Politics
Department of War transports next-generation reactor in nuclear energy milestone
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The Department of War on Sunday transported a next-generation nuclear reactor aboard a C-17 from California to Utah, advancing President Donald Trump’s executive order to modernize America’s nuclear energy infrastructure and strengthen U.S. national security.
The reactor was flown from March Air Reserve Base in California to Hill Air Force Base in Utah and is expected to be transported to the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Orangeville for testing and evaluation – a key step in assessing how advanced nuclear systems could support military installations and remote defense operations.
The Department of War shared images on X showing the reactor loaded onto the C-17 aircraft.
“We’re advancing President Trump’s executive order on nuclear energy,” the post read. “Moments from now, we will airlift a next-generation nuclear reactor.”
TRUMP ADMIN POURS $1B INTO MASSIVE EFFORT TO RESTART NUCLEAR REACTOR AT HISTORIC MELTDOWN SITE
The Department of War said the successful delivery and installation of the reactor will open new possibilities for energy resilience and strategic independence for the nation’s defense, highlighting what officials described as an agile, innovative and commercial-first approach to addressing critical infrastructure challenges.
“By harnessing the power of advanced nuclear technology, we are not only enhancing our national security but championing a future of American energy dominance,” the agency said in a press release. “This event is a testament to the ingenuity of the American spirit and a critical advancement in securing our nation’s freedom and strength for generations to come.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of War for additional comment.
THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR PLANT MAKES COMEBACK WITH $1B IN FEDERAL BACKING TO MEET INCREASING ENERGY DEMANDS
The Department of War airlifted a next-generation nuclear reactor to Utah, advancing President Trump’s push to modernize U.S. energy and strengthen national security. (U.S. Department of War X)
In May, President Donald Trump signed several executive orders aimed at expanding domestic nuclear energy development. At the time, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said America led the postwar world on “all things nuclear” until it “stagnated” and was “choked with overregulation.”
War Secretary Pete Hegseth added that the U.S. was “going to have the lights on and AI operating when others are not because of our nuclear capabilities.”
One of Trump’s nuclear directives called for reforming Energy Department research and development, accelerating reactor testing at national laboratories and establishing a pilot program for new construction.
ENERGY SECRETARY REVEALS HOW US NUCLEAR TESTS WILL WORK
Nuclear energy, the White House said in the order, “is necessary to power the next generation technologies that secure our global industrial, digital, and economic dominance, achieve energy independence, and protect our national security.”
The nuclear expansion effort is part of a broader administration push to reinforce domestic energy production and grid reliability across multiple sectors.
Days later, Trump signed another executive order directing the Department of War to work directly with coal-fired power plants on new long-term power purchasing agreements, arguing the move would ensure “more reliable power and stronger and more resilient grid power.”
The order, “Strengthening United States National Defense with America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Power Generation Fleet,” states, “The United States must ensure that our electric grid … remains resilient and reliable, and not reliant on intermittent energy sources,” calling the grid “the foundation of our national defense as well as our economic stability.”
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“It is the policy of the United States that coal is essential to our national and economic security,” the order adds.
Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
Politics
Trump-backed Potomac sewage cleanup complete after massive spill ahead of summer America250 celebrations
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Repairs have been completed after the historic Potomac River sewage spill in Washington, D.C., less than a month after President Donald Trump approved a disaster declaration that allowed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help.
“Emergency repairs to the Potomac Interceptor are complete,” DC Water said Saturday. “Full flow has been restored, and the C&O Canal has been fully drained as part of site restoration. Since Jan 19, crews worked around the clock to stabilize the site and protect the Potomac River.”
The declaration came after a sewage pipe interceptor ruptured Jan. 19, releasing more than 240 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a disaster emergency over the Potomac sewage spill and requested federal assistance with the cleanup.
Trump said he was worried the Potomac River would still stink when America250 celebrations kick off this summer, according to the White House.
SEWAGE SPILL SENDS E COLI SURGING IN THE POTOMAC RIVER NEAR DC
Repairs have been completed after the historic Potomac River sewage spill in Washington, D.C., less than a month after President Donald Trump approved a disaster declaration that allowed FEMA to help. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
The president had directed his ire toward Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and other local leaders in Virginia and Washington, D.C., on the issue, claiming incompetence led to the disaster.
Moore and his office, however, pushed back on Trump’s assertions, claiming the federal government has oversight over the sewer utility.
“This is a Washington, D.C., pipe on federal land,” Moore told Fox News Digital last month. “Maryland has nothing to do with this. In fact, the only thing Maryland did was when we saw a neighbor who was in need. That’s why I ordered people, our people to go support them, and that’s what we’ve been doing the past month.
Raw sewage flows to an interceptor beside the Potomac River in Cabin John, Md., Saturday. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
“We’ve been doing essentially the federal government’s job because it’s the federal government’s job to be able to protect the Potomac interconnector because that’s federal land,” Moore said. “For the president now to come and attack me on this, I find that to be … absurd.”
The sewage pipes are managed by DC Water, an independent utility based in the District of Columbia.
A class action lawsuit was filed by a Virginia resident on March 6 that accused DC Water of negligence.
Noel Boxer, an external affairs officer with FEMA, inspects the flow of raw sewage after a gate was raised to resume the flow along the Potomac River Saturday. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
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The plaintiff, Nicholas Lailas, who is a recreational boater, is seeking compensation for people “whose property interests in and use and enjoyment of the Potomac River … have been impaired by Defendant’s conduct,” the lawsuit said.
He is seeking unspecified damages.
Fox News’ Stephen Sorace and Jasmine Baehr and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Politics
Contributor: Federal power grabs on elections are not about fraud
Fans of the musical “Hamilton” know three things about the nation’s first Treasury secretary because of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s brilliance. First, that Alexander Hamilton cheated on his wife, Eliza. Second, he was killed by the vice president, Aaron Burr. Third, and most importantly, he was considered a highly principled man. And when it came to the topic of nationalizing elections, do you know how this Revolutionary War vet and founding father characterized doing so?
A threat.
Referring to corruptible public officials, Hamilton wrote in the Federalist Papers: No 59: “With so effectual a weapon in their hands as the exclusive power of regulating elections for the national government, a combination of a few such men, in a few of the most considerable States, where the temptation will always be the strongest, might accomplish the destruction of the Union, by seizing the opportunity of some casual dissatisfaction among the people to discontinue the choice.”
Hamilton’s prescient views became the framework for the Election Clause in the Constitution. And since returning to the White House, President Trump has been searching for ways to usurp it. Last month he made calls to nationalize elections. This month he’s at it again.
He’s also pushing Congress to pass his so-called SAVE Act, which would require voters to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote. It sounds innocuous until you realize a driver’s license isn’t good enough; a passport would often be required. But half the country doesn’t have a passport, and it costs roughly $200 and a few weeks to get one. The logistical burden is unreasonable and cruel: Consider that this year, during primary season, we’ve already witnessed natural disaster — such as the tornadoes that recently ripped through the Midwest or the fires in Texas — upend entire communities. Many people would not have been able to vote, simply because they had been separated from their papers during the disaster.
The financial obstacles that would be created by the SAVE Act are at least as onerous: Why would Congress choose to financially burden voters — with what is essentially an unlawful poll tax — at a time when the unemployment rate and gas prices are up and the approval rating for nearly everyone in office is down? There are a couple of reasons. One is that the party controlling Congress hopes to suppress voting in order to defy the will of the American majority and cling to power.
Another reason lawmakers support this terrible bill is simply that Trump wants it. Some Republicans in office are so afraid of angering a vengeful president that they would rather entertain his authoritarian tendencies than go through the fire of his opposition during a primary.
For politicians such as Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who this week changed his long-held position on the filibuster in order to push the SAVE Act, it’s simply about political survival. He needs the president’s endorsement heading into the runoff for his Senate seat.
Trump has called the election overhaul bill his top priority — not the war he started with Iran, not returning the billions collected from illegal tariffs, not justice for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims. Before there was a Constitution, there was a warning, written by Hamilton and other founders, whose concerns about nationalized elections are well documented and have proved to be well founded.
You would think a nation in the midst of beating its proverbial chest about our 250th birthday would take more heed from the country’s founders. But nope: This week Florida state lawmakers, in an attempt to appease their state’s most powerful resident, passed an election overhaul law that mirrors the federal SAVE Act. More red states are likely to follow, not because a national wave of voter fraud has been unearthed by authorities, but because the authorities want to stay in the good graces of someone who has yet to prove any widespread fraud other than his own.
The party that famously railed against “the bridge to nowhere” is now offering bills that solve nonexistent problems. Or in some cases, creating problems, particularly for women who changed their names after marriage so their state IDs don’t match their birth certificates.
Cornyn is not alone in exchanging his principles for Trump’s favor; he’s just the most recent. However, the manner in which he announced his flip flop was particularly tone deaf.
“If a man takes a swing at you and barely misses, that doesn’t make him a pacifist — it just means he has bad aim,” Cornyn wrote in an op-ed about the bill for the New York Post, the newspaper founded by Hamilton in 1801. “Standing still and giving him a second free swing wouldn’t be wise or honorable: it would be foolish.”
In 2016, then-candidate Trump took his first big swing at our elections when he implied — without evidence — that his opponent, Sen. Ted Cruz, had rigged the election after losing to him in the Iowa Republican caucus. Reportedly Trump even tried to get the state’s party chair to overturn the result. He’s been throwing jabs at our elections ever since. The Jan. 6 riot was a haymaker that barely missed. Given the president’s propensity to hand out Trump 2028 hats, it seems passing the SAVE Act would be, in Cornyn’s words, setting voters up to stand there while Trump takes another swing at our democracy.
YouTube: @LZGrandersonShow
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Perspectives
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Ideas expressed in the piece
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Alexander Hamilton, writing in Federalist No. 59, warned that exclusive state power over federal elections posed an existential threat to the Union, cautioning that “a combination of a few such men, in a few of the most considerable States” could “accomplish the destruction of the Union” through control of election regulations[1]
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The SAVE Act requiring proof of citizenship to vote imposes unreasonable logistical and financial burdens on voters, effectively functioning as a poll tax by requiring passports costing approximately $200 that roughly half the country does not possess[1]
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Natural disasters and unforeseen circumstances already disrupt voting access, and citizenship verification requirements would further prevent Americans from voting by separating them from necessary documentation during emergencies such as tornadoes or fires[1]
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The stated rationale for election overhaul legislation—addressing voter fraud—is not supported by evidence, as authorities have failed to unearth a national wave of voter fraud despite repeated claims[1]
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Republicans supporting the SAVE Act are motivated by partisan interests rather than election security concerns, with some lawmakers abandoning long-held principles to secure Trump’s political endorsement during primary races[1]
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Election nationalization efforts represent an authoritarian threat to democracy that the nation’s founders specifically warned against, making it imperative to heed historical lessons about centralized electoral control[1]
Different views on the topic
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Hamilton argued in the Federalist Papers that the national government required ultimate authority over election regulations to prevent state legislatures from abandoning their responsibility to choose federal representatives, which could render “the existence of the Union entirely at their mercy”[4]
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The Constitution’s design allocates election regulation authority primarily to states with a federal backstop, recognizing that the national government must possess a check on state power to maintain union stability and prevent states from exploiting their regulatory control[3][4]
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Federalist No. 60 establishes that the system of separated powers—with the House elected directly by people, the Senate by state legislatures, and the president by electors—creates structural safeguards preventing any single faction from monopolizing electoral control[2]
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Voter identification requirements serve legitimate election integrity purposes, with proponents arguing that citizenship verification represents a reasonable measure to ensure eligible voter participation[1]
Politics
Ex-Dem senator admits to affair with former bodyguard in explosive court filing: ‘Romantic and Intimate’
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Former Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema admitted to having an affair with her former bodyguard while in office and while he was still married — an admission that came by way of an explosive new court filing in the state of North Carolina, seeking to dismiss a so-called “homewrecker” lawsuit filed by the bodyguard’s estranged wife.
Sinema, who served in the Senate from 2019 to 2025, acknowledged the relationship with her former bodyguard, Matthew Ammel, in a motion to dismiss the “alienation of affection” lawsuit filed in North Carolina by his estranged wife.
The complaint accused Sinema of engaging in “intentional and malicious interference” in Ammel’s marriage and sought $25,000 in damages from Sinema as a result of allegedly “willful and wanton” conduct.
KYRSTEN SINEMA RIPS SENATE DEMOCRATS FOR APPARENT FLIP-FLOP ON FILIBUSTER NOW THAT THEY NEED IT
Kyrsten Sinema is seen during a 2023 interview on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Neither the motion to dismiss, nor the sworn declaration Sinema submitted to the court, seeks to dispute the nature of her affair with Ammel — described as both “romantic and intimate.”
Rather, the filings argue that the case should be dropped because the communications in question occurred “exclusively outside” the boundaries of the Tar Heel state.
Combined, the new filings leave little to the imagination regarding the nature of the affair between Sinema and Ammel, which began in May 2024 in Sonoma, Calif., and involved months of phone calls, emails, and Signal messages, in addition to various romantic relations in cities across the U.S. cities.
KYRSTEN SINEMA’S SWITCH TO INDEPENDENT DESCRIBED AS ‘GUT PUNCH’ TO DEMOCRATS: ‘NO WIGGLE ROOM’
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) moves between meetings at the U.S. Capitol on June 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“I keep waking up during my sleep and reaching over for your arms to hold me,” Sinema told Ammel in one Signal message, which she recalled was sent in June 2024 from Scottsdale, and received by Ammel while in Kansas.
That fall, another Signal exchange between the two was apparently interrupted by Ammel’s estranged wife. She allegedly responded to Sinema directly, stating: “Are you having an affair with my husband? You took a married man away from his family.”
Just six states, including North Carolina, still recognize “alienation of affection” lawsuits, though the ones that do still require the spouses to meet a difficult legal burden.
In order to succeed in the lawsuit, plaintiffs in an “alienation of affection” lawsuit must prove to the court three things: First, that the marriage had real affection and a viable relationship before any third-party involvement; second, that the “love and affection” was destroyed, or significantly diminished; and finally, that the defendant directly “caused the destruction of that marital love and affection.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Sinema for comment.
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