FOX NEWS – Politics | Politics & Government

Virginia Democrats have sent a sweeping gun-control package to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk, while West Virginia lawmakers are debating the opposite approach — a proposal that would allow residents to lawfully obtain machine guns.The dueling efforts highlight how sharply gun policy is diverging across the old Virginia border. More than 160 years after West Virginia split from Virginia during the Civil War, the two states are again charting very different political paths — with Democrats in Richmond advancing new firearm restrictions while Republicans in Charleston explore expanding Second Amendment rights.Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signaled she looks forward to "reviewing" the sweeping firearms ban from state Sen. Saddam Salim, D-Dunn Loring, when it reaches her desk next week."As the mother of three daughters in Virginia public schools and a former federal law enforcement officer who carried a gun every day, Governor Spanberger knows how important it is to make sure kids and families are safe," Spanberger's office said in a statement to Richmond’s ABC affiliate.GUN RIGHTS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY DEBATED AT SUPREME COURT"The governor is grateful for the efforts of legislators and advocates to address gun violence in Virginia communities, and she looks forward to reviewing all legislation that comes to her desk."Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger’s office to ask whether she plans to sign Salim’s bill but did not receive a response before publication.The push comes as the political landscape in the two states continues to diverge. Republicans dominate West Virginia’s legislature with 31-2 and 91-9 supermajorities, and the Mountain State is one of just two states — along with Oklahoma — with no Democrat-majority counties. Democrats, meanwhile, strengthened their hold on Virginia’s government in 2025 and captured the governor's mansion.The assault weapons ban was introduced in January at the very start of the expanded Democratic majority's rule in Richmond. Salim told FairfaxNow that there are "so many assault weapons in circulation" and that his bill will "gradually" take them off the street but stop short of retroactively criminalizing possession of any of the slew of newly-categorized "assault weapons."The Bangladesh-born lawmaker has also questioned how schools can remain safe spaces for children without requiring active-shooter drills.His proposal would ban a wide range of firearms and features, including semi-automatic center-fire pistols with magazines exceeding 15 rounds, rifles with detachable magazines and weapons with certain characteristics such as collapsible or thumbhole stocks and threaded barrels.The scope of the proposed restrictions… [TheTopNews] Read More.

Republicans face high hurdles as they defend their razor-thin control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections, but the Senate GOP campaign chair says he remains "incredibly optimistic" his party can not only hold but expand its current 53–47 majority.Republicans are battling stiff political headwinds as the party in power in the nation's capital traditionally loses seats in the midterms, and a rough political climate fueled by economic concerns amid persistent inflation and President Donald Trump's underwater approval ratings."There's no doubt the climate has gotten more and more difficult by the day, it seems like at times," National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Sen. Tim Scott said in a recent Fox News Digital interview.But he added, "The good news is we have a president who made promises, he's been keeping those promises, and we have been able to recruit the highest quality candidates anyone could want in every single battleground state."WHAT THE SENATE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CHIEF TOLD FOX NEWSThe NRSC chair told Fox News Digital in December 2025 that in the battle for the majority, "54 is clearly within our grasp right now, but with a little bit of luck, 55 is on our side."Asked again a week ago, Scott said, "I think we have a possibility of more than 53 seats."STRATEGY SESSION: TRUMP TEAM HUDDLES ON MIDTERM MESSAGING Scott's rival, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told Fox News Digital in January that "President Trump is creating a toxic agenda that's harming people."And Gillibrand emphasized she's "optimistic that we have a shot to take back the majority."Here's a look at the top 10 Senate seats that could flip in the midterms.Longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins is the only Republican senator running for re-election this year in a state that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried in her 2024 presidential election defeat to Trump.And Collins has seen a deterioration of her poll numbers among Mainers from her last re-election six years ago.But Collins, who has long been a top target of the rival Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) has proven impossible to beat, to date.Complicating the Democrats' push to flip the seat is a competitive primary between two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who has the tacit backing of longtime Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and the DSCC, and veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner, who is running to the left of the governor and who is backed by progressive… [TheTopNews] Read More.

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — Vice President JD Vance traveled to North Carolina and hosted an event Friday to tout the economy, advocate for Republicans to win elections in the Tar Heel State, and touch on the situation in Iran.  Vance was also joined by former RNC chairman and GOP Senate nominee Michael Whatley and Small Business Association Administrator Kelly Loeffler at a local event space."In just a very brief time, we've seen new home purchases rise to their highest level in five years," Vance said. "Since the last time Donald Trump was president, we've seen the cost of rents drop for six months in a row." "We've seen the average tax refund that's going to come to the people of North Carolina, about $3,700 per family," Vance added. "And we see interest rates that are the lowest they've been since the last time that Donald J. Trump was president."VANCE TELLS MINNEAPOLIS TO ‘STOP FIGHTING’ ICE AS WHITE HOUSE DOUBLES DOWN ON CRACKDOWNVance was introduced by Loeffler, the former Georgia senator whom Trump appointed to lead small business advocacy as head of the SBA last February. "Together, we're cleaning up massive, wasteful spending and the abuse of government programs," Loeffler told the audience. "And you've seen that the fraud that sent your hard-earned tax dollars overseas and the Democrats open borders, defund the police agendas that invited violent crime into what should be safe communities, taking the lives of innocent victims like arenas."Vance addressed the situation in Iran, both to the crowd and in response to a question posed by an AP reporter. The vice president pointed to nuclear capability in Iran as the primary reason for the U.S. engagement.NC SENATE SHOWDOWN ESCALATES AS TRUMP RALLIES BEHIND WHATLEY TO KEEP GOP SEAT"You all know that right now, we are engaged in a military operation to ensure, as the president has said repeatedly, that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon," Vance said. "That is a simple, simple principle and standard. Frankly, every president. Has taken affirmative steps to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon."When asked what he advised the president before strikes began in Iran, Vance said he wasn’t giving out information from classified briefings in the situation room."I'm not going to show up here and in front of God and everybody else, tell you exactly what I said in that classified room, partially because I don't want to go to… [TheTopNews] Read More.

The top executive of a public relations and political consulting firm who is married to a former top Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson, is demanding an apology from Senate Democrats for allegations he used his wife to improperly secure lucrative contracts from the agency.In a letter Thursday addressed to Sens. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Benjamin Yoho took aim at a figure mentioned by Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., claiming his company, The Strategy Group for Media, had secured $143 million in subcontracts.Yoho clarified that The Strategy Group for Media had been hired for media work at DHS, but not to the degree Schiff had outlined."We provided limited production services, for which we received $226,137.17 for video and audio production, a sum representing approximately one-tenth of one percent of the contract value [Schiff] referenced," Yoho wrote in his letter.HAKEEM JEFFRIES SAYS DEMS WILL NOT BACK FUNDING BILL FOR 'KILLING MACHINE' DHS EVEN IF NOEM IS FIREDHe also noted that the services didn’t directly go to DHS."The facts are The Strategy Group for Media was hired by Safe America Media LLC to serve as a subcontractor to them for production work," Yoho explained, referring to a separate company partnering with the agency.Yoho is married to Tricia McLaughlin, the former assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS who left her job last month.DHS DEFENDS MCLAUGHLIN AFTER ALLEGATIONS HUSBAND'S COMPANY PROFITED MILLIONS FROM AD CONTRACTS: 'BASELESS'The pair’s connection to DHS came under scrutiny in the Senate when former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was probed by lawmakers about a $220 million ad campaign she had used to highlight the agency’s work. Democrats like Schiff hinted that some of that $220 million figure had ended up lining the pockets of those with close ties to the agency.HOUSE GOP LEADER LAUNCHES SENATE BID AS TRUMP TAPS MARKWAYNE MULLIN FOR DHS"This statement is factually incorrect, and I respectfully request that you have your colleague correct the official record and issue an apology," Yoho wrote.Noem was removed as head of DHS shortly after President Donald Trump learned she told senators that he had approved the $220 million DHS ad campaign that featured her prominently throughout. Reports surfaced after the hearings saying that Trump was "furious" with Noem over her performance in bicameral Judiciary Committee hearings earlier this month, particularly over a contract for an advertisement that Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., and others grilled her on.Trump reportedly took… [TheTopNews] Read More.

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — Vice President JD Vance hinted at targeting California as the next state where major fraud investigations will take place and revealed that fraud discovered in the Minneapolis area has "probably been $19 billion at least" since the administration began investigating in the Twin Cities.  In January, Vance announced an interagency task force within the Department of Justice that specifically targets fraud, and reports suggest the vice president will soon lead a new task force established through a Trump executive order. "We know there's a lot of fraud in California, and we're trying to get to the bottom of exactly what it looks like and what we've done in the Trump administration," Vance said in response to a question by Fox News Digital following his speech Friday afternoon at the Power House event center that focused on the economy, public safety and election integrity. "And the president has really empowered us to do this, is to take the first national look at the way the American people have been defrauded over many, many years."In January, President Donald Trump was critical of California, announcing that the "fraud investigation of California has begun," and said that the state was "more corrupt than Minnesota."COMER TO SAY TIM WALZ 'ENABLED FRAUD,' FAILED WHISTLEBLOWERS IN BOMBSHELL MINNESOTA HEARINGDemocratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom defended the Golden State's fraud protection in February, saying that California's Franchise Tax Board has blocked billions in fraud in recent years."In the actual world where adults govern — Gavin Newsom has been cleaning house," a spokesperson for Newsom told Fox News Digital. "Since taking office, he’s blocked over $125 BILLION in fraud, arrested criminal parasites leaching off of taxpayers, and protected taxpayers from the exact kind of scam artists Trump celebrates, excuses, and pardons."Gavin Newsom runs a state," the spokesperson added. "Donald Trump runs his mouth. Again and again, we’ve shown that the programs they are attempting to call out are programs the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT is administering, not the state. We suggest they get their house in order."Vance on Friday pointed to fraud that has occurred in Minnesota, telling Fox News Digital and reporters that taxpayer dollars are footing the bill for the illegal misuse of funds.JD VANCE SPEARHEADS 'WAR ON FRAUD,' PROMISES TO ROOT OUT TAXPAYER MONEY 'STOLEN' BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS"You asked about Minnesota, [and] we think that there's probably been $19 billion at least to fraud just committed in Minneapolis… [TheTopNews] Read More.