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GOP Arizona governor candidate drops out but doesn't endorse
Confidence requires clarity.

Karrin Taylor Robson dropped out of the Arizona Republican gubernatorial primary despite being one of the two candidates in the race backed by President Donald Trump.
"After deep reflection, prayer, and many conversations with my family, I have decided to suspend my campaign for Governor," Robson said in a statement posted to X on Thursday.
She explained that she does not want to contribute to a contentious GOP primary. 
HOCHUL PRIMARY CHALLENGER ANTONIO DELGADOO ENDS CAMPAIGN FOR NEW YORK GOVERNOR
"We cannot afford a divisive Republican primary that drains resources and turns into months of intraparty attacks. It only weakens our conservative cause and gives the left exactly what they want: a fractured Republican Party heading into November. With so much on the line in 2026, I am not willing to contribute to that outcome," she noted in the statement.
Robson did not make an endorsement.
"I remain committed to helping Republicans win in 2026 and to ensuring Arizona remains strong, safe, and free for generations to come," she noted in the statement.
Trump had pledged to support her for governor in 2024. 
"Are you running for governor? I think so Karrin, cuz if you do, you're gonna have my support," Trump said at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest in December 2024.
ADAM SCHIFF MAKES ENDORSEMENT IN CALFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL RACE
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., launched a gubernatorial bid in January 2025, and Robson launched her bid in February 2025 — but in April 2025, Trump made the unorthodox move of announcing that he endorsed both of them.
"I like Karrin Taylor Robson of Arizona a lot, and when she asked me to Endorse her, with nobody else running, I Endorsed her, and was happy to do so. When Andy Biggs decided to run for Governor, quite unexpectedly, I had a problem — Two fantastic candidates, two terrific people, two wonderful champions, and it is therefore my Great Honor TO GIVE MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT TO BOTH. Either one will never let you down. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Trump declared in an April 2025 Truth Social post.
In 2022, Robson lost the GOP gubernatorial primary in Arizona to Kari Lake, who went on to lose the general election to Democrat Katie Hobbs.
TRUMP BACKS REPUBLICAN RIVALS IN ARIZONA GOVERNOR'S RACE AFTER REP. BIGGS ENTERS CONTEST: ‘I HAD A PROBLEM’
Hobbs is seeking re-election this year.
Rep. David Schweikert, R-Arizona, is another Republican seeking the Grand Canyon State governorship.

Virginia Supreme Court expected hear redistricting challenge
Confidence requires clarity.

Virginia’s state Supreme Court will likely decide whether state Democrats’ gerrymander push can proceed after an appeals court on Wednesday pushed the case to the high court.

The state Circuit Court of Appeals, in a motion, stated that the case is of “such imperative public importance as to justify the deviation from normal appellate practice and to require prompt decision in the Supreme Court.”

The move comes after a court in Tazewell County last week blocked Virginia Democrats from going forward with gerrymandering, ruling that the Democrat-led Legislature had wrongly approved a constitutional amendment that would allow for mid-decade redrawing of congressional districts ahead of the midterms this fall.

The move by the appeals court is a potential bright spot for Democrats, who had been stymied by the lower court ruling blocking the party’s attempt to gain upwards of four seats in the midterms through redistricting. Currently, Democrats hold six seats in the state while Republicans control five.

The Republican-backed group Virginians for Fair Maps, one of the main organizations against redistricting in the state, declined to comment.

Virginians for Fair Elections, the Democrat-affiliated group launched last month to urge voters to approve the measure, declined to comment on the record.

Last October, Democratic lawmakers began the process of redrawing maps in the state, an effort that only gained traction after voters elected Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger in the November election and the GOP lost 13 seats in the House of Delegates.

Virginia Democrats had been so confident prior to the Tazewell County court ruling that party leaders vowed to unveil new maps it wanted Virginia voters to approve by the end of last month, with promises of unveiling a map that goes as far as 10-1 in favor of their party.

Virginia is seen as the top prize in Democrats’ redistricting push, especially if Republican-led Florida redraws its maps under Gov. Ron DeSantis. More GOP-led states could also move to draw more red-leaning states if the Supreme Court rules to strike down portions of the Voting Rights Act.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that the Virginia Supreme Court did not formally accept the Appeals Court request at the time of publication.

‘They were spying’: Sullivan sounds alarm on joint Russia-China moves in US Arctic zone
What's the endgame here?

Joint Russian and Chinese military aircraft and vessels have entered the U.S. Arctic air defense identification zone (ADIZ) near Alaska dozens of times in recent months, Sen. Dan Sullivan said in an interview with Fox News Digital, warning the activity amounts to coordinated pressure on America’s northern defenses.
Sullivan, R-Alaska, said data compiled by his office shows mostly airborne incursions — and at times joint patrols — along with several naval and "research" vessels operating inside the ADIZ, a buffer zone where aircraft must identify themselves but are not automatically denied access.
"They were spying on us," Sullivan said, arguing the missions amount to strategic surveillance and have accelerated efforts to reopen the Navy base at Adak and expand Arctic infrastructure.
Sullivan led a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing last month that secured $25 billion in new Coast Guard funding, including $4.5 billion for infrastructure upgrades such as a deepwater port in Nome — one of the closest U.S. cities to Russia — and additional Arctic icebreakers. The U.S. currently operates two icebreakers, one of which is out of service, compared with Russia’s reported 54.
RUSSIA, CHINA SQUEEZE US ARCTIC DEFENSE ZONE AS TRUMP EYES GREENLAND
Among the projects is a plan to reopen the military base on Adak Island near the end of the Aleutian chain, roughly 6,000 miles from Washington but on Russia’s doorstep.
Adak played a key role during World War II, when Japanese forces attacked parts of the Aleutians, and it later served as a Cold War outpost monitoring Soviet activity in the North Pacific.
"We have Adak Navy Base being reopened. We have this strategic deepwater port of Nome that's finally being built [where] every essential Navy or Coast Guard asset with the exception of an aircraft carrier can port, and the icebreaker Storis being homeported in Juneau. There's a lot going on," Sullivan said.  "We're continuing to press it, and you know what I like to do with all the military services is press, press, press, press."
TRUMP SAYS GREENLAND'S DEFENSE IS 'TWO DOG SLEDS' AS HE PUSHES FOR US ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY
Adak also hosts a 20-million-gallon fuel repository, Sullivan said, adding that revitalizing the compound would give U.S. destroyers and other vessels a crucial waypoint as malign activity heats up.
Sullivan said the incursions should concern all Americans, dismissing any suggestion the vessels were conducting benign research or trying to "save the whales." 
"They were there spying on us and looking at submarine routes, looking at cables," he said, …

Battleground states shoulder burden of Trump’s tariffs as midterm messaging ramps up
Why resist verification?

Some of the most hotly contested states in this year’s elections are also footing the nation’s steepest tariff bills, according to an analysis of U.S. Census trade data.
That convergence creates a new economic pressure point at a time when affordability dominates the national midterm debate and the cost of everyday goods remains a top voter concern. Candidates in both parties are campaigning on promises to rein in the cost of groceries, housing and other everyday goods.
All 435 House seats and 33 Senate seats are on the ballot this year, putting Republicans’ slim majorities at risk. Democrats need four seats to reclaim the Senate, while Republicans can afford to lose just two in the House.
US TARIFF REVENUE UP 300% UNDER TRUMP AS SUPREME COURT BATTLE LOOMS
Tariffs factor directly into those costs.
Tariffs are taxes the federal government places on imported goods. While American importers pay those duties at the border, economists say businesses often pass the added costs along, raising prices as the expense moves through supply chains.
California and Texas — the nation’s two largest state economies — top the list in tariff totals at $38 billion and $21 billion, driven by the volume of imports flowing through major ports and industrial supply chains. 
Among the states with the most consequential Senate races are Georgia and Michigan, both of which carry sizable tariff burdens, underscoring how deeply their economies are intertwined with international trade.
Other states bearing the brunt of hefty tariff bills include Illinois ($9.6 billion), Ohio ($6.5 billion), Pennsylvania ($6.3 billion), North Carolina ($5 billion), South Carolina ($5.2 billion) and Kentucky ($4 billion).
Even as states shoulder billions in tariff costs, collections nationwide have climbed 300% since President Donald Trump's return to office, significantly boosting federal revenue.
January collections hit $30.4 billion, a 275% jump from a year earlier, pushing fiscal-year revenue to $124 billion, more than triple last year’s pace.
TRUMP CALLS TARIFF WINDFALL 'SO BEAUTIFUL TO SEE' AS CASH SAILS IN
The surge in revenue has become a cornerstone of Trump’s economic agenda, with the administration arguing tariffs can fund domestic priorities, chip away at the nation’s $38 trillion debt and finance a proposed $2,000 dividend check for Americans. Trump has promoted the policy as a strategy to revive domestic industry and extract concessions from foreign trading partners.
But the policy faces a pivotal test at the Supreme Court, which has yet to rule on whether the tariffs fall within Trump’s …

How Trump’s order to have the military buy coal would actually work
Is this competence or optics?

President Donald Trump says the military will start "buying a lot of coal" as part of a new push to boost domestic coal production and strengthen what he describes as the reliability of the U.S. power grid. Turning that pledge into reality, however, will require navigating Pentagon procurement rules, congressional funding limits and the physical constraints of the electric grid.
A new executive order, signed Wednesday, directs the secretary of war to "seek to procure" power from coal-fired facilities through long-term power purchase agreements serving military installations and other mission-critical facilities. It also calls on the Department of Energy to help keep certain coal plants online.
But executive orders set policy direction — they do not automatically create new funding or rewrite electricity market rules. The order itself states that implementation must be consistent with applicable law and "subject to the availability of appropriations."
"Executive orders can’t drive appropriations," said Jerry McGinn, a former Pentagon official and now executive director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 
LIZ PEEK: TRUMP WHITE HOUSE FIRED UP ABOUT KING COAL’S RETURN TO POWER
What the War Department can do is direct its contracting offices to pursue agreements with coal-fired plants where feasible. 
The military routinely enters into long-term electricity supply agreements to power individual installations, including projects at bases such as Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and Fort Cavazos in Texas, where on-site generation has been developed through third-party contracts.
In theory, it could structure deals with nearby coal facilities if officials determine the contracts enhance grid reliability, fuel security or mission assurance — priorities outlined in the order.
"They have a great amount of flexibility," McGinn said, noting that energy sourcing decisions would depend on what is workable at individual installations.
That flexibility, however, operates base by base — not nationwide.
The War Department does not regulate regional electricity markets. It can sign contracts for power serving specific installations, but it does not set dispatch rules for grid operators or dictate fuel choices for civilian utilities.
Most military bases are connected to regional grids, where electricity from multiple sources — natural gas, nuclear, renewables and coal — is pooled together and dispatched according to market rules. Even if the Pentagon signs a contract with a specific coal plant, the …

Battle for the House runs through Virginia as court OKs high-stakes redistricting vote
Trust is earned, not demanded.

In a crucial decision on Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a high-stakes referendum scheduled for April 21 on congressional redistricting can go forward.
It's a victory for Democrats in Virginia, who are fast-tracking a proposed new congressional map that would give the competitive state up to four more left-leaning U.S. House districts in time for this year's midterm elections.
Virginia is the latest battleground, with Florida on deck, in the ongoing crucial battle between President Donald Trump and Republicans versus Democrats to alter congressional maps ahead of November's elections.
Republicans are defending their razor-thin House majority in the midterms, and Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to win back control of the chamber. That means the redistricting efforts in Virginia and other states may very well decide which party controls the House next year.
VIRGINIA JUDGE STRIKES BLOW TO DEMOCRATS REDISTRICTING PUSH
But the proposed map in Virginia, which the Democrat-controlled legislature is expected to give final approval in the coming days, followed by Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger signing it, still needs the approval of voters in the Commonwealth.
Republicans had challenged the validity of the referendum, arguing that Democrats had erred procedurally when the legislature approved amendments to the state Constitution. And last month, a lower court ruled in the GOP's favor.
But the ruling by the state Supreme Court greenlights the ballot measure, which asks voters to give the legislature, rather than Virginia's current non-partisan commission, redistricting power through the 2030 election.
"Today’s order is a huge win for Virginia voters," Dan Gottlieb, spokesperson for Democrat-aligned Virginians for Fair Elections, said in a statement. "The Court made it clear that nothing in this case stops the April 21 referendum from moving forward and that Virginians will have the final say."
Early voting on the referendum is scheduled to start on March 6.
Friday's ruling on the referendum doesn't mean the legal challenges are over. Democrats are still defending their ability to redraw the maps, and the state Supreme Court may schedule arguments in that case.
Republicans charge that the Democrats' redistricting effort is an "unconstitutional power grab."
Virginians for Fair Maps, a Republican-aligned group that opposes the redistricting push, has highlighted that "Virginians came together to pass bipartisan redistricting reform — a process that took the power to draw maps out of politicians’ hands. Now, politicians in Richmond …

DC attorney general uses RICO Act to charge landlord
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb said Thursday that his office is charging a landlord with the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act for running a “slumlord empire.”

Schwalb alleged that Sam Razjooyan ran a “Ponzi-like” scheme by submitting false loan documents to trick lenders into granting him large loans to purchase rent-controlled properties under the guise of profitable redevelopment and defrauded the district’s housing subsidies programs by more than $16 million.

“We have uncovered evidence of a sprawling illegal enterprise,” Schwalb said at a press conference Thursday. “Today, we have filed a lawsuit to shut down the Razjooyan slumlord empire. The suit we filed this morning is a first-of-its-kind civil lawsuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as the RICO Act.”

Schwalb said the landlord is also being charged under two local laws, the False Claims Act and the Consumer Protection Procedures Act.

Schwalb said his office has previously sued Razjooyan and his family’s real estate business for numerous housing code violations in their Ward 7 properties and for defrauding the district’s rehousing program. He added that the Razjooyans have racked up 4,000 housing code violations across their properties.

Instead of going after Razjooyan’s individual properties, Schwalb said his office is going after the “web of fraud and deception that is core to their business model.” 

Schwalb said Razjooyan has acquired over 70 apartment buildings, primarily located in Ward 7, in the last decade.

Tenants in the landlord’s buildings allegedly dealt with no heat during the winter months, fires due to faulty wiring, and constant foul odors.

Liz Geddes, a former federal prosecutor who previously worked for the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York, told the Washington Examiner that while RICO charges are commonly used in gang and mob cases, they are not limited to those organizations.

“It’s not a one-off person who’s carrying out a string of crimes independent of others, but where someone is able to commit the crimes because they have this group,” Geddes said.

Geddes, a prosecutor who worked on the RICO case against disgraced R&B musician R. Kelly, noted that recent RICO charges against Sean “Diddy” Combs have created confusion for the public regarding how racketeering conspiracy works.

ARIZONA SHERIFF DENIES REPORT HE BLOCKED KEY NANCY GUTHRIE EVIDENCE FROM FBI

According to …

Tom Cotton demands FDA probe into illegal Chinese ingredients in US weight loss drugs
Who's accountable for the results?

FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican is demanding the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigate whether illegal Chinese ingredients are making their way into weight loss drugs in the United States.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., called on FDA Commissioner Martin Makary to probe how far unregulated and illegal Chinese active pharmaceutical ingredients have penetrated the U.S. supply chain — and whether they have ended up in popular weight loss drugs.
"China’s access to America’s pharmaceutical supply chain presents national security risks as well as significant health risks to American patients," Cotton wrote in a letter to Makary first obtained by Fox News Digital.
JELLY ROLL'S WIFE SAYS WEIGHT LOSS DRUG SENT HER INTO ‘WORST SUICIDAL DEPRESSION’
Cotton’s concern follows recent reports from the FDA and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that between September 2023 and January 2025, authorities intercepted 195 illegal shipments of active pharmaceutical ingredients.
He noted that the ingredients were "likely used in compounded weight loss medications" that entered the U.S. market. Of those shipments, roughly 60 originated from China and Hong Kong.
"It is estimated that as of January 2026, up to 1.5 million American patients could be using unregulated compounded weight loss medications that may contain potentially dangerous ingredients from Chinese manufacturers," Cotton wrote.
EXAMINING THE NEXT THREAT FROM COMMUNIST CHINA: OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
The ingredients are typically used in compounded versions of GLP-1 weight loss drugs that are marketed as alternatives to FDA-approved medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services announced it would refer telehealth company Hims & Hers to the Justice Department for "potential violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act" over its planned sale of a compounded, non-FDA-approved weight loss drug.
Makary similarly said the FDA would "take decisive steps to restrict GLP-1 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) intended for use in non-FDA-approved compounded drugs that are being mass-marketed by companies — including Hims & Hers and other compounding pharmacies — as alternatives to FDA-approved drugs."
FETTERMAN BUCKS DEMOCRATS, SAYS PARTY PUT POLITICS OVER COUNTRY IN DHS SHUTDOWN STANDOFF
The company announced last week that it would remove its weight loss pill, billed as a cheaper alternative to Wegovy, from the market following mounting pressure from federal agencies.
Cotton acknowledged that move and called for similar investigations going forward. …

Why Originalism Debates Keep Talking Past Each Other
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.

This post is a structural analysis of how originalism operates in Supreme Court interpretation, rather than commentary on a specific case outcome.
Most arguments about originalism assume the same thing: that the method either constrains judges or it doesn’t. The disagreement usually turns on which side someone thinks is true. A different way to look at it is that originalism can do both — but under different institutional conditions.
When historical meaning is clear and widely shared, originalism tends to operate as a constraint. Judges inherit an understanding that already limits the range of plausible outcomes. But when historical meaning is thin or contested, the same method shifts function. Instead of limiting choice, it supplies materials for reconstructing constitutional meaning in the absence of consensus.
The missing variable in many debates is settlement. Settlement doesn’t mean moral agreement or theoretical unity. It means disagreement has narrowed to the point that it no longer determines outcomes. Endurance alone doesn’t create settlement. A doctrine can persist for decades while remaining fundamentally contested. Under those conditions, courts may administer doctrine coherently without that administration maturing into shared constitutional authority.
This also explains why arguments about judicial discretion rarely resolve. Discretion is unavoidable in any interpretive method. The real question is where it’s exercised. In settled domains, discretion happens earlier, during the formation of consensus. In unsettled domains, it happens later, through judicial reconstruction. Originalism doesn’t eliminate discretion so much as relocate it.
This perspective isn’t a defense or critique of particular cases. It’s a way of describing why intelligent participants can share a method and still reach different conclusions, and why those disagreements often persist.
I’ve written a much fuller synthesis essay with the complete framework on Substack for anyone interested.
Full essay here: Originalism, Constraint, and the Conditions of Authority

Billions in foreign cash tied to US climate network draws scrutiny from Republican AGs

FIRST ON FOX: Nineteen Republican attorneys general on Friday asked the Department of Justice to investigate dozens of U.S.-based nonprofits for potential violations of federal foreign agent laws after receiving nearly $2 billion in foreign funding over the past decade.
The state attorneys general urged Attorney General Pam Bondi and the DOJ’s national security division head, John Eisenberg, to open the probe after the nonprofits accepted the funding from five foreign-based climate foundations, according to a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital.
The funding may have been used to improperly influence U.S. energy policies without the nonprofits registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the attorneys general wrote.
CLIMATE GROUP SCRUBS JUDGES' NAMES FROM WEBSITE AFTER UNEARTHED CHATS UNMASKED COZY TIES
The attorneys general identified more than 150 U.S.-based organizations the DOJ should investigate, saying there was "substantial evidence" that many of them were violating FARA by "engaging in coordinated funding and advocacy efforts to influence U.S. energy policy and undermine American energy independence."
The five foreign groups named in the letter, the Oak Foundation, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Quadrature Climate Foundation, KR Foundation and Laudes Foundation, were found by the conservative watchdog Americans for Public Trust to have funneled the money to the smaller organizations over the past decade.
The letter was led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen. Fox News Digital reached out to the five groups for comment.
The attorneys general alleged the foreign foundations used funding to "direct climate activism and influence energy policy in the United States, including by funding U.S. policy fights, litigation, research, protests, and lobbying to advance an extreme, foreign, activist agenda."
BOMBSHELL REPORT SHOWS FOREIGN CHARITIES DUMPED BILLIONS INTO US POLITICAL ADVOCACY GROUPS, 'ERODE' DEMOCRACY'
At least one of the foreign groups, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, "has documented ties to the Chinese Communist Party," the attorneys general said.
They noted a separate December 2025 request from more than two dozen state attorneys general seeking a FARA investigation into two U.S.-based groups connected to CIFF.
Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.
Under the FARA statute, entities must register if they act as an "agent" of a "foreign principal" and engage in certain political activities.
The attorneys general argued the foreign foundations qualified as foreign principals because they …