Northeast
'Authoritarian': Furious NY House Republicans send warning to Dem leaders in war over Stefanik seat
FIRST ON FOX: Republicans in New York’s congressional delegation are up in arms over reports that state Democrat leaders are considering legislative routes to delay the special election to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.
The six GOP lawmakers signaled they would seek intervention from the Department of Justice (DOJ) if the alleged legislative maneuver runs afoul of federal law.
“Your clear attempt at playing political games to limit Republican numbers in the House of Representatives is overreaching, corrupt, and undemocratic,” reads a letter led by Reps. Mike Lawler and Nick Langworthy.
“We demand you cease any and all such attempts to change this law, and in preparation of this conspiratory, corrupt act that clearly threatens the constitutional rights of American citizens, we will also be alerting the Department of Justice.”
BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘PURGE’ OF ‘MINORITY’ FEDERAL WORKERS
New York House Republicans are putting Gov. Kathy Hochul on notice after alleged efforts to delay the special election to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik. (Getty Images)
The letter was also signed by New York Republican Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, Nick LaLota, Andrew Garbarino and Claudia Tenney.
Their pressure on New York’s Democrat leaders is backed by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who told “Fox & Friends” on Monday morning, “This is open political corruption by state officials in New York.”
“They’re going to try to disenfranchise over 750,000 New Yorkers who live in that 21st District. It’s unconscionable,” he said.
New York lawmakers in the state Senate and Assembly met last week to discuss a rules change that could keep Stefanik’s seat empty until at least June, according to the New York Post.
Stefanik was tapped to be President Donald Trump’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and is expected to easily pass a Senate confirmation vote. She and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz’s departure from Congress leave the House with a razor-thin GOP majority, leaving no room for Republican dissent to pass any legislation without Democrat support.
The letter noted that Stefanik could be confirmed “as early as this week,” which would leave residents of New York’s 21st Congressional District without representation in the House until the seat is filled.
President Donald Trump picked Stefanik to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. (Getty Images)
The deep-red district is almost certainly going to stay in Republican control, as is the case with Waltz’s former Florida seat.
While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis acted quickly to set special elections for April, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has been silent.
Under current state law, Hochul has 10 days after Stefanik’s resignation to call a special election within a further 70 to 80 days.
But the rule change would reportedly consolidate the special elections date with the June primary race, allegedly in the name of saving resources and time.
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“Your claims that you’re doing this to be cost-effective or to promote equity are laughable and will do nothing more than leave every New Yorker in the 21st district with no representation in the House for additional months,” the GOP lawmakers wrote.
“Your scheme to alter the schedule for the special election is a serious abuse of power that is more alike to election processes in authoritarian countries than anything we see in the United States.”
They argued that any delay would run afoul of the Constitution’s clauses on filling House vacancies as well as Supreme Court precedent.
“Any delay or postponement in calling a special election to fill a vacancy in the House of Representatives is not just undemocratic, but it is unconstitutional as well,” they wrote. “It would be reminiscent of other failed efforts regarding New York’s elections in recent years, such as the unconstitutional attempts to gerrymander New York’s congressional districts.”
The letter also cited a 2009 New York State Court of Appeals ruling that special elections to fill a vacancy should occur in the “shortest space of time reasonably possible.”
“The citizens of New York’s 21st Congressional District are constitutionally entitled to representation in the House and it is our hope that these reports have little basis in reality. If not, we strongly urge you to abandon this absurd, shameful scheme to deny representation for more than 750,000 New Yorkers and maintain current state election laws,” the lawmakers wrote.
Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul’s office as well as the offices of New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
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New York
Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized in Florida in ‘Critical Condition’
Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, is in a Florida hospital in critical condition, his spokesman said Sunday.
The spokesman, Ted Goodman, would not specify which hospital and said that the former mayor “remains in critical but stable condition.”
“Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he’s fighting with that same level of strength as we speak,” he said, before asking “that you join us in prayer” for the former mayor.
It is unclear when Mr. Giuliani, 81, was taken to the hospital.
President Trump, in a post on Truth Social, called Mr. Giuliani a “True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR.”
He used the occasion to again advance his false claim that Democrats “cheated” in the 2020 election.
“They cheated on the Elections, fabricated hundreds of stories, did anything possible to destroy our Nation, and now, look at Rudy. So sad!” he said.
Mr. Giuliani has struggled with legal and financial problems in recent years, and in the summer of 2025, he was involved in a car crash in New Hampshire in which he suffered a fractured vertebra. After that, Mr. Giuliani made at least one public appearance in a wheelchair.
Mr. Giuliani became mayor in January 1994 after he defeated Mayor David N. Dinkins, who was running for a second term. He remained in office until December 2001 and helped lead the city in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Later, he became a personal lawyer to Mr. Trump during the president’s first term and quickly became embroiled in a number of investigations related to the presidency.
Mr. Giuliani was a crucial part of the team that helped Mr. Trump advance the claim that he won the 2020 election. After Mr. Trump left office, Mr. Giuliani was indicted multiple times and contended with a number of costly defamation suits related to those efforts. Now disbarred, he has kept a far lower profile during Mr. Trump’s second term in office.
Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.
Boston, MA
2 men arrested after armed home invasion with shots fired in Saugus, police say
Gunshots were fired in a daytime armed home invasion in Saugus, Massachusetts, on Sunday, police say, and the two suspects are in custody.
No one was hurt in the shooting on Oakwood Avenue about noon, Saugus police said. Two Boston men, Derek Matarazzo and Timothy Gregory, are facing felony charges including home invasion after their arrest shortly after the 911 calls came in.
The calls reported two men in masks, dressed in black, armed with guns, breaking into a house, police said. They didn’t share what led to the gunfire or how the men were tracked down, saying only that the department wasn’t speculating on their motivation.
Matarazzo and Gregory are believed to be the only people directly involved in the home invasion, police said, and it’s believed to be an isolated incident, so there’s no danger to the public.
Neighbors who spoke with NBC10 Boston say they are shaken up by what occurred, describing a shootout right outside their homes in the middle of the day.
Ring camera video from a nearby home shows the aftermath, as neighbors say you can see the homeowner running into the middle of the street with a phone pressed to his ear, desperately flagging down police — after the chaos.
A neighbor tells us his family first heard what sounded like a pop — something they thought could’ve been a lawn mower backfiring, until they realized it was gunfire. That neighbor says one of his daughters then saw a man carrying a safe — dropping it in their front yard — while shots were being fired.
“I saw somebody come out of the house shooting and then we all hit the deck, because you didn’t want a stray bullet to ricochet off something and come through the window or anything like that,” George Benn said.
“I saw the shots. I saw a man go down. I thought he was going to be dead but apparently he just flipped on that hill,” Tom Bushee said.
The investigation is ongoing.
Pittsburg, PA
Emotional 2026 Pittsburgh Marathon saw multiple new records set
This year’s Pittsburgh Marathon is one for the record books. More than 52,000 runners crossed the finish line, with more than 300,000 spectators cheering them on.
“We’re welcoming people from around the world,” P3R CEO Troy Schooley said. “This event has turned into an international event for our city. We’re going to show it off today. The runners will run through 14 neighborhoods. We have 33 different countries represented today and all 50 states.”
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Mohammed El Youssfi claimed the men’s division of the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, crossing the finish line and immediately wrapping himself in the Moroccan flag.
“This is my first time in Pittsburgh, but the special moment for me today is the people here cheering me on,” El Youssfi said. “That helped me to win the race.”
Emotions ran high for Pittsburgh’s very own Will Loevner. The Winchester Thurston graduate has run the Pittsburgh Marathon multiple times, finishing as the runner-up in 2024 and fifth in 2025. But in 2026, he took home top honors, crossing the finish line first at 2:14.
“I’ve now won the Philadelphia marathon, the Cleveland marathon twice,” Loevner said. “To win Pittsburgh, I feel like it was the trifecta and the most special one for me. I mean, being in the hometown, nothing even compares.”
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Buze Diriba Kejela is 2026’s women’s Pittsburgh Half Marathon champion, setting a course record for women and crossing the finish line at 1:08:39.
“I’m happy to set the course record. I like it,” she said.
Before the runners crossed the start line, the handcyclists got a head start. Marshall Tempest of Monroeville came out on top in the Pittsburgh Marathon Handcycle Division, finishing at 1:40:16.
“I’ve done 13 Pittsburgh marathons, and this is my 5th time winning it, in a row,” he said. “It feels good. It was a rough one, but I was determined to get that 5th one.”
“I love running,” said Will Henry Lawrence, who ran the half-marathon. “I love being able to have breath in my lungs and let my feet hit the pavement. I had a stroke six years ago, and so I give all glory to God for being able to get out and exercise.”
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Tickets for the 2027 Pittsburgh Marathon are on sale for 48 hours, starting at 3 p.m. on May 3, 2026. You can register at thepittsburghmarathon.com
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