Vice President Kamala Harris took aim at Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Monday for reportedly not taking her calls regarding federal storm relief efforts as a second powerful hurricane bears down on Florida.

“People are in desperate need of support right now and playing political games at this moment in these crisis situations…is just utterly irresponsible, and it is selfish,” Harris charged on Monday. “It is about political gamesmanship, instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do, which is to put the people first.”

The vice president’s comments came a couple of hours after reports from NBC and later ABC News that the Florida governor was not taking calls from Harris regarding storm recovery efforts, citing unnamed aides to the governor who said the calls seemed political in nature.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS WEATHER UPDATES ON HURRICANE MILTON

Asked about ther reports at a hurricane news conference, DeSantis said he wasn’t aware Harris was trying to reach him.

“I didn’t know that she had called. I’m not sure who they called. They didn’t call me,” he said. “It wasn’t anything that anybody in my office did, in terms of saying it was political.”

CLICK HERE FOR UP-TO-DATE FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE STORMS

Asked again about the report, the governor reiterated “I didn’t know that she had called.”

The dispute comes as Hurricane Milton, now an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm, is on course to slam into Florida Wednesday evening.

Milton is bearing down on Florida as the death toll rises and roughly a quarter of a million people remain without power or running water a week and a half after Hurricane Helen tore a path of destruction through Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, Tennessee, and parts of Virginia.

President Biden made stops last week in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida to survey storm damage from Hurricane Helene. While Biden was in Florida, DeSantis was holding a separate press event across the state in another area damaged from the storm.

“We were in Florida, we invited the governor of Florida to come, it was his decision not to attend,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday. “The president has reached out around Hurricane Helene. He reached out. It is up to the governor, it is really up to the governor.”

The White House said hours later that the president held separate calls with DeSantis and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor “to get a firsthand report on recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene, and to discuss preparations for Hurricane Milton.”

According to the White House, Biden urged the governor and the mayor to “call him directly if there is anything that can be done to further support the response and recovery efforts.”

Asked about the federal response, DeSantis said during his news conference that “we have gotten what we need from the feds….the president has approved what we asked for….I’m thankful for that.”

“Everything we’ve asked for from President Biden, he’s approved,” DeSantis highlighted.

With four weeks to go until Election Day in November and Harris and former President Trump locked in a bitter margin-of-error showdown in the race to succeed Biden in the White House, and with two of the hardest-hit states from Helene — North Carolina and Georgia — among the seven key battlegrounds that will likely determine the outcome of the 2024 election – the politics of federal disaster relief are once again front and center on the campaign trail.

Trump, for a week and a half, has been repeatedly attacking Biden and Harris over the federal response to Hurricane Helene. Harris, on Monday, clapped back, accusing Trump of pushing “a lot of mis and disinformation.” 

Fox News Nick Rojas contributed to this story.

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

Welcome to the politics of disaster relief.

Republicans are excoriating the Biden/Harris administration for how it responded to Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, Tennessee and other parts of the South. This is now about to be a double whammy as Hurricane Milton bears down on Florida.

It unfolds amid a tight presidential election. So the disaster response is now infused with politics in swing states like North Carolina and Georgia. There is also a competitive but not top-tier Senate race in Florida.

Storms can disrupt the typical electorate. The usual people who vote might not make it to the polls. It’s hard to care about voting if you’re low on food, lack electricity and can’t even make it out of the holler in western North Carolina because Helene wrecked the road.

‘IMMEDIATELY RECONVENE’: SCOTT URGES SCHUMER TO RECALL SENATE AMID HELENE’S DEVASTATION

Pray tell, where should you vote in Tampa or Sarasota if your basement is swamped by Milton – after getting drenched when Helene spun through a few weeks ago? You were going to vote at the school down the street. But now it lacks power. You’re now living at your sister’s house inland. But you’re not registered to vote there …

You see what we’re getting at.

Republicans are hammering the Biden/Harris administration for its response to the storm.

“It’s like the DMV at industrial scale,” said Republican vice presidential nominee and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, on Fox. “It is incompetence of the highest order.”

“At the federal level, this has been a massive failure,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. “When you talk to the people who are directly affected, they will tell you that this has been an abject failure. FEMA has lost sight of its core mission. The administration has not shown that they were prepared for this eventuality in this terrible disaster.”

“Kamala Harris has left them stranded. This is the worst response to a storm or a catastrophe or a hurricane that we’ve ever seen. Probably worse than Katrina. And that’s hard to beat, right?” asked former President Trump.

Storm responses are challenging. Hurricane Andrew was a powerful Category 5 storm that swept through Florida in August 1992. Former President George H.W. Bush’s tepid response to Andrew slashed his support in Florida. “Bush 41” wound up narrowly winning Florida, besting former President Clinton by less than 2%. Bush won Florida by 22 points four years earlier. Moreover, the response to Hurricane Andrew raised questions about the competence of the administration weeks before the election. It’s believed that cost Bush a few points nationwide.

When Clinton took office, he immediately beefed up FEMA to prepare and respond to other natural disasters.

BIDEN GETS DEFENSIVE WHEN PUSHED ON WHO’S COMMANDING’ HURRICANE HELENE RESPONSE

So, part of this tactic is the natural extension of Republicans to undercut the Biden/Harris administration at nearly every turn. This is another component of the GOP narrative that the administration can’t handle the economy. Can’t handle foreign policy. Can’t handle the border.

Did someone say the border?

“We give $20 billion a year to FEMA. And unfortunately, they have drained everything dry,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., on Fox Business. “We spent $200 billion in Ukraine. We spent $220-$500 a month on our illegal aliens.”

This is where things get tricky.

FEMA is under the aegis of the Department of Homeland Security. DHS runs a program that sends money to cities besieged by the illegal migrant crisis. Some of the money goes for food and shelter for those in the country illegally. But it also helps those towns cope by addressing strains on their medical systems and other services.

Money for disaster recovery and migrant assistance constitute two separate line items in the DHS budget. Congress approved money for both these programs. In fact, some Republicans would prefer to spend more to help their communities grapple with an infusion of illegal immigration.

SPEAKER JOHNSON ADDRESSES CLAIMS FEMA DIVERTED FUNDS TO IMMIGRATION EFFORTS: ‘AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE DISGUSTED’

About $640 million currently goes to assist these towns beset by an influx of illegal migrants. But some lawmakers would like that to spike to as much as $3 billion next year.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., introduced legislation to halt the migrant assistance program. And Johnson blurred the line between FEMA disaster aid and migrants and the border.

“FEMA should be involved and the Federal Emergency Management Association. Their mission is to help people in times like this of natural disaster. Not to be engaged in using any pool of funding from any account for resettling illegal aliens who have come across the border,” said Johnson on Fox.

Other Republicans believe this may be an opportunity to recalibrate spending overall. Keep in mind that many Republicans look askance at foreign aid to Ukraine.

“As an elected official, it’s our responsibility to put Americans first. Whether you’re in Florida, in my district or you’re anywhere in the union, I think that it’s important for us to prioritize Americans and restore hope and let them know they’re not forgotten,” said Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., on Fox.

But some Republicans compared issues with FEMA’s response to how the administration addresses other subjects.

KJP SLAMMED AFTER HURRICANE HELENE OVER MIXED MESSAGES ON WHETHER FEMA RESOURCES USED FOR MIGRANTS

“This administration seems to have no problem finding money when they want to spend it on their priorities. When they need hundreds of billions of dollars to pay off student loans for graduate students and gender studies programs, they somehow find it. When it’s trying to get helicopters to deliver food and water and cellular service and lifesaving medicine into these mountain valleys, they somehow can’t seem to find the money,” declared Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on NBC.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell castigated Republicans for suggesting FEMA was focused on other issues rather than the storms.

“It’s frankly ridiculous and just plain false. This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people,” said Criswell on ABC.

Before leaving Washington, Congress green-lighted $20 billion for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) as part of the interim spending plan to avoid a government shutdown. But Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas muddled matters when he said FEMA had enough funds to respond to Helene for “immediate needs” but not enough to get through “the season.”

The “season” to which Mayorkas refers is the annual hurricane “season.” It stretches through Nov. 30. Note that Mayorkas made this remark when there was the potential for another storm, but Milton hadn’t yet formed in the Gulf of Mexico.

Some Republicans pounced on Mayorkas. But after considering the severity of Helene, it will likely draw down the DRF for “immediate needs.” The key phrase here is “immediate needs.” Milton will probably do the same. That’s why Congress must likely tackle disaster relief in at least two tranches when it returns to session in November. Lawmakers will need to refill the DRF. And the price tags will start to roll in for Helene and Milton. That’s to say nothing of outstanding disasters like Hurricane Beryl in Texas, tornadoes in Iowa, a typhoon on Guam and wildfires in Hawaii.

FEMA HAS FUNDS NEEDED FOR ‘IMMEDIATE RESPONSE AND RECOVERY,’ DESPITE MAYORKAS’ WARNING

However, Johnson is unwilling to summon lawmakers back to Washington to grapple with disasters.

“You don’t just send estimates to the federal government. You send specific needs and requests based upon the actual damages. And that takes some time, especially with storms of this magnitude. So Congress will do its job,” said Johnson on Fox.

So, lawmakers must first reload the DRF for future immediate needs, then mete out bigger chunks of change for Americans to cope with the impacts of Helene and Milton. The government funding deadline is Dec. 20. It’s possible that the latter chunk of funding is folded into spending measures around Christmas.

But as for the politics? The election is fast approaching. The storms could impact voting this fall. And while Helene and Milton will certainly leave a mark meteorologically, they will probably leave a mark electorally, too.

Former President Trump on Monday described illegal immigrant murderers as having “bad genes” and warned that there are “a lot of bad genes in our country” as illegal immigrant crime remains a top issue for voters ahead of the November election.

“How about allowing people to come to an open border, 13,000 of which were murderers, many of them murdered far more than one person, and they’re now happily living in the United States,” the 2024 Republican presidential nominee told radio host Hugh Hewitt.

Trump appeared to be referring to the more than 13,000 illegal immigrants in the U.S. who are on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s non-detained docket with a conviction for homicide. The data was revealed in a letter to lawmakers last month. Some of those, although it is unclear how many, will be in federal or state prisons, and many came into the U.S. in prior administrations. The data says that, among those not in detention, there are 425,431 convicted criminals on the docket, up from about 405,000 in June 2021 and 368,000 in April 2016.

NEW POLL REVEALS TRUMP HAS SIGNIFICANT LEAD ON IMMIGRATION, BORDER SECURITY IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE

The data revelation has again fired up the issue of illegal immigrant crime, which has been a top concern for many voters amid a massive border security crisis in which record numbers were seen at the border and a number of high-profile crimes committed allegedly by illegal immigrants.

“You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now,” he said.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

Trump appeared to be referring only to murderers, but some media outlets quickly pounced on Trump’s words and accused him of referring to immigrants more broadly. An NBC News headline described it as the “latest disparagement of migrants” from the former president.

The Washington Post, Politico and other mainstream media outlets also echoed this same narrative. Mediaite described Trump’s comment as “chilling” and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “That type of language is hateful, it’s disgusting, it’s inappropriate. It has no place in our country.”

Trump has promised to take a tougher line on illegal immigration as well as some forms of legal immigration. He has promised to launch a massive deportation campaign if elected. He has also promised to finish the border wall that he started in his first administration and end Biden-era parole programs that have brought hundreds of thousands of migrants into the U.S.

Polls generally show that Trump is leading his Democrat opponent, Vice President Harris, on the issues of immigration and border security. Republicans have said that the Biden administration encouraged and fueled the border crisis by rolling back Trump-era policies and expanding catch-and-release.

VANCE, WALZ SPAR ON IMMIGRATION DURING VP DEBATE: BEEN TO THE BORDER ‘MORE THAN OUR BORDER CZAR’

Harris has sought to position herself as the candidate better suited to handle border security, pointing to her past as a prosecutor who went after transnational criminal organizations. She has also backed a bipartisan border security bill unveiled this year that would surge funding for the border and also limit some asylum entries.

Harris and the Biden administration have accused Trump of opposing that bill for political purposes, but conservatives have said the bill would only codify high levels of illegal immigration.

Meanwhile, border encounters are down sharply at the border, with a drop of more than 50% since the summer. The administration puts that down in part to an executive order signed by President Biden that limits asylum entries into the U.S. Harris recently supported a move to toughen up that order further.

Former Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney officially endorsed Vice President Harris for the Oval Office, breaking from the GOP to hit the campaign trail with the Democrat ticket in the key battleground state of Wisconsin last week. 

Fox News Digital traveled to Casper, Wyoming, over the weekend to speak to voters about their thoughts on the upcoming election and Cheney snubbing the Republican presidential ticket in favor of endorsing Harris this cycle. Voters in the Cowboy State overwhelmingly admonished Cheney for the endorsement, with some slamming her as a “traitor” and “turncoat.”

“I’m not impressed with that at all,” Clark Johnson told Fox News Digital when asked about his thoughts on Cheney campaigning with Harris last week in Wisconsin. 

“I think it’s ridiculous. I think she’s a traitor to the country,” another Wyomingite, Gunner Berg, said of the campaign event.

KAMALA HARRIS TEAMS UP WITH LIZ CHENEY IN BIRTHPLACE OF REPUBLICAN PARTY

Cheney, who is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is a vocal critic of former President Trump, putting her at odds with the Republican Party and her former constituents, who overwhelmingly supported Trump in his 2016 and 2020 elections. Wyoming is again expected to vote red this election.

The vast majority of voters who spoke to Fox Digital from Casper said they are no fan of Cheney’s and that she would unlikely hold another elected office in Wyoming due to her politics.

“I’m definitely not a fan, and it definitely kind of turned some tables there,” Dillon Sigman said, adding that he does not believe Cheney could again successfully run for office in Wyoming.

“I think Liz Cheney, who originally was a Wyoming person that moved to Connecticut and then returned to Wyoming wearing cowboy blue jeans and a cowboy rodeo belt buckle and seated herself, completely flipped and became a turncoat. Liz has gone totally Democratic and appears to be down the road of the DEI inclusion and all the other dysfunctional things that are going on in her government,” said a Wyoming resident who identified himself as “Ralph.”

“I support her decision to campaign for whoever she chooses. However, I do not think that she is a voice for the Wyoming people. The majority of people I know do not back Kamala Harris or that campaign,” Alicia Kellch told Fox Digital.

NIKKI HALEY DEFENDS TRUMP SUPPORT AFTER BEING CALLED OUT BY LIZ CHENEY: ‘THIS IS ABOUT AMERICA’

Kellch said it is unlikely Cheney would be re-elected in Wyoming if she were to pursue such an avenue, adding that she believes many people who initially voted for Cheney feel “sold out once they got her in office and realized what her true intentions were.”

Chuck Kucera added in an interview that Cheney is a “backstabber,” quipping that a Harris campaign event is “probably a good place for her.”

John Shelton said Cheney could “never” run for office again in Wyoming and that he wouldn’t vote for her even “if she’s the last one to be voted for.”

One Wyoming resident told Fox Digital that Cheney teaming up with Harris didn’t “bother” him and didn’t view it as an issue, while noting that “most folks in Wyoming don’t agree with” Cheney endorsing Harris.

JAN 6 COMMITTEE ALLEGEDLY SUPPRESSED TESTIMONY SHOWING TRUMP ADMIN PUSHED FOR NATIONAL GUARD PRESENCE: REPORT

Two Wyoming residents told Fox News Digital they support Cheney teaming with Harris, with Jennifer Dillinger saying it was “absolutely amazing.”

“It’s amazing how somebody who is extremely conservative, has been Republican her entire life but will support the Constitution and the country and not be specific for the party,” Dillinger said, adding that it’s unlikely Cheney would make a successful return to Wyoming politics as the state is “too conservative.”

TRUMP CALLS LIZ CHENEY A ‘LOW IQ WAR HAWK’ AFTER APPEARANCE IN SUPPORT OF HARRIS

Another woman, Randi Chepke, said she’s “thrilled that Liz Cheney is supporting Kamala Harris,” arguing that Cheney is “putting our country above her party.”

Chepke added that Cheney’s endorsement of Harris will “absolutely” encourage some Republican voters to cast ballots for Harris next month.

“I think that she is a die-hard conservative and that she is stating her case about why she thinks it’s important to put democracy first. And, you know, frankly, democracy is much more important than the cost of a loaf of bread or a gallon of gas at this point in our lives,” Chepke said.

Cheney joined Harris in Ripon, Wisconsin, which bills itself as the birthplace of the GOP, on Thursday, and formally endorsed Harris for president. 

“I have never voted for a Democrat, but this year I am proudly casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris,” Cheney told the audience. “As a conservative, as a patriot, as a mother, as someone who reveres our Constitution, I am honored to join her in this urgent cause.”

LIZ CHENEY CALLS SPEAKER JOHNSON ‘DANGEROUS’ FOR HELPING TRUMP ‘UNDERMINE OUR REPUBLIC’

Harris praised Cheney as a leader who “puts country above party and above self, a true patriot.”

Cheney was the third-most powerful Republican in Congress from 2019 to 2021 but saw her rising star fade in the party as she launched repeated attacks against Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

“What is important is to recognize we just had a violent mob assault the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to prevent us from carrying out our constitutional duty,” Cheney said on Jan. 6 after Trump supporters stormed into the Capitol.

“There is no question that the president formed the mob. The president incited the mob, the president addressed the mob. This is what America is not.”

HOUSE JAN 6 COMMITTEE DELETED MORE THAN 100 ENCRYPTED FILES DAYS BEFORE GOP TOOK MAJORITY: SOURCES

Cheney went on to vote to impeach Trump on a charge of inciting an insurrection, sat on the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack to investigate the protest and has continued leveling attacks on Trump this year. 

“I ask you to stand in truth. To reject the depraved cruelty of Donald Trump,” Cheney told the Harris supporters in Wisconsin last week.

Trump has meanwhile slammed Cheney as “a low IQ War Hawk” who suffers “gravely from Trump Derangement Syndrome.” 

Cheney lost her GOP congressional primary in Wyoming to Harriet Hageman in 2022, a candidate backed by Trump. She has not announced another run for political office, but Cheney has fueled speculation since leaving the House that she could one day run for president.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. 

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

Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. 

What’s happening…

– Trump-Vance ticket has done combined 65 interviews since August compared to 26 for Harris-Walz

–SCOTUS kicks off historic term under scrutiny amid ethics code debate

– Women for Trump, Goya team up to provide relief to Hurricane Helene victims in Georgia

Anti-Israel protesters set up an encampment outside the home of a Jewish Democratic House member on the eve of the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, the congressman revealed on social media.

Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, posted on X overnight announcing that a group of people with their faces covered had congregated outside his house, prompting his family to get police escorts in order to exit and enter their home.

“A group of masked anti-Israel protesters assembled outside my home early Sunday morning and remained through the evening, forcing police to escort my family in and out of our house for safety,” the lawmaker declared in a post that included a photo of the group. “The protesters refuse to leave, setting up tents, cots, and sleeping bags in their encampment in the road, and are spending the night harassing my family outside our home. It’s not clear if or when they will leave,” he added in another tweet…Read more

‘WE’VE BEEN FAILED’: American father of Hamas hostage Itay Chen pushes US, Israel on ‘Plan B’ as negotiations falter…Read more

LASTING TRAUMA: One-year anniversary of Oct. 7 attacks arrives with lasting trauma for Israelis, American Jews…Read more

‘BRING THEM HOME’: Vance gives full-throated support for Israel, has choice words for Biden-Harris at Oct 7 memorial rally…Read more

TEXAS LAW UPHELD: Supreme Court denies Biden administration appeal over federal emergency abortion requirement in Texas…Read more

FIRST ON FOX: Kamala Harris courts disillusioned Arab Americans over Jewish groups, records show…Read more

1 YEAR LATER: Senate Republicans mark Oct 7 attack 1 year out as Israel-Hamas war continues…Read more

GEORGIA ON HIS MIND: Georgia GOP chair shares 2-pronged election strategy as Trump works to win back Peach State…Read more

NJ SENATE RACE: GOP New Jersey Senate candidate Curtis Bashaw nearly passes out during debate…Read more

THE EARLY VOTING BEGINS: Early voting begins in California, Texas, 5 other states…Read more

TRUMP GAINING GROUND: New poll shows who Hispanics are backing in southwest swing states…Read more

‘RADICAL AS THEY COME’: Battleground Senate candidate unloads on ‘radical’ Dem opponent for disparaging Trump voters…Read more

CHARGED UP: Michigan Dem launches anti-EV ad in bid for Senate race after voting against a bipartisan pushback on mandates…Read more

‘DOUBLE WHAMMY’: Lake rips Biden-Harris ‘double whammy’ policies affecting Arizonans : ‘Driven us over the cliff’…Read more

‘HAVEN’T DONE THAT MUCH’: ‘We haven’t done that much’: Former Estonia head says US fears of escalation with Putin are unwarranted…Read more

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday stopped a lower court’s ruling from last week that allowed abortions up to 22 weeks, as opposed to six weeks, as it considers an appeal filed by the state.

The order from the state Supreme Court came a week after Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that abortions must be regulated the way they were before the “Heartbeat Law” went into effect, meaning abortions could be allowed until the 22-week mark.

The Associated Press reported that Justice John J. Ellington argued against McBurney’s ruling, saying the case “should not be predetermined in the State’s favor before the appeal is even docketed.”

“The State should not be in the business of enforcing laws that have been determined to violate fundamental rights guaranteed to millions of individuals under the Georgia Constitution,” Ellington wrote. “The ‘status quo’ that should be maintained is the state of the law before the challenged laws took effect.”

GEORGIA JUDGE OVERTURNS STATE’S 6-WEEK ‘HEARTBEAT’ ABORTION LAW, CALLS IT ‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL’

Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed the “Heartbeat” abortion bill, also known as the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act, into law in 2019. The law made abortions after the six-week mark illegal.

McBurney called the law “unconstitutional.”

“The authors of our Constitutions, state and federal, entrusted to future generations a charter protecting the right of all persons to enjoy liberty as we learn its meaning,” McBurney wrote in his final order last week. “A review of our higher courts’ interpretations of ‘liberty’ demonstrates that liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices.

GEORGIA GOV BRIAN KEMP SIGNS CONTROVERSIAL ‘HEARTBEAT’ BILL INTO LAW

“That power is not, however, unlimited,” the judge added. “When a fetus growing inside a woman reaches viability, when society can assume care and responsibility for that separate life, then – and only then – may society intervene.”

McBurney continued by saying a law that prevents abortions after six weeks was inconsistent with those rights as well as the proper balance that a viability rule establishes between a woman’s rights and society’s interests in protecting and caring for unborn infants.

There were exceptions written into the law Kemp signed in 2019, including rape and incest as long as a police report was filed.

GEORGIA ABORTION LAW: A LOOK BACK AT WHAT HOLLYWOOD PRODUCTION COMPANIES HAVE SAID ABOUT FILMING IN THE STATE

The law signed by Kemp was blocked by a federal judge in October 2019 – before it went into effect – and ruled it violated the right to abortion as established by Roe v. Wade in 1973.

The Supreme Court then overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, clearing the way for Georgia’s law on abortion to go into effect.

McBurney, in November 2022, ruled the law was “unequivocally unconstitutional” because it was enacted in 2019 when Roe v. Wade allowed abortions after six weeks.

But in October 2023, the Georgia Supreme Court rejected the ruling in a 6-1 decision, saying McBurney was wrong.

McBurney’s ruling last week determined that the state, county, municipal and other local authorities are “enjoined” from seeking to enforce the six-week abortion law.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: The State Department is facing heightened pressure to disclose information regarding its climate office staff members after a new lawsuit accuses them of stonewalling. 

Power the Future (PTF), an energy watchdog group, submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for an unredacted list of former Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) John Kerry’s staff in January.

SPEC has an estimated $13.9 million annual budget from the State Department with approval for 45 personnel, Fox News Digital previously reported, but Kerry has remained quiet about his climate staff over the years.

PTF filed a lawsuit against the State Department in February after reportedly experiencing a system of delays in the disclosure of the names and job titles of Kerry’s staff, which they said were highly redacted in its initial release. As of September, the department has reportedly not disclosed all the members of the climate office, prompting PTF to take their action a step further, Fox News Digital has learned. 

JOHN KERRY CALLS THE FIRST AMENDMENT A ‘MAJOR BLOCK’ TO STOPPING ‘DISINFORMATION’

A new PTF complaint, filed on Oct. 3, claims that the Biden administration’s “climate” operation at SPEC is displaying a “clear pattern and practice” of delayed FOIA responses. 

The lawsuit, one of 14 filed by PTF against the State Department, also names the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia on claims that they are keeping information regarding SPEC’s operations from the public. 

“For years, Power The Future has sought legitimate information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on John Kerry’s Climate Office, its budget, staff, mission, and outside coordination, and for years we have been told, ‘No,’” Daniel Tuner, Founder & Executive Director of PTF, told Fox News Digital.

FORMER JOHN KERRY STAFFER ARRESTED ON NANTUCKET FOR ALLEGEDLY WRITING $1.5M BAD CHECK

The suit also claims that the agency is going against congressional standards for FOIA response times.

“Despite previous lawsuits, this administration continues to coordinate a blockade keeping any information about this secret office from reaching the public, especially before the November election,” Turner said. “John Kerry is not above the law, and the weaponization of federal agencies turning them into the political machine demonstrates a level of corruption typical of the green movement but deeply disturbing in our federal government.”

The House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into the office of the SPEC regarding potential conflict of interests between the office’s staff members and “leftist environmental groups.”

Kerry stepped down as Biden’s climate envoy in January and was replaced by John Podesta.

Efforts to reach the State Department, the DOJ, the SPEC and the federal U.S. Attorney for D.C. were unsuccessful. 

Republican candidate Hung Cao, running for the Virginia Senate seat currently held by Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine, is confident he can turn Virginia red from purple.

He’s also doubling down on his controversial comments made during last week’s debate about U.S. military personnel “who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them and ask for seconds” in a bid against progressive social training in the military.

Cao, a 25-year Navy veteran endorsed by former President Trump, told Fox News Digital in an interview, “It’s about warriors that are just going to do anything to win, and those are the people we need.”

VIRGINIA SENATE DEBATE: CLINTON’S EX-RUNNING MATE KAINE AND GOP CHALLENGER CAO SPAR ON IMMIGRATION AND DEI IN THE MILITARY

“And that’s what I mean by rip out your own guts, eat them and ask for seconds. That’s a true warrior, whether it’s a alpha male or alpha female, but not some cross-dressing … drag queen,” he said. “That’s not what we need in the military. We need strong men and women that are willing to put their lives online to fight for this country.”

During last week’s debate against Kaine, Cao criticized the military’s collective failure to recently meet recruiting goals. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer than 30% of Americans aged 17 to 24 were eligible to serve in the military, and this number has declined even more since then.

“There’s only so many hours in the day, and there’s so much money. And when you’re spending all your money and time to look at all these woke issues, you’re taking away from time to train for war,” Cao said.

VIRGINIA FAA CONTRACTOR ALLEGEDLY SPIED FOR IRAN, SHARED PRIVATE INFO ON US AIRPORTS, ENERGY INDUSTRY: DOJ

When it comes to flipping Virginia’s Senate seat, Cao is confident he can achieve it despite the Cook Political Report designating the seat as solid blue.

Cao argued that the Cook report is wrong, noting how he reduced Biden’s 19% margin in Northern Virginia to 6% in 2022. He highlighted that despite Trump losing Virginia by 10 points in 2010, Republicans won all statewide races in 2021 and gained a seat in 2022. In 2023, more Republicans voted than Democrats despite Democrat gerrymandering efforts.

“And so, you know, having moved north Virginia the way I did, and if the south comes out, we’re going to win this race,” he said.

VIRGINIA SCHOOL BOARD TO PAY ‘WRONGFULLY FIRED’ TEACHER WHO REFUSED TO USE STUDENT’S PREFERRED PRONOUNS

Trump has endorsed Cao, and political scientists say his path to victory is narrow, given Virginia’s moderate electorate, aversion to Trump in 2020 and Kaine’s salience with voters, according to the Associated Press.

Kaine won his last race in 2018 by 16 percentage points, although he said he was preparing for a tough race this year. The most recent Republican from Virginia to hold a Senate seat was the late John Warner, a centrist with an independent streak who last won in 2002.

Fox News’ Daniel Wallace and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Vice President Kamala Harris appears to prioritize winning back Arab American and Muslim voters who were dejected by President Joe Biden’s handling of war in the Middle East over courting the Jewish voter.

That’s according to an internal review of her calendar meetups with both groups since becoming the Democratic nominee for president. 

Harris met with Arab American advocates ahead of a campaign event in Flint, Michigan, on Friday. That followed a meeting with activists with the Pro-Palestinian Uncommitted Movement, which has declined to endorse her, in Michigan in July. 

Her public schedule hasn’t included meetings with Jewish groups since meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu privately in July, after she declined to preside over his joint address to Congress. 

In August, her campaign nominated Ilan Goldenberg as its liaison to the Jewish community, and on Aug. 15, Harris sent campaign officials to meet with Jewish leaders in Michigan. In September, she called the parents of the late Hersch Goldberg-Polin, the American hostage slain by Hamas. Fox News Digital could not find a record of any other face-to-face Jewish outreach by Harris.

Wa’el Alzayat, the CEO of Emgage Action, told CNN that Harris had told the Arab group on Friday “that she also wants the war to end and that she will do all she can to work in this regard.”

The Arab Americans told her she needed “to show distance between how she would govern on this matter with the current administration policies, which we don’t agree with.”

HARRIS REFUSES TO CALL NETANYAHU A ‘CLOSE ALLY’ ONE YEAR AFTER OCTOBER 7 

Michigan, which Biden narrowly won in 2020, is a crucial battleground state this election. It has the second-highest population of Arab American residents, who make up around 3% of its population. 

On the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, former President Donald Trump will speak to Jewish community leaders at one of his Florida resorts in Doral. Harris will briefly speak to journalists and plant a pomegranate tree on the grounds of the Vice President’s Residence in honor of those killed a year ago.

One year on from the outbreak of war with Hamas in Gaza, Israel is now entrenched in war on other fronts too. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) recently launched a ground offensive in Lebanon to fight Hezbollah, and last week missiles rained down on Tel Aviv — though most were intercepted — from Iran.

Jewish Americans tend to vote Democratic — in 2020, Biden won 69% of their vote. Trump won 30%.

Harris’ focus on Arab American outreach could in part be due to shifting polling within the community and an aggressive outreach from the Trump campaign to capitalize on that.

Arab Americans also historically favor Democrats — but new polling suggests that could change. Of likely voters in the community, Arab Americans favor Trump over Harris 46% to 42%, according to new polling by the Arab American Institute.

Trump has been airing ads aimed at Arab Americans in Michigan, and his former director of national intelligence Ric Grenell and his daughter Tiffany Trump’s father-in-law Massad Boulos, a Lebanese American businessman, have been leading his outreach to the community.

HARRIS WON’T SAY WHETHER BIDEN ADMIN HAS ANY ‘SWAY’ OVER NETANYAHU

“His outreach now is much better, much different than it was in 2016 and 2020,” Adel Ayoub, leader of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, told Fox News Digital of Trump.

Biden won 60% of the Arab American vote in 2020, but support from that community has cratered since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. 

The National Uncommitted movement launched a campaign calling on voters to cast uncommitted ballots in swing state primaries to send a message to Democrats, and more than a million did so. 

Harris spoke with leaders of the Uncommitted Movement in August. That same month, her campaign manager met with Arab and Muslim leaders. 

Trump has blamed Harris and Biden for loosening sanctions on Iran, thus emboldening Iran’s proxies to carry out the attack last year. 

Trump has repeatedly said that Jewish voters who vote for Democrats “should have their head examined” and that if he loses the Nov. 5 election, “the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that.”

Sen. JD Vance blasted the Biden-Harris administration on Monday for not doing enough to bring home the hostages that Hamas took from Israel during the deadly Oct. 7 attack one year ago.

Vance, R-Ohio, spoke during the Philos Project’s Memorial Rally and March on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., briefly taking aim at President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“I’m going to get a little political here. It is disgraceful that we have an American president and vice president who haven’t done a thing,” Vance said. “Vice President Harris, our message is, ‘Bring them home.’ Use your authority to help bring them home. We can do it. We just need real leadership.”

Iran-backed Hamas terrorists launched a massacre against Israel in the Oct. 7 attack last year, killing about 1,200 people, including 46 U.S. citizens, and taking about 250 hostages. A year later, about 100 people, including several Americans, remain in Hamas captivity, as U.S.-led efforts to negotiate a cease-fire and hostage release deal have sputtered out.

ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS SET UP ENCAMPMENT OUTSIDE JEWISH DEM REP’S HOME ON EVE OF OCT 7 HAMAS ATTACK ANNIVERSARY

The attack sparked a war in Gaza, where Israel has moved to eliminate Hamas and return those taken hostage. Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians.

Harris came under fire Sunday for a lengthy “word salad” answer in which she appeared unable to fully commit to Israel during an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

US ON ALERT FOR POSSIBLE ‘VIOLENT EXTREMIST ACTIVITY’ ON AMERICANS ONE YEAR AFTER OCT. 7

Meanwhile, Vance gave full-throated support for Israel, saying that former President Trump will make sure Israel has the right to protect itself and that the hostages are returned home.

“I speak for Donald Trump and saying that when he is president, America will protect our American Jewish brothers and sisters. We will stop funding anti-American and anti-Jewish radicals. And we are going to bring home American hostages wherever they’re held and whoever is holding them,” he said.

“We want to give Israel the right and the ability to finish what Hamas started. Israel didn’t start this. Hamas did. But Israel is going to finish it,” Vance continued.