Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., on Thursday renewed the push for his bill to expand the denaturalization process for people who commit fraud, serious felonies or join terrorist organizations.

Schmitt brought up his legislation, the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act, after a naturalized citizen originally from Lebanon allegedly rammed his vehicle into a Michigan synagogue and a naturalized citizen originally from Sierra Leone allegedly opened fire at Old Dominion University in separate incidents on Thursday in the latest violent attacks in the U.S. committed by naturalized citizens.

“After the SAVE America Act, we must pass the SCAM Act so we can denaturalize & deport those who are here to hurt Americans,” Schmitt said on X, referring to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require voters in federal elections to prove citizenship by providing a photo ID and other documentation, such as a passport or birth certificate.

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“We must denaturalize those who shouldn’t be here,” the senator continued.

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, was shot and killed by security officers on Thursday after driving through Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township near Detroit before the vehicle caught on fire, according to authorities.

Ghazali arrived in the U.S. 15 years ago on an immediate relative visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen and was granted citizenship in 2016, the Department of Homeland Security said.

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Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, served in the Virginia National Guard from 2009 until he received an honorable discharge in 2015. Previously convicted of attempting to offer material support to the Islamic State, Jalloh reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire in a classroom at Old Dominion University on Thursday, killing one person and wounding two others. The gunman was also killed.

In another incident earlier this month, a shooting was carried out outside a bar in Austin, Texas, by a naturalized citizen, Ndiaga Diagne, 53, who was born in Senegal, leaving three people dead and more than a dozen wounded.

Schmitt’s SCAM Act was originally introduced in January in response to allegations of fraud by Somalians in Minnesota.

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“American citizenship is a privilege, and anyone hoping to be a part of our great nation must demonstrate a sincere attachment to our Constitution, upstanding moral character, and a commitment to the happiness and good order of the United States,” he said at the time.

“People who commit felony fraud, serious felonies, or join terrorist organizations like drug cartels shortly after taking their citizenship oaths fail to uphold the basic standards of citizenship,” the lawmaker added. “They must be denaturalized because they have proven they never met the requirements for the great honor of American citizenship in the first place. We must protect and restore the institution of American citizenship.”

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta called out the federal government for largely vacating its role as antitrust regulator, saying it’s now up to California and other states to look out for consumers’ interests.

Bonta, the state’s top law enforcement officer, spoke Thursday at a Capitol Forum conference in Beverly Hills on antitrust issues and the future of Hollywood. His appearance came just days after the U.S. Department of Justice settled its case against Live Nation and Ticketmaster a week into a high-stakes trial, leaving state attorneys general to try to continue to fight that battle on their own.

The Justice Department’s about-face revealed a major fracture in antitrust enforcement. State attorneys general — particularly in Democratic-controlled states — say their role is becoming increasingly important to challenge alleged anti-competitive behavior.

President Trump has “abdicated the federal administration’s responsibilities to hold big corporations accountable to the law and protect a competitive marketplace,” Bonta said.

Bonta’s appearance comes as another major Hollywood merger appears to be sailing through its federal review with Trump’s tacit approval: Paramount Skydance’s proposed $110-billion deal for Warner Bros. Discovery.

The merger, announced late last month, has rattled Hollywood unions and some antitrust experts. It would combine legendary film studios, robust television production units and two prominent news organizations, CBS News and CNN, as well as dozens of cable channels.

“Paramount and Warner Bros. haven’t cleared regulatory scrutiny,” Bonta said. “My office has an open investigation into [the deal] and we intend to be vigorous in our review.”

California could bring its own lawsuit to block Paramount’s takeover, or join with other state attorneys general to launch legal proceedings to try thwart the deal or extract concessions — even if the Justice Department ultimately clears David Ellison’s deal.

Bonta outlined various concerns, including a continued contraction of Hollywood’s labor market, the consolidation of streaming services — Paramount+, HBO Max, Pluto and Discovery+ — and potentially higher prices and lower wages.

“There’s no industry as iconically California as the entertainment industry,” Bonta said. “It’s baked into California’s DNA.”

Paramount filed for Justice Department approval in December.

The maneuver started the regulatory review clock. And last month a key deadline for the Justice Department to raise concerns about Paramount’s proposed acquisition of Warner passed without comment from Washington.

Paramount has said it could finalize its deal by the end of September.

The architect of Paramount’s strategy, Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim, delivered his own keynote address, saying the Ellison family’s acquisition of Warner Bros. would not reduce competition and instead would be “a huge win for the creative community.”

“Paramount’s transaction with Warner is an opportunity to expand output, to grow the number of movies, shows and other content we are offering to the consumer,” Delrahim said, adding that will result in “more job opportunities,” including in Southern California, which is reeling from a production flight to other states and countries.

Delrahim conceded that Paramount was driven to buy Warner Bros. — it prevailed after Netflix bowed out — because Paramount is not big enough to compete in an industry dominated by technology giants.

He criticized the proposed Netflix deal, saying he doubted it would have passed regulatory muster due to Netflix’s strength in the streaming market.

Paramount still needs to win the support of Warner shareholders, and also gain regulatory approvals from the Justice Department, state attorney generals and overseas governments.

“This deal is a big win for Los Angeles, for California and for all communities that embrace filmmaking,” Delrahim said.

Tech mogul Larry Ellison has personally guaranteed the $45.7 billion in equity needed for the transaction. The company would have to take on more than $60 billion in debt — raising concerns among Hollywood workers about large-scale cost cuts and layoffs.

“Paramount is investing $110 billion to take out a rival,” said attorney Ethan E. Litwin, a former lawyer for TV networks, who also spoke at the conference. “When you take out a major rival in a highly concentrated industry … you are taking out competitors for projects. “

Bonta declined to say whether he would try to stop the Paramount-Warner merger.

Progressive State Leaders Committee, an affiliate of the Democratic Attorneys General Assn., in December hired Rohit Chopra, a former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and former commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission, as a senior advisor. He will help coordinate efforts as the group, including Bonta, wages antitrust enforcement battles.

“The federal government is just not enforcing the law,” Chopra said during Thursday’s conference. “Our states are really the last line of defense.”

A massive bipartisan swell advanced a Trump-backed affordable housing package out of the Senate on Thursday, but its fate in the House is up in the air.

The bill, renamed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to incorporate a previous Senate housing bill that stalled last year, easily sailed through the upper chamber, given that many lawmakers support the wide-ranging slate of measures designed to increase the supply of affordable housing.

In its original form, the legislation was primarily intended to help first-time homebuyers and lower-income Americans enter the housing market or gain access to more affordable housing options.

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The Senate tweaked the legislation, adding a ban on institutional investors sought by President Donald Trump, who earlier this year signed an executive order barring the practice. During his State of the Union address last month, Trump urged Congress to codify the ban and said, “We want homes for people, not for corporations.”

That provision gave some heartburn, notably to Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and several industry groups, who warned that the way it was designed — forcing owners of 350 or more units to sell after seven years — would kneecap the build-to-rent market and harm the supply of rentals throughout the country.

That was not enough to slow the bill down in the Senate, but Trump’s declaration that he wouldn’t sign any bills unless the Senate passed voter ID legislation, along with House Republicans grumbling over changes to the bill, could spell trouble ahead.

Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., co-lead of the House’s version of the bill, told Fox News Digital, “It seems to me that there are outstanding concerns with the Senate’s housing bill as currently drafted.”

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He echoed Schatz’s concern about the build-to-rent supply consequences and added that the bill was “intended to cut costs, but the Senate removed important bipartisan House provisions that would have slashed barriers to building more homes.”

“Their process is still ongoing, and I am holding out hope for some fixes, but time runs short,” Flood said. “Given the bill’s current state, I think a conference may be the most viable path forward.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he believes that once the bill makes it through the Senate, “the White House will be wanting to work with our House counterparts to try and get it passed over there and get it on the President’s desk.”

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“We know we’ve added some things to the bill here in the Senate that were designed to make it more palatable to the House. I know there are other issues they would like to address in it, some of the banking issues too, but I think this is, by and large, a housing bill.”

“So, we think we have really put together a strong bill,” Thune continued. “It’s something that hasn’t been done in over a decade.”

It’s a product of negotiations between Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the chair of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., its top Democrat.

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The pair argued that the changes made should make the legislation more palatable to their House counterparts.

“The package includes the vast majority of the Senate’s unanimously supported ROAD to Housing Act, incorporates bipartisan ideas from the House, and takes a good first step to rein in corporate landlords that are squeezing families out of homeownership,” Warren said earlier this month. “Congress should pass this package and continue working on further legislation to combat our nation’s housing crisis.”