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Jason Miller set to join White House again — with a messaging mission

2026-07-01T18:43:19.879Z / CNN

By Kristen Holmes

PUBLISHED Jul 1, 2026, 2:43 PM ET

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Jason Miller, Former Senior Advisor, President Donald J. Trump & Principal, SHW Partners LLC, speaks onstage during the 2025 Concordia Annual Summit at Sheraton New York Times Square on September 22, 2025 in New York City.

Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Annual Summit/File

President Donald Trump’s former adviser and campaign spokesperson Jason Miller is expected to join the White House, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

While those people said the paperwork and details are still being finalized, Miller will likely take on a special government employee role specific to crafting messaging around the president’s accomplishments, according to one of those sources.

That could include guiding the president to focus on certain political topics, said another one of the people briefed on the conversations, noting that Miller has earned Trump’s trust as a confidant and has worked with the president dating back to 2015.

“Jason is a hand that is trusted by the president, he respects him, he’s been around a long time,” that source said. “Having people around him reinforcing correct political advice is always a good thing.”

Trump has struggled to stay on message lately, repeatedly hijacking the Republican Party’s desire to focus on affordability and improving the economy. His Iran war drove gas prices up sharply, and he last week abruptly refused to sign a landmark bipartisan bill meant to drive down the price of housing, later calling it “a yawn.”

But he’s latched onto another message lately that is more in line with the party’s political strategy — labeling Democrats as communists after a series of democratic socialist primary wins. James Blair, who is leading Trump’s political operation, has privately outlined that portraying Democrats as the worse option is a central part of the GOP’s midterm strategy.

Johnny DeStefano, a close ally of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, is also expected to join the White House, two of the sources said. DeStefano served as assistant and counselor to the president during Trump’s first term.

“He is incredibly influential and has deep relationships that span the House, Senate and White House — he will be a huge asset,” one source familiar with the decision told CNN.

CNN has reached out to Miller and DeStefano for comment. The Washington Post first reported the proposed staffing changes.

Top federal prosecutor in Chicago says more than 1,000 cases under review after Broadview Six misconduct revelations

July 1, 2026 1:57 PM EDT / CBS News

By Sarah N. Lynch

Sarah N. Lynch Senior Justice Department Reporter
Sarah N. Lynch is the senior Justice Department reporter for CBS News, based in Washington, D.C.

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More than 1,000 grand jury presentations are under review after federal prosecutors in Chicago were forced to dismiss charges in the “Broadview Six” case due to grand jury abuses and prosecutorial misconduct, the top federal prosecutor in the district said Wednesday.

Speaking to the media in Washington, D.C., at an unrelated press conference, U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros for the Northern District of Illinois said his office is scrutinizing prosecutorial conduct in cases that date back as far as 2007, as part of an effort to shore up confidence in the grand jury process.

“When this is all said and done, I will tell you that well over 1,000 grand jury presentations will be reviewed in the Northern District of Illinois,” Boutros said.

“They will both be retroactive, looking at what happened in some cases going all the way back almost 20 years. It will cover everything that is happening now that’s pending in court.”

He said the review of current cases is designed to instill confidence in the system and ensure those cases are not suffering from the same issues as seen with the Broadview Six — a case involving a group of protesters who were arrested outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, last fall.

Boutros has faced mounting scrutiny after revelations of prosecutorial misconduct came to light in recent months.

The case fell apart after U.S. District Judge April Perry took the rare step of unsealing usually secret grand jury transcripts which revealed prosecutors had engaged in inappropriate conduct when securing the indictment against the protesters.

Andrew Boutros, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, at a press conference at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2026. Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images

At the center of the scandal is former Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg, who left to take a job working for Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat. The grand jury transcripts showed that she improperly “vouched” for the strength of the evidence against the defendants, dismissed grand jurors who disagreed with the allegations, and improperly contacted one grand juror outside of official proceedings.

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Durbin has since fired her from her post.

Boutros, in response to the revelations, announced he has instituted a remediation plan. Part of that plan entails new reforms that Boutros said create “very bright lines” about when prosecutors need to turn over grand jury material and under what circumstances.

The second part of the plan entails the extensive review of prior cases, including those handled by Mecklenburg as well as by other prosecutors in the office, he said.

“It’s going to be a massive review, a comprehensive review, and it is underway.”

Court keeps ‘Decoy Dan’ on Alaska ballot as expert warns ranked-choice system creates voter ‘traps’

2026-07-01T15:01:54-04:00 / Fox News

Honest Elections Project ED Jason Snead told Fox News Digital the candidate in question is ‘clearly’ trying to mislead voters

By Andrew Mark Miller Fox News

Published July 1, 2026 3:01pm EDT

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Alaska’s highest court ruled that a same-name Republican challenger to Sen. Dan Sullivan can remain on the ballot, a decision an election expert says exposes glaring flaws in Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system and top-four primary.

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Monday that Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher, is eligible to appear on the Republican primary ballot alongside incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, affirming a lower court’s decision keeping him on the ballot despite Republicans and the Division of Elections arguing that Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy is a “sham” attempt orchestrated by Democratic operatives to potentially trip up voters and siphon off votes from the incumbent.

“It very clearly is an attempt to mislead voters,” Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, told Fox News Digital. “When you look at the facts, they’ve been pretty clearly established.”

Snead pointed to Alaska’s ranked choice voting (RCV) and jungle primary as especially vulnerable to any nefarious tactics with same-name candidates because, unlike a traditional partisan primary, Alaska advances the top four finishers from a single primary election to the general election, regardless of party.

DAN SULLIVAN ACCUSES SAME-NAME CHALLENGER OF TRYING TO ‘RIG’ ALASKA SENATE RACE

Senate candidate Dan J. Sullivan, left, is pictured alongside Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, right.(Sullivan for U.S. Senate; Brandon Bell-Pool/Getty Images)

Snead argued that under a conventional Republican primary, a candidate he described as a “decoy” would be unlikely to eliminate a legitimate contender before the general election.

Instead, he said, voters face a crowded top-four primary ballot in this year’s Alaska Senate race, roughly 16 candidates are running, and confusion over nearly identical names could have significant consequences.

GOP FIGHTS TO STOP MULTIPLE DAN SULLIVANS FROM APPEARING ON ALASKA BALLOT, CALLS CANDIDACY A ‘SHAM’

Sen. Dan Sullivan addresses the crowd during a campaign rally at a PenAir airplane hangar on Nov. 3, 2014, in Anchorage, Alaska.(David Ryder/Getty Images)

“You’ve really got two problems in one,” Snead said. “You don’t have any party primary. There’s no Republican nominee or Democratic nominee. You have this jungle primary where everybody runs together, and the top four candidates advance to the general election.”

Snead argued that under a traditional partisan primary, a candidate he described as a decoy would have little chance of preventing a legitimate Republican nominee from advancing to the general election. Instead, he said, Alaska’s crowded all-party primary creates more opportunities for voter confusion.

“If enough of them pick the wrong Dan Sullivan, then he makes it into the general,” Snead said. “Now you’ve got two people named Dan Sullivan on the ballot.”

Snead said the ranked-choice system can compound the problem because ballots are redistributed as candidates are eliminated.

“If you only rank one person, then your ballot is eliminated if that person is eliminated,” he said.

ALASKA’S BLOCKBUSTER SENATE RACE THROWN INTO CHAOS AS SAME-NAME CHALLENGER FIGHTS DISQUALIFICATION IN COURT

Rep. Mary Peltola speaks during the Capitol Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 3, 2024.(Nathan Posner/Anadolu)

He said another possibility is that voters could mistakenly rank the wrong Dan Sullivan first and Democrat Mary Peltola second, causing those votes to transfer to Peltola if the decoy candidate is eliminated during tabulation.

“There are lots of different traps here,” Snead said. “At a minimum, I think this speaks to the fact that ranked-choice voting plus jungle primaries is especially vulnerable to these sorts of games.”

“It is definitely not an idea that is ready for prime time, no matter what the people that push ranked choice are trying to sell us on.”

The Alaska Supreme Court did stipulate that election officials could add additional identifying information to the ballot to distinguish between the two candidates, leaving those design decisions to the Division of Elections.

Dan J. Sullivan, known to his critics as “Decoy Dan,” has come under scrutiny over ties to Democratic consultant Amber Lee, who was revealed as the author of his campaign launch announcement in metadata reviewed by Fox News Digital. Lee has notably supported Peltola’s prior runs for office and expressed optimism to The Hill in January that the Alaska Democrat would unseat the incumbent Sullivan.

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Dan J. Sullivan, who has filed to run for U.S. Senate in Alaska, poses for a photo in Petersburg, Alaska, on June 26, 2026.(Katie Holmlund/Associated Press)

According to Alaska Director of Elections Carol Beecher, Dan J. Sullivan requested to appear on the primary ballot under the name “Dan Sullivan” despite previously registering as “Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.” Beecher also noted that his campaign materials are visually similar to the incumbent Republican’s campaign and that he had no affiliation with the GOP prior to jumping into the race shortly before the filing deadline.

The fate of his candidacy could prove decisive in the state’s hotly contested Senate race in which Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is seeking a third term in the Republican-leaning state. Democrats are hoping that former Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, whom Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., helped recruit into the race, will unseat Sullivan in November.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign said, “Mr. Sullivan has been buoyed by yesterday’s decisive victory at the Alaska Supreme Court. To the extent that the Division of Elections is still grappling with how it will properly effectuate ballot design in a manner consistent with Alaska law and past practice, he has no comment, and looks forward to running his campaign.”

Fox News Digital’s Adam Pack contributed to this report.

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.

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Trump foe John Brennan sues administration demanding investigative records into him be preserved

2026-07-01T17:11:38.049Z / CNN

By Katelyn Polantz, Evan Perez

Updated 2 hr ago
Updated Jul 1, 2026, 1:26 PM ET
PUBLISHED Jul 1, 2026, 1:11 PM ET

Former Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Brennan testifies before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill, May 23, 2017 in Washington, DC.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Former CIA Director John Brennan, who has been under investigation by the Justice Department, is demanding the Trump administration preserve records about its inquiry into him, and asking for a court’s help, according to a new lawsuit filed in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

Brennan alleges that the Trump administration is vindictively trying to prosecute him, and that he is concerned internal Justice Department records and communications may not be kept in a way that would allow him to challenge a case in the future for improper prosecution decisions, according to the filing.

Related article Former Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Brennan testifies before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill, May 23, 2017 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images Inside the Justice Department’s shakeup of the John Brennan investigation 9 min read

“Administration officials from the Acting Attorney General to the FBI Director and the Counselor overseeing the Brennan investigations have been publicly declaring Director Brennan a criminal, not only before securing a conviction in court but even before a full investigation and an indictment,” Brennan’s lawyers wrote on Wednesday. “And, certain officials in the Department of Justice are engaging in demonstrably irregular prosecutorial activity in order to gin up a case that will satisfy the President’s direction.”

“Officials of this Administration have shown an advertent disdain for their preservation obligations,” they also wrote.

Brennan has asked a federal judge in Washington to order President Donald Trump, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, top prosecutors out of Miami who have investigated him and intelligence community chiefs to preserve their records about Brennan.

He says the court should also order the preservation of records into any broader “grand conspiracy” investigation the Justice Department may pursue, looking back into former federal officials over years of criminal investigations around Trump.

CNN has reached out to the Justice Department and White House for comment.

In recent weeks, the Southern District of Florida US attorney’s office has beefed up its prosecutorial chops. Just this week, CNN reported that the formerly high-ranking War on Terror-era Justice Department official John Yoo would be consulting with the office on a case that may involve Brennan.

Related article University of California professor John Yoo poses for a portrait in downtown San Francisco on April 15, 2016. Michael Macor/San Francisco Chronicle/AP Conservative presidential power expert set to assist investigation into Trump foes 3 min read

Previously, Brennan’s attorneys had said that a prosecutor told them the former CIA director was a target of investigations out of the prosecutor’s office.

Those include the so-called grand jury investigation, which has prompted a flurry of grand jury subpoenas, and an inquiry into whether Brennan lied to Congress about an intelligence report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Brennan maintains he has done nothing wrong.

This story was updated with additional reporting.

Former CIA Director John Brennan sues Justice Dept., Trump officials over criminal probes

July 1, 2026 / 3:00 PM EDT / CBS News

Former CIA Director John Brennan sued the Justice Department and top Trump administration officials Wednesday, seeking a court order to force the preservation of records in the ongoing federal investigations targeting him.

The lawsuit represents an unusual step for Brennan, a longtime political opponent of President Trump who has been the focus of two Justice Department criminal probes since the beginning of Mr. Trump’s second administration.

One is centered on allegations that Brennan lied to Congress in 2023 about the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election. The second is a sprawling “grand conspiracy” probe examining whether Obama- and Biden-era officials were part of a long-running conspiracy to keep Mr. Trump out of political office.

“This Administration has adopted a policy of using criminal process and prosecution to punish the President’s perceived adversaries,” Brennan’s legal team wrote in a 46-page complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington. “It is against this backdrop that former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, John O. Brennan, is being vindictively singled out for investigation and prosecution.”

Brennan’s legal team argues that any “eventual indictment” against him will be challenged in court as “unconstitutionally vindictive and selective,” and the loss of any relevant records would “impair, perhaps fatally, the ability of the court reviewing Director Brennan’s challenges to do so on the full record of contemporaneous communications and materials that is needed to divine the true intentions behind the prosecutors’ decisions and actions.”

Brennan is asking a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to order Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Justice Department, as well as the White House, ODNI and CIA, to “preserve materials and communications potentially relevant to Director Brennan’s legal and constitutional challenges to any future criminal charges.”

Brennan’s case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden nominee.

The complaint also singles out the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Florida, Jason Reding Quiñones, and Joseph DiGenova, a counselor to the acting attorney general who was tapped to lead one ongoing DOJ criminal investigation into Brennan after the career prosecutor overseeing the probe was removed from the case.

CBS News previously reported that law enforcement veterans are expressing deep concerns that the Trump Justice Department’s criminal investigation into Brennan is being systematically stacked with politically motivated personnel who are intent on a partisan indictment.

Also involved in the investigation is Kurt Olsen, who most recently served as President Trump’s director of election security and integrity, as well as John Yoo, the former senior Justice Department official who authored the controversial “torture memos” in the War on Terror during President George W. Bush’s presidency, according to sources with direct knowledge of the hires.

Olsen was the person who made the Fulton County election case referral to the FBI, prompting agents to execute a search warrant earlier this year where they seized dozens of boxes of ballots and other materials from the 2020 election.

DiGenova told CBS News that Yoo will be on hand to advise investigators on constitutional legal questions and assist with motions and appellate issues.

A Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement, “While we cannot comment on the existence, or lack thereof, of an investigation, it is certainly rich that John Brennan is accusing anyone of a ‘retribution campaign.’”

Brennan’s filing echoes other moves by lawyers representing targets of recent Justice Department investigations who have had some success in arguing the department was acting unlawfully.

Last week, a federal judge in Minnesota quashed six grand jury subpoenas the Trump administration served against Minnesota state and local government offices — including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — ruling the subpoenas were retaliatory and unlawful.

In March, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. quashed a pair of grand jury subpoenas sent to the Federal Reserve Board as part of a since-closed criminal probe, ruling they were merely a pretext to pressure Chairman Jerome Powell into voting for lower interest rates or resigning.

And last year, former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James argued the indictments against them should be dismissed on the grounds of a “vindictive and selective” prosecutions. Instead, the cases were dismissed because a judge found that the interim U.S. attorney who had secured the indictments had been unlawfully appointed to the role.

Harris reaches out to socialist mayor Mamdani in latest sign she’s shoring up support for possible 2028 bid

July 1, 2026 11:02am EDT / Fox News

Harris also reached out to groups tied to the Uncommitted Movement after losing the 2024 race to President Trump

By Paul Steinhauser, Hannah Brennan, Andrew Mark Miller Fox News

[‘Death spiral’: RNC chair reacts to VP Harris call with Mamdani]

Fox News Digital exclusively spoke to RNC Chair Joe Gruters about VP Harris courting socialists as she mulls 2028 run.

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Former Vice President Kamala Harris is courting New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and other progressive power players as 2028 speculation builds around another possible White House bid.

The phone call with Mamdani last week, first reported by Axios and confirmed by Fox News Digital, along with other closed-door meetings with progressive groups, suggests Harris is trying to shore up support from factions of the party that didn’t support her during her 2024 run.

Additionally, Harris met with progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., behind the scenes at a Black women empowerment summit in Chicago, Axios first reported, and Fox News Digital confirmed.

Harris reportedly has also been reaching out to pro-Palestinian groups after she faced pushback from those groups during her 2024 presidential run. Harris reached out to at least one group that was part of the “Uncommitted Movement” that developed as a result of President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel and Gaza conflict.

KAMALA HARRIS DROPS BIGGEST HINT YET ON 2028 WHITE HOUSE RUN

Reports said former Vice President Kamala Harris reached out to Zohran Mamdani and pro-Palestinian activists ahead of the 2028 election.(Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani and Harris’ office for comment.

News of the Harris and Mamdani call sparked criticism from conservatives online.

“Kamala Harris 2020 was desperate, Kamala Harris 2024 was pathetic, Kamala Harris 2028 will be unhinged,” GOP political strategist Nathan Brand posted on X.

Mamdani’s influence in the party has only grown since he was sworn into office in January, as highlighted by a clean sweep of socialist-aligned candidates he endorsed winning their races in the New York Democratic primary last month.

CARVILLE WARNS DEMOCRATS ANTI-ISRAEL ‘LOUDMOUTHS’ COULD COST ELECTIONS

Vice President Kamala Harris watches as President Joe Biden speaks to members of the media at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Aug. 1, 2024.(Ken Cedeno/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“The fact that she’s courting people like Mamdani, these socialists and communists, it goes back to the radical leftists, because the Democrats are in big trouble as a party,” RNC chair Joe Gruters exclusively told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

“They’re in the death spiral, because now they have these people inside their tent,” he continued. “This is who the Democratic Party is today: these radical leftists that want to fundamentally transform our country. And that’s why we have to fight. That’s why we have to come together, unite, and we have to win. We have to win to save the country. We have to win to move our policies forward. There’s a lot at stake. Certainly, Kamala Harris, the meeting with Mamdani and these radicals shows you where the left continues to go where they want to go, but listen, she has to kowtow to these radicals to try to win.”

Earlier this year, Harris made stops in the crucial primary state of South Carolina less than a week after she dropped a tantalizing comment at the first major cattle call of Democratic presidential contenders.

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Zohran Mamdani is a Ugandan-born Muslim who won the Democratic Party’s primary for New York City mayor in June.(Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

“I might. I might. I’m thinking about it… I’ll keep you posted,” Harris said in April at the National Action Network’s 35th Anniversary Convention, when asked by the event founder, the Rev. Al Sharpton, if she would seek the presidency in 2028.

Harris, who replaced President Joe Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee but later lost the election to President Donald Trump, was greeted by the crowd with chants of “run again.”

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

EXCLUSIVE: Millions of newborns to receive special Social Security cards celebrating America’s 250th birthday

July 1, 2026 9:00am EDT / Fox News

By Jasmine Baehr Fox News

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced Trump Accounts, an investment program for children born in the U.S. between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028.

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EXCLUSIVE: Millions of babies born during America’s 250th anniversary celebration will receive a first-of-its-kind commemorative Social Security card under a new Social Security Administration (SSA) initiative obtained exclusively by FOX Business.

The limited-edition cards, available only to children born in the United States between July 2 and Dec. 31, 2026, will feature the official Freedom 250 logo while functioning exactly like a standard Social Security card, according to an announcement from the Social Security Administration shared with FOX Business.

Unlike commemorative coins, stamps or anniversary merchandise, these cards will become one of the very first official federal documents millions of American children ever receive.

Only babies born during the six-month window will receive the Freedom 250 design, making it a once-in-a-generation keepsake tied to the nation’s 250th birthday.

FIRST ON FOX: BEHIND THE SCENES OF ARLINGTON’S MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE FOR AMERICA’S 250TH BIRTHDAY

The commemorative Social Security Cards will be available to all American newborns for a short period of time to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday.(Getty Images, File)

“Freedom 250 is a celebration of America’s storied history and the monumental moments that have shaped our nation, including the creation of Social Security over 90 years ago,” SSA Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano said.

“The next generation of Americans born during this historic year will receive limited-edition Social Security cards bearing the Freedom 250 logo. Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, we are strengthening Social Security, improving service, and building an SSA to serve Americans today and in the future.”

The commemorative designation is reserved exclusively for original cards issued through the agency’s Enumeration at Birth (EAB) program during the qualifying period. Babies born before July 2 or after Dec. 31, 2026, along with anyone requesting a replacement Social Security card, will receive the standard version instead.

FIRST ON FOX: BEHIND THE SCENES OF ARLINGTON’S MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE FOR AMERICA’S 250TH BIRTHDAY

This mockup of an Enumeration at Birth Card provided by the Social Security Administration to FOX Business shows the proposed Freedom250 design.(Courtesy of the Social Security Administration)

Parents won’t have to submit any extra paperwork, pay additional fees or sign up for the commemorative version.

According to SSA, the commemorative cards will automatically be issued through the Enumeration at Birth program, which allows parents to request a Social Security number while completing birth registration paperwork at hospitals, birthing centers or through licensed midwives. The agency said the cards will be produced at no additional cost to families or taxpayers.

The commemorative design does not change a child’s Social Security number or the legal function of the card. Replacement and duplicate cards issued after the initial enrollment period will not include the Freedom 250 designation, according to SSA.

WHAT SCAMMERS DO THE WEEK YOUR SPOUSE DIES

President Donald Trump poses with Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano in the Oval Office as Trump displays a signed proclamation.(Courtesy of the Social Security Administration)

SSA has issued Social Security numbers through the Enumeration at Birth program since 1987, a partnership with hospitals and state vital records offices. More than 3.5 million children are born in the United States each year, meaning millions of families could receive the commemorative card during the six-month rollout.

The agency also warned parents to beware of scammers seeking to capitalize on the announcement.

“SSA will never call, text, or email you requesting payment to obtain a commemorative card for your child or otherwise,” the agency said, adding that parents do not need to register or provide any information beyond the standard birth registration process.

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The commemorative rollout comes as the Trump administration has launched other initiatives focused on young Americans, including Trump Accounts, tax-advantaged investment accounts intended to help eligible families begin saving for their children’s futures.

For most Americans, a Social Security card is among the first official federal documents they receive. For babies born during America’s 250th year, it will also serve as a lasting reminder that he or she entered the world during a special moment in our nation’s history.

Jasmine Baehr is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital, where she covers politics, the military, legal debates surrounding life and family policy, as well as faith and culture.

EXCLUSIVE: Inside the secretive mine DOGE helped drag out of a decades-old bureaucratic black hole

July 1, 2026 10:16am EDT / Fox News

OPM’s Boyers facility manually processed around 10,000 paper retirement applications each month for decades before the switch

By Ashley J. DiMella Fox News

Fox News Digital got an exclusive look inside the former limestone mine in Boyers, Pennsylvania, that houses the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s retirement processing center on what OPM called its “last day of paperwork.”

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BOYERS, Pa. —Deep inside a limestone mine more than 230 feet underground, the Trump administration marked what it called the “Last Day of Paper” for federal retirements Tuesday, giving Fox News Digital rare access to the long-secretive Pennsylvania facility where millions of government records helped keep the retirement process trapped in an analog system for decades.

“It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before, which I think is the reaction that I generally hear from lots of people… I believe that many [government employees] have just been constrained by a system that does not allow innovation and does not allow some element of risk-taking,” U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told Fox News Digital in a sit-down interview.

“The only thing I did that was different than any other predecessor was we gave people permission to actually solve the problems that I knew needed to be solved,” he continued.

FEDERAL HR OFFICE PULLS BACK CURTAIN ON SWEEPING NDA PLAN AIMED AT CURBING GOVERNMENT LEAKS

• Piles of paperwork at Iron Mountain in Boyers, PA.(Ashley J. DiMella / Fox News Digital)
• Piles of paperwork at Iron Mountain in Boyers, PA.(Ashley J. DiMella / Fox News Digital)
• Piles of paperwork at Iron Mountain in Boyers, PA.(Ashley J. DiMella / Fox News Digital)
• Piles of paperwork at Iron Mountain in Boyers, PA.(Ashley J. DiMella / Fox News Digital)

For decades, retirement applications were physically mailed between federal agencies before arriving at OPM’s Retirement Operations Center in Boyers, where workers manually processed roughly 10,000 retirements each month and houses over 400 million paper records. OPM celebrated moving from the paper system to digitized records, explaining the millions of documents languishing in the mine will be shredded.

OPM functions as the federal government’s human resources department, overseeing the policies, benefits and personnel systems that affect millions of civilian federal employees and retirees.

Kupor said the Biden administration and previous officials had discussed modernizing the online retirement application, but the effort never gained momentum.

“The idea of the online retirement application was an idea,” he said. “I think what happened was it never got traction.”

The federal retirement system has relied on a largely paper-based process since it opened in the 1980s.

Over the years, officials launched multiple modernization efforts, including pilot programs and attempts to digitize retirement applications. Despite those initiatives, the government remained dependent on paper until the Trump administration accelerated adoption of OPM’s Online Retirement Application following Musk’s public criticism of the system.

The underground operation became a national symbol of government bureaucracy after Elon Musk revealed its existence last year, calling it “like a time warp,” while in the Oval Office.

“Now people can retire as soon as they want, instead of waiting 6 months for paper to be carried into a mine,” Musk exclusively told Fox News Digital.

READ: DR. OZ PUTS ALL 50 GOVERNORS ON NOTICE OVER BILLIONS LOST TO MEDICAID FRAUD

“It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before, which I think is the reaction that I generally hear from lots of people… I believe that many [government employees] have just been constrained by a system that does not allow innovation and does not allow some element of risk-taking,” said Kupor.(Fox News Digital)

Kupor shared that both Musk and U.S. Chief Design Officer Joe Gebbia deserve an “enormous amount of credit.”

“It’s a great example to me of the more meta level of what Elon and the DOGE team was doing, which is rethink processes from ground zero, be creative in terms of what the solutions are and recognize that, look, you have to actually make significant change if you want to ultimately drive efficiency in the government,” said Kupor.

Iron Mountain provides secure archival storage for numerous museums, archives, cultural institutions and government agencies. Its holdings include materials for Getty Images, CBS, Disney, artifacts related to the Flight 93 National Memorial—near Shanksville, Pennsylvania—and Holocaust-related collections, Fox News Digital learned.

TRUMP SAYS ANTI-FRAUD EFFORTS ARE UNCOVERING BILLIONS IN WASTE, CLAIMS SAVINGS COULD BALANCE BUDGET

Iron Mountain Mine in Boyers, PA.(Ashley J. DiMella / Fox News Digital)

“We have a great team who does a lot of security, and obviously we’re in a building here with other very highly secure agencies. There’s a number of kind of three-letter agencies who also have records here,” said Kupor.

“I think by far the benefits of obviously getting off paper going to electronic records. Way outweigh any potential risks we might have [from a security perspective],” said Kupor when asked about any security concerns the physical copies presented.

Kupor argued that government innovation is key to reducing costs for taxpayers.

PENTAGON ANNOUNCES INVESTIGATION INTO LEAKS, WHICH COULD INCLUDE POLYGRAPH TESTS

Safety sign at Iron Mountain in Boyers, PA.(Ashley J. DiMella / Fox News Digital)

“I think the president has done and told us is take the skills that you have around innovation and creative thinking and apply that to modernization for the government and if we do that, we’ll not only improve the quality of service, but that is where we get efficiency,” said Kupor.

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Iron Mountain in Boyers, PA.(Ashley J. DiMella / Fox News Digital)

“That’s how we actually deliver more for the American people without constantly going to have to go back to the till and ask Congress for more money.”

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

用教学引领科技 教育部制定专业学习蓝图助教师善用AI

2026年7月1日 23:08 / 联合早报

教育部长李智陞星期三（7月1日）出席了国立教育学院举行的第一场教师就职仪式。他致辞时宣布教育部制定了名为”教师人工智能素养专业学习蓝图”，协助教师有目的、负责任地运用人工智能。 （关俊威摄）

教育部制定专业学习蓝图，以提高教师的人工智能素养，并且协助教师有目的、负责任地运用人工智能。

教育部长李智陞星期三（7月1日）在国立教育学院举行的第一场教师就职仪式上宣布，教育部制定了“教师人工智能素养专业学习蓝图”（Teacher AI Literacy Professional Learning Roadmap），通过循序渐进的学习机会，从人工智能（AI）基础素养、负责任使用AI，到课堂设计、评估，以及提升教师工作效率等较高阶应用，为教师提供支持。

李智陞说，教育部将持续为教师的专业成长投资，以跟上科技发展的步伐。“蓝图的目标是帮助大家在了解情况的基础上，判断是否应该使用人工智能、何时使用，以及如何运用人工智能支持学生学习。”

他说，人工智能日益强大，并逐渐融入课程，但教师的重要性不会因此降低，反而会更加凸显，因为点燃学生好奇心、塑造价值观、培养韧性，以及帮助学生重拾信心，都是科技无法取代的工作。

李智陞强调，教育的原则是以教学为先，教学应引领科技，而不是由科技主导教学。

他说，在教师的专业指导下，人工智能可以协助实现个性化学习，也能生成课堂教学点子和教材，提高教学效率。教师应持续提升专业能力和批判性思维，并结合自身专业判断、学科知识和价值观，善用人工智能提升教学，同时引导学生负责任地使用人工智能。

他说：“我们必须更新和强化教育制度，让每一位新加坡人，无论人生起点如何，都能学习、充分发挥潜能，并把握机会。”

教育部：会持续收集反馈 需要时更新蓝图

教育部发言人答复《联合早报》询问时说，这项蓝图包含从基础到进阶的人工智能专业学习内容，将在7月起分阶段推出，部分课程会面向所有教育工作者开放。

教师将先完成基础学习，如：AI核心概念、负责任地使用AI，以及AI对社会的影响、AI如何支持教学与学习。在这个基础上，教师可根据自身需要选择更具针对性的专业学习机会，重点学习如何将AI应用在学科教学、课程设计、课程重构以及评估设计等领域，使教师和学生都能从中受益。

发言人说：“教育部鼓励教师发挥专业自主性，主动反思自身的学习需求，并根据自身岗位职责、教学环境及专业发展需要，选择最适合自己的学习内容。”

教育部将持续收集反馈，定期检视并在有需要时更新蓝图，确保与教育发展的新需求保持一致。

李智陞也勉励即将踏入学校执教的新任教师时说，教师工作是一项团队合作，应不断向同事和教育界学习，并与家长建立伙伴关系，因为当学校和家庭拥有共同目标、彼此信任时，学生将能在一致、充满关怀和鼓励的环境中成长。

活动当天，六名杰出青年教师奖得主获颁奖座和证书。

这个奖项旨在表扬35岁及以下，充满理想、热情、活力并积极培育下一代的出色教师。今年共有来自230所学校的1426名教师获提名，其中六人脱颖而出。

六名杰出青年教师奖得主分别是辅华小学的菲丽达（Faridah Binte Mohamed Ali，33岁）、中华中学的张颖慧（35岁）、泉原中学的黄俊贤（35岁）、尚育中学的里什文德星（Rishvinder Singh，33岁）、义顺星烁初级学院的杨荣耀（35岁）和光道小学的叶组儿（32岁）。

32岁的光道小学体育教师叶组儿，是今年的杰出青年教师奖得主之一，也是最年轻的得奖者。（关俊威摄）

加入光道小学四年并担任体育教师的叶组儿受访时说，她常让学生录下比赛或练习片段，在课后回看并做分析，带着思考再回到课堂上练习，从而提高自我意识与技术。

她说，教师这份职业让她找到满足感和价值感。孩子天生对世界充满好奇，她认为教师的任务是点燃并维持这种好奇心，教学保持趣味的同时也让孩子适度挑战自我，帮助他们建立自我认知并不断进步。

两中将出席党庆与上将并排而坐 显示解放军高层人事升迁

2026年7月1日 23:15 / 联合早报

中国解放军陆军纪委书记张曙光（左红格）、空军副司令员王刚（右红格）两名中将，本周出席庆祝中共成立105周年音乐会，与中国防长董军（张曙光右侧）、中部战区司令员韩胜延两名上将同列一排。座位安排表明，两人已晋升正战区级，可能很快晋升上将。 （央视新闻联播截图）

中国军方高层今年初经历剧烈震荡清洗后，或将迎来高级将领人事升迁。

庆祝中国共产党成立105周年音乐会《人民至上》，星期一（6月29日）晚在北京举行。中央电视台《新闻联播》画面显示，解放军陆军纪委书记张曙光、空军副司令员王刚两名中将，与中国国防部长董军、中部战区司令员韩胜延两名上将同坐一排。座位安排透露出张、王两人已晋升正战区级，可能很快晋升上将。

坐在王刚左侧是排名最靠前的副战区级将领——中央军委联合参谋部副参谋长、陆军中将祝传生。坐在董军后面一排第一位是中央军委政治工作部副主任、空军中将陈德民，以及其他副战区级将领。

在星期三（7月1日）的庆祝中共成立105周年大会上，上述六名解放军将领的座位顺序也与星期一晚保持一致。

解放军下月迎来“八一”建军节，张曙光和王刚届时如获晋升，上将人数将从目前四人增加至六人，牵动明年中共二十一大中央军委领导层格局。受访学者预测，张曙光可能接替中央军委副主席张升民、出任中央军委纪委书记；王刚则可能接替久未公开露面的空军上将常丁求，担任空军司令员。

庆祝中共成立105周年音乐会《人民至上》星期一（6月29日）晚在北京举行，央视《新闻联播》画面显示出席的军队高级将领阵容。坐在第一排第一位是董军（图中第四排右五），之后依序是张曙光、韩胜延、王刚，以及排名最靠前的副战区级将领—中央军委联合参谋部副参谋长、陆军中将祝传生。（央视新闻联播截图）

在星期三（7月1日）的庆祝中共成立105周年大会上，上述六名解放军将领的座位顺序也与星期一晚保持一致。左红格是解放军陆军纪委书记张曙光中将、右红格是空军副司令员王刚中将，两人之间是中部战区司令员韩胜延上将。（央视直播截图）

中国军队将领的排序，首先是按职务和军衔，即正战区级职务和上将军衔在前，副战区级职务和中将军衔在后。如级别和军衔相同，则按单位顺序排序，依次是中央军委机关部委、军委联合作战指挥中心、各大战区、各大军兵种。

所以，如果王刚仍是中将，他的座位不但要排在祝传生、陈德民等军委机关部委中将之后，还要排在陆军海军中将后面。

公开资料显示，王刚今年61岁，特技飞行员出身，曾任“王牌部队”空军航空兵第一师师长。 2012年中共十八大后，他调任空军司令部担任军训部部长；2016年晋升空军参谋长助理，成为少将；2019年调任中部战区空军参谋长。

2022年中共二十大后，王刚晋升空军参谋长，成为中将；在去年“九三”阅兵上任空中梯队指挥官，年底改任空军副司令员。在空军司令员常丁求、政委郭普校（上周被终止全国人大代表资格）未公开露面超过半年的背景下，空军军事工作实际上已由王刚主持。如获晋升，王刚可能被扶正为空军司令员，成为解放军最年轻的现役上将。

张曙光今年62岁，是中共二十届中央纪委委员，长期在军队纪律检查系统工作，与张升民在军中有长时间交集。张升民2017年担任军委纪委书记时，张曙光担任军委纪委监察局局长；张曙光2018年任北部战区空军纪委书记，2021年12月升任陆军纪委书记，获中将军衔。

台湾政治大学政治系、东亚研究所特聘教授寇健文接受《联合早报》采访时说，张曙光和王刚与上将并排而坐，表明两人“不久之后应该就会升上将，这是非常有可能的”。

寇健文分析，张曙光坐在董军和负责中部战区军事工作的韩胜延之间，表明他可能已调到中央军委机关部委。目前中央军委10个机关部委中，仅联合参谋部、政治工作部、纪律检查委员会属正战区级，前两个部委目前由祝传生、陈德民两名中将代理，意味着张曙光可能接替张升民，接掌军委纪委。

寇健文说：“现在张升民又是军委副主席，又是军委纪委书记，负担比较重，理论上分开来应该是比较合理……张曙光接的位置，应该就是解放军的纪委书记。”

台湾国防安全研究院国家安全研究所研究员沈明室受访时则研判，中共高层可能下半年召开五中全会前，先加快审判今年1月落马的中央军委副主席张又侠。

沈明室说：“解放军的人事案，至少在中央军委层级，五中全会以前要定案。五中全会以后，各战区的正职，包含司令员跟政委陆陆续续会到任，这些在二十一大之前都要确定。”

他指出，中共高层在二十一大召开前，还有三个晋升上将的机会窗口，分别是今年7月底、年底、明年7月底。

另一方面，中国外交部原副部长孙卫东星期一晚也出席音乐会，是他今年4月被免去副外长职务后首次公开亮相。

中国外交部原副部长孙卫东（第一排左二）星期一晚也出席音乐会，座位安排在中共中央军民融合办常务副主任邵新宇（第一排左一）、中央政法委秘书长訚柏（第一排左三）之间，是他今年4月被免去副外长职务后首次公开亮相。（央视新闻联播）

在星期三（7月1日）的庆祝中共成立105周年大会上，中国外交部原副部长孙卫东（第一排右二）的座位，同样安排在中共中央军民融合办常务副主任邵新宇（第一排右一）、中央政法委秘书长訚柏（第一排右三）之间。（央视直播截图）

孙卫东的座位安排在中共中央军民融合办常务副主任邵新宇、中央政法委秘书长訚柏之间，根据中央直属机关排序，显示他已任中央国安办常务副主任。