It was a split screen Tuesday morning on Capitol Hill.

One eye on the markets. The other eye on the Senate testimony of U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

“Do you think your remarks will alter the markets in any way?” yours truly asked Greer as he walked to the hearing room in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

“I’m just going to respond to the senators. Be candid as I can be,” replied Greer.

TRUMP TRADE REP TAKES BIPARTISAN FIRE OVER TARIFFS AS DEM LAUNCHES BID TO HALT THEM

The public has heard a lot about tariffs from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

They’ve heard a lot about tariffs from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

They’ve heard even more about tariffs from White House advisor Peter Navarro.

But until Tuesday morning, there was little said about tariffs from the man in charge of the administration’s trade policy: Jamieson Greer.

“The president’s strategy is already bearing fruit,” Greer testified. “Nearly 50 countries have approached me personally to discuss the president’s new policy and explore how to achieve reciprocity.”

Democrats were dubious about Greer’s suggestion. Yes, nations may be willing to negotiate. But carving out sophisticated trade agreements with nations just sanctioned by the U.S. takes time.

“You’re telling us you have nearly 50 countries coming to you, approaching you to enter into negotiation, and you think that you can do that overnight?” asked Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. “You’re pretty superhuman here, if that’s the case.”

TRUMP TRADE CHIEF FACES HOUSE GRILLING ON TARIFFS

Greer tangled with Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.

“Even if inflation hits Americans’ pocketbooks at 10% because of these tariffs, then the Trump administration is still going to go charging ahead?” asked Hassan.

“Senator, your hypotheticals are not consistent with the history we have seen with tariffs,” Greer replied.

“My hypotheticals are based on the fact that a lot of Americans are looking at their 401(k)’s today and wondering how much of a lifestyle change they are going to have to have or whether they’re going to be able to retire when they plan to,” Hassan shot back. “This has been a haphazard, incompetent effort. And it’s showing.”

After rough showings, the markets actually shot up at the opening bell Tuesday before Greer spoke. It didn’t appear that anything Greer told senators resonated positively or negatively on Wall Street. But lawmakers were well attuned to the market fluctuations. 

Especially as they started to hear from constituents.

TRUMP SAYS HE’LL ‘TAKE A LOOK’ AT EXEMPTING SOME LARGER US COMPANIES HIT ESPECIALLY HARD BY TARIFFS

Outside the hearing room, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., offered one of his signature Bayou homilies to characterize the unfolding trade war.

“God created the world. But everything else is made in China,” said Kennedy.

“But senator, isn’t the bigger issue here the question of the uncertainty in the markets and rattling around?” I asked Kennedy.

“Well, there’s always uncertainty,” answered Kennedy.

“But this is a different type of uncertainty, though, Senator,” I countered.

“Is it going to have to have an impact on your capital markets? Well, yes. Duh. And it’s not fun. It’s very, very painful. Whether this will have a happy ending or a sad ending depends in large part what President Trump does next,” said Kennedy.

And that’s the key to the entire enterprise. It doesn’t matter what Lutnick does. Or Bessent. Or Navarro. And not Greer. For better or worse, this is President Trump’s baby. Only he can move markets. And potentially trade deals. And that’s certainly what unfolded in recent days.

Democrats — and some Republicans — excoriated the president for unilaterally imposing the tariffs. Lawmakers asked the reasoning for imposing the tariffs. And they argued that the tariffs should have been an issue which came to Capitol Hill.

“Where was the consultation with Congress about this? Where is the homework? You know, Greek and Roman letters thrown on a plaque doesn’t mean a strategy that you’ve informed Congress on,” Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, asked. “And part of the question is, where’s the homework done by the administration to not misconstrue the authority that was given?”

SCHUMER SAYS TRUMP ‘FEELING THE HEAT’ AFTER RECIPROCAL TARIFF PAUSE

Cantwell may not have received a sufficient answer from the Trump administration on the rationale. But Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., answered the other part of the question about why the President cut Congress out of the loop.

“Let’s not pretend that this is anything other than the president exercising the statutory authority Congress has given him for decades,” said Hawley. “Because Congress didn’t want to do tariffs, they didn’t want to do trade, it was too hot. They wanted the president to hold the hot potato. So now you’ve got a President who’s happy to do that.”

Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution declares that Congress has the “Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.”

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative says the U.S. is a signatory to more than 14 total trade pacts. Congress has ratified several of those in recent years. That includes the USMCA. That’s a trade pact President Trump pushed – alongside former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in 2020 for the U.S., Mexico and Canada. That deal replaced NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, approved by Congress in 1993. Congress also greenlighted “CAFTA, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, in 2005.

So, Congress has engaged in trade somewhat in recent decades. But maybe not as much as it should have.

Greer appeared for a second time on Capitol Hill Wednesday, testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee.

TRUMP PUSHES BACK ON ‘REBEL’ REPUBLICANS OVER TARIFFS: ‘YOU DON’T NEGOTIATE LIKE I NEGOTIATE’

“Any deal that you do, are you going to bring that to Congress for a vote?” asked Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash.,

“We’ll do what the law requires. Some of it’s consultation. Some requires a vote. So we’ll follow the law,” replied Greer.

But DelBene pressed Greer on the president using emergency powers on the tariffs. She quoted from the statute.

“It states, ‘The President, in every possible instance, shall consult with Congress before exercising any powers,’” said DelBene. “That didn’t happen.”

Greer said he called Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., and the top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass.

“I argue that we did not have that consultation,” said DelBene, who sits on the trade subcommittee.

WHITE HOUSE WARNS AGAINST TARIFF RETALIATION, SAYS TRUMP ‘HAS SPINE OF STEEL AND HE WILL NOT BREAK’

But less than two hours later — with Greer still testifying — President Trump announced he was now pausing most tariffs for three months. But still imposing steep tariffs on China.

Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., was apoplectic.

“He announced it on a tweet?” an incredulous Horsford asked of Greer. “WTF? Who’s in charge?”

“The president of United States is in charge,” Greer said.

“And what do you know about those details?” countered Horsford. “It looks like your boss just pulled the rug out from under you.”

Horsford later asked if what the President executed was “market manipulation.” Greer said it wasn’t.

HOUSE DEMOCRAT SAYS HE’D VOTE TO PROTECT TRUMP’S TARIFF PLAN, WORRIES WHITE HOUSE WILL STAND DOWN

So, when the hearing adjourned, yours truly and Nikole Killion of CBS pursued Greer to get more clarity on the president’s new strategy.

“Can you explain why you were caught flat-footed about the change in the trade policy? Were you aware of any of this?” I asked Greer before he stepped into an anteroom.

We resumed the quest in the hall.

“Were you not told about this?” I asked.

“Did you know before your testimony?” added Killion.

“I’ll just refer you to my testimony,” said Greer.

“Your testimony did not reflect what it was implemented during the hearing,” I followed up.

“I’ll just refer you to my testimony,” Greer repeated.

“But that’s inconsistent with the decision of the president,” I said.

An aide to Greer then intervened.

“I think the ambassador was extremely clear in his testimony about what was going on, and the president could make the choice,” the aide interjected.

“Explain why you don’t think that this was market manipulation. You said it wasn’t,” I followed up.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES READY TO OPPOSE SENATE GOP FRAMEWORK FOR TRUMP TAX CUT PACKAGE

“Were you aware that there would be a pause before you came here to Capitol Hill? Yes or no? Yes or No, sir?” Killion continued.

Greer then disappeared down a winding staircase in the Longworth House Office Building.

Let’s shift back to the Senate hearing on Tuesday with Greer.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., could face a competitive re-election bid next year. He asked a pointed question to Greer.

“Whose throat do I get to choke if this proves to be wrong?” Tillis asked.

“Well, Senator, you can certainly always talk to me,” replied Greer.

“So, if you own this decision, I’ll look to you to figure out if we’re going to be successful,” said Tillis. “If you don’t own the decision, I’m just trying to figure out who’s throat I get to choke if it’s wrong.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO and leader of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) should be demonized, in an apparent escalation of their feud. 

Walz was speaking at a town hall in Youngstown, Ohio, when he laid into Musk, whom he has sharply criticized before. He was talking about social media and the Democratic Party’s view on success when he brought up the billionaire tech mogul. 

“We’re creating a false narrative for them that everybody is super rich and has Lamborghinis and life is easy,” Walz told the crowd. “But that’s what we’re going to have to figure out in our society about social media and all those things.”

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“But I don’t think we should be the party that demonizes someone because they’re able to afford something,” he added. “What we should demonize is someone like Elon Musk and those people that do that. That’s different.”

Earlier, Walz said Democrats should be conveying a message that it’s “OK to be successful” and that success should be celebrated. 

“What my beef is, once you get successful, don’t be a greedy bastard and not pay your taxes,” he said. 

Walz, the former 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate, and Musk have traded bards in recent weeks. 

The feud began last month when Walz joked that he regularly checks Tesla stock, which was down amid a string of vandalism incidents targeting the electric vehicle company. 

ELON MUSK IN ‘SHOCK’ OVER DEMS’ ALLEGED ‘HATRED AND VIOLENCE,’ LAMENTS ‘DERANGED’ ATTACKS ON TESLA PLANTS

“On the iPhone, they’ve got that little stock app. I added Tesla to it to give me a little boost during the day,” Walz said, referencing Tesla’s stock slump as he held up his iPhone during a Wisconsin town hall titled, “The People vs Musk.”

Musk responded by turning the tables on the Democratic governor with a diss about his 2024 election loss.

“Sometimes when I need a little boost, I look at the @JDVance portrait in the White House and thank the Lord,” Musk wrote in response to Walz’s remark.

The White House joined in on hitting back at Walz’s comment regarding the billionaire’s company.

“When we need a little boost during the day at the White House, we walk around the corner from our office and admire these beautiful portraits,” Trump’s Rapid Response team wrote in a social media post.

Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady contributed to this report. 

A major public library system in California has teamed up with Planned Parenthood to promote “sexual health resource cabinets” in its libraries. These cabinets, which are accessible to library visitors — including children without restrictions — contain condoms, pregnancy tests, contraceptives, dental dams, lubricants and graphic sex education materials, all available for free.

The Sacramento Public Library system, in partnership with Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, began placing the cabinets in 12 of its 28 libraries six weeks ago, CBS News first reported. The library system is under city-county jurisdiction. 

The cabinets, which include Planned Parenthood pamphlets titled, “How to Talk to Your Child About Sex,” are also stocked with QR codes directing people to the clinic’s sexual health materials.

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Fox News Digital did not hear back from Sacramento Public Library before publication.

The move has alarmed parents’ rights activist groups who say the cabinets provide a way for the local government to reach minors with explicit content without parental consent or knowledge. 

NEWSOM FOE PICKED BY TRUMP FOR KEY PROSECUTOR JOB VOWS TO ‘DISMANTLE’ SANCTUARY STATE SHIELDS

“I don’t understand why they think kids should be having sex. Nobody on either side of the aisle believes that, and yet they want to provide sex stuff for people … in the library, which is beyond the pale,” Greg Burt, vice president of the nonprofit advocacy group California Family Council, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

“I think when parents realize this is happening in their libraries, they’re not gonna take their kids to the library anymore. They aren’t safe spaces.”

The cabinets are placed sporadically around the libraries, according to CBS, with some placed out in the open in the library’s main space, while others are placed closer to adult sections.

“We want to remove the stigma around these resources,” Todd Deck, community engagement services manager for the Sacramento Public Library, told the outlet.

The cabinets can be found in libraries located in Central, Belle Cooledge, Robbie Waters Pocket-Greenhaven, Southgate, Carmichael, Rancho Cordova, Valley Hi-North Laguna, Walnut Grove, South Natomas, Rio Linda, Fair Oaks and Sylvan Oaks.

CALIFORNIA DEM COMPARES ‘SAVE GIRLS SPORTS’ LAW TO NAZI GERMANY, AS TWO TRANS ATHLETE BAN BILLS FAIL TO PASS

“One thing to keep in mind is we are approaching this like we do a book on our shelves,” Deck said. “Although this resource may not be applicable for everyone, we do want to make it available for the people who do need it.”

The library plans to expand the cabinets to other locations.

Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina, who has been wrongfully detained in Russia for more than a year, is on her way back to the United States, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed early Thursday.

Moscow released Karelina in exchange for German-Russian citizen Arthur Petrov, who was arrested in 2023 in Cyprus at the request of the U.S. on charges of exporting sensitive microelectronics, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States. She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year and President Trump secured her release. @POTUS will continue to work for the release of ALL Americans,” Rubio wrote on X.

AMERICAN BALLERINA ACCUSED OF SPYING STANDS TRIAL IN MOSCOW FOR $51 UKRAINE DONATION

Karelina was sentenced to 12 years in a Russian penal colony after pleading guilty to treason for donating $51.80 to a Ukrainian charity in early 2024.

She was initially detained for “petty hooliganism” while visiting family in Russia in February 2024, but the charge was later upgraded to treason after accusations that she was acting as an American spy.

AMERICAN BALLERINA LEFT OUT OF RUSSIA PRISONER SWAP PLEADS GUILTY TO TREASON 

Russian authorities claimed that Karelina, who lived in Los Angeles, raised money for the Ukrainian army and took part in “public actions” that supported Ukraine while in the U.S. 

Her boyfriend, boxer Chis Van Deerden, told Fox News Digital last year that she was “proud to be Russian, and she doesn’t watch the news. She doesn’t intervene with anything about the war.”

She was left out of a massive August 2024 prisoner swap that resulted in the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva.

Details surrounding Karelina’s arrival on U.S. soil were not immediately released.

She is the latest American prisoner detained in another country to be freed under President Donald Trump’s administration. In February, Trump brought American history teacher Marc Fogel, who had been detained in Russia since 2021, back to the U.S.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) account on X shared eyebrow-raising findings from a survey of unemployment insurance claims.

The “initial survey of Unemployment Insurance claims since 2020” found that thousands of people with future birthdates claimed benefits.

The survey also indicated that thousands of supposedly very young and very old people had claimed benefits.

ELON MUSK SCRAPS WITH CHUCK SCHUMER, SUGGESTING THE SENATOR PROFITS FROM GOVERNMENT FRAUD

The DOGE post states that the survey found, “24.5k people over 115 years old claimed $59M in benefits,” “28k people between 1 and 5 years old claimed $254M in benefits,” and “9.7k people with birth dates over 15 years in the future claimed $69M in benefits.”

“In one case, someone with a birthday in 2154 claimed $41k,” the post also notes.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Labor for comment: “This is another incredible discovery by the DOGE team, finding nearly $400 million in fraudulent unemployment payments,” Department of Labor Sec. Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement. “The Labor Department is committed to recovering Americans’ stolen tax dollars. We will catch these thieves and keep working to root out egregious fraud – accountability is here.”

DOGE ENDS 108 ‘WASTEFUL’ CONTRACTS, INCLUDING FOR AN ‘EXECUTIVE TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM’

“Your tax dollars were going to pay fraudulent unemployment claims for fake people born in the future! This is so crazy that I had to read it several times before it sank in,” Elon Musk tweeted.

Musk is spearheading the DOGE effort to uncover waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government.

“The oldest living American is 114 years old, so it is safe to say that anyone 115 or older is collecting ‘unemployment’ due to being dead. There was no sanity check for impossibly young or impossibly old people for unemployment insurance,” he noted in another post.

AMERICANS GRADE DOGE AND ELON MUSK’S EFFORTS WITHIN THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah replied to Musk, writing, “Reckless incompetence.”

The 2024 presidential election is just five months in the rearview, but the country is already trudging toward the 2026 midterms — at least at the annual Pennsylvania Leadership Conference.

In a straw poll of 267 conference participants from eight states, including Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania state Treasurer Stacy Garrity was the clear favorite to win the Republican primary for its 2026 gubernatorial election. She received 41% of the vote, as Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Penn., came in a distant second at 9%. 

While 2026 is still long down the road, and neither Pennsylvania politician has formally announced a run, both Republicans embraced the opportunity to tease their potential bids. 

“Appreciate the support from conservatives across Pennsylvania. No decisions made yet—but I’m listening and focused on doing whatever it takes to help Republicans win in 2025 and beyond,” Garrity said following her straw poll win at the leadership conference. 

DEM TAKES AIM AT TRUMP, TILLIS IN 2026 SENATE LAUNCH VIDEO FOR ‘TANKING OUR ECONOMY’

Garrity made history in 2024 by receiving the most votes in a Pennsylvania state election – crushing Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro’s 2022 record by half a million votes. Garrity campaigned for re-election alongside Sen. Dave McCormick, who unseated longtime Democrat Sen. Bob Casey.

DEM GOVERNORS REVOLT AGAINST TRUMP’S ‘LIBERATION DAY’ TARIFFS

Shapiro wasn’t up for re-election in 2024, though his name was floated as a potential running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris. But 2026 presents an opportunity for Republicans to gain control of the state’s highest office. Speeches at the leadership conference prove that big Republican wins in 2024 have invigorated the party’s base in the traditionally competitive battleground state. 

“We as a party are here as winners. The Keystone State sent President Trump back to the White House, sent Bob Casey back to Scranton, elected a Republican Attorney General for the first time in over a decade. And next November, the Keystone State will send a Republican to the Governor’s Mansion,” Garrity said during her remarks. 

Garrity emerged as the frontrunner in a hypothetical matchup against Meuser, 2022 GOP nominee Doug Mastriano, and state Sens. Kristin Phillips-Hill and Scott Martin. If Garrity, a President Donald Trump ally, and Meuser decide to throw their names into the gubernatorial race, it could tee up a competitive primary. Both Pennsylvanian politicians have indicated announcements could come as early as this summer. 

Garrity told the Pennsylvania Capital-Star on Saturday a decision on her gubernatorial bid is coming “probably in the summer.” Meuser, who also spoke at the conference, confirmed to Fox News Digital that his own decision will come by mid-summer or sooner. 

“I’ve been encouraged by the strong support I’ve received from people all across Pennsylvania urging me to consider a run for governor. Right now, I’m doing my due diligence, meeting with stakeholders, and seriously evaluating how I can best serve the Commonwealth.

“I expect to make a decision by mid-summer, or sooner if appropriate. In the meantime, I’m staying focused on advancing President Trump’s America-First Agenda in Congress — growing our economy, securing the border, and unleashing American energy dominance,” Meuser told Fox News Digital. 

As Garrity and Meuser continue representing Pennsylvania as they mull 2026 gubernatorial campaigns, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania told Fox News Digital they are “excited to have strong potential candidates” for governor. 

“There is no question that Pennsylvanians are NOT better off with Josh Shapiro as our Governor, and they will be ready to make a change in November 2026. Shapiro’s scandal-ridden administration, combined with his recent use of $5 million of taxpayer money to promote antisemitism, have set the stage for a GOP victory. Republicans are excited to have strong potential candidates to be our next Governor,” the Republican Party of Pennsylvania said in a statement. 

JOSH SHAPIRO TELLS MAHER HE’S ‘DAMN PROUD’ OF BEING JEWISH, DODGES WHETHER IT FACTORED INTO VP SNUB IN 2024

The Republican Party of Pennsylvania’s accusations relate to Shapiro’s $5 million donation to a Philadelphia Muslim community center. Front Page Magazine reported that an imam at the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society once said, “Jews are the vilest people.” Shapiro himself is Jewish. 

Speaking on a Philadelphia stage after Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., was announced as Harris’ running mate in 2024, Shapiro assured the crowd, “I am proud of my faith,” following accusations Shapiro was snubbed for the job because of his support for Israel amid Democrat discontent over the war in Gaza. 

The Republican Governor’s Association, Garrity and Shapiro did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital.

The House tries again this morning to align with the Senate on a framework for President Donald Trump’s tax cut bill. 

A vote could come as early as the 10 a.m. ET hour. 

No alignment? No bill.

THE SPEAKER’S LOBBY: ‘WHOSE THROAT DO I GET TO CHOKE?’

More than a dozen House conservatives balked last night, blocking Republicans from even voting on the blueprint. 

They spoke with House GOP leaders for more than an hour. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also spoke with President Trump. Some conservatives met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate committee chairs. 

The holdouts want more assurances that the Senate will cut more spending than they greenlighted in their revamped budget early last Saturday morning. 

What would unlock the votes today? Either an informal promise from the Senate to cut more. Or, the House could alter the Senate package and force the Senate to sync with the House.

MIKE JOHNSON PUNTS HOUSE VOTE ON TRUMP TAX AGENDA AFTER GOP REBELLION THREATENED DEFEAT

An alternative is for the House to vote to add two steps to process – sending the House and Senate plans to a conference committee to finally blend the resolutions into one. 

Changing the bill and going to a conference committee are cumbersome, time-consuming steps. Rather than eight steps to finish the bill, that would create 10. The House is stuck on step 4. 

Thune has said the Senate can’t tackle another update and overnight vote series. It’s already done two versions. 

This underscores the wide divide between what the House wants to tackle – and what the Senate is capable of tackling. 

The House and Senate must approve the same measure at this stage in order to get to the bill itself. And these steps were supposed to be easier. 

This also jeopardizes Johnson’s goal of finishing the bill by Memorial Day. 

It’s about the math: Johnson can only lose three votes. And he has north of a dozen nays now. 

Moreover, the House and Senate are out of alignment. Whatever can advance in the Senate can’t pass the House and vice versa. That could imperil the ultimate passage of the bill itself.

FIRST ON FOX – Republican Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas is taking sides in the Lone Star State’s burgeoning GOP Senate primary battle between longtime Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Gooden, a four-term lawmaker who represents a congressional district which includes parts of eastern Dallas as well as large swaths of suburban, exurban, and rural areas east of the city, endorsed Paxton on Thursday. He is known as a MAGA firebrand and ally of President Donald Trump.

“Attorney General Paxton is the conservative champion we need in the U.S. Senate,” Gooden wrote in a statement shared first with Fox News.

He predicted that Paxton “will take a sledgehammer to the establishment, secure the border, and fight hard for President Trump’s agenda. Ken Paxton has my complete and total endorsement.”

GET READY FOR A NASTY AND EXPENSIVE GOP SENATE PRIMARY IN TEXAS

Gooden, who is a member of the House Armed Services and Judiciary committees, is the second member of the Texas congressional delegation to back Paxton, following Republican Rep. Troy Nehls, who endorsed the attorney general on Wednesday.

As he gears up for what will most certainly be his roughest re-election of his decades-long career, Cornyn has the backing of the top Republican in the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, as well as the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).

And Republican sources confirmed to Fox News that Thune, as well as Sen. Tim Scott, R–S.C., the NRSC chair, have personally asked Trump to back Cornyn.

CORNYN’S RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN SPARKS QUESTIONS ON BOTH PARTY FLANKS AS DEMS CHASE ‘THE GHOST OF A BLUE TEXAS’

The president’s grip on the GOP is stronger than ever and any endorsement Trump may make in the emerging Republican Senate primary in Texas would be extremely influential.

Paxton announced his candidacy Tuesday night in an appearance on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.”

“It’s time for a change in Texas,” Paxton, who first won election as state attorney general in 2014, said as he launched his campaign.

And pointing to conservative Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Paxton argued that “it’s time that we have another great senator that will actually stand up and fight for Republican values, fight for the values of the people of Texas and also support Donald Trump in the areas that he’s focused on in a very significant way.”

Paxton has flirted for a couple of years with launching a 2026 primary challenge against Cornyn, a former state senator, former Texas Supreme Court justice, and former state attorney general, who first won election to the U.S. Senate in 2002.

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Paxton has long claimed Cornyn does not represent the conservative values of Texans, and has accused the senator of not being an ally of Trump. He has also regularly labeled Cornyn a “RINO,” a “Republican in name only” – an insult MAGA and “America First” Republicans have regularly used to criticize more mainstream or establishment members of the GOP.

Cornyn, during the early stages of the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race, had said he would prefer that the GOP take a new direction, which angered Trump. But the senator endorsed Trump in late January of last year, after the then-former president won both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, the first two contests in the Republican presidential nomination calendar.

Since Trump returned to the White House three months ago, Cornyn has been supportive of the president’s Cabinet nominees and agenda.

ONLY ON FOX NEWS: SENATE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CHAIR REVEALS HOW MANY SEATS HE’S AIMING FOR IN 2026

In the senator’s campaign launch video last month, the announcer highlighted that during Trump’s first term in office, “Texas Sen. John Cornyn had his back.”

And Cornyn told reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday that he had “a 92% voting record with President Trump.”

“It’s unclear to me exactly what is motivating Mr. Paxton, other than vanity and personal ambition, certainly it’s not going to make a lot of difference in terms of the voting record, because I’ve been a supporter of President Trump and his agenda,” the senator argued.

Paxton grabbed national attention in 2020 for filing the unsuccessful Texas vs. Pennsylvania case in the Supreme Court that tried to overturn former President Joe Biden’s razor-thin win over Trump in the Keystone State, and for speaking at the Trump rally near the White House that immediately preceded the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by right-wing extremists aiming to disrupt congressional certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory.

During Biden’s four years in the White House, Paxton took the administration to court numerous times.

While Paxton, who’s in his third four-year term as Texas attorney general, has long been a legal warrior in the MAGA movement, he also has plenty of personal political baggage.

Paxton was indicted on securities fraud charges soon after taking office in 2015, and also came under investigation by the FBI over bribery and corruption allegations from former top staffers. In 2022, he survived a bruising primary amid his many legal difficulties.

In 2023, Paxton was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives, but he was later acquitted of all charges by the state Senate. 

The charges in the long-running federal corruption probe were dropped during the final weeks of the Biden administration. 

While Paxton for years has denied any wrongdoing and has survived his legal fights, he would likely continue to face tough optics and plenty of incoming fire over his past predicaments during a Senate showdown.

“Paxton has a checkered background. He is a con man and a fraud and I think the people of Texas know that,” Cornyn charged on Wednesday.

And the senator added: “This is what will be litigated during the course of this campaign.”

Matt Mackowiak, a veteran Republican strategist and communications consultant based in Texas and Washington, D.C., pointed to the bruising intra-party battle ahead as he told Fox News that “this is going to be the most expensive, nastiest, most aggressive, most personal U.S. Senate primary in Texas history.”

“You have two candidates who are going to raise significant funds, who are in significant positions, who do not like each other and have not liked each other, whose teams do not like each other and the stakes could not be higher,” Mackowiak said.

Potentially complicating the primary battle is a possible Senate bid by conservative Rep. Wesley Hunt, who represents a Houston-area district.

The third-term 43-year-old Texas Republican and rising MAGA star has made his case to the president’s political team, sources confirm to Fox News. Hunt’s argument is that he’s the only person who can win both a GOP primary and a general election, a source familiar with the discussions confirmed to Fox News.

An outside group supportive of Hunt is currently spending seven figures to run ads across the Lone Star State to increase the lawmaker’s name recognition.

The eventual winner of next year’s GOP primary will be considered the favorite in the general election against whomever the Democrats nominate.

Former Democratic Rep. Colin Allred has said he’ll decide by this summer if he’ll mount a 2026 Senate campaign.

Allred, a former Baylor University football player and NFL linebacker who later represented Texas’ 32nd Congressional District (which includes parts of Dallas and surrounding suburbs), was last year’s Democratic challenger in the race against Cruz.