Mayorkas impeachment trial poised to pressure these vulnerable Senate Dems

Democrats up for re-election in battleground states face a bind in the Senate as the impeachment trial for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is expected to begin this month over his role in the ongoing crisis at the southern border.

Several Republican Senate sources told Fox News Digital they expect the pressure to ramp up for lawmakers such as Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Bob Casey, D-Penn., who face competitive re-election races in November.

Voters in each of the senators' states have indicated strong concerns over the state of the border.

Republican senators recently accused Tester of being unwilling to vote on border or immigration-related amendments during negotiations over the $1.2 trillion spending package that caused a brief partial government shutdown before being passed last month. Tester's office denied the claims. 

BATTLEGROUND STATE DEM SHOWS ZERO SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS REMEMBERING LAKEN RILEY BUT REPEAT POSTS ON GEORGE FLOYD

One senior Republican Senate source predicted Tester would be similarly pushed during the impeachment trial procedure: "He’ll have to go on the record with it. No way out," the source said. They noted that Brown would also be put to the test in the Mayorkas trial. 

A representative for Tester told Fox News Digital on Wednesday, "Senator Tester will review the articles when they are sent over to the Senate."

The House passed two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas in early February but held onto them until after the appropriations process finished. In a letter last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., revealed his intention to deliver the articles to the Senate on April 10 and urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to move quickly on a trial. 

When the articles are delivered, "all senators have to be sworn in as jurors and sign the book," a senior GOP source said. 

"We actually go into trial mode, but Schumer will put forward a vote to dismiss it," the source predicted.

SEAN HANNITY: BORDER CRISIS A MODERN-DAY 'BLOODBATH'

Schumer's office did not provide comment to Fox News Digital.

"Everything is simple majority," the source noted, meaning only 51 of the 100 senators are necessary to move forward with any action. 

While Senate Democrats have largely dismissed the charges against Mayorkas as meritless and political posturing, the lawmakers who are competing in close races in the general election may be influenced by the growing concern over the border among their constituents. In a March Fox News Poll, 41% of all registered voters agreed the situation at the southern border is an emergency. This included 65% of Republicans, 31% of independents and 20% of Democrats.

As a result, the vulnerable Democrat senators are certain to be met with attacks on the campaign trail from their Republican opponents, who will pose the question of their seriousness on the border crisis. In a February memo from National Republican Senatorial Committee political director Tim Edson that was obtained by Fox News Digital, Senate candidates were advised to hold their Democrat counterparts accountable.

"We cannot allow Senate Democrats to sweep the Biden Administration's failures at the southern border under the rug," it reads. "Democrats caused this crisis, and voting to acquit Mayorkas is a vote to allow the continued invasion of our country."

Tester's opponent, Republican Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, said in a statement that "the Senate should hold a full impeachment trial."

"Senator Jon Tester wants to avoid a trial and let Mayorkas off the hook because they BOTH support the radical Left’s push of open borders and letting illegal immigrants flood into America. We deserve accountability!" he continued.

TRUMP SPOTLIGHTS 'BIDEN'S BORDER BLOODBATH' DURING STOP IN CRUCIAL BATTLEGROUND STATE HE LOST IN 2020

Representatives for Rosen, Baldwin, Brown and Casey did not provide comment to Fox News Digital.

"If Bob Casey is serious about securing the border, he'll urge Chuck Schumer to move this inquiry forward and hold them accountable," said Pennsylvania Republican Senate front-runner Dave McCormick in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Spokesperson Ben Voelkel for Wisconsin Republican Senate front-runner Eric Hovde said in a statement, "Sen. Baldwin needs to hold [Mayorkas] accountable. If she doesn't, Wisconsin voters will hold her accountable for her inaction."

"If Sherrod Brown cares about hardworking Ohioans who have been impacted by the border invasion and fentanyl crisis, he will hold Mayorkas accountable in the Senate trial," said Reagan McCarthy, spokesperson for Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who has occasionally been out of step with Democrats, appears likely to stick with his caucus in the likely case they look to dismiss the trial quickly. In February, he told Politico that the forthcoming impeachment was "Pure crap," adding that he wants "No trial at all."

Manchin's office referred Fox News Digital to his previous comment.

Republican strategist Brian Walsh, a former staffer for Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said, "It highlights a huge political vulnerability for Democratic Senators like Jon Tester, Sherrod Brown and Bob Casey going into the 2024 election."

WHITE HOUSE PRESSED ON WHETHER BIDEN BELIEVES BORDER CROSSERS COULD BE IN US PLOTTING TERROR ATTACK ON AMERICA

They will be forced to "pick a side" between their base and "the majority of voters, including independents" who say the border is the most important problem in the country, Walsh added.

As the senators face a difficult decision, it's not clear that all Republicans will be on board to continue the trial. Each vote matters, given the Senate's narrow 49-51 split between Republicans and those in the Democrat caucus. 

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, criticized the idea of a trial in late February, writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it "might be great politics, but it’s not the remedy for bad policy & would set a terrible constitutional precedent."

Romney's office did not provide comment to Fox News Digital. 

Other concerns for the impeachment effort are Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, who have gone against the conference previously. Neither of their offices provided comment to Fox News Digital on the subject.

Meanwhile, Mayorkas is set to appear on Capitol Hill on April 10, the same day the articles of impeachment are expected to be delivered to the Senate, for an unrelated hearing before the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee regarding the department's fiscal 2025 request.

DHS did not provide comment to Fox News Digital.

Trump eyes dual strategy to flip script against Biden amid legal hurdles: ‘We have the messaging’

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Donald Trump heads out on the stump Tuesday in Michigan and Wisconsin, two Midwestern battleground states he narrowly lost to President Biden four years ago, as he looks to take advantage of a weekday campaign rally ahead of his upcoming hush-money trial in a couple of weeks.

The former president's team said the presumptive GOP nominee will take aim at what they charged was President Biden's "Border Bloodbath" during the first stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Trump's campaign swing is his first in two and a half weeks since he headlined a rally in Ohio on March 16 on behalf of the Republican candidate he was backing in the Buckeye State's GOP Senate primary.

The infrequent weekday campaign rallies may become even rarer this spring and summer as Trump becomes the first current or former president in the nation's history to go on trial.

TRUMP AIMS TO TOP BIDEN'S NEW $26 MILLION FUNDRAISING RECORD

As of now, Trump's hush-money trial is set to begin in New York City on April 15. The former president – who is being tried on 34 state felony charges – is accused of falsifying business records in relation to hush-money payments during the 2016 election he made to Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about his alleged affair with the adult film actress.

Trump has repeatedly denied falsifying business records as well as the alleged sexual encounter with Daniels.

TRUMP HUSH-MONEY TRIAL SET TO START ON THIS DATE

During the Republican presidential primaries, Trump used the multiple criminal and civil cases he faces – including two for his alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden and another for mishandling classified documents – to cast himself as a victim, which fired up support among GOP voters and boosted fundraising.

"HAPPY EASTER TO ALL, INCLUDING CROOKED AND CORRUPT PROSECUTORS AND JUDGES THAT ARE DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO INTERFERE WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2024, AND PUT ME IN PRISON," Trump said Sunday in a social media post.

The former president is required to attend the court proceedings in the hush-money trial, which are scheduled for weekdays, except Wednesdays, and will ground the 74-year-old Trump in the city where he was born and raised and called home until changing his residence to Florida nearly five years ago.

Sources in the former president's political orbit tell Fox News that a schedule's being mapped out that includes making the most of Wednesdays, when court is not in session, as well as weekends, when Trump usually holds rallies and other campaign events.

"We have the message, the operation, and the money to propel President Trump to victory on November 5," Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita predicted last week in a statement.

While Trump's been mostly off the campaign trail, Biden has stopped since delivering the State of the Union address in early March in all six of the crucial battleground states where he narrowly edged Trump to win the White House in 2020. And last week Biden visited North Carolina, which Trump won by a razor-thin margin four years ago.

The trips are aimed at pumping up the president's anemic poll numbers and also to paint a contrast with Trump, who has been sidetracked due to numerous court appearances in New York City and Florida.

In a video posted on X last week, the president's re-election team highlighted Biden's busy schedule and contrasted it with Trump playing golf.

"I’ll tell you this: There’s a difference between the two candidates in this election," Biden wrote in the social media post after Trump bragged on his Truth Social platform about winning two golf championships at a course he owns.

But Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt predicted that the upcoming trial would give the former president a boost against his successor in the White House, and she said in a statement that "Joe Biden and the Democrats’ entire strategy to defeat President Trump is to confine him to a courtroom."

"President Trump has been attacked by the Democrats for eight years. He has stood strong through two sham impeachments, endless lies and now multiple baseless political witch hunts," Leavitt told Fox News Digital in February. "The Democrats want Donald Trump in a courtroom instead of on the campaign trail delivering his winning message to the American people, but nothing will stop him from doing that."

While he'll be sidetracked four out of five weekdays when the trial gets underway, Trump is expected to continue his practice of grabbing the cable news spotlight with his courtroom arrivals and departures. 

And the former president has also used his social media postings on his Truth Social platform to make headlines and drive the campaign conversation.

"Trump can dominate the message environment anytime he wants," longtime Republican strategist Dave Carney told Fox News. "We've never seen anything like this where one guy – whatever he says – gets full coverage. It's a phenomenon. Whether it's social media or cable TV or even broadcast TV, he just dominates the news."

And Carney, a veteran of numerous presidential campaigns, forecast "there will be such coverage of his court cases that at times I would bet there will be more reporters covering his stakeout than covering the president."

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Top Democrat in tight Senate race backs citizenship, voting rights for millions of illegal immigrants

The Democrat frontrunner in what could be one of the most unexpectedly tight Senate races this year recently declared his support for granting citizenship and voting rights to the millions of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S.

Speaking at a candidate forum in Bladensburg, Maryland, earlier this month, Rep. David Trone, who represents the state's 6th Congressional District, argued illegal immigrants should have the same rights under the Constitution as U.S. citizens.

"We need to welcome all 12 million folks here now that are DACA, TPS, and undocumented – make them citizens, and move forward. They have all the rights everybody here should have also," Trone said, referencing Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals (DACA), also known as "Dreamers," who were brought to the U.S. as children by illegal immigrant parents, as well as migrants granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

CONSERVATIVE GROUPS UNLEASH MASSIVE INVESTMENT FOR BATTLEGROUND STATE'S ‘LARGEST EVER’ VOTE-BY-MAIL PROGRAM

Just days after the forum, Trone voted against the bipartisan Laken Riley Act, a bill named after a nursing student who was tragically murdered on the campus of the University of Georgia while jogging. Jose Antonio Ibarra, the illegal immigrant from Venezuela charged in the murder, was arrested in New York prior to the murder but was not detained by ICE. He was also cited in Georgia for misdemeanor shoplifting in October 2023. 

The bill would require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants who commit theft, burglary, larceny or shoplifting offenses and mandate that those who commit such crimes are detained until they are removed from the U.S., so they cannot break the same law or commit further crimes.

Additionally, the bill would ensure that states have standing to bring civil actions against federal officials who refuse to enforce immigration law or who violate the law. It passed the House in a 251-170 vote, and the Senate is currently considering its version of the legislation.

BIDEN CAMPAIGN REVEALS ‘AGGRESSIVE’ SWING STATE STRATEGY, ADMITS BEATING TRUMP WILL ‘TAKE RELENTLESS EFFORT’

Last month, Trone signed a letter urging impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to close illegal immigrant detention centers just one day after a toddler was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant right outside his district, the Daily Caller reported.

"Our immigration system is broken. Unfortunately, positive legislative reforms in immigration are unlikely this congress due to extreme MAGA Republican opposition. Until that changes, we must do our best to operate within the current system to ensure that we are treating immigrants with dignity and utilizing our limited resources wisely. You have testified regarding your concern about ‘the overuse of detention… where alternatives to detention would suffice.’ We share that concern," Trone wrote in the letter.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Trone's campaign for comment.

TEXAS DEMOCRAT COLIN ALLRED FACES 6-FIGURE AD CAMPAIGN FOR CALLING BORDER WALL ‘RACIST’

Trone faces a crowded Democrat primary field, where he holds a massive fundraising and polling advantage. His closest challenger is Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.

He will likely face Maryland's former Republican governor, Larry Hogan, in the general election. Few polls have been conducted on the race so far, but those that have been completed suggest a neck-and-neck race between the two.

Elections analysts rate the race as "likely" Democrat, but Hogan's name recognition and high approval rating at the conclusion of his second term last year could further pose a challenge to Democrats' hopes of maintaining control of the Senate.

Fox News' Kyle Morris contributed to this report.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Lauren Boebert won’t ‘further imperil’ slim GOP majority by running in special election for Ken Buck’s seat

Populist firebrand Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., will not run in the special election for Colorado GOP Rep. Ken Buck's seat, she declared Wednesday.

Buck stunned Republicans Tuesday by announcing he will leave Congress on March 22, a move that triggers a special election on June 25 to temporarily fill the vacancy in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District. His early retirement will reduce the House GOP majority even further. 

Boebert, who currently represents Colorado's 4th Congressional District, earlier this year announced she would run to succeed Buck in the 3rd. But on Wednesday, the congresswoman clarified she will not run in the special election to fill Buck's vacancy, as doing so would require her to vacate her own seat. 

In a post on X, Boebert called Buck's announcement "a gift to the uniparty" and claimed establishment Republicans were attempting to "rig" an election "I'm winning by 25 points." 

GOP COLORADO REP KEN BUCK TO RESIGN FROM CONGRESS BY END OF NEXT WEEK

"Forcing an unnecessary Special Election on the same day as the Primary Election will confuse voters, result in a lameduck Congressman on day one, and leave the 4th District with no representation for more than three months. The 4th District deserves better," Boebert said.

"I will not further imperil the already very slim House Republican majority by resigning my current seat and will continue to deliver on my constituents’ priorities while also working hard to earn the votes of the people of Colorado’s 4th District who have made clear they are hungry for a real conservative," she continued.

"I am the only Trump-endorsed, America First candidate in this race and will win the 4th District’s Primary Election on June 25th and General Election on November 5th." 

HOUSE GOP LEADERS TEAR UP BIDEN'S NEW $7.3T BUDGET PROPOSAL

Buck will leave Congress after serving in the House of Representatives since 2014. He is currently assigned to the House Judiciary Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee. 

Though he holds a conservative voting record, Buck has demonstrated an independent steak that has at times put him at odds with other Republicans.

Buck was one of three House Republicans who opposed the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

LAUREN BOEBERT SWITCHES DISTRICTS, ANNOUNCING RUN FOR COLORADO SEAT BEING VACATED BY KEN BUCK

After his resignation, the breakdown of Congress will be 431 members with 218 Republicans and 213 Democrats. The GOP will only be able to lose two votes of their own on any given issue. 

The next special election is for the seat occupied by former Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., on April 30. 

If that seat stays in Democratic hands, the new breakdown is 432 members with 218 Republicans and 214 Democrats. That would mean the margin would effectively be one seat for the GOP.

Should the GOP lose just two votes there is a tie, and by rule, the vote will fail in the House. 

Fox News Digital's Stepheny Price and Chad Pergram contributed to this update. 

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub

Ex-Trump aide sued by Hunter Biden wants Biden-appointed judge off laptop case, fears ‘2020 all over again’

Garrett Ziegler, a one-time aide to former President Trump who is being sued by Hunter Biden for publishing the contents of his infamous laptop, is seeking to have a judge who was appointed by President Biden removed from the case. Ziegler argues that the outcome of the lawsuit not only has implications for the congressional impeachment inquiry, but also the 2024 election. 

In a recent motion in U.S. District Court for Central California, Ziegler's attorney, Robert Tyler, requested that Judge Hernán D. Vera recuse himself from the case because his "impartiality will be reasonably questioned." Vera made donations to Joe Biden’s campaign for president in 2020. He also was appointed to his position by President Biden just three months before Hunter Biden filed the lawsuit against Ziegler and one day after then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced a presidential impeachment inquiry had commenced in Congress. 

Tyler emphasized that he is not arguing against Vera's integrity and assumes the court system assigned the judge to Hunter Biden's lawsuit at random. 

"But there’s something called forum shopping that lawyers do," he told Fox News Digital. "And here’s a case where our client resides in Illinois, he has no contact with California such that California should have any jurisdiction over this case, yet Hunter Biden’s lawyers filed this lawsuit to the Central District of California just shortly after Judge Vera’s appointed." 

Fox News Digital reached out to Biden's legal team for comment on Tuesday.

HUNTER BIDEN SUES FORMER WH AIDE FOR ALTERING, PUBLISHING 'PORNOGRAPHIC' PHOTOS FROM LAPTOP HE DENIES IS HIS

The relief requested in Hunter Biden’s complaint would prevent and inhibit the public, media and Congress from accessing highly relevant evidence to the impeachment inquiry of President Biden, the motion says. Ziegler's attorney further argued that Vera must recuse himself from the case "because the district court rulings in this case may affect the impeachment inquiry along with the future presidency of Joseph Biden, toward which Judge Vera made a financial investment and for which Judge Vera has an obvious interest and affinity." 

"The availability of the information from the Hunter Biden laptop is incredibly important so that we don’t have 2020 all over again where somehow the Biden laptop is brushed under the rug and ignored or worse yet, it's censored," Tyler told Fox News Digital on Tuesday, referring to how the Hunter Biden laptop story was dismissed as "Russian disinformation" by a large portion of the media and suppressed by social media platforms. "That’s important I think not only to the presidential impeachment inquiry but also to the election." 

Tyler's motion criticizes how Hunter Biden filed the lawsuit against Ziegler, his company – Marco Polo USA – and 10 unidentified associates in September 2023, in the middle of his father’s re-election campaign and nearly three years after the dissemination of files emanating from the laptop he "abandoned" at a Delaware computer repair shop. The repair shop owner turned the laptop over to the FBI on or around October 2019 after discovering its "disturbing materials," the motion notes.

Hunter Biden’s lawsuit accused Ziegler and others of spreading "tens of thousands of emails, thousands of photos, and dozens of videos and recordings" that were considered "pornographic" on the laptop. The lawsuit describes Ziegler as a "zealot who has waged a sustained, unhinged and obsessed campaign" against the entire Biden family for over two years to "advance his right-wing agenda" and spent hours "accessing, tampering with, manipulating or copying" Hunter Biden’s data with his associates.

GOP REP SPOTLIGHTS 3 KEY PIECES OF EVIDENCE THAT THE BIDEN FAMILY ‘CONTRADICTED’ THEIR BUSINESS COVERUP

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial based on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and California's Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act. 

Ziegler’s attorney counters that the former Trump aide and associates "prepared a credible investigative report," known as the "Report on the Biden Laptop," not to wage a campaign against Hunter Biden, but to "expose instances of foreign compromise" by Hunter Biden and his father, President Biden, which are "matters of great public interest and concern." In preparing the report, Ziegler relied on copies of files from the laptop that "had already been widely circulated since at least October 2020 to numerous media outlets," Tyler wrote. 

The motion states that Ziegler’s website with the Biden laptop report has been accessed by over 5 million Americans since its inception in June 2023 and more than 8 million Americans have accessed the free digital version of the report made available in November 2022. 

"Millions upon millions of visitors have come to this website for information," Tyler said. "The information on this website is not altered except to the extent to black out genitals. Other than that, the content of the website, according to my client, has not been altered or manipulated, and so this information is critical, I believe, to the availability for the public, for the media and for Congress itself to be able to access and determine whether or not this president is one we should bring back in 2024, 2025."

Tyler noted how Marco Polo provided background research to the House Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees related to the Biden impeachment inquiry. 

During a recent House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing related to Hunter Biden’s refusal to attend a congressional deposition pertaining to his father’s impeachment inquiry, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., presented exhibits of evidence she received directly from Ziegler and other defendants, the motion says. 

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., then requested that the Democrats on the committee be provided the Biden laptop files. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., interjected that she can provide every Democrat a copy because "Marco Polo has the actual, entire publication." 

"You mentioned you wanted to read some stuff, that would probably be something good to read, the Marco Polo Report," Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., added. "It’s public record." 

McConnell endorses Trump for president after Super Tuesday results: ‘He will have my support’

Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell endorsed former President Trump's re-election campaign on Wednesday after he collected nearly 1,000 delegates from a thunderous performance on Super Tuesday.

"It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States. It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support," McConnell said in a statement. 

He continued: "During his Presidency, we worked together to accomplish great things for the American people including tax reform that supercharged our economy and a generational change of our federal judiciary - most importantly, the Supreme Court."

"I look forward to the opportunity of switching from playing defense against the terrible policies the Biden administration has pursued to a sustained offense geared towards making a real difference in improving the lives of the American people," McConnell added.

NIKKI HALEY DOES NOT ENDORSE TRUMP, SAYS HE NEEDS TO EARN SUPPORT OF HER VOTERS

The endorsement comes after Trump's only primary opponent, Nikki Haley, suspended her presidential campaign on Wednesday morning.

McConnell, who turned 82 last month, was the most senior member of Congress that had yet to endorse Trump.

His endorsement comes after he vehemently criticized Trump and called him "morally responsible" for the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

McConnell blamed Trump for inciting the riot and said he was responsible for the "entire manufactured atmosphere of looming catastrophe" and "wild myths" about the election. The Senate leader ultimately did not vote to convict Trump on impeachment charges.

McConnell's endorsement comes as he announced last Wednesday that he would step down as Republican leader to pursue "life's next chapter."

"One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter," he said on the Senate floor. "So I stand before you today... to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate."

"I still have enough gas in the tank to thoroughly disappoint my critics, and I intend to do so with all the enthusiasm which they have become accustomed," McConnell added last week.

He will serve the remainder of his term, which formally ends in January 2027.

Nikki Haley gains endorsements from moderate GOP senators amid uphill primary battle

Nikki Haley on Friday received endorsements from two of the GOP’s most moderate senators in Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. 

Collins, who previously voted to convict then-President Trump in his impeachment trial in which he was acquitted, revealed Friday that she voted for Haley in Maine’s primary this week, calling her "extremely well-qualified."

"She has the energy, intellect, and temperament that we need to lead our country in these very tumultuous times," she said, according to the Bangor Daily News. 

On Friday, Murkowski also threw her support behind the former South Carolina governor, saying she was "proud" to endorse her. 

HALEY SLAMS TRUMP FOR SENATE LOSSES, CALLS OUT GOP LAWMAKERS FOR COURTING HIM

Collins and Murkowski are the only senators to endorse Haley as the rest of the party has coalesced behind Trump, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, from Haley’s home state. 

"We need a president who sees Americans as one American family, and that’s why I came to the very warm state of New Hampshire to endorse the next president of the United States, President Donald Trump," Scott said in January. 

Haley has yet to win a primary or caucus, having most recently lost South Carolina 39% to Trump’s 59%.

DC PRIMARY REPRESENTS HALEY'S BEST CHANCE YET TO BEAT TRUMP

Still, the 52-year-old has refused to drop out of the race, insisting Republicans need another option besides Trump.

She also claimed last week that Trump would not be able to beat President Biden in the general election.  

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"Donald Trump will not win the general election. You can have him win any primary you want, he will not win a general election," she told CNN last Friday. "We will have a female President of the United States: It will either be me or it will be Kamala Harris. But if Donald Trump is the nominee, you can mark my words, he will not win a general election."

Top House Republican reverses retirement plans after urging from Trump

A top House Republican lawmaker is changing his mind about retirement after urging from former President Trump.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., said on Thursday that he is reversing course on his decision to not run for a fourth term.

"While my strong desire was to leave Congress at the end of this year, since my announcement, I have received countless calls from constituents, colleagues, and President Trump urging me to reconsider," Green said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"I will be running for re-election so I can be here on Day 1 next year to help President Trump end this border crisis once and for all."

TRUMP WINS THE MICHIGAN GOP PRIMARY, BRINGING HIM ONE STEP CLOSER TO SECURING REPUBLICAN NOMINATION

His announcement came shortly after Trump urged Green to reconsider in a post on his Truth Social account. The former president said he would endorse Green if he ran.

"Mark Green has had lots of options because of his political talents, and the great job he has done as a Congressman, but given the fantastic work he’s doing as Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, I hope he runs for Re-Election to the U.S. House of Representatives. If he does, he has my Complete and Total Endorsement!" Trump wrote.

In addition to running for his own re-election, Trump is throwing his influence into House and Senate races across the country with various endorsements and behind-the-scenes maneuvering.

TRUMP HOLDS LARGE DOUBLE-DIGIT LEAD OVER HALEY AHEAD OF CRUCIAL SHOWDOWN

He met recently with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans’ campaign arm.

Their sit-down at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month primarily involved discussions about the 2024 election cycle and how to keep and expand Johnson’s razor-thin two-seat House majority.

As chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Green has played a leading role in the House’s impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. 

He told Fox News Digital last week that his role has been "challenging, rewarding, and meaningful."

USER’S MANUAL TO WHAT’S NEXT NOW THAT THE HOUSE IMPEACHED MAYORKAS

"I am unbelievably proud of and grateful for the other Republican Committee members as well as the staff of the Homeland Security Committee," Green said at the time.

"I will never forget the hard work and long hours they put in to respond to an unprecedented and self-inflicted border crisis by holding Secretary Mayorkas accountable and passing H.R. 2."

Sen John Cornyn declares candidacy for Republican leader after McConnell steps down

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has officially entered the race to succeed Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

McConnell, 82, announced Wednesday that he plans to step away from leadership after becoming the longest-serving party leader in Senate history. Cornyn is one of McConnell's top lieutenants in the GOP conference, though he does not currently hold a leadership role. 

"I am asking my Republican colleagues to give me the opportunity to succeed Leader McConnell," said Cornyn, 72, in a statement released Thursday.  

In the developing pool of potential successors, Cornyn is frequently mentioned as one of the "three Johns" likely to next lead the conference. The other two are Sens. John Thune, R-S.D. and John Barrasso, R-Wyo. 

CROWDED FIELD OF POTENTIAL MCCONNELL SUCCESSORS EMERGES IN SENATE

Of the three, Barrasso is considered the most conservative, a source familiar with Senate Republican conference discussions told Fox News Digital. Barrasso is also believed to be a more palatable option for the various factions of Republicans in the Senate who don't always see eye to eye. He notably endorsed former President Donald Trump early last month.

However, Cornyn and Thune have also endorsed Trump for re-election, and Cornyn boasts that he voted with Trump more than 92% of the time during his term in the White House. 

The Texas Republican's pitch is that he's a proven election-winner with a track-record of building consensus to advance legislation. His statement pointed to his two terms as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, during which time Republicans unseated five Democrats and positioned the conference to capture the majority in 2014. 

 "I believe the Senate is broken — that is not news to anyone. The good news is that it can be fixed, and I intend to play a major role in fixing it," Cornyn said.

MITCH MCCONNELL STEPPING DOWN AS REPUBLICAN LEADER

To assuage criticisms from hardline Republicans over the Senate process, Cornyn pledged to "improve communication, increase transparency, and ensure inclusion of every Member's expertise and opinion." 

"We will restore the important role of Senate committees and reestablish the regular appropriations process, rather than lurch from one crisis to another. And we will return power back to our members; there will be no more backroom deals or forced votes on bills without adequate time for review, debate and amendment," Cornyn pledged. 

Those promises appear to be an answer to Sen. MIke Lee, R-Utah, one of the most conservative members of the conference and a frequent McConnell critic.

"Anyone wanting to be the next Senate GOP leader should tell Senate Republicans — as specifically as possible — how he or she would do the job differently than it’s been done since 2007," Lee posted on X after McConnell announced he would step down.

MCCONNELL SAYS SENATE TRIAL FOR MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT IS THE 'BEST WAY FORWARD'

Lee demanded that the next Republican leader leverage "must-pass" spending bills to achieve conservative priorities like cutting spending and slashing regulations; that they refrain from interfering in GOP primaries against conservative candidates; and that they not "organize ambush sessions in an effort to scold and humiliate conservative senators," among other grievances hardline senators have long voiced against McConnell. 

But only a handful of senators ever sided with Lee and others against McConnell. 

When Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., challenged McConnell for leadership in 2022, the vote was 37-10 in favor of McConnell. One Republican voted "present." Some of those who reportedly voted against McConnell were Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Mike Braun, R-Ind.; Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Even so, in a field with several candidates and GOP factions at odds, 10 votes may hold a powerful sway over any senator who would be leader. Announcements come first, and then the backroom deals begin. 

Fox News' Chad Pergram and Fox News Digital's Julia Johnson and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

Mitch McConnell stepping down as Republican leader

Longtime Republican leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced Wednesday he will step away from leadership in November. 

McConnell, who turned 82 last week, announced his decision in the well of the Senate shortly after noon, a place where he looked in awe from its back benches in 1985 when he arrived and where he grew increasingly comfortable in the front-row seat afforded the party leaders.

"One of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move on to life’s next chapter," he said in prepared remarks reported by The Associated Press. "So I stand before you today ... to say that this will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate."

The dramatic decision, which will set up a leadership election in the GOP conference with several likely candidates, comes as Republicans have expressed increasing discontent with McConnell's handling of the bipartisan border bill and national security supplemental package that included aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. 

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McConnell has also butted heads with former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential front-runner, who recently said at a Fox News town hall, "I don't know that I can work with [McConnell]." 

Though McConnell will not be GOP leader after this year, he intends to finish his current senate term, which ends in January 2027. Sources familiar with his thinking told Fox News Digital the senator's health was not a factor in his decision. McConnell had a concussion after a fall last year and two public episodes when he appeared to freeze while addressing reporters. 

"As I have been thinking about when I would deliver some news to the Senate, I always imagined a moment when I had total clarity and peace about the sunset of my work," McConnell said on the Senate floor. "A moment when I am certain I have helped preserve the ideals I so strongly believe. It arrived today."

Looking ahead to his departure, McConnell said it is time for "the next generation" to assume leadership in the Senate. 

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"There will be a new custodian of this great institution next year. As you know, I intend to turn the job over to a Republican majority leader," he said. "I have full confidence in my conference to choose my replacement and lead our country forward." 

Potential successors may include one of McConnell's lieutenants, Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, John Thune, R-S.D., or John Barasso, R-Wyo. 

Florida Senator Rick Scott had previously challenged McConnell for GOP leadership in 2022, but lost that leadership election 37-10. 

Reacting to the announcement, several Republicans expressed gratitude for McConnell's leadership and honored his decades-long career in government.

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"Mitch has had a long and honorable tenure as the Republican leader. I am grateful for his service," said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who had called on McConnell to step down earlier this month. "He made the decision that it was time to step down as Leader, and I certainly respect his judgment in that regard. He has many legacies, but none is more consequential than confirming hundreds of principled constitutionalists to the federal judiciary."

North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis called McConnell "a true legend of the U.S. Senate" and praised his leadership on tax reform, the coronavirus response and support for Ukraine. 

"He has stayed true to President Reagan's principle of peace through strength as a stalwart supporter of NATO and Ukraine's fight for freedom against Russian aggression. I will always be grateful for Mitch's friendship, advice, and steadfast leadership of our conference during unprecedented times," Tillis said. "He leaves very big shoes to fill." 

Others were less kind.

"I called on McConnell to step down over a year ago. This is good news," said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. But why wait so long — we need new leadership now." 

Fox News Digital's Jamie Joseph, Liz Elkind and Julia Johnson, as well as the Associated Press contributed to this report.