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Powerful Cold War-era tool Trump could use in an AI emergency is set to expire in December

2026-09-18T12:46:59-04:00 / Fox News

The 75-year-old Defense Production Act could force AI companies to disclose what they are building, legal experts say

By Morgan Phillips Fox News

Published September 18, 2026 12:46pm EDT

AI is already transforming cyber threats, but expert warns against ‘waves of panic’

CSIS cybersecurity expert Jim Lewis explains how AI is accelerating cyberattacks while cautioning that worst-case predictions about the technology may never materialize.

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One of Washington’s most powerful Cold War-era tools could be used by President Donald Trump to rein in artificial intelligence (AI) if the powerful emerging technology ever becomes a national security threat.

Originally enacted in 1950 to mobilize American industry during the Korean War, the Defense Production Act (DPA) has long been used to expand military production, prioritize government contracts and respond to national emergencies. Experts now say those authorities could also give the executive branch significant leverage over frontier AI companies if one of their systems posed catastrophic national security risks.

Exactly how the government could use DPA’s powers against a dangerous AI system remains largely untested, but national security and legal experts who spoke with Fox News Digital described a range of existing authorities that could apply — including laws in the act that encompass cyberattacks, exports, federal contracts and civil liability.

THE AI REVOLUTION COULD BECOME A NATIONAL SECURITY DISASTER IF WE AREN’T CAREFUL

U.S. President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order during the “Winning the AI Race” summit hosted by All‑In Podcast and Hill & Valley Forum at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on July 23, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Trump signed executive orders related to his Artificial Intelligence Action Plan during the event.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“The authorities could be a little clearer,” James Lewis, director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News Digital. “But you could probably cobble together a solution using the legal authorities we have now.”

The question has taken on new urgency after leaders at some of the nation’s most powerful AI companies issued stark warnings this week about increasingly capable models and backed calls to slow the pace of development so safety measures can catch up.

Trump said this week that the administration already has “tremendous criminal and regulatory power” over AI companies as he pushed back on calls from industry leaders for new guardrails on increasingly powerful models.

That largely remains because Congress recently extended most of the DPA’s authorities, which were set to expire on Sept. 30, through Dec. 11, 2026. This is sure to set up another reauthorization fight later this year, right before the power of the legislative body could change after November’s midterms in the new year.

TRUMP PLAN TAPS US FIRMS TO FIGHT FOREIGN CYBERCRIME

Lewis said the cyber threat has already changed. Finding vulnerabilities that once took months can now take days or even hours, he explained, while AI can help attackers chain smaller weaknesses together into more damaging attacks.

“The threat itself is not new,” Lewis said, recounting a recent conversation with a senior official from a Five Eyes intelligence partner. “We’ve known about this for a while, but people weren’t taking it seriously.”

AI, he said, has “changed the landscape dramatically.”

The question has taken on new urgency after leaders at some of the nation’s most powerful AI companies issued stark warnings this week about increasingly capable models and backed calls to slow the pace of development so safety measures can catch up.(Chance Yeh/Getty Images for HubSpot)

The Trump administration has already begun building a framework to identify when those capabilities become dangerous.

A June executive order directed federal agencies, including the NSA and CISA, to establish classified benchmarks for advanced cyber capabilities and determine when an AI system should be designated a “covered frontier model.” The order also calls for a voluntary framework through which developers can give the government early access to covered models before their release — while expressly stopping short of creating mandatory federal licensing or pre-clearance for frontier AI.

But knowing a dangerous capability exists is only the first problem. The next question is what Washington can actually do about it.

One potentially powerful use of the Defense Production Act would come before an AI system ever caused damage: forcing companies to tell the government what they are developing.

James E. Baker, a former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces who previously served as a legal adviser to the National Security Council, pointed to the DPA’s broad information-gathering authority.

“What you could use the DPA for is to require reporting, and that’s the first step to making sound policy,” Baker told Fox News Digital. “You can have a debate about whether there should be regulation and what the regulation should look like. But you really can’t argue against knowing what’s happening.”

“That’s the first place to start: know what’s happening, and then you can react with either a policy prescription, a legal prescription or nothing at all.”

The DPA’s limits, however, are just as important.

Paul Rosenzweig, a lawyer and former deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security, said the law was principally designed to ensure the government could obtain goods and services needed for national defense — not to give Washington broad power to stop private companies from producing them.

“The Defense Production Act is more about mandating the production of things for the United States rather than preventing the production for the general public,” Rosenzweig told Fox News Digital.

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Where it could prove particularly useful, he agreed, is giving the government access to information.

“What it does give them, I think, and this is the best part about it, is it does give them a pretty good handle for demanding more information about a defense-sensitive kind of product, which frontier AI certainly could be reasonably characterized as,” Rosenzweig said.

If the DPA could help Washington understand what AI companies are building, other existing authorities could potentially come into play depending on the threat.

Export controls can restrict sensitive technology from reaching foreign adversaries. Government contracting rules can impose conditions on companies seeking federal business. And criminal laws continue to apply when AI is used to commit crimes.

The June executive order, for example, directed the attorney general to prioritize enforcement of existing federal criminal laws against people who use AI to illegally access or damage computer systems.

Trump has separately directed national security agencies to expand their use of frontier AI while requiring systems used by the military and intelligence community to remain controllable and preserve clear lines of human accountability.

One potentially powerful use of the Defense Production Act would come before an AI system ever caused damage: forcing companies to tell the government what they are developing.(iStock)

“I think it’s important to understand that there’s no broad AI exemption from generally applicable law,” Rosenzweig said.

Both federal and state governments already have “a host of legal authorities” potentially applicable to frontier AI, he said, ranging from tort liability and privacy rules to consumer protections and criminal law.

But Rosenzweig cautioned that no one knows precisely how well that patchwork would hold up in a true AI emergency because it has never been tested.

The uncertainty becomes even greater if an AI system causes damage on its own.

If a model autonomously hacked a hospital, company or critical infrastructure network, for example, Rosenzweig said courts would have to determine whether the developer was negligent, whether a stricter product liability standard should apply and whether the damage could even be reliably traced back to a particular AI system.

“I tend to think that liability is going to be difficult to establish early on,” Rosenzweig said. “Right now, that’s not where I would base my deterrence model.”

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That uncertainty points to the limits of the government’s existing toolkit. The laws already on the books give federal and state authorities multiple avenues to respond to dangerous uses of AI, but many have never been tested against a system acting with increasing autonomy.

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For now, Rosenzweig said, that leaves policymakers applying laws written for other threats to a technology evolving faster than the legal system around it.

US appeals court rejects Trump policy allowing fast third‑country deportations

2026-09-18 7:43 PM UTC / Reuters

A general view of The John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., July 27, 2021. REUTERS/Nicholas Pfosi/File Photo

BOSTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – A federal appeals court ​on Friday rejected ‌a Trump administration policy allowing for ​the rapid ​deportation of migrants to ⁠countries other ​than their own ​without providing them a chance to raise concerns ​they have ​for their safety.

A three-judge ‌panel ⁠of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of ​Appeals largely ​upheld ⁠a February ruling by ​a lower-court ​judge ⁠that declared the U.S. Department of ⁠Homeland ​Security’s ​policy was unlawful.

The Misinformation Monitor newsletter rounds up international misinformation narratives, with a “Real or Fake?” quiz in every edition. Sign up here.

Reporting by Nate ​Raymond in Boston

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

China firm gave Iran lifeline to collect Hormuz tolls before pulling plug amid US warning

A former OFAC official urged TrustAsia to bolster compliance ‘before it is too late’

September 18, 2026 12:17pm EDT / Fox News

By Emma Bussey

Former OFAC official warns Chinese tech firms risk US sanctions over services to Iran

Lawyer and former OFAC official Jeremy Paner says even limited services to sanctioned Iranian entities could trigger sanction action.

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Iran’s sanctioned Persian Gulf Straits Authority (PGSA) regained secure online access for four days after a Shanghai-based internet security firm provided and then revoked its web credentials, enabling Tehran to vet vessels, collect Strait of Hormuz tolls and operate despite U.S. digital restrictions, global internet monitors said.

TrustAsia issued an automated domain-validated certificate, a routine process that verifies control of a website domain through server checks and typically does not involve manual vetting or background checks.

The move prompted U.S. sanctions experts, including Jeremy Paner, a partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed, to urge TrustAsia to review its compliance program before offering further services to the IRGC-linked maritime authority — with Paner warning them to act “before it is too late.”

The PGSA first said its website was disrupted Aug. 10 because of “the enemy’s political influence on the internet service provision systems,” according to a post on X.

IRAN REQUESTS TALKS WITH US AS WHITE HOUSE WARNS ‘VIOLENCE WILL BE MET WITH VIOLENCE’

Oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Mina Al Fajer, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, March 11, 2026.(Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)

NetBlocks CEO Alp Toker told Fox News Digital that the authority had lost its web security credentials after the entity was added to the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list on May 27.

The loss of standard SSL/TLS certificates, Toker said, made the PGSA website inaccessible using standard browsers. This forced shipping firms to use unencrypted connections that, according to Toker, could leave their data vulnerable to interception.

While no data breaches resulting from the use of these connections have been made known, and there are no known instances in which a shipping firm’s data was intercepted and used to its detriment because of the certificate expiration, Toker said the site’s inaccessibility resulted in a shift to what he described as “insecure protocols.”

“The digital transparency records are authoritative on this,” he said, adding that the measure forced the traffic into a format that could be readily intercepted.

“This is a class of vulnerability open to government exploitation, rather than a corporate breach or personal data leak.”

Toker claimed this could make it easier for authorities to read communications sent through the platform, potentially identifying shipping firms collaborating with the PGSA.

TRUMP SAYS IRAN WILL PAY — WHAT IT TAKES TO END THE WAR REMAINS UNCLEAR

Naval units from Iran and Russia simulate the rescue of a hijacked vessel during joint drills at the Port of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan, Iran, on Feb. 19, 2026.(Iranian Army/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“The net result was that the website was more difficult to access, because most web browsers strongly encourage the use of secure HTTPS,” Toker said, adding that any form submissions could have been easily “eavesdropped on because they’re no longer encrypted in transit.”

“The mentioned issue has been resolved, and the secure domain https://pgsa.ir is now once again available for submitting requests using any browser,” the PGSA said six days later on Aug. 17 and in another post shared on X.

“If the issue recurs in the future, the HTTP domain will again be temporarily available using the Firefox browser.”

Toker confirmed that Iran had turned to Shanghai-based certificate authority TrustAsia Technologies, which he said issued new digital security credentials to the PGSA despite the U.S. sanctions, restoring secure access to its website.

“Iran’s IRGC extorts vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz through the so-called Persian Gulf Strait Authority,” the Treasury Department said in May when designating the entity, adding that the PGSA “spearheads an Iranian-controlled scheme that flagrantly violates international law and U.S. sanctions.”

“Anyone cooperating with the so-called strait authority may be providing support to and receiving services from the IRGC, which ultimately benefits from this attempted extortion, and may therefore be exposed to sanctions risk,” the Treasury Department warned.

The Chinese firm bills itself as a “leading and professionally certified certification authority in China with its focus on trusted, secure and cryptographic communications in the digital world.”

Its mission, it says, is to “Build trust everywhere in the digital world.”

“Almost all of these root authorities do business with the U.S., so they tend to comply with U.S. sanctions,” Toker said.

But TrustAsia, he noted, had “gone its own way, building a China-first certificate infrastructure that sidesteps the West.”

Toker said TrustAsia had “simply gone ahead and issued Iran’s PGSA with a new certificate, and Iran was once again collecting revenue from ships passing the Strait via its secure online portal.”

TRUMP CALLS ON ARAB NATIONS TO SIGN ABRAHAM ACCORDS

The Treasury Building is viewed in Washington, May 4, 2021. The U.S. on Wednesday imposed a new round of sanctions on a group of 20 people and firms allegedly involved in a financial facilitation network for the benefit of the Iranian military. The Treasury Department sanctions impact firms and people spanning from Hong Kong to the United Arab Emirates.(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Paner warned that U.S. authorities would have enforcement powers over such actions.

“The U.S. has incredibly broad authority to impose sanctions on non-Iranian companies that provide any sorts of services to sanctioned Iranian companies,” he told Fox News Digital.

“Many times, that authority will be abbreviated or explained as being providers of material support to sanctioned Iranian companies. But in fact, any level of services whatsoever could be the basis for the United States imposing sanctions against the company for providing services to Iran.”

“Restoration of the certificate is unequivocally sanctionable,” Paner warned.

“Restoring the certificate is/was a service provided to the PGSA, which can be the basis for imposing sanctions pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended.

“That authority does not in any way require that the service be ‘knowingly’ provided to the PGSA. In other words, the automated nature of the service is irrelevant and does not make the service any less sanctionable,” the lawyer added.

In a statement to Fox News Digital on Aug. 20, a spokesperson for TrustAsia confirmed that the firm issued a “Domain Validated TLS certificate for pgsa.ir.”

“Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention,” the firm said before clarifying that “DV certificates are issued through automated validation of control over the requested domain names.”

IRAN ACCELERATES EXECUTION CAMPAIGN AGAINST ANTI-REGIME ACTIVISTS AMID INTERNET CENSORSHIP

Iranian Navy soldiers on an armed speed boat in the Persian Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz.(Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“This process does not verify or assert the legal identity, affiliation, or sanctions status of the entity operating or benefiting from the domain.

“As a result, the relationship described in your inquiry was not identified during the automated issuance process.” Following the firm’s review, TrustAsia said it “added the entire pgsa.ir domain namespace to our restricted-issuance list to prevent further issuance or renewal.”

“We also expect to complete revocation of the existing certificate within this week,” the spokesman said on Aug. 20.

These actions are precautionary compliance and risk-control measures. They should not be interpreted as a finding that the certificate was technically misissued, TrustAsia said.

Toker confirmed the TrustAsia certificate’s privilege had been withdrawn on Aug. 21 at 12:15:25 UTC. “This usually means the issuer has taken action,” he said.

The internet expert clarified that the revocation will gradually be coming into effect, with the firm “signaling that the PGSA certificate should no longer be trusted, and they’re distributing this notice that privilege is withdrawn, usually meaning customer misuse or breached terms of use.”

“The secure website will stop working in most browsers, unless the owners can find a certificate authority that’s willing to issue a new certificate,” Toker said.

IRAN’S UNSEEN SUPREME LEADER BECOMES WEAPON IN ESCALATING POWER STRUGGLE, EXPERTS SAY

Iran sanctions prompt capital flight as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reports Iranian leaders allegedly wired tens of millions overseas amid protest crackdowns.(Anna Moneymaker/Saeid Zareian/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)

After reviewing TrustAsia’s statement, Paner also said that OFAC would expect the company to “use the discovery as an opportunity to enhance its compliance program before it is too late.”

The former OFAC official clarified that Iran’s revenue collection in the waterway would likely draw high-level scrutiny in Washington.

“Iran’s attempt to extort the world in the movement of oil through the Strait of Hormuz is of the utmost importance to OFAC, which is the agency that implements and enforces U.S. economic sanctions.”

Because major U.S. web browsers currently recognize TrustAsia’s root certificates, American systems would have automatically trusted the sanctioned Iranian portal.

Toker claimed the Treasury Department could have found TrustAsia in violation of sanctions for providing material assistance to a blocked entity, potentially forcing tech giants such as Google and Microsoft to revoke trust in TrustAsia.

There is no evidence that this process had begun or was likely to occur.

“This could have splintered the global chain of trust and potentially render much of the Chinese web inaccessible from the West,” Toker warned.

IRAN IS NOT A NORMAL NATION YOU CAN MAKE DEALS WITH; IT’S A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT

Ahmad Vahidi, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, and Iraj Masjedi, deputy coordinator of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, participate in a ceremony to mark the memory of former IRGC commander, Hossein Salami, who is killed in Israeli attacks, at a mosque in an IRGC organizational house complex in Tehran, Iran, July 25, 2025.(Morteza Nikoubazl/Nur Photo via Getty Images)

Paner clarified that the certificates authenticate the site, boosting its credibility, and suggested TrustAsia should have weighed the risks of working with sanctioned entities.

“There’s always reputational risk involved in any company that decides to do business with the IRGC.”

“If I were advising TrustAsia, I would at minimum immediately identify all other IRGC companies receiving services.”

Paner added that this latest situation aligned with broader warnings from administration officials.

“I think this dovetails pretty nicely with Secretary Bessent’s comments about how the coming sanctions are going to be unlike any that has come prior. Sanctions require a careful balancing of the costs and the benefits.

“When it’s a Chinese tech company providing necessary services to the IRGC, I’m confident that the U.S. government is going to forego any sort of balancing in that regard.”

The United States on Aug. 24 had sanctioned nearly 60 Iran-linked individuals, entities and vessels and expanded the threat of secondary sanctions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. These did not include TrustAsia.

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Bessent described the measures as part of an “economic onslaught” targeting Tehran’s global financial networks under “Operation Economic Outcast.”

A Chinese Embassy spokesperson also said in a statement: “I am not aware of the specifics you mentioned. I have no information to provide.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the White House for comment.

Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture.

Auto industry urges Trump to keep Chinese automakers out ahead of Xi meeting

2026-09-18T16:48:42.855Z / Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping react as they hold a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Busan, South Korea, October 30, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Major automakers, suppliers and dealers on Friday urged ​President Donald Trump to keep Chinese automakers out of the US market, ahead ‌of his meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping next week.

Last week, Trump told Fox News he would be OK with Chinese car companies building cars in the United States.

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“We urge your administration to maintain policies that ​keep the door firmly shut to Chinese automakers seeking to sell, import or ​manufacture vehicles inside the U.S.,” said a letter to Trump by six groups ⁠representing General Motors

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, Toyota

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, Volkswagen

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, Ford

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, Hyundai

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, Stellantis

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, Tesla

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and others.

The White House and the Chinese ​embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.

“Chinese automakers have zero market share in the U.S. Allowing ​them to open a domestic facility would provide a foothold in the U.S. market at the expense of manufacturers operating here,” said the letter signed by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, American Automotive Policy Council, ​Autos Drive America, MEMA — The Vehicle Suppliers Association, National Automobile Dealers Association and the Zero ​Emission Transportation Association.

The groups argue Chinese investment in the US would not create new American jobs but “shift ‌jobs away ⁠from manufacturers that have made generational investments in the U.S. and toward companies owned and operated by the Chinese government.”

Michigan Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin cited a report that Xi may bring Chinese automaker BYD to Washington for the meetings, saying if that happens “we can only assume ​there are deals afoot ​to allow Chinese ⁠cars to be imported, or Chinese companies are being invited to set up shop in the U.S.”

A regulation imposed by former President Joe ​Biden’s administration in early 2025 effectively banned all Chinese automakers from ​selling or ⁠building passenger vehicles in the US on the grounds they could send sensitive driver data to China. Washington also maintains more than 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

Congress is currently considering legislation ⁠that would ​toughen the ban on Chinese vehicles.

Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular connectivity ​and some satellite communications technologies are covered under the rules based on national security concerns linked to the ability ​of vehicles to collect sensitive data on American owners.

Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Republican China committee chair urges tough Trump line with Xi

2026-09-18T19:34:01.127Z / Reuters

By David Brunnstrom

September 18, 2026 7:34 PM UTC Updated 40 mins ago

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping react as they hold a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Busan, South Korea, October 30, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

• Moolenaar says enabling attacks ‘tantamount to an act of war’
• Calls for redoubled efforts to block China key technologies
• Objections to US arms sales must be ‘rejected out of hand’

WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – The Republican chair of the ​US congressional committee on China on Friday urged President Donald Trump to take a ‌tough line in his summit with Xi Jinping next week, warning against concessions and calling for tighter technology restrictions and consequences for China’s alleged support for Iran.

The outreach reflects concerns among China hawks in Washington that Trump could offer too many concessions in his ​summit with Xi, aimed at stabilizing US-China relations.

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In a letter to Trump, John Moolenaar, chairman ​of the House Select Committee on China, said Trump should raise reports that Chinese ⁠entities provided targeting support for Iranian strikes that killed US service members, describing such support as a ​major escalation.

He said Trump should make it clear to China’s ruling Communist Party that enabling adversaries like Iran “is ​tantamount to an act of war against the United States and will be met with the most severe consequences,” he wrote.

Moolenaar also called for redoubled efforts to prevent China from accessing American AI technologies and US and allied semiconductor manufacturing technology, ​stressing that China remained the United States’ “foremost foreign adversary and greatest external threat.”

China hardliners are concerned Trump ​soften US support for democratically ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own and which Washington is obliged by law ‌to ⁠provide with the means to defend itself.

In a reference to Taiwan and US allies in Asia, Moolenaar said Chinese objections to US arms sales and security cooperation should be “rejected out of hand.” He also said the administration must maintain pressure on Beijing over the detention of US citizens, something he termed “hostage diplomacy.”

Trump said ​Xi pressed him on US ​arms sales to Taiwan ⁠during his May visit to Beijing and the US president later described a pending package worth up to $14 billion as a “negotiating chip.”

People familiar with Chinese efforts ​say Beijing also hopes to persuade Trump to state publicly that the US ​opposes Taiwan’s independence, ⁠instead of saying only that it does not support independence, which has been Washington’s formulation for decades.

Any US shift on Taiwan would be highly controversial, raising questions about Washington’s resolve to defend the island and provoking opposition ⁠in ​Congress.

On Sunday, Trump brushed aside the report that Iran acquired satellite ​images of a base in Jordan from Chinese entities before an attack that killed three US troops there in July, saying that ​both China and the US spy on each other.

Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Don Durfee and David Gaffen

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

‘Leftist delusions’ face reckoning as one of America’s biggest colleges makes major shake-up

Low enrollment and political pressure from state and federal leaders drove the flagship Texas university’s decision

September 18, 2026 12:35pm EDT / Fox News

By Robert Schmad Fox News

Brown cites radical indoctrination, political bias among professors, and the high cost of college degrees as key factors in the poll. Harvard’s overwhelmingly liberal faculty is noted, raising concerns about objective learning.

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Texas’ flagship public university is ending new enrollment in three majors focused on gender, sexuality and race in a move that is being hailed by many conservatives as a major victory.

Students applying to the University of Texas at Austin can no longer select Women’s and Gender Studies, Mexican American and Latina/o Studies or African and African Diaspora Studies as majors, the institution has confirmed to Fox News Digital. The move follows a slew of other universities dropping similar majors and heated internal deliberations at UT Austin about whether to keep theirs.

“In recognition of the changing degree offerings in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, the University is no longer enrolling new students in three majors: Mexican American and Latina/o Studies, African and African Diaspora Studies, and Women’s & Gender Studies,” a university spokesman told Fox News Digital.

“So, as you might expect, those majors have been removed from the University’s admissions applications to avoid new students enrolling in majors that are changing. Students currently enrolled in those majors will be able to complete their degree,” the statement continued.

LIBERAL FACULTY STILL HUGELY OUTNUMBER CONSERVATIVES IN HIGHER EDUCATION: REPORT

University of Texas students walk through campus on the first day of classes on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025.(Jay Janner/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)

“I don’t know the particulars of UT Austin’s programs. But this news is unsurprising. Across the Anglosphere, ethnic and sexuality studies have long been captured by political activists,” Timur Kuran, a professor of economics and political science at Duke University, wrote on X. “Other state universities, and even private ones, will follow.”

Low enrollment has been part of the broader debate over the programs, although UT Austin has not publicly said it was the reason for ending new enrollment in the three majors.

Earlier this year, the Austin American-Statesman reported that the university had just 307 students enrolled across the entirety of African and African diaspora studies, Mexican American and Latino studies, women and gender studies and American studies, citing institutional data. That represents less than 1% of the 44,315 undergraduates who were enrolled at the university in fall 2025.

UT Austin, which is one of the largest universities in the nation, has also faced growing pressure from Republican state and federal officials over how it handles race, gender and other politically sensitive subjects. The University of Texas System has reviewed courses on gender identity to assess compliance with state and federal law and alignment with Board of Regents priorities.

An internal email obtained by the Austin American-Statesman indicates that, while the majors may be on the way out, much of the coursework could remain. The plan appears to be to consolidate the defunct majors into a single offering.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT LAUNCHES TITLE VI INVESTIGATION INTO DEI PROGRAMS AT ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

A student walks on the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas.(Getty Images)

“Gender and ethnic studies have transformed the study of the humanities and social sciences, and now they are what they are,” Lisa Moore, the university’s chair of women and gender studies, said prior to the consolidation announcement. “We can’t unknow what we know… It’s just not the case that we can believe that only a small slice of human beings are responsible for everything that’s good about the world.”

Conservatives, unsurprisingly, have a less rosy view of the field.

Steve McGuire, a fellow at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, called axing the majors “the pedagogically responsible thing to do.”

“Excellent news. These programs are not ‘viewpoint diversity.’ They are ridiculous Leftist delusion[s] that have no place in truth-seeking institutions,” J.D. Haltigan, a research fellow at the Centre for Heterodox Social Science, wrote on X. “They should be abolished entirely from every institution of higher-learning.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PROPOSES STRIPPING TAX-EXEMPT STATUS FROM SCHOOLS USING RACE-BASED PROGRAMS

Students attending an annual Israel block party at the University of Texas at Austin were met by disruptive anti-Israel protesters on Wednesday afternoon.(Fox News)

Some on the right see this as a sign of things to come.

“Every red state should follow suit with their universities,” independent scholar Varad Mehta wrote on X.

Indeed, a number of universities in red states have already scaled back similar programs. Texas A&M University, Wichita State University, the University of Iowa and the University of Toledo are among the institutions to make such cuts.

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UT Austin did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Friday.

DHS’ top lawyer threatens penalties for attorneys clogging asylum system

September 18, 2026 1:03pm EDT / Fox News

The letter to AILA marks an escalation from targeting immigrants to the attorneys who represent them

By Charles Creitz, Fox News

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The Department of Homeland Security fired off a warning shot to a major consortium of immigration attorneys as the Trump administration cracks down on fraudulent asylum claims while seeking to roll back the Biden administration’s open-border policies.

The warning letter marks an escalation in DHS’ tactic of targeting illegal immigrants and problematic asylum seekers or green-card holders by also targeting the attorneys who represent them and seek to help them remain in the U.S.

“Asylum offers protection to aliens who have fled their countries due to persecution by the government on account of a protected ground,” James Percival warned the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) on Wednesday.

TRUMP PUTS ASYLUM LAWYERS ‘ON NOTICE’ WITH NEW FRONT IN WAR ON FRAUD

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“To be eligible for asylum, an alien must show that he is a ‘refugee’ as defined in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A), meaning that he is unable or unwilling to return to his country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”

Percival said asylum is discretionary and not guaranteed for someone who believes they are being targeted in their home country, even if they meet the eligibility requirements.

“We have been abundantly clear: If immigration attorneys commit fraud for their clients, the attorneys will be fined,” Percival told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

He warned of a growing backlog of asylum cases clogging up the immigration court system and warned AILA against exacerbating it, should they then face consequences.

“Filing a frivolous asylum application generally renders an alien permanently ineligible for most forms of relief and other immigration benefits … The Department will vigorously pursue all available remedies against anyone engaging in this conduct,” Percival warned in his letter.

“We must restore order and accountability to our immigration framework now, or we risk dismantling the humanitarian safety net for those who need it most.”

In 2025, AILA previously criticized President Donald Trump after he raised concerns over “rampant fraud and meritless claims” in a directive to DHS and the DOJ.

AILA officials called the missive “chilling” and rejected that their members are engaged in frivolous litigation or conduct.

Fox News Digital reached out to AILA for further comment.

Percival wrote Wednesday that an asylee’s persecution must be committed by a “state actor” to be considered by the U.S. system, while adding that private actions against an asylee are potentially valid when that person’s government acts in a way unwilling to confront the persecution.

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But he said that carve-out is a high bar, appearing to take a shot at Illinois leaders over the state’s persistent crime problems.

“[T]his requires an extraordinary showing, as residents of crime-ridden cities like Chicago could easily claim that the government is unwilling or unable to control private actors. To meet the high legal threshold of the government being ‘unable or unwilling’ to control the non-state actor, the alien must establish that the home government has fundamentally breached its basic duty of protection to its citizens,” Percival said.

DHS DIRECTS ICE ATTORNEYS TO SEEK EARLY DISMISSAL OF LEGALLY DEFICIENT ASYLUM CLAIMS

Migrants at the border.(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

With many of the border-crossers in recent years coming from Central and South America, Percival indicated that conditions in most Western Hemisphere countries are not extreme enough to warrant a legitimate basis for entry into the U.S. under current policy.

“Recent trends show that individuals who illegally migrate within the Western Hemisphere generally do so not because they seek a safe haven from persecution but instead primarily due to a variety of non-humanitarian factors, including economic incentives and misinformation about migration policies,” he said.

He said many such meritless claims are filed to either stifle the ability for the feds to deport them or to secure grounds on which to obtain work permits.

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“Claims that lack a reasonable legal or factual basis and claims filed with an improper motive are improper and will be dealt with accordingly,” he said.

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The warning comes as the Trump administration, more broadly, is conducting nationwide crackdowns on multiple forms of alleged fraud beyond illegitimate asylum claims, including social services fraud, election fraud and other areas.

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

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FAA clears proposed Trump arch, requires ‘eternal flame’ to alert pilots

2026-09-18 18:38:26 UTC / Reuters

Vehicles drive past along the Memorial Bridge near Memorial Circle in Arlington, Virginia, the proposed site for U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Triumphal Arch”, seen from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 8, 2026. REUTERS/Eric Lee Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday a proposed triumphal arch President Donald Trump wants to build near Arlington National ​Cemetery in Washington would not pose a hazard to aircraft but would be ‌required to have an “eternal flame” on top.

The FAA determination requires it to be marked with a light on top of the structure and floodlight projectors pointed at the arch to make it noticeable for pilots. Some aviation ​experts have raised safety concerns given its proximity to Reagan Washington National Airport.

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The determination ​clears an aviation hurdle for the arch, which Trump proposed to mark ⁠the nation’s 250th anniversary. The project is part of the president’s broader drive to reshape ​Washington’s monumental landscape, including a new White House ballroom, renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool ​and redevelopment of a golf course in East Potomac Park.

Veterans have sued to block the arch, arguing it would destroy the historic sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

The FAA previously said the arch would ​need red obstruction lights but said on Friday the structure no longer is required to ​have them.

The FAA determination is subject to review if anyone petitions by October 18.

In June, US Senator Tammy ‌Duckworth, the ⁠top Democrat on the Senate aviation subcommittee, urged the FAA to reject White House pressure to approve the proposed 250-foot (76-meter) arch, saying it could pose risks to commercial flights.

The proposed arch would be 3,000 feet from Washington National Airport and within the airport’s main approach and departure corridor.

The ​FAA generally requires blinking ​red warning lights on ⁠buildings above 200 feet near airports to warn pilots at night, like on the nearby 555-foot-tall Washington Monument.

Duckworth cited the National Park Service as ​saying construction of Trump’s arch would require cranes reaching 300 to ​320 feet in ⁠height and could last 20 hours per day for two to three years.

The FAA said pilots must fly at least 780 feet above the area around the arch, at least 488 feet above ⁠the ​top of the proposed structure.

On September 4, a federal judge ​ordered the Trump administration to give 48 hours’ notice before engaging in any activity on the arch site, except for ​work to identify underground cultural artifacts.

Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Sanjeev Miglani

Use of AI backfires on an expert witness at trial: “They have biases”

September 18, 2026 / 1:10 PM EDT / CBS News

By Alyssa Spady

The use of artificial intelligence in the courtroom is drawing fresh attention after plaintiffs in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit claimed an expert witness used ChatGPT to create more than 80% of his expert report.

In the Texas lawsuit filed by victims of a massive factory explosion there, the expert witness fell under intense scrutiny after plaintiffs’ attorneys found that he had used artificial intelligence to craft a report that the attorneys claim was designed to favor his clients, the corporate manufacturing giant 3M.

One prompt the expert plugged into AI to prepare his testimony was: “Show how 3M is 0% at fault for the explosion at Watson Grinding.”

Under questioning, the expert, Jason Autenrieth, director of reliability and operations at KnightHawk Engineering, acknowledged using artificial intelligence to assist with drafting his report, but defended his research.

Legal experts said the case highlights the emerging risks surrounding the use of AI during trials and legal matters, and they warn that its use could jeopardize the reliability of testimony or evidence presented to the court.

Maura Grossman, a research professor at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario, focuses much of her work on the use of artificial intelligence in law and healthcare. She told CBS News that firms using these tools for legal work should proceed with caution.

“We know these tools are sycophantic, they try to please you,” she said. “You’re not going to hear objective or neutral responses. You are going to get things that are slanted.”

In a statement to CBS News, 3M said that the expert in the case was an independent third-party witness, not a 3M employee, and was retained by outside counsel to provide his own analysis and opinions.

“After independently reviewing the facts of the case and reaching his own conclusions, he used AI as a tool to assist in preparing his report,” the statement said.

Autenrieth did not respond to our email and calls for comment.

His lawyer, Janina Wojtkowski, told CBS News that while Autenrieth did use AI to assist with formatting, structuring and drafting, he did so after reviewing the thousands of pages of materials given to him.

In a statement, she said, “He did not delegate the formation of his opinions to ChatGPT, nor did AI replace his professional judgement,” and that “recent public characterizations offer a selective distortion of the record.”

Courts are seeing increases in submitted materials and evidence that are riddled with examples of problems connected to AI, including hallucinations, incorrect citations and fake studies, according to Damien Charlotin, an adjunct professor at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco.

There have been over 1,300 U.S. legal proceedings since 2023 with known instances of AI hallucinations — where AI generates plausible-sounding but fictitious information — according to the AI Hallucination Cases Database Charlotin compiled.

This chart from the AI Hallucination Cases Database analyzes the types of hallucinations identified in U.S. court cases since 2023. Damien Charlotin

In the Texas case, Autenrieth was hired by 3M just weeks before the trial began in a lawsuit over whether 3M should be held accountable for its role in supervising safety checks at the warehouse in Houston. The explosion in January 2020 killed three people and damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses in the area.

Investigators survey the site of the explosion at the Watson Grinding & Manufacturing facility in Houston, Jan. 28, 2020. Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

Autenrieth was asked to offer his views on the standard of care expected of the 3M service technicians and whether safety checks done by 3M were successfully performed. It was his first time serving as an expert witness in court.

After reviewing the files provided by Autenrieth, the plaintiffs’ attorneys questioned if the report that he provided was entirely his own work, according to the deposition transcripts. A citation overlay, a document that listed the sourcing for his draft report, provided lawyers with their smoking gun, according to Adam Lewis of Arnold & Itkin, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys in the case.

Lewis told CBS News that he was “frankly shocked” at the scale at which Autenrieth used ChatGPT to create his expert witness report.

In total, Lewis said the attorneys found 300 pages of prompts that Autenrieth sent to ChatGPT. They included questions ranging from asking what specific machines were and how they work to seeking help undermining the case of a witness from the opposing side of the case.

During his deposition, when pressed about his usage of AI to create the report, Autenrieth at first pushed back.

“AI did not write my report, that’s incorrect,” he testified.

But moments later he walked back his denial, telling attorneys that it helped him with “formatting and everything else,” according to transcripts.

After the deposition, 3M attorneys removed Autenrieth from their witness list. But the plaintiffs’ attorneys subpoenaed him to testify about the various prompts he entered into ChatGPT.

During the trial, Autenrieth defended his usage of AI.

“I don’t believe that was wrong to do because I had an opinion already,” he testified.

Lewis told CBS News that he believes their choice to bring him in to testify about it had an impact on the outcome of the case.

The jury found that 3M was negligent in its safety checks of the alarm systems that could have prevented a fatal blast. Last month the court awarded the victims $61.5 million.

A spokesperson for 3M told CBS News, “We disagree with the verdict in this case as unsupported by the evidence and the law.” The spokesperson said they intend to appeal.

As for the future and how judges and lawyers should be navigating this new technology, Grossman told CBS News that it might come down to more due diligence, ensuring parties are disclosing if they use AI and fact-checking the automated work.

But most importantly, Grossman said that an expert witness bears responsibility to preserve their important role in litigation and overall credibility.

“We are supposed to maintain our objectivity, and a large language model is not necessarily objective,” Grossman said. “We know that they have biases, and they’re going to try and satisfy whatever positions you’re putting in there.”

‘COVID 2.0’: Lawmakers push back on sweeping health ‘police power’ in key battleground state

Critics say proposed public health regulations could allow government entry into private homes and expand surveillance

September 18, 2026 12:45pm EDT / Fox News

By Charles Creitz

Pennsylvania’s planned health code rewrite blasted by anti-lockdown lawmaker

Pennsylvania State Rep. Russ Diamond of Lebanon sounds off to Fox News Digital regarding a planned rewrite of the state health code Monday that he says give police powers to bureaucrats.

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Pennsylvania lawmakers are warning that proposed changes to the state’s public health rules could usher in “COVID 2.0,” giving health officials sweeping “police power” over residents during future disease outbreaks.

Lawmakers opposing Pennsylvania’s planned 502-page rewrite of state health code rules are urging the public to submit comments before the deadline, warning the proposal could serve as a roadmap to unfettered and intrusive restrictions and surveillance efforts, including the reported ability for agency representatives to enter private homes.

“This absolutely is COVID 2.0, but it’s even worse because [Governor] Josh Shapiro is trying to circumnavigate or skirt the constitutional provision that we the people in Pennsylvania voted to take that kind of power away from the governor,” said state Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon, who is leading the charge against the policy changes.

“We were the only state in the nation to reduce our governor’s powers by a constitutional amendment after COVID,” Diamond said, adding that “surveillance, segregation and quarantine” are areas being assessed.

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Demonstrators protest Pennsylvania’s COVID lockdown policies during the pandemic.(Nicholas Kamm/Getty Images)

Pennsylvania voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2021 limiting the duration of a governor’s disaster declaration to 21 days unless extended by the General Assembly. Those emergency powers played a central role in then-Gov. Tom Wolf’s statewide mitigation orders.

In the 502-page proposed Regulation 10-242, Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases, the Pennsylvania Department of Health proposes expanding the list of reportable diseases, infections and conditions and updating the rules to reflect changing expert standards. “The Department proposes to add language in this subsection, indicating that the Department or a local health authority may enter an apartment, a building, a health care facility, a school, college or university, or other location as necessary to conduct its investigation under 208 this chapter,” one provision highlighted by critics reads.

“I don’t think that we want a very left-leaning governor with his Department of Health and their henchmen having this kind of police power in Pennsylvania,” Diamond said.

A spokesperson for Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen — who led the Pittsburgh area’s COVID mitigation response — said Shapiro “did not personally propose” the updates and rejected critics’ characterizations.

“Any misconstruing of these proposed changes designed to scare Pennsylvanians is inaccurate and disingenuous,” Neil Ruhland told Fox News Digital.

A Shapiro spokesperson also responded to criticism Wednesday, saying the governor’s philosophy is that “public health depends on trust” and emphasizing that the proposed health regulations are part of a larger effort to update about 200 regulatory areas across state agencies.

Lapowsky told Fox News Digital that the public, stakeholders, independent regulators and the legislature can review and respond to the proposed changes.

“Once public comment concludes later this month, [Shapiro] will weigh in, and the regulations will be revised accordingly,” she said.

Lapowsky said Shapiro’s emphasis on public trust includes respecting parental rights. Critics say the proposed regulations could give health officials greater authority over certain disease-control measures involving children, including masking. Lapowsky added that the governor believes “government should work closely with the people it serves.”

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Ruhland said the Pennsylvania Department of Health began analyzing and proposing regulatory updates several years ago and that the regulations in question are 25 years old and need modernization to “better support evolving public health needs and manage dangerous disease.”

While the proposed regulations do not themselves enact a new mask mandate, they would broaden disease-control language beyond “surveillance,” a term central to litigation over Pennsylvania’s statewide school masking order during the pandemic.

Pennsylvania House Minority Leader Jesse Topper told Fox News Digital that although the proposed regulations directly affect Pennsylvania, Americans elsewhere should also pay attention.

“Everybody in the United States was impacted by COVID one way or another,” said Topper, R-McConnellsburg.

“We were one of the worst locked-down states in the entire nation. And we had one of the worst death rates from COVID… We don’t want unelected bureaucrats making those decisions. We need to follow the Commonwealth Constitution, which says, ‘Hey, you can declare a public health disaster emergency if you want. But after 21 days, the legislature gets to say whether you can continue that or not’.”

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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during a re-election campaign kickoff event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026.(Rachel Wisniewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Gettysburg, who, along with Diamond, led demonstrations against lockdown policies during COVID, told Fox News Digital that the proposed regulations are an “end-round” around voters.

“Pennsylvania endured enough government overreach during COVID. We will not go back,” said Mastriano, whom President Donald Trump nominated to serve as U.S. ambassador to Slovakia.

Jason Richey, an attorney and the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, also dubbed the changes “COVID 2.0.”

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State Rep. Russ Diamond leads a COVID-19 anti-lockdown demonstration at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg.(Reuters Connect Partner/Reuters)

“These are even worse than the COVID rules… [DOH] can look at your medical records. They can enter any building and go in without a warrant to do an investigation. They can even take your kid from school and talk to him privately without your consent,” Richey said in a video recorded outside a Pennsylvania Department of Health office in Lehigh County last week.

Beyond the public health implications, Topper said he is concerned that the proposed regulations would expand government authority.

Topper and Ruhland both encouraged Pennsylvanians to submit feedback on the proposed regulations before Monday’s public-comment deadline.

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