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Democrats are ‘completely stained’ after backing Platner through multiple scandals, Republicans charge

July 9, 2026 2:17pm EDT / Fox News

Platner dropped his Senate bid amid mounting scandals and a chorus of calls to immediately exit the race

By Paul Steinhauser Fox News

Democratic candidate Graham Platner exits the Maine Senate race due to sexual assault allegations, prompting a scramble among Democrats to replace him. Platner, a far-left Democrat, went down swinging, criticizing corporate media and establishment Democrats.

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Graham Platner is taking his name off the ballot, but the trail of debris left from the mounting controversies that brought down his nearly year-long insurgent Senate campaign in Maine is giving Republicans ammunition to use against Democrats in other crucial midterm races.

“Democrats rolled in the mud with Platner, and now they are completely stained by their association with this sick monster,” Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters charged in a statement minutes after the Marine Corp veteran announced on Wednesday night that he was suspending his campaign.

Republicans are now linking Platner to Democrats in a handful of House and Senate races that will directly impact the midterm battle for control of Congress.

Platner, a populist Democrat backed last September by leading national progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was challenging longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a high-profile, combustible and very expensive race in Maine, which is one of a handful that will determine if the GOP holds onto its slim Senate majority in November’s midterm elections.

PLANTER CALLS IT QUITS, DROPS SENATE BID AMID MOUNTING SCANDALS

Graham Platner, a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate for Maine, during a primary election night event at the Blue Hill YMCA in Blue Hill, Maine, June 9, 2026.(Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Platner’s exit from the race came two days after an explosive report on Monday afternoon contained an allegation of rape from a woman he previously dated. It was only after that report when a chorus of calls emerged from top Democrats across the country for him to immediately drop out.

But Platner, the combat veteran and oyster farmer whose campaign caught fire and steamrolled the Democratic establishment, had already been forced on defense ahead of the his primary victory last month.

Past inflammatory online comments made on a now-deleted Reddit account came back to haunt him at the same time he was reeling from revelations of a now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol. Then reports that Platner exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married came right before allegations from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes were made public.

Platner repeatedly called the allegations of violence untrue and dismissed his tattoo and Reddit posts as actions taken by a younger man who has now changed.

And addressing the latest rape allegation, a visibly irritated Platner charged in his suspension video on Wednesday: “This is all false. The things that have been claimed did not happen. It is not real.”

PLATNER’S GONE: HERE’S WHAT’S NEXT AND WHO’S SCRAMBLING TO REPLACE HIM

Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks to an overflow crowd outside a campaign event June 7, 2026, in Portland, Maine.(Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo)

But Republicans see an opportunity to use Platner’s toxic baggage as a cudgel against some Democrats on the ballot in key races this year — especially those who once backed the Maine candidate or defended him against previous allegations.

“Every Democrat that endorsed Graham Platner endorsed a rapist, and every Democrat that stayed silent was complicit,” Gruters argued.

The GOP quickly took aim at Matt Dunlap, the Democratic nominee in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, a Democrat-controlled open seat in a mostly rural district President Donald Trump carried in the past three presidential elections that the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is heavily targeting.

Dunlap endorsed Platner and appeared with him at a campaign event days before Maine’s June 9 primary.

“Out of touch freak Matt Dunlap might be okay with Nazi lovers and men who abuse women, but in November, he’ll see for himself that Mainers aren’t. Dunlap’s embrace of this vile human is disqualifying,” NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole charged.

On Monday, amid a wave of Democrats calling on Platner to call it quits, Dunlap said in a statement, “The allegations reported today are serious, and they deserve to be treated with the gravity they warrant. As such, I am calling on Graham Platner to withdraw from the race for Senate so we can all come together behind a nominee who can successfully carry the torch in November.”

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In neighboring battleground New Hampshire, the NRCC took aim at Stefany Shaheen, the polling front runner in the September primary in the state’s 1st Congressional District, another crucial swing seat that is among roughly two to three dozen that will determine if the GOP holds its razor-thin House majority in the midterms.

“Granite Staters will hold Shaheen accountable for her appalling judgment,” O’Toole argued.

Shaheen never endorsed Platner, but did not explicitly condemn him until Monday, when she said in a statement that “the allegations of sexual assault are extremely disturbing.”

“Graham Platner needs to drop out of this race. I stand with the women who bravely came forward,” she added.

The Shaheen campaign told Fox News Digital that Republicans are being hypocritical, and pointed to President Donald Trump as an example of the double standard.

“Stefany Shaheen called for Graham Platner to drop out. Republicans hacks are total hypocrites still excusing Donald Trump even after he was forced to pay millions in damages to a woman he sexually abused,” Shaheen campaign manager Emma Greenberg told Fox News Digital.

“They have nothing to say about the twenty-eight women who have accused Trump of sexually abusing them. Stefany is going to keep taking on Donald Trump’s corrupt self-dealing and misogyny along with the hacks who keep enabling it.”

The general election winner in the congressional race will succeed four-term Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, who is running for the Senate this year.

Former GOP Sen. John E. Sununu, the Republican front-runner in that race, took aim at Pappas over what he charged were the “failures of Chris Pappas when it comes to Graham Platner.”

The statement spotlights a critical piece on Pappas penned by the conservative-leaning New Hampshire Journal.

Pappas, who never endorsed Platner, also took to social media on Monday, saying, “The allegations against Graham Platner are reprehensible, and he must step aside.”

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The Pappas campaign also argued that Sununu, who is backed byTrump, is being hypocritical.

“Donald Trump was found liable for sexual abuse, bragged about sexually harassing women and girls, has publicly defamed and demeaned survivors, and is mentioned in the Epstein files over 38,000 times — and John Sununu accepted Trump’s endorsement anyway,” Chris Pappas for Senate spokesperson Gates MacPherson said. “Chris Pappas called on Platner to step aside immediately. John Sununu still stands with Donald Trump. They are not the same.”

The Senate showdown for the Democrat-controlled seat in New Hampshire is one of roughly a dozen races that will determine if Republicans retain their majority in the chamber.

Democrats question how effective any concerted push by the GOP to use Platner as ammunition may be with voters this autumn.

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“Battleground district voters don’t care about Graham Platner, CJ Warnke, communications director at the House Majority PAC, the top super PAC supporting congressional Democrats, told Fox News Digital in a statement.

Warnke, pivoting to affordability, argued that voters “care about how Republicans broke their promise lower costs by passing a toxic agenda of tariffs, new wars, and devastating health care cuts. Meanwhile, Democrats are running on making life more affordable and rooting out corruption, and in November we’re going to win.”

Paul Steinhauser covers the national campaign trail from coast to coast for Fox News

Trump turns to White House columns for next construction project

2026-07-09T16:56:40.663Z / CNN

By Betsy Klein

3 hr ago

PUBLISHED Jul 9, 2026, 12:56 PM ET

Workers place a drape around the North Portico of the White House, on Thursday.

Samuel Corum/Sipa USA/AP

The White House North Portico is covered with significant scaffolding, now covered by a drape, that’s gone up in recent days as workers rehabilitate the exterior columns at President Donald Trump’s request.

The column updates mark the latest effort in a spate of construction projects the president, a former real estate developer, has undertaken both at the White House and across Washington, DC.

Trump spent roughly six minutes inspecting the columns as his motorcade returned from Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day. On June 9, workers were observed beginning to strip paint from the Ionic columns and ​ the plaster. On June 29, a worker in a lift removed the massive lantern centered under the White House overhang and put its pieces into a box.

This week, reporters did live TV hits in front of a White House now fully encrusted in scaffolding, with loud bangs emanating from the ongoing work.

By Thursday afternoon, workers placed a new drape over the scaffolding with a printed image of the columns. A White House official attributed the project to “standard restoration work” and “stone repair in the columns.”

“We’ve taken about 150 years of paint off of the columns, and re-did them,” Trump told a crowd of supporters in the Rose Garden on Monday, asking if they’d noticed the scaffolding.

Trump questioned whether his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, noticed problems with the columns. “Do you think he walked in the office and said, ‘I don’t like the shape of the columns’? I don’t think so, Biden. I don’t like the shape of the columns — he didn’t notice things like that.”

The White House has not responded to CNN’s inquiry as to whether there would be more substantial changes to the North Portico.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whose department oversees White House renovation and restoration projects, attributed this new effort to Trump’s “attention to detail and the understanding to get it done.”

“He sees door dings in the pillars and says, ‘Look at all this stuff. It needs to be repaired,’” Burgum said during a recent appearance on “The Katie Miller Podcast.”

Asked how long the project would take, Burgum said, “It’ll go very quickly. I think they’ve been up, maybe, just about 10 days now, but these guys work very quick.”

Trump’s White House projects began with gilding the Oval Office, followed by tweaks to the Roosevelt Room and Cabinet Room. He’s paved the Rose Garden and demolished the East Wing to make way for a sprawling ballroom. And on Wednesday, he unveiled new signage on the exterior of the Palm Room in a photo posted to social media.

“The newly revamped West Wing of the White House, including signage and renovated walls, maple trees, and plantings!” the president wrote on Truth Social, sharing an image of “The West Wing” sign written in a shiny gold script.

Inside the insurgent rise and rapid downfall of Graham Platner’s campaign

2026-07-09T18:12:03.087Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/09/politics/graham-platner-campaign-career-fall

Soon after news broke Monday that a woman who had previously dated Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner accused him of rape — an allegation he has denied — his campaign reached out to former Sen. Barbara Boxer.

The retired California Democrat had drafted an op-ed backing Platner and criticizing the record of her former Republican colleague, Maine Sen. Susan Collins. As droves of his allies began rescinding their endorsements and calling on him to drop out Monday, Platner’s campaign wanted to know if the article should still run, Boxer said.

She told them no.

“I still feel the way I do about Susan Collins, but I can’t support Graham Platner based on what’s come out,” Boxer told CNN on Wednesday. “I fought my whole life protecting women and can’t do it.”

Until this week, Platner had been able to withstand an onslaught of controversies over his old social media posts, a tattoo that resembles a Nazi symbol, his infidelity and accusations of unsettling behavior with former romantic partners. His stunning political rise, supporters said, showed that people can change and that his movement was stronger than the establishment forces that viewed him as a weak general election candidate.

But for many of those remaining supporters, a sexual assault allegation was a bridge too far.

Platner finally accepted political reality on Wednesday night and announced he was suspending his campaign, after an ordeal that dragged out for over two days. But he accepted virtually no blame in a defiant 11-minute video — either for the allegations, which he maintains are false, or for the predicament he put Maine Democrats in. They now have less than three weeks to coalesce around a new nomineein one of the most critical races for the battle for Senate control.

A handful of advisers had urged Platner to strike a gracious tone to his supporters in that video — even while denying the allegations — but he did not follow that guidance. A disagreement in language, along with his reluctance to accept his political fate, contributed to the delay in stepping aside, a person close to the campaign told CNN.

“Those in power, who have the ability to do so,” Platner ultimately said in his recorded video message, “are using these allegations as an excuse to take away all of the things that we need to run a campaign.”

The release of the video was timed to coincide with an all-hands staff video conference call Wednesday night. On that call, a participant said, Platner struck a far more conciliatory tone and thanked his young staff for dedicating themselves to his movement.

Yet, as he did on the video, he stopped short of apologizing.

For most staff members, the first time they watched the video was after their campaign call with Platner. His tone was widely criticized by Democrats, who feared it could sow deeper divisions, rather than attempt to bridge the party divide.

“All about him — and ego,” one disappointed Democratic staffer told CNN. “Not an ounce of humility.”

Genevieve McDonald, his former political director who quit the campaign last October and has since become a vocal critic, called the video “petulant and conspiratorial.”

“The reality is far less dramatic: a campaign built by consultants who thought they were kingmakers, was brought down by a handful of women with iPhones and the truth,” McDonald said in a comment to CNN.

Now, Democrats face an uncertain path forward in the only state Kamala Harris carried in 2024 where they have a shot at unseating a GOP senator. Once Platner formally files his paperwork to withdraw, the Maine Democratic Party has until July 27 to present a new candidate to the secretary of state. Party members voted Wednesday to hold a nominating convention, but details about when it will be and how the process will unfold are still being decided.

Those questions about the process speak to a broader concern among those who support Platner’s politics, even if they no longer back him: will his replacement be another political outsider?

New candidates started entering the race before Platner announced he was stepping aside. Some in the progressive movement have started rallying behind former state Sen. Troy Jackson, who finished third in this year’s gubernatorial primary, during which he shared a stage with Platner and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Jackson, who filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday, has already sought to distance himself from Platner, and said he wouldn’t seek his endorsement.

“It’s unfortunate, but I just don’t want it,” Jackson said on NBC’s “Meet the Press Now” Wednesday.

Platner kicked off his longshot bid for the Senate nomination last August with a gritty campaign launch video that showed him farming oysters, chopping wood and railing against billionaires, what he said are corrupt politicians and an oligarchy crushing working class people in Maine and across the country.

His pitch was that his background — as an oysterman and a Marine veteran — would help him appeal to a broader swath of the electorate than other candidates. A wave of media profiles asked whether he could beat the party establishment, which had thrown its weight behind Gov. Janet Mills, and help reshape a party that was struggling to speak to White working class voters.

Some argued he was the future of the party. But within weeks, his past started to catch up to him.

News outlets unearthed old, since deleted Reddit posts. He’d called himself a “communist,” criticized White rural Americans as racist and called “all” police “bastards,” CNN’s KFile reported. In some of the most widely condemned posts, Platner downplayed sexual assault. He’d written that women worried about rape shouldn’t “get blacked out f****d up around people you aren’t comfortable with” and should “just take some responsibility for themselves.” Platner disavowed the old posts and said he didn’t want to be judged for the worst things he’d said on the internet more than a decade ago.

Weeks later, it emerged that Platner had a skull and cross bones tattoo that closely resembled a Nazi symbol. He apologized and announced that he’d gotten it covered up.

Amid this early swirl of controversies, Maine Beer Company founder Dan Kleban and former congressional aide Jordan Wood dropped their own bids to back Mills, who had entered the race after weeks of speculation. (They’ve both since thrown their hats back in the ring.)

But despite her long record in public service and broad name recognition, Mills struggled to gain traction against Platner.

“Mills barely ran a campaign, and she should have said no,” said a Democratic strategist who works on Senate campaigns, who asked for anonymity to speak candidly. “There were other candidates who would have run a great campaign that could have stepped up if she didn’t want to run the aggressive campaign necessary.”

In March, Mills’ campaign went negative, and began airing an attack ad blasting Platner’s old Reddit posts dismissing sexual assault. “Graham Platner: the closer you look, the worse it gets,” the narrator says.

It was too little, too late. The governor suspended her campaign at the end of April, clearing a path for Platner.

As more details of Platner’s past behavior emerged, he and his allies sought to frame his campaign as a tale of redemption, accountability and second chances. His past mistakes, he said, were fueled by his PTSD from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, which he has spoken about openly.

“Platner has said that he is not proud of who he was, and he has taken responsibility,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Platner supporter who called on him to drop out this week, told WCVB late last month. “He has asked the people of Maine to judge him, not for the worst things he did in the darkest part of his life, but based on the work he has done since then and his commitment to be out there fighting for working families every day.”

Warren and others stood by Platner after The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported on May 30 that his wife, Amy Gertner, had warned the campaign during its vetting process last year that he’d sent sexually explicit texts to other women early in their marriage. (Gertner said she thought she was confiding in a trusted aide, McDonald, and said the couple had done the “hard work” to move past the infidelity.)

Days later, during a meeting with Democratic senators at the party’s Senate committee headquarters in Washington, Platner addressed concerns from his potential future colleagues. At one point, Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith asked Platner directly if there were any more allegations about his conduct with women that could possibly come to light. He responded, “No.”

Platner’s coalition also stood by him when, days before the June 9 primary, The New York Times reported that some women he’d previously dated accused him of displaying unsettling — and in one case physically threatening — behavior toward them. Platner said in a statement that he’d been “open about what was a very dark period of my life where I struggled with undiagnosed PTSD, too often self-medicated with alcohol, and was a far from perfect boyfriend.” He said he took responsibility for that but denied the physically threatening behavior.

As some Democrats wavered, Mills — who had already dropped out — reminded voters she was still on the ballot. Platner went on to win a landslide victory, with 72% of the primary vote.

“If you believe, as I do, that we can change our politics and change our country, then you must also believe that people can change,” Platner said during his election night speech. “And the reason I believe that is because I have lived it.”

Platner had done what seemed impossible nearly 11 months earlier. He’d defeated a two-term governor who was recruited into the race by Senate Democrats’ campaign arm. He’d held his coalition together even as voters gained a fuller understanding of his past.

But some Democrats feared that there could be more shoes to drop about his treatment of women that would be a liability in his race against Collins, a five-term senator who’s prevailed in tough races before.

Speculation grew in recent days that a more serious allegation was set to drop and Platner cancelled campaign events.

“We’ve been hearing whispers of this rumor since last fall,” said the Democratic strategist who works on Senate campaigns. “Not specifically rape, but the idea that there are problematic interactions with women.”

On Monday, Jenny Racicot told Politico and CNN that Platner entered her home without permission and raped her while he was heavily intoxicated nearly five years ago when they were in a casual dating relationship. Platner denies the accusation.

But he soon began hemorrhaging support, including from his most devoted supporters.

“I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine,” Sanders wrote on X Tuesday afternoon. “In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.”

The final days of the campaign were spent navigating an exit strategy and feuding with state and national Democrats. Platner and his team demanded his supporters have a voice in shaping the process to replace him, while party leaders balked at his attempt to wield control over what comes next.

Platner’s campaign manager, Ben Chin, sent a text blast to supporters Wednesday, accusing the state party of allowing the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee “to send staffers to plan a potential nominating process behind closed doors.” The DSCC denied the claim in a statement.

The fallout from Platner’s rise and fall has left Democrats wondering why they didn’t heed the warning signs some in the party saw months ago.

Platner lost some supporters along the way, as a core team of out-of-state strategists guided his campaign. McDonald said she was one of his campaign’s “first gaslighting casualties” in a Washington Post op-ed that ran the day before the June 9 primary.

She has been criticized by the campaign for speaking to The New York Times about her conversation with Gertner about Platner’s sexual messages to other women, has become one of his most vocal critics.

“Democrats are being sold a narrative that Platner is the only choice for the race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins,” McDonald wrote. “Maine voters don’t have to accept that.”

And this week, some national Democrats quickly pointed to “red flags” from early in the campaign.

“It was clear from very early on that he had questionable moral character, that he had red flags in his past, and that those were going to be a serious barrier to his ability to win a general election,” said Jessica Mackler, the president of EMILY’s List, an organization that endorses women who support abortion rights and backed Mills.

The collapse of Platner’s campaign isn’t just a disappointment to progressives in Maine, but the broader movement, advocates argued.

Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said the goal isn’t just to elect “shake up the system economic fighters” in the 2026 midterms, but to show the Democratic Party that those kinds of candidates can win in swing states ahead of the 2028 presidential primaries.

“If the effect is that we nominate someone who loses the presidential election next cycle, because we fail to prove that bold, inspiring people can win, that’s really unfortunate,” Green said. “It definitely set back the cause.”

CNN’s Dana Bash contributed to this report.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/08/politics/video/graham-platner-drops-maine-senate-bid-digvid-hnk

Questions arise over Qatari-donated Air Force One after Secret Service advised Trump to take old plane

2026-07-09T13:54:00-0400 / CBS News

Washington — The Secret Service advised that President Trump take the old Air Force One to leave Turkey on Wednesday instead of the new plane donated by Qatar, people briefed on the situation told CBS News, highlighting questions about the security of the president’s new plane.

The White House insists the new Air Force One is fitted with high-level security features. But the Secret Service suggested that the president take the old plane, which is equipped with secure communication systems and sophisticated military defenses, according to people briefed on the situation and who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity to discuss national security concerns. The Secret Service declined to comment.

But the new plane that Qatar donated to the U.S. for presidential flights was hurried into service and is lacking some desired capabilities, U.S. officials told CBS News.

The president traveled in an older version of the presidential plane when he left the NATO summit in Turkey, instead of the new plane that had carried him to Ankara. He then returned to the new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted plane when he landed in the United Kingdom later in the day.

The decision was made to ensure the president’s ability to manage the war with Iran from the air, as well as in the interest of his security, the people said. The recommendation was not based on a specific or credible threat, but rather as a precautionary measure amid the ongoing war, according to the sources.

The older planes that serve as Air Force One have laser technology to blind an incoming missile, a system that could misdirect incoming munitions and other diversion technologies, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News. It’s unclear if the Boeing 747-8 Qatari jet has been equipped with those systems. When asked, the Air Force declined to discuss specific capabilities.

The New York Times first reported that the Secret Service asked the president not to use the newer plane to depart from Ankara, warning of security concerns from the escalating war with Iran. The Qataris gifted the $400 million plane last year, and the military spent months retrofitting it to be able to carry the president.

A former U.S. government official who spoke to CBS News expressed concern that there wasn’t enough time or money to outfit the new plane with defensive capabilities to fully meet the requirements to serve as Air Force One.

Mr. Trump said he was making the stop in the U.K. so U.S. troops stationed in Europe could tour the new jet. But the change came after the war with Iran escalated significantly, with renewed attacks by both sides this week.

Iranian missiles can reach Turkey.

“The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement to CBS News. “As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal — including distraction and misdirection — to address those threats.”

The Air Force has previously said the “aircraft is safe, secure and equipped with the most advanced technologies necessary to meet the requirements of the presidential mission. Those requirements were carefully crafted to prioritize mission over aesthetics, leaving much of the previous head of state interior layout minimally changed.”

The Air Force added: “No risk was taken in security, safety or mission communications, but the collective team made trades on some of the less commonly used mission sets that Boeing must deliver to support the next 40 years.”

The president didn’t suggest the plane itself was insecure, although he said more than once that he is a target of Iran.

“Their leaders are gone,” he said during his press conference at the end of the NATO meeting. “Head leaders, they’re gone, and they had another set of leaders, they’re gone, now they have another set of leaders, they may be gone, who knows. And you know what, I may be gone, too. Because I’m their number one target.”

On Air Force One, Mr. Trump talked about the Iranian threats against him.

“If I go, you go,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “Perhaps some day you want to change professions.”

Aboard the old Air Force One in Turkey, reporters were told to keep their windows closed — not a typical request on a presidential flight.

Mr. Trump accepted the plane from Qatar over security objections from critics, and over good-government experts’ concerns about accepting such a large gift from a foreign power.

“There will never be one like this. This is very unique,” the president said when the plane was unveiled. “This is considered the world’s most luxurious plane,” the president said. “When it was built, it was built at a level that will probably never be seen again.”

Olivia Rinaldi contributed to this report.

Biden-era enviro rule accused of strangling truckers, squeezing Americans lands on Trump chopping block

EPA air chief Aaron Szabo says eliminating DEF deratements will lower transportation costs and food prices for families

July 9, 2026 12:30pm EDT / Fox News

By Ashley J. DiMella

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6395279495112

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin: This is the ultimate accountability

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin discusses voters tuning out the climate alarm on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime.’

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FIRST ON FOX:The Trump administration is proposing to slash Biden-era truck emissions regulations in a move officials say would save the trucking industry about $12 billion and ease supply chain costs that make everyday goods more expensive for Americans.

“Collectively, these savings will be passed on to American families through lower costs for food, household goods, and other products trucks deliver, while still maintaining strong environmental protections and ensuring clean air,” read the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) press release first viewed by Fox News Digital.

The EPA has proposed changes to heavy-duty truck emissions rules that would save truckers an estimated $12 billion, including up to $6,000 per new truck, helping lower transportation costs and prices for American families.

The proposal would eliminate DEF-related engine deratements and speed restrictions for new highway engines and vehicles, as well as new nonroad engines and equipment, including farm machinery, replacing them with warning alerts so operators can keep working until repairs can be made safely.

TRUMP PARDONS 9 PEOPLE CONVICTED OF TAMPERING WITH EMISSION CONTROLS ON DIESEL ENGINES

A combine harvester during a soybean harvest at a farm in Harvard, Illinois, Oct. 17, 2025.(Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Previous policies “make delivering everything more expensive and so that’s going to all be passed on to the consumer as well. By making these trucks cheaper and more reliable, we are making sure that the supply chain stays as cheap as possible for the American people,” EPA air chief Aaron Szabo told Fox News Digital in an interview.

The proposal would also reduce costly emissions warranty requirements from the 2023 rule while keeping nearly 90% of the planned NOx emissions reductions and giving manufacturers more time and flexibility to meet the updated standards.

Szabo said the proposal addresses a major problem caused by DEF system failures, which can force trucks and farm equipment into “limp mode” by reducing their speed to just five miles per hour.

STEVE MOORE: POLITICIANS ARE BLAMING THE WRONG VILLAIN FOR AMERICA’S RISING FOOD PRICES

Trump’s White House dinner for farmers comes as the administration touts trade gains, tax relief and other policies affecting rural America.(Alex Wong/Getty Images)

He said with more than 200 possible failure codes, the deratements can leave truckers stranded on the side of the road and farmers losing hours—or even days—of productivity during critical work like harvesting.

“We’re both making the products more reliable and decreasing the impact from DEF. And we’re also bringing down the price of the whole supply chain by reducing the cost of these new trucks,” Szabo said.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins told Fox News Digital in a statement that the issue has “shown the true cost of government overreach.”

AMERICA’S FAVORITE BEERS — AND THE JOBS TIED TO THEM — ARE AT THE CENTER OF A BREWING TRADE FIGHT

President Donald Trump walks past tractors as he arrives to participate in a roundtable on “American Agriculture” at Custer Farms in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin(SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

“Our rural communities rely on diesel powered engines to deliver their food, families, electricity, and so much more to where it needs to go. The billions in savings will directly benefit those who feed, fuel, and clothe our nation,” Rollins said.

The latest proposal follows Trump’s broader pledge to roll back Biden-era green regulations after he returned to office.

“We will terminate the Green New Deal, revoke the electric vehicle mandate, and unleash American energy,” Trump said in his inaugural speech.

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Szabo said the Biden administration tried to push Americans into electric trucks with rules it enforced.

“That’s what the Biden administration was doing. They were forcing people to not have choice anymore, taking away their freedom to choose what kind of vehicle and telling them you have to buy an electric vehicle,” he added.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Office of Joe Biden for comment.

Ashley J. DiMella reports on politics for Fox News Digital.

Schiff launches inquiry into DOJ’s closure of probe into Abbott Labs over bacterial contamination at baby formula plant

July 9, 2026 / 3:05 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington— California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff is launching a congressional inquiry into why the Justice Department shuttered a long-running criminal investigation into Cronobacter bacterial contamination at an Abbott Laboratories plant that made baby formula.

In a July 8 letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche reviewed by CBS News, Schiff said he is seeking answers about why senior DOJ officials did not follow prosecutors’ advice to pursue felony charges against the company and several of its executives.

“Under your management, DOJ does not consider a case involving deadly risks to medically sensitive infants, after a recommendation of a felony charge, to be worthy of criminal prosecution,” Schiff wrote.

“If prosecuting cases involving the risk of injuries or death to premature infants are not a priority enforcement matter, I have questions about what priorities the DOJ considers worthy of pursuing,” he added.

A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed receiving the letter from Schiff’s office.

In 2022, Abbott Laboratories recalled several of its popular powdered formula brands, including Similac, after consumers complained about infant illness related to products from Abbott Nutrition, in Sturgis, Michigan. The FDA in March said five infants had to be hospitalized due to reported bacterial infections which it said “may have contributed to death in two patients.”

In a statement, the company told CBS News that “no unopened, distributed Abbott infant formulas have ever tested positive for Cronobacter sakazakii” and said the Food and Drug Administration also separately confirmed in March 2022 that “the unopened product from homes of the infants under investigation at the time of the 2022 recall tested negative for Cronobacter.”

Further, Abbott said that in four of the cases, open containers of formula were tested, and three of the four were negative for Cronobacter. It said the fourth was positive for two strains of Cronobacter sakazakii, one of which was the same strain that caused the infection in the infant. But neither of the two strains was found at the Sturgis plant.

Abbott also said that it learned a year later, in March 2023, that Cronobacter sakazakii was found on breast pump parts in the home of one of the four cases.

Federal prosecutors wanted to pursue felony charges in the case, and they had the support of Tysen Duva, the assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

However, senior DOJ leadership ordered the case closed, the sources added. The Justice Department is working on a civil settlement with the company in a parallel False Claims Act case, according to a public May 12 docket entry, but no details have been made public.

A senior DOJ official told CBS News that the department believed that a civil False Claims Act resolution was “the best mechanism to achieve accountability, deterrence and protection of the public” in the matter.

The official added that the agreement reached in principle with Abbott includes a “significant” monetary penalty, and said that Abbott’s plans to possibly build a new $1 billion facility in Ohio played no role in its decision to drop the criminal investigation.

The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the closure of the case. Bloomberg Government previously reported on Duva’s efforts to keep the case alive, and how the case has sparked broader concerns about a retreat of corporate prosecutions involving public health and safety.

A federal law known as the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act prohibits the sale, distribution or manufacturing of counterfeit, adulterated or misbranded drugs and medical devices, as well as food, supplements and cosmetics.

The law allows prosecutors to bring misdemeanor charges against companies and individuals under a strict liability standard, meaning they do not need to prove a defendant knowingly violated the law. But historically, the Justice Department has focused its efforts on investigating felony violations of the law.

In the public False Claims Act case, which was filed by numerous states and joined by the Justice Department, the company is accused of lying about the conditions under which the formula was manufactured to federal and state regulators.

“Abbott repeatedly lied to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (‘USDA’) and State agencies when it represented that it produced powder infant formula under conditions that complied with U.S. Food and Drug Administration … rules,” DOJ lawyers wrote in a February 2026 filing after the company asked a federal judge to dismiss the case.

“None of the misplaced arguments in Abbott’s motion can turn a years-long and widespread failure to manufacture compliant powder infant formula into a ‘regulatory disagreement’ or ‘record-keeping’ error.”

Schiff, in his letter to the Justice Department, pointed to some of the language in those court filings and questioned the department’s decision not to pursue a criminal case.

“For such serious allegations, a DOJ dedicated to enforcing the law — regardless of the political affiliation of its Attorney General — would likely insist on criminal charges and a civil penalty, not simply a settlement that is a cost of business for a corporation,” Schiff wrote.

He also raised questions in his letter about the fact that the company is represented by the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, which was one of the firms that struck a deal with the administration to provide pro-bono legal services to pro-Trump causes last year.

An attorney at Kirkland & Ellis who represents the company did not respond to a request for comment.

In his letter, Schiff asked Blanche to respond to a series of questions about the case, including whether he had personally reviewed it.

Schiff, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, will have an opportunity to ask the acting attorney general about the Abbott Labs case in person on July 15 — that’s when Blanche is scheduled to appear before the panel for his confirmation hearing to be attorney general.

Dana Bash breaks down Graham Platner’s 11-minute video dropping out of Maine’s Senate race and blasting party leaders

2026-07-09T17:30:29.106Z / CNN

By Dana Bash, CNN

Published 1:30 PM EDT, Thu July 9, 2026

Dana Bash breaks down Graham Platner’s 11-minute video dropping out of Maine’s Senate race and blasting party leaders

Inside Politics

Graham Platner announced he is suspending his Maine Senate bid in a video blaming the media and Democratic Party leaders for his campaign’s collapse. On “Inside Politics,” Dana Bash analyzes Platner’s video and responds.

3:37 • Source: CNN

SEE IT: ICE agents pause arrest operation to save woman in rollover crash

July 9, 2026 12:05pm EDT / Fox News

DHS officials praised the Milwaukee-area officers after they freed the pinned driver at 20th Street and Cleveland Avenue

By Charles Creitz Fox News

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

EXCLUSIVE: Quick-thinking Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Wisconsin who were preparing to conduct an arrest operation dropped everything to rush to the scene of a nearby rollover crash, saving a woman trapped inside her car, Fox News Digital has learned.

ICE agents have been maligned as “fascist” and “inhumane” by critics, while recent incidents have highlighted officers rescuing people in danger, including a case in which an agent leaped into a hotel pool to save a drowning child.

On June 29, agents were in the Milwaukee area preparing to make an arrest when one officer involved heard the sound of a car crash and hurried to investigate.

THREE-TIME DEPORTED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED WITH KILLING NORTH CAROLINA GIRL, 6, AFTER RUNNING STOP SIGN

A rollover crash in Wisconsin is seen, after ICE agents freed a woman from her car.(DHS)

A car ran a stoplight at 20th Street and Cleveland Avenue, colliding with another vehicle. The impact caused one of the vehicles to roll over and crash into a light pole, pinning the 31-year-old woman inside.

The agent then contacted the rest of his team and told them to call 911 and come over to help free the woman in the interim.

Working as a team, the agents were able to remove the woman from the mangled car and render first aid until emergency medical technicians arrived.

NEW YORKER SUING ICE AFTER OFFICERS WENT TO HIS HOME TO WARN HIM OVER CRITICISM OF AGENCY

“Our best of the best ICE officers put their lives on the line to arrest the worst of the worst,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital following the incident.

Acting Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis said ICE agents like those involved, who remained anonymous, including in exclusive images, for their safety, exemplify the best in federal law enforcement.

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A rolled over car is attended to by ICE agents.(DHS)

“Despite smears and hoaxes spread by sanctuary politicians and the media, our officers put their lives on the line to make our communities safer,” Bis said. “They are heroes.”

A woman is tended to by an ICE agent after they freed her from her crushed car.(DHS)

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“If you see an ICE law enforcement officer, thank them for all they do to protect our nation.”

In another case this year, while ICE agents were assisting TSA agents during the Democrats’ DHS shutdown, one ICE agent performed the Heimlich maneuver on a choking child, saving the child’s life.

Born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, worked in both the New York and Washington bureaus for Fox News since 2013.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6398750295112

Trump’s proposed arch needs structural revisions to earn final approval, planning commission says

July 9, 2026 / 3:55 PM EDT / CBS News

By Sophia Vlahakis

President Trump’s 250-foot proposed Triumphal Arch would require structural revisions to earn final approval, the National Planning Commission said Thursday.

The proposed Memorial Circle monument has a 166-foot mezzanine and 24-foot observation level, with a 60-foot statue of Lady Liberty on top. This would violate the 1910 Heights of Buildings Act, which seeks to preserve the Washington, D.C. skyline by limiting buildings to 130 feet, according to the National Planning Commission. The Department of Interior argued the act “does not apply to federal buildings” in a June memo.

The NCPC, however, said it “has historically held that the Height of Buildings Act is binding on federal buildings, and NCPC has consistently applied that position.”

The commission offered a compromise, suggesting the mezzanine and observation level be decreased to 130 feet and 20 feet, respectively. The remaining 40 feet could be added back to the statue. Under this proposal, Lady Liberty would be 100-feet tall, and the overall arch would still amass to 250 feet.

If construction goes forward as proposed, the arch would dwarf the 99-foot Lincoln Memorial, which is across the bridge. It would also be roughly 30 feet taller than the Plaza de la República in Mexico City, currently the largest arch in the world.

The arch has faced significant public criticism, which was on display as witnesses spoke for well over an hour at the meeting. A variety of reasons from public process to cultural presentation were cited, including passionate appeals about how the visual obstruction of Arlington Cemetery is offensive.

“My concern is not with commemoration itself, but with this specific proposal, its location, its scale, and its impact on a historic memorial landscape,” said Cynthia Morrison, a Gold Star mother. “The open space between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery is not just empty land. It is deliberately designed and historically significant memorial vista.”

blob:https://www.cbsnews.com/38c04383-98d6-4ffa-890b-5ccfd7da5dac

Michael Lemmon, a Vietnam veteran and plaintiff in the lawsuit against the arch, advocated for “a careful review by concerned stakeholders” such as residents, veterans, historians and legislators and raised concerns about how the arch may impede ceremonies, burials and visits to Arlington.

“As a combat veteran, I feel a duty to protect the memory and honor the sacrifice of my comrades and all those buried there,” Lemmon said, “This vainglorious monumental arch does neither.”

While the commission, chaired by Trump White House aide Will Scharf, did not pose any substantive challenges to the arch, it did leave a few stipulations.

Critics of the arch have also expressed concerns about the flight path to nearby Ronald Reagan National Airport.

Any recommendations by the Federal Aviation Administration must be incorporated, and the FAA still needs to conduct a full aeronautical study before construction.

The NCPC is asking for revisions to plans for pedestrian accessibility and lighting, as well. The commission is concerned the 32 proposed traffic poles will create clutter and about the brightness from eight 14-to-20-foot tall stanchions.

There is no date set for final review of the site and building plans. According to National Park Service documents filed to the federal registrar last month, federal officials are seeking an aggressive work schedule that would require 20 hours a day of construction over two years.

While many of D.C.’s monuments are constructed in natural stone such as marble and limestone, the arch is set to be built from concrete and finished with granite.

Man accused of shooting two National Guard members hospitalized after refusing to eat in jail

2026-07-09T17:35:39.572Z / CNN

By Holmes Lybrand

2 hr ago

PUBLISHED Jul 9, 2026, 1:35 PM ET

A picture of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who is the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members, is displayed at a press conference with FBI Director Kash Patel, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro and other authorities, in Washington, DC, on November 27, 2025.

Nathan Howard/Reuters

The man accused of shooting two National Guard members, killing one, in Washington, DC, in 2025 has been admitted to a city hospital after he refused to eat and sometimes drink in jail as he awaits trial.

During an emergency hearing Thursday, DC federal Judge Amit Mehta said Rahmanullah Lakanwal’s “health has deteriorated quite substantially.”

“Mr. Lakanwal’s health circumstances,” Mehta said, “is in some sense self-inflicted.”

Mehta added that Lakanwal has refused food and “sometimes water.”

According to prosecutors, Lakanwal was admitted to George Washington University Hospital at midnight. They say they were advised by the US Marshal Service of general health issues the defendant faced two weeks ago.

During the emergency hearing, Mehta said he would allow prosecutors to see Lakanwal’s medical records from the past 24 hours. Those records, prosecutors said, have been under seal and will help guide them on what the next steps should be.

Lakanwal, who traveled from Washington state to the capital city in late November before he allegedly ambushed the two officers, pleaded not guilty to the nine charges against him — including first-degree murder — in February.

Sarah Beckstrom, one of the National Guard members who was shot in the back of the head, was pronounced dead the next day. The other member, Andrew Wolfe, survived the attack.

Lakanwal worked with the CIA for over a decade in Afghanistan before the US military withdrew from the country. He came to the US in 2021.

The Justice Department has said it plans to seek the death penalty against Lakanwal.