal court in April.

The Forest Service’s determination Monday, meanwhile, comes after the agency’s two previous approvals for the pipeline to cut through the JNF were rejected by a federal judge in 2018 and 2022, respectively. Environmentalists have adamantly opposed the project, arguing it would destroy sensitive land and ecosystems.

‘The Forest Service’s preferred alternative to allow MVP to rip through the Jefferson National Forest grossly underestimates the lasting environmental harms from the project, ignores the overwhelming public opposition to sacrificing this treasured land and shirks the agency’s responsibility to steward forests,’ Jessica Sims, a field coordinator for environmental group Appalachian Voice, said Monday. 

‘We maintain that the Mountain Valley Pipeline cannot be built through the Jefferson National Forest without lasting damage to sensitive forests, habitats and waters,’ Sims added. ‘Amending a forest plan 11 times to accommodate a ruinous project on federal land is unacceptable.’

The approval also comes as Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has repeatedly criticized the Biden administration over its energy and climate policies. Manchin has been a vocal proponent of the project, arguing it would create 2,500 construction jobs, $40 million in new tax revenue for his home state, $10 million in new tax revenue for Virginia and up to $250 million in royalties for West Virginia landowners.

Overall, the 303.5-mile pipeline would transport about two billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from West Virginia to consumers in the Mid- and South Atlantic. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm penned a letter last month to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission members, arguing that the project would help boost reliable energy for Americans.

Equitrans announced last year that it expected the pipeline to go into service during the second half of 2023. Federal regulators gave the company until 2026 to complete the project.

The Forest Service didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The FBI responded Monday to the scathing report by Special Counsel John Durham that found the Department of Justice and FBI ‘failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law’ when it launched the Trump-Russia investigation. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the agency touted what it said were ‘dozens of corrective actions’ already implemented as a result of the Durham investigation.

‘The conduct in 2016 and 2017 that Special Counsel Durham examined was the reason that current FBI leadership already implemented dozens of corrective actions, which have now been in place for some time. Had those reforms been in place in 2016, the missteps identified in the report could have been prevented,’ the FBI said. 

‘This report reinforces the importance of ensuring the FBI continues to do its work with the rigor, objectivity, and professionalism the American people deserve and rightly expect,’ it added.

Fox obtained Durham’s report Monday afternoon after his years-long investigation into the origins of the FBI’s original investigation, known as ‘Crossfire Hurricane.’ That investigation looked into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Durham gave his final report to the Justice Department, which released it Monday afternoon. The report spans more than 300 pages.

‘Based on the review of Crossfire Hurricane and related intelligence activities, we conclude that the Department and the FBI failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report,’ the report said.

Durham said his investigation also revealed that ‘senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor towards the information that they received, especially information received from politically-affiliated persons and entities.’

‘This information in part triggered and sustained Crossfire Hurricane and contributed to the subsequent need for Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation,’ the report said. ‘In particular, there was significant reliance on investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump’s political opponents.’

‘The Department did not adequately examine or question these materials and the motivations of those providing them, even when at about the same time the Director of the FBI and others learned of significant and potentially contrary intelligence,’ the report said.

With other state lawmakers seated around her in the Ohio House, Democratic state Rep. Tavia Galonski got to her feet and began to loudly chant, ‘One person, one vote!’

The former Teamster’s cry spread quickly through the visitors gallery, then began to rise from the throng of protesters gathered outside in the statehouse rotunda. Struggling to be heard over the din, the Republican speaker ordered spectators cleared from the chamber.

Last week’s striking scene came as Ohio joined a growing number of Republican-leaning states that are moving to undermine direct democracy by restricting citizens’ ability to bypass lawmakers through ballot initiatives and constitutional amendments.

The Ohio proposal will ask voters during an August special election to boost the threshold for passing constitutional amendments to 60% rather than a simple majority. It also would double the number of counties where signatures must be collected, adding an extra layer of difficulty to qualifying initiatives for the ballot.

The Missouri Legislature failed to approve a similar measure on Friday, but Republicans vowed to bring the issue back in 2024 in an attempt to head off a citizens’ attempt to restore abortion rights in the state through a constitutional amendment.

A similar measure will be on North Dakota’s ballot next year, while one in the works in Idaho would ask voters to increase signature requirements imposed on petition gatherers. In Wisconsin, which does not allow statewide citizen initiatives, Republicans who control the Legislature have proposed prohibiting local governments from placing advisory questions on ballots. Such referenda are sometimes used to boost voter turnout, though results don’t carry the weight of law. Florida Republicans added new hurdles to that state’s constitutional amendment process in 2020.

The trend has taken off as Democrats and left-leaning groups frustrated by legislative gerrymandering that locks them out of power in state legislatures are increasingly turning to the initiative process to force public votes on issues that are opposed by Republican lawmakers yet popular among voters. Only about half the states, mostly in the Western U.S., allow some form of citizen ballot initiative.

In Ohio, voters have proposed using the initiative process to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution this November, as well as to increase the minimum wage, to legalize recreational marijuana and to reform a redistricting system that has produced persistently unconstitutional political maps favoring Republicans.

Arkansas Sen. Bryan King, a Republican who has joined the League of Women Voters in a lawsuit challenging his state’s latest initiative restriction, said he views efforts to undermine the initiative process as anti-democratic.

A measure approved earlier this year by Arkansas’ majority-GOP Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders makes it harder to get initiatives on the ballot by raising the number of counties where signatures must be gathered from 15 to 50.

‘I think one of the things it does is, no matter what party is in power, when you start trying to make it harder for citizens to challenge what their government does or make changes, then it just makes people not have faith in the process,’ King said. ‘So I do think that making it harder is wrong.’

In Ohio, former governors and attorneys general of both major parties have lined up against the proposed constitutional amendment that would alter the simple majority threshold for passing citizen-led initiative that has been in place since 1912.

Democratic legislators point to the bipartisan opposition and the maneuvering that allowed the proposal to be on an August ballot as evidence that today’s Republicans are extremist in their desire to maintain political power.

Republican state Rep. Brian Stewart, the Ohio plan’s sponsor, argued during last week’s raucous floor session that a simple majority of voters will get to decide whether to impose the stricter requirements on future ballot initiatives.

‘SJR 2 will ask Ohioans, not us, whether Ohio’s constitution should require a 60% vote threshold to adopt amendments going forward. It will ask Ohioans, not us, to decide whether all 88 counties should have a voice in determining what amendments make it onto the ballot and to eliminate the cumbersome ‘cure’ period, which gives initiative petitions effectively a do-over when they fail to meet the requirements for ballot access,’ he said. ‘Putting this issue in front of Ohioans, that is democratic.’

What Stewart didn’t address is how Republicans circumvented a law they had just passed so they could put the proposed amendment on a summertime ballot when voter turnout is typically quite low, rather than putting it before voters in the regular election this November.

Democratic Rep. Casey Weinstein called out Stewart and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, for previously opposing the very August special elections that they supported for offering the 60% question.

Weinstein read in its entirety LaRose’s testimony from December advocating for the provisions of a new law — signed in January — that eliminated most August elections. LaRose argued that making big decisions, including those regarding ballot issues, in chronically low-turnout August elections ‘isn’t the way democracy is supposed to work’ and that such elections ‘aren’t good for taxpayers, election officials or the civic health of our state.’

In testimony, Mark Gavin Sr., outreach director for the Black Environmental Leaders Association, referred to the U.S. Constitution’s counting of enslaved people by calling the Ohio proposal ‘the new Three-Fifths Compromise.’

Gavin was among hundreds of protesters who packed statehouse hearings and overflow rooms, testified and marched in opposition to the Republican proposal, which he said is intended to dilute the power of individual voters.

‘I’ve been a voter in Ohio for 15 years, and it’s getting really old to always have to have new rules and regulations on a ballot,’ he said.

Anti-abortion and pro-gun groups were the primary forces behind the push in favor of the proposed Ohio amendment. Since the Supreme Court’s decision last year overturning Roe v. Wade, voters in Michigan, Kentucky and Kansas have protected abortion rights through statewide votes.

David Couch, an attorney who has worked on citizens’ initiatives in Arkansas, said Republicans’ efforts to thwart direct democracy are uniquely partisan.

‘If you look in Arkansas history in the ’90s, when the Democrats controlled Arkansas, the conservative right passed same-sex marriage amendments, they passed adoption amendments,’ he said. ‘They passed all sorts of reforms, and the Democrats didn’t try to change the process.’

Democrats in Missouri did try to cripple the initiative process through legislation in 1992. Then-Gov. John Ashcroft, a Republican who went on to serve as U.S. attorney general, vetoed the bill. Ashcroft’s son, Jay, is the state’s current secretary of state.

‘It is through the initiative process that those who have no influence with elective representatives may take their cause directly to the people,’ the elder Ashcroft said in a veto letter that became part of this year’s debate. ‘The General Assembly should be reluctant, therefore, to enact legislation which places any impediments on the initiative power which are inconsistent with the reservation found in the Constitution.’

Missouri’s Republican lawmakers are singing a different tune today. Fearing a constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights, they vowed last week to make it a priority in 2024 to adopt a ballot measure that would establish a 57% threshold for passing future amendments.

Not all Republicans in the state think that’s a good idea. Former Republican House Speaker Pro Tem Carl Bearden said the proposal would infringe on the rights of Missouri voters while noting that the initiative process is intended to be a check on the power of the Legislature.

‘It is not a conservative policy,’ he said of the Republican plan.

Former President Trump attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his abortion stance on Monday, suggesting in an interview that Florida’s six-week ban was ‘too harsh.’

Trump made the statement in a wide-ranging interview with The Messenger published on Monday. Trump refused to elaborate on his own stance regarding abortion, however, instead claiming to have heard that pro-life voters opposed DeSantis’ bill.

‘He has to do what he has to do,’ Trump said when asked about Florida’s six-week ban. ‘If you look at what DeSantis did, a lot of people don’t even know if he knew what he was doing. But he signed six weeks, and many people within the pro-life movement feel that that was too harsh.’

When asked about whether he would support a six-week ban, Trump replied, ‘I’m looking at all options.’

Trump also confirmed in the interview that he supported exceptions in abortion legislation for ‘the life of the mother, raping and incest.’

‘Just as Ronald Reagan was a believer in the exceptions, but I’m a believer in the exceptions,’ he added.

DeSantis’ abortion bill, signed in mid-April, bans most abortions beyond six weeks but includes exceptions for rape and incest. Existing state exceptions for the life of the mother also remain in place. 

Rather than get specific on his abortion stance, Trump went on to tout his role in overturning Roe v. Wade, saying he was the only president who could have done so.

‘For 50 years, they’ve been trying to get rid of Roe v Wade. I was able to do it. Nobody else could have done that but me. And I was able to do it [by nominating] three excellent judges on the Justices of the Supreme Court. And I was able to do that,’ he said.

‘I’m looking at all alternatives. I’m looking at many alternatives,’ Trump added when asked if six weeks was too harsh. ‘But I was able to get us to the table by terminating Roe v. Wade. That’s the most important thing that’s ever happened for the pro-life movement.’

It is unclear who Trump was referring to when he stated that ‘many people within the pro-life movement’ opposed DeSantis’ bill.

Students For Life President Kristan Hawkins thanked the Florida governor after he signed the legislation in April, saying, ‘Florida will no longer be the fifth highest abortion state in the nation thanks to the Heartbeat Protection Act. Thank you @GovRonDeSantis for having the courage to do the right thing. You are setting the standard for GOP and they should follow your lead.’

Conservative legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom also celebrated the signing.

‘By enacting the Heartbeat Protection Act, Florida is continuing its work to protect the health of pregnant mothers, the dignity of the unborn, and the integrity of the medical profession.  We commend @GovRonDeSantis for taking a stand to preserve life,’ the organization said.

Pro-life activist Abby Johnson claimed DeSantis signing the bill is ‘one step closer to protecting children from the moment of conception just like they deserve.’

Live Action founder and pro-life activist Lila Rose also praised DeSantis’ move at the time. She tweeted, ‘BREAKING: @RonDeSantisFL has signed a bill protecting most preborn children 6 weeks gestational age and older from the violence of abortion! This is a big win for Florida and the nation. The next step is completely ending abortion and protecting all of Florida’s children.’

FIRST ON FOX – Former Vice President Mike Pence returns next month to Iowa – the state whose caucuses lead off the GOP presidential nominating calendar – to take part in an annual motorcycle ride that benefits veterans, as he gears up for his expected entry into the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race.

Fox News has learned that Pence will ride in Sen. Joni Ernst’s, R-Iowa, annual ‘Roast and Ride’ motorcycle ride on Saturday, June 3 – a vital stop on the Iowa Republican political calendar. The event this year benefits the Freedom Foundation, an organization supporting veterans based in Cedar Rapids.

Ernst, who served in the Iraq War during her more than two decades as an officer in the Iowa Army National Guard, has invited all the confirmed and potential GOP White House contenders to take part in her annual ride through parts of Des Moines and ensuing rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

Among those invited are former President Donald Trump, who is making his third straight White House run and is currently the overwhelming front-runner in the Republican primary battle, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who remains on the 2024 sidelines but is expected to launch a campaign in the coming weeks.

The senator announced last week that former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, who later served as ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, would be participating in the ‘Roast and Ride.’

In a statement announcing the former vice president’s participation in her ‘Roast and Ride,’ Ernst said that ‘as a fellow motorcycle fan, Mike will also be joining me on my Ride to benefit Iowa’s Freedom Foundation.’

Pence, who rode a Harley-Davidson motorcycle as the then-vice president took part Ernst’s event six years ago, said in a statement to Fox News on Monday that ‘wherever Joni Ernst asks me to be, I will be.’

He continued: ‘As proud parents of a Marine pilot, Karen and I understand the importance of giving back to organizations like Cedar Rapids’ own Freedom Foundation, an incredible veterans support charity. I am honored that Joni has once again asked me to join her annual Roast and Ride and look forward to being back with the people of Iowa soon!’

Pence, who’s made numerous trips to Iowa and the other early voting presidential nominating states the past two years, has said he’ll make a decision on launching a presidential campaign in the coming weeks.

Taking aim at President Biden and the Democratic National Committee for their move earlier this year to bump Iowa from its leadoff position in the Democrats’ presidential nominating calendar, the senator emphasized that ‘even though Joe Biden and the national Democrats ditched Iowa, Republicans are maintaining our FIRST in the nation status. My annual Roast and Ride is THE event to be at in 2023. It’s the perfect opportunity to engage directly with Iowans from all corners of the state.’  

Ernst launched her annual ride soon after winning election to the Senate in 2014. She said at the time that her goal was to showcase her party’s top candidates, just as former longtime Sen. Tom Harkin, of Iowa, had done with his annual ‘steak fry’ for Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Ernst, along with the rest of Iowa’s all Republican congressional delegation, is staying neutral as the GOP presidential contenders battle in out in Iowa’s caucuses.

The senator, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is also hosting foreign policy and national security policy discussions with the White House hopefuls. 

Both Haley and Pence have already taken part in the discussion that Ernst hosts with the Bastion Institute, a think tank whose goal is ‘to discuss the path toward strengthening America’s leadership and standing on the international stage.’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis met with Iowa voters in Des Moines after former President Donald Trump canceled his event there, sparking debate about the reason for Trump’s change of plans.

After a packed day of events in Sioux Center and Cedar Rapids, DeSantis made a surprise trip to Des Moines to talk to voters at Jethro’s BBQ Southside, just minutes from where Trump cited the potential for severe weather in canceling his planned Des Moines rally.

DeSantis, who has not yet announced a bid for president and has avoided directly addressing the former president, appeared to take a jab at Trump while in Des Moines, remarking that it was a ‘beautiful night.’

‘My better half and I have been able to be all over Iowa today, but before we went back to Florida we wanted to come by and say hi to the people of Des Moines,’ DeSantis told those gathered at the BBQ joint, according to the New York Times. ‘So thank you all for coming out. It’s a beautiful night, it’s been a great day for us.’

The surprise appearance came after Trump’s planned rally in Des Moines was abruptly canceled Saturday. While the campaign cited tornado watches and the potential for severe weather, the explanation drew skepticism from Iowa officials and speculation online that the former president may have feared a smaller than expected crowd at the event.

‘In the interest of the safety for everyone in Iowa at the sold-out event in Des Moines, due to the National Weather Service’s Tornado Watch in effect in Polk and surrounding counties, we were unfortunately forced to postpone the event. We will be there at the first available date,’ Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital in a Sunday afternoon email.

‘Trump is dominating in poll after poll – both nationally and statewide,’ he continued. ‘There is nobody else who can generate the type of enthusiasm and support like he can. There were thousands of supporters who had RSVP’d for the rally, which would have eclipsed the tiny crowds others are so proud of.’

Trump’s campaign Twitter account tweeted out a video following the cancellation of the Des Moines rally showing campaign staff going to the house of an elderly couple who support Trump. The campaign staff had hats and other gear for the couple and put Trump on the phone with them, where he thanked them for their support and said he looks forward to seeing them and that he wants them to ‘stay healthy.’

‘I wanted to see you today, but a little thing called tornadoes, they prevailed,’ Trump said.

However, hours later DeSantis was standing on a table bench to address an enthusiastic gathering of about 150 people, boasting about his record in Florida and the work being done in Iowa, saying the results could be repeated across the country. DeSantis then posed for photographs with supporters.

‘If you’re willing to deliver results, the people are there,’ DeSantis said. ‘They’ll follow because they just want to see a better future. We’ve done that in Florida. They have done that in Iowa. We are going to have a chance pretty soon to make sure that that’s done in every state in this country.’ 

The impromptu appearance capped a busy day in the Hawkeye State, where the first votes of the 2024 Republican primary will be cast.

While DeSantis has yet to officially launch a bid for president, polls show he is the main challenger to Trump’s path to the nomination should he decide to run.

The Florida governor has already earned the endorsements of some high-profile Iowa Republicans, including state Senate President Amy Sinclair and state House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl. He unveiled over 30 other endorsements ahead of his Iowa visit. The Trump campaign has also released a list of several endorsements in Iowa in recent months. 

Planned Parenthood called for court packing and term limits for Supreme Court justices in its latest judicial reform package on Sunday.

Planned Parenthood’s proposals come nearly a year after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in June 2022, allowing states to ban abortion. In addition to court packing and term limits, the group is also calling on Congress to establish a code of ethics for SCOTUS, expand the size of lower courts and end single-judge divisions.

While the group’s proposal calls for an expanded Supreme Court bench, or court packing, it does not specify how many justices should be added.

‘Planned Parenthood refuses to accept that our courts can only exist as they do now, and understands that reforms are integral to building the public’s trust that the courts can and will function to uphold hard-won freedoms and advance justice for future generations,’ the group’s president, Alexis McGill Johnson, said in a statement. ‘PPFA’s expanded position is a continuation of our commitment to ensure that everyone, no matter where they live, has the freedom to make their own decisions about their own bodies, lives, and futures.’

‘As we continue to face unrelenting attacks on our basic freedoms, our courts must be one backstop to protecting our rights. Instead, the courts have been used as a vehicle to advance a dangerous agenda against abortion rights, voting rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and so much more,’ she wrote.

Democrats and pro-choice groups have widely espoused the idea of court packing in the months since the fall of Roe v. Wade.

PPFA’s opposition to single-judge divisions comes in the same vein. The group argues that allowing just one or two judges to preside over a division within a federal district allows for ‘judge shopping’ by interest groups.

The group also argues that the federal judiciary is ‘overburdened’ and ought to be expanded in keeping with the growing U.S. population.

‘It’s been more than 30 years since Congress last comprehensively expanded the number of lower court seats – the longest period of time between expansions in the history of district courts and courts of appeals,’ PPFA wrote in a statement.