California’s Vessel At Berth law forces cargo ships to shut off diesel engines at port or face tens of thousands of dollars in penalties

By Elizabeth Elkind Fox News

Published August 10, 2026 12:01pm EDT

Blue state Republican cracks down on ‘hidden tax’ affecting millions of Americans

Rep. Vince Fong, R-Calif., spoke with Fox News Digital about his legislation to roll back a key regulation that he says is responsible for raising costs for millions.

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

A California lawmaker is fighting back against an environmental regulation that he says is raising costs for Americans across the country via a “hidden tax” on a variety of goods.

Rep. Vince Fong, R-Calif., is leading legislation to roll back a Biden administration-era regulatory rule that effectively allows California to levy massive cost penalties on shipping vessels docked in its ports.

“It’s a massive hidden climate tax that’s being imposed on every single ship that’s coming into California. And so all of those costs now are getting passed on to consumers,” Fong told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Our ports, they work through and process over 40% of all the containers that come into the United States.”

CALIFORNIA SUES TRUMP EPA OVER MOVE TO SUBJECT STATE VEHICLE EMISSIONS WAIVERS TO CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference for a housing affordability reform bill signing on July 13, 2026, in Oakland, Calif.(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Fong’s legislation would target the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authorization allowing California to enforce the rule, called the Vessel At Berth regulation, which was granted in 2020 under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s tenure.

It lets the California Air Resources Board (CARB) force a number of large vessels, like cargo ships, to shut off their diesel engines and instead use a state-approved emissions strategy when docked in the Golden State’s ports. A failure to do so could result in potentially tens of thousands of dollars of penalties — costs that Fong said are then passed to people buying goods delivered by those ships.

Without the Biden administration’s green light, the deep blue state would be rendered mostly toothless. That’s why the Trump administration asked Congress to initiate a review of the rule in July 2026, which is what Fong’s legislation would pave the way for.

A Senate counterpart to his bill was introduced by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who told Fox News Digital that families in his state “pay the price” when California imposes new mandates.

The Port of Los Angeles is consistently ranked as the busiest in the country in terms of traffic, followed by the Port of Long Beach — both in California.

THE OVERLOOKED WAY THE IRAN WAR IS MAKING GROCERIES, AMAZON PACKAGES AND NEW HOMES MORE EXPENSIVE

Rep. Vince Fong, R-Calif., participates in a House Transportation Committee hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on June 27, 2024.(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

Currently, most large ships that do not shut off their diesel engines and plug into the state’s electrical grid or use some mode of electric energy instead could see tens of thousands of dollars per day in penalties. Similar to cars, ships need to run their engines to power lights, temperature regulation and other onboard systems.

Fong argued that because current infrastructure hasn’t caught up to allow universal compliance, it inevitably leads to shipping companies paying penalties. He said those penalties affect a variety of goods.

“When you order something on Amazon, when a small business is buying product to put products on their shelves, when grocery stores are trying to get products into the stores, when you’re trying to buy gasoline — all of those things come through either the port or it comes through some type of mechanism through a ship,” he said. “And so when you add additional costs on our transportation system and our shipping network, those costs ripple throughout the entire supply chain.”

A container ship is shown at the Port of Los Angeles on Nov. 22, 2021.(Mike Blake/Reuters)

It comes at a time when Americans across the country are feeling the strain of the high cost of living, which has emerged as a central issue in the coming midterm elections.

Fong said failing to roll back California’s mandate could keep a precedent in place allowing other states to similarly seek the EPA’s permission to enforce such standards.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“You have shipping companies that have paid hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties, if you aggregate it all. And as this goes on, this could ripple throughout the United States,” Fong said. “You have other states now that are looking at California and say, well, if they’re gonna do it, we might do it too. So this could grow exponentially.”

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

Trump extends Jones Act waiver for 90 days, narrows scope

2026-08-10T17:15:20.876Z / Reuters

By Jarrett Renshaw

August 10, 2026 5:15 PM UTC Updated 36 mins ago

A cargo ship full of shipping containers is seen at the port of Oakland, California, U.S., August 4, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary

• New terms require case-by-case review of individual voyages, White House official says
• Waiver was due to expire on August 16 without extension
• About 208 Jones Act exemptions were used in nearly 5 months, US data showed

Aug 10 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump has extended for 90 days a waiver allowing foreign-flagged ships to transport oil and other commodities between U.S. ports, but imposed new limits after shipbuilders and their allies in Congress argued the policy was undermining the domestic ​maritime industry, the White House said.

The extension, finalized on Monday, comes as the war with Iran ​disrupts global crude flows and pushes up fuel costs, increasing pressure on the administration to ⁠find ways to ease transportation bottlenecks and keep gasoline and other energy prices from rising further.

The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

The 90-day ​extension ensures the U.S. military and key industries maintain uninterrupted access to critical resources, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers ​said on Monday.

“Data shows the waiver has driven a significant increase in domestic deliveries of essential products such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel,” Rogers said in a post on the social media platform X.

Under the new terms, the administration has narrowed the ​scope of the relief, requiring individual voyages to undergo case-by-case review rather than allowing foreign ships to receive ​blanket exemptions from the Jones Act, a White House official confirmed.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

The Jones Act requires cargo moving between U.S. ports to be ‌carried on ⁠ships built in the U.S., owned by U.S. companies and crewed by American workers, and the waiver aims to lower gas prices by increasing shipping flexibility and reducing transport bottlenecks.

The waiver was set to expire on August 16 without the extension. It is the longest suspension of the more than a century-old law in its history.

Targeted ​Jones Act waivers provide critical ​flexibility to move American ⁠energy efficiently between U.S. ports and deliver fuels to consumers at a time of ongoing global market volatility, industry trade group The American Petroleum Institute (API) said.

“This decisive step ​will ensure critical fuels reach the regions that need them most while reinforcing ​America’s resilience amid ⁠ongoing global market disruptions,” Senior Vice President of Government Relations Kristin Whitman, adding that the waiver would strengthen supply security and help protect consumers from unnecessary price volatility.

blob:https://www.reuters.com/74b8cae2-8c8a-46f5-8327-c50053dddeca

While the Jones Act waiver increases the availability of tankers to move ⁠fuel, it ​would likely only reduce gasoline prices by pennies per gallon, some ​analysts and industry experts have said.

About 208 exemptions to the Jones Act were granted in about 4-1/2 months through August 3, U.S. government ​data showed.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw, and Arathy Somasekhar in Houston, editing by Michelle Nichols, Deepa Babington and Nick Zieminski

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Trump bets economic pressure can squeeze Iran as regime’s own failures deepen the pain

IRGC profits from sanctions by controlling Iran’s black market channels, former Evin prisoner says

August 10, 2026 2:45pm EDT / Fox News

By Efrat Lachter, Fox News

Former Iran detainee says sanctions created ‘huge franchise’ for regime power brokers

Former Iran detainee Morad Tahbaz says sanctions have pushed Iranian trade into opaque channels, hurting ordinary Iranians while enriching those who control the flow of money and goods.

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

blob:https://www.foxnews.com/876e6291-1cc4-4341-b6b5-bc3ff84e9934

Listen to this article

9 min

President Donald Trump is signaling, at least for now, he is prepared to let mounting economic pressure on Iran do more of the work rather than immediately expand military action against Tehran.

“We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” Trump told Axios’ Barak Ravid in a phone interview Sunday. Axios reported Aug. 9 that Trump described the U.S. approach as “low-keying it” and said Iran was in severe economic distress and struggling to pay its troops.

Trump has argued that the U.S. naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz has compounded Iran’s financial crisis. His comments come after weeks in which the administration repeatedly raised the possibility of renewed large-scale military action.

But as the administration increasingly points to Iran’s financial distress as leverage, a more complicated question is emerging: How much of Iran’s economic crisis is the result of U.S. sanctions, the war and blockade — and how much stems from decades of corruption, economic mismanagement and spending decisions by the Islamic Republic itself?

IRAN’S DEEPEST WEAKNESS IS GETTING EXPOSED THROUGH AMERICA’S MAXIMUM PRESSURE CAMPAIGN

An Iranian woman shops in a local market in Tehran, Iran, April 28, 2026.(Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

Trump reinforced the message on Truth Social Sunday, writing that Iran had shown “51 years of bad behaviour” while sharing a graphic depicting the Iranian rial’s steep decline. The graphic was titled “Iran has NO MONEY” and described the currency as “trash.”

The economic pressure is increasingly visible in the daily lives of ordinary Iranians. An investigation published by the Iranian newspaper Jahan-e Sanat last week described supermarket workers encountering customers who allegedly shoplifted basic groceries including bread, cheese and meat, or ate packaged food inside stores because they could no longer afford it. The accounts offered a stark glimpse of the strain on Iranian households as prices rise and purchasing power erodes.

Washington, meanwhile, has intensified its campaign against Tehran’s revenue streams. Under what the Treasury Department calls Economic Fury, the administration has targeted Iran’s oil trade, shadow banking networks, weapons procurement operations, cryptocurrency holdings and sanctions-evasion infrastructure. Treasury said June 10 that the campaign had prevented “tens of billions of dollars” in revenue from being accessible to the Iranian regime and its proxies. On July 29, Treasury said OFAC had sanctioned more than 100 vessels linked to Iran’s shadow fleet since the beginning of 2026.

A Treasury spokesperson told Fox News Digital on background that “Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash.”

“Iran’s economy is in freefall, inflation has skyrocketed, and as President Trump said on Sunday, the regime’s ability to pay its troops has been decimated,” the spokesperson said.

WHO IS AHMAD VAHIDI? IRAN’S NEW IRGC CHIEF TIED TO GLOBAL ATTACKS AND ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ IDEOLOGY

A person walks past a sign at a currency exchange, as the value of the Iranian Rial drops, in Tehran, Iran, December 30, 2025.(Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

A U.S. official told Fox News Digital on background that the administration still views economic pressure as one part of a broader strategy.

“President Trump has always been clear that he will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. While he has been consistent in saying he prefers a diplomatic solution, he continues to retain all options if Iran continues to engage in terrorism and refuses to make a deal,” the official said.

“The United States is strangling what’s left of Iran’s economy with one of the most successful naval blockades in history – and Iran would be wise to make a deal. Otherwise, they know what will happen.”

Miad Maleki, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former Treasury Department sanctions official, said the pressure has accelerated Iran’s economic decline, but argued that Tehran’s own policies created many of the underlying vulnerabilities.

“Sanctions and the war have accelerated Iran’s economic decline, but both are consequences of the regime’s own troublemaking; its nuclear brinkmanship, missile and drone attacks on tankers, and support for terror proxies, not causes imposed on an innocent bystander,” Maleki told Fox News Digital.

“It’s a government’s basic responsibility to provide for and serve its nation — this regime has instead served a failed revolutionary ideology that has produced nothing but suffering for ordinary Iranians,” he added.

Maleki said the deeper story can be seen over decades, arguing that even when sanctions eased and oil revenues increased, Iran continued directing significant resources toward its security establishment and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

IRAN’S REVOLUTIONARY GUARD SIDELINES PRESIDENT AS MILITARY GRIP EXPANDS

An armed member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) monitors the area while mourners participate in the funeral for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family in Tehran, Iran, on July 6, 2026.(Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

According to Central Bank of Iran national accounts data provided by Maleki to Fox News Digital, Iran’s military share of total government spending rose from 16% in 1993 to 52% by 2006, while education spending fell from 27% to 15%. Spending on health and social affairs also declined as a share of government expenditures, he said.

Maleki pointed to the 2020 budget as another example of the disparity. The IRGC received approximately $6.96 billion, compared with $2.73 billion for Iran’s larger conventional military, known as the Artesh — roughly 2.5 times as much, according to an analysis published by the United States Institute of Peace’s Iran Primer based on figures from Iran’s parliamentary research center.

“The issue is not simply that Iran spends heavily on defense,” Maleki said. “It is that an oil-dependent economy repeatedly directed enormous resources toward the military and the IRGC while basic public services and ordinary households were under increasing pressure.”

And the official budget captures only part of that spending. Maleki, citing both his experience at the Treasury Department and outside research, said the IRGC benefits from significant commercial and off-budget resources. A 2017 American Enterprise Institute study estimated that the IRGC’s so-called “gray budget” could add another 50% to 100% to its military outlays.

An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps speedboat sails in the Persian Gulf during an IRGC marine parade marking Persian Gulf National Day near the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Iran, on April 29, 2024.(Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“Ultimately, the responsibility lies not with external pressure but with structural corruption, chronic economic mismanagement, and spending priorities fundamentally detached from ordinary Iranians’ needs and the country’s genuine economic potential,” Maleki said.

That influence extends far beyond military spending. The IRGC has also built a sprawling economic apparatus that gives it control over major sources of revenue and, critics argue, leaves it particularly well positioned to profit from the opaque channels sanctions create.

Its economic arm, Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, became a major force in the Iranian economy after the Iran-Iraq War and expanded across construction, energy and infrastructure. The Treasury Department designated Khatam al-Anbiya in October 2007, describing it as an IRGC engineering arm used to generate income and fund the organization’s operations.

Treasury acknowledged that Iran is increasingly turning to opaque financial channels to circumvent U.S. pressure, but argued that those networks are themselves becoming targets of the campaign.

“The regime is increasingly having to invent new ways to try to evade U.S. sanctions through shadow banking networks, including through exploiting crypto,” the Treasury spokesperson said. “Treasury continues to monitor and aggressively dismantle these networks to ensure Iran cannot sustain its campaign of terror and regional destabilization.”

On Aug. 7, Treasury announced separate actions against cryptocurrency exchanges it said were being used to finance the IRGC and against international currency networks that it said were moving hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran.

FREED AMERICAN REVEALS BRUTAL IRAN PRISON ORDEAL, WARNS HOSTAGES FACE GREATER DANGER

People walk in a local market in Tehran, Iran, April 28, 2026.(Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian-American conservationist who spent nearly six years imprisoned in Iran’s Evin Prison before being released with four other Americans in September 2023, said sanctions have effectively created what he described as a lucrative “franchise” for those controlling the channels through which money and goods move.

“They have created a huge franchise for themselves because of these sanctions,” Tahbaz told Fox News Digital. “Money can’t flow freely to the Iranian government’s treasury because of the sanctions. So what happens, everything is like a black market, gray market, illegal smuggling from the oil to everything else coming in and out.”

“And of course, the people who are hurt most by all of this are the people of Iran,” he added. “They’re unfortunately, very unfortunately, taking the brunt of all of these in their daily lives.”

Tahbaz said the entrenchment of the IRGC-linked economy may itself complicate efforts to end the confrontation because those profiting from restricted financial channels have an incentive to preserve them.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

People shop in a local market in Tehran, Iran, April 28, 2026.(Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

“They don’t want to see the sanctions go away, because they will lose their franchise, if you will,” he said. “They will lose their power, their control over the money and everything that goes along with it.”

Tahbaz said the economic interests created by the sanctions also help explain some of the internal tensions within Iran.

“This is the battle going on inside Iran when you hear there is tension within factions,” he said. “And I think to see a solution to this war, if you will, we have to look to what’s happening in Iran,” he said.

Treasury said it maintains standing authorizations intended to limit sanctions’ effects on ordinary Iranians, including certain humanitarian trade involving agricultural products, medicine and medical devices; noncommercial personal remittances; and communications-related software, hardware and services. OFAC also considers additional requests on a case-by-case basis, the spokesperson said. The authorizations are contained in OFAC regulations and General License 8A.

Efrat (Effie) Lachter is a reporter for Fox News Digital with more than 15 years of experience covering conflict, global affairs, human rights and political accountability.She has directed and produced more than 200 documentary segments across more than 40 countries, documenting conflicts, humanitarian crises, corruption, human trafficking, gender-based violence and the human stories behind major world events.

Lachter’s reporting has taken her into conflict zones and crisis areas across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa. Her work has included uncovering human trafficking networks, revealing an ISIS underground torture prison in Syria, documenting the war in Ukraine and interviewing senior political figures and world leaders. She was also among the Western journalists who entered Russia after the war began to bring testimonies from Putin’s opposition. Lachter is the recipient of the 2022 Peres Center for Peace Award and was a 2023–2024 Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan. She also won two Rockower Awards for Excellence in Reporting. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and a master’s degree in political science.

Hegseth pushes for Pentagon funding during renaming of military base after Lindsey Graham

2026-08-10 1:31 PM ET / CNN

By Haley Britzky

The military installation, previously known as Joint Base Charleston, will now be known as Joint Base Lindsey Graham, August 10, 2026.

Pool

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed Congress to approve a sharp increase in the Pentagon’s budget during a ceremony on Monday to rename a base for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Graham, a veteran who was long known for his advocacy for expanding the military, died suddenly last month following an aortic dissection. The South Carolina military installation, previously known as Joint Base Charleston, will now be known as Joint Base Lindsey Graham.

“As we gather here today, the War Department is seeking a historic generational investment of $1.5 trillion for American warriors. And Lindsey himself said to me in his office, ‘This is the best military budget I’ve seen since I’ve been in Congress.’ End quote,” Hegseth said. “This department pays tribute to Lindsey Graham in the naming of this base, but there could be no greater tribute than Congress could give than to invest in our warriors for the full $1.5 trillion.”

Hegseth has recently spent time on Capitol Hill urging Republicans to support the Pentagon’s massive budget request, which would be a sharp increase from the roughly $800 million approved for last year. The agency also got an additional $150 billion in separate legislation President Donald Trump termed the One Big Beautiful Bill. CNN has reported that Republicans have been skeptical of the request amid the monthslong war with Iran.

Graham, a longtime Republican from South Carolina and Trump ally, died last month from a tear in the inner layer of his aorta, his spokesperson said.

Graham joined the Air Force Reserves in 1995 and served more than 30 years, including time on active duty as a military lawyer while deployed overseas. He retired as a colonel in 2015.

Joint Base Charleston is home to the 628th Air Base Wing and supports more than 90,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, civilians and retirees, its website says.

Hegseth also used the Monday speech to criticize “woke, so-called leaders” of the military under previous administrations and praised Graham for spending his “final years taking on a radical leftist ideology that had run rampant in the media, in academia, and even among a few members of Congress.”

FAA to pause flights at Washington airport to support Freedom 250 Grand Prix

2026-08-10 18:17:42 UTC / Reuters

By Courtney Rozen

August 10, 2026 6:17 PM UTC Updated 1 hour ago

Item 1 of 3 A sign reading, “Freedom doesn’t ring it revs” hangs from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration as proactive barriers are set up for the upcoming Freedom 250 Grand Prix IndyCar series race, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 5, 2026. REUTERS/Eric Lee

[1/3]A sign reading, “Freedom doesn’t ring it revs” hangs from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration as proactive barriers are set up for the upcoming Freedom 250 Grand Prix IndyCar series race, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 5, 2026. REUTERS/Eric Lee Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

Aug 10 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal ​Aviation Administration said on Monday it ‌expects to temporarily pause flight operations at Washington’s Reagan National Airport from 10:15 a.m. (1415 GMT) ​to 1:15 p.m. on August 23 ​to support the Freedom 250 Grand Prix ⁠IndyCar race.

The IndyCar race will roar ​through the streets of Washington August 22 ​to 23 to celebrate the 250th birthday of the U.S. General admission tickets are free, though ​spectators can pay to be part ​of the “Champions Club” and have an “exclusive race weekend experience,” ‌according ⁠to the event website. The cost is $5,000 per person for a two-day package.

The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

The FAA has closed the airspace above Washington’s ​Reagan National ​Airport a ⁠few times in recent months for anniversary celebrations. The FAA closed ​the airport on July 4 to ​accommodate ⁠Independence Day events in the nation’s capital, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of ⁠flights. ​The airport suspended operations on June ​14 for U.S. President Donald Trump’s Army anniversary parade.

Reporting ​by Courtney Rozen; Editing by Andrea Ricci

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Trump announces aide will soon step into White House counsel post

2026-08-10T12:39:59-04:00 / Fox News

The president said that Will Scharf will take on the role ‘effective September 1st’

By Alex Nitzberg Fox News

Published August 10, 2026 12:39pm EDT | Updated August 10, 2026 12:44pm EDT

President Donald Trump announced in a Sunday Truth Social post that assistant to the president and White House staff secretary Will Scharf will soon serve as White House counsel.

“It is my Great Honor to announce that, effective September 1st, Will Scharf will become Assistant to the President and White House Counsel, replacing a man, David Warrington, who has done a truly outstanding job as White House Counsel and, before that, for my Presidential Campaign. David will be going on to the Private Sector,” Trump said in the post.

“Will has done an amazing job in his current role as White House Staff Secretary, and has also served as Chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission. I know Will well! He previously represented me in numerous cases, including at the Supreme Court, during the Biden Administration’s corrupt and illegal campaign of Weaponization,” the president continued.

BLANCHE SURVIVES REPUBLICAN DEFECTORS AS TRUMP GETS HIS NEW ATTORNEY GENERAL

Will Scharf, White House staff secretary, during an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026.(Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“He also previously served as a Federal Prosecutor, worked as an attorney in private practice, clerked for two Federal Appeals Court Judges, and was a top student at both Princeton University, and Harvard Law School. Will is Tough, Strong, and Smart! He also loves our Country, and respects the Law. Will Scharf will do a great job as White House Counsel!” Trump added.

Scharf is the man who has sometimes been seen handing the president documents to sign and explaining the purpose of each item.

Will Scharf, White House Staff Secretary, from left, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Howard Lutnick, U.S. commerce secretary, during an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026.(Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles congratulated Scharf in a post on X, which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt retweeted.

“Warmest congratulations to Will Scharf as he will soon take the helm as White House Counsel. There is so much winning ahead!” Wiles wrote.

TRUMP PRAISES SUSIE WILES’ CANCER FIGHT IN SURPRISE GALA VIDEO: ‘WINNING IT DECISIVELY’

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf sit in the Oval Office as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks before signing a proclamation at the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 11, 2026.(Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images)

“And to my friend Dave Warrington: thank you for your tenure as White House Counsel, Trump-Vance campaign counsel, and President Trump’s loyal attorney. The White House Counsel’s Office helped deliver 24 Supreme Court victories and the confirmation of 54 judges. And much more. I can’t wait to see what’s next for you. It will most certainly be fantastic!” Wiles added.

Conservative commentator Josh Hammer, who in 2023 announced that he and Scharf had co-founded “Jews Against Soros,” told Fox News Digital during a Monday phone call that he thought Trump “hit a grand slam home run with” Scharf, who will be a “tremendous boon to the White House counsel’s office.”

TRUMP LAWYER WILLIAM OWEN SCHARF PICKED FOR ‘CRUCIAL’ WHITE HOUSE ASSISTANT ROLE

Video

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Hammer indicated that they did not really have the time to develop the Jews Against Soros effort, but said that he and Scharf were “fed up with the idea that” criticism of left-wing political megadonor George Soros represents “a dog whistle for antisemitism,” while Soros, Hammer asserted, funds “a ton of antisemitism and anti-Israel activity worldwide.”

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.

blob:https://www.foxnews.com/4e936134-5428-48d9-8f32-24f9f6427d94

What voters in Wisconsin are saying about the socialist who could win the Democratic primary for governor tomorrow

2026-08-10T17:33:49.471Z / CNN

By Dana Bash, CNN

Published 1:33 PM EDT, Mon August 10, 2026

What voters in Wisconsin are saying about the socialist who could win the Democratic primary for governor tomorrow

Inside Politics

State Assemblywoman Francesca Hong, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has been the frontrunner for months in Wisconsin’s crucial governor’s race. Her main Democratic opponent David Crowley is arguing to voters that he’s the one who can win in November. Wisconsin Public Radio’s Anya van Wagtendonk joins Inside Politics to help break down whether Crowley has a shot, or whether its too little, too late for the establishment-backed pick.

3:44 • Source: CNN

Ken Paxton pleads for campaign donations as James Talarico rakes in record hauls

2026-08-10 1:25 PM EDT / CNN Politics

By Dana Bash, CNN

Published 1:25 PM EDT, Mon August 10, 2026

Ken Paxton pleads for campaign donations as James Talarico rakes in record hauls

Inside Politics

Dana Bash and the “Inside Politics” panel discuss Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico’s $20M fundraising advantage against his opponent, Ken Paxton, and Paxton’s public plea for campaign donations over the weekend. “It’s just extraordinary to hear a Republican in Texas having to beg for money on television at this point in the race,” Jeff Mason says.

2:03 • Source: CNN

Trump signs executive order aimed at reducing number of recommended childhood vaccines

2026-08-10 2:19 PM ET / CNN

By Adam Cancryn, Sarah Owermohle

Updated 4 min ago

Updated Aug 10, 2026, 3:23 PM ET

PUBLISHED Aug 10, 2026, 2:19 PM ET

In recent months, President Donald Trump has pressed health officials for more action on the childhood vaccine schedule

Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters/File

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday aimed at reshaping the federal government’s approach toward childhood vaccines, according to a draft of the document obtained by CNN.

The sweeping order proposes reducing the total number of immunizations recommended for children in their earliest years and dividing the nation’s childhood vaccine schedule into three categories.

It also advises that the mumps, measles and rubella (MMR) vaccine be separated into three individual shots, against broad scientific consensus but in keeping with Trump’s insistence in recent months that the widely administered shot be altered.

“We’re reducing them,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “It’s not only that you’re doing fewer vaccines, or jabs, as they say, but you’re doing them in a series of visits to the doctor.”

Public health experts warned that splitting the MMR vaccines was a bad idea

Under the draft order, the administration’s new policy states that all children are recommended to receive vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib, pneumococcal disease, HPV and varicella, or chicken pox.

Only high-risk populations are now advised to receive respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) monoclonal antibodies and vaccines against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal B, meningococcal ACWY and dengue. That marks a change from the current schedule, which recommends that all children receive most of those shots.

Several of those, such as the hepatitis immunizations, will be subject to shared decision-making, or conversations with a child’s doctor. Those include shots for rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza and Covid-19.

The Washington Post first reported on the draft executive order.

Trump’s announcement hews closely to a US Department of Health and Human Services effort in January to whittle down the number of recommended vaccines in the childhood schedule. Medical groups sued to challenge that revised schedule, and a judge ruled in their favor.

Trump in recent months has pressed HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for more action on the childhood vaccine schedule, as well as for stepping up efforts to search for links between vaccines and autism.

There have been extensive scientific studies of vaccines that have yielded no evidence of a connection to autism.

The executive order signing comes despite long-running reservations among Trump’s political advisers that advancing controversial vaccines policies is widely unpopular and could alienate voters ahead of November’s midterms.

This story has been updated with additional reporting and context.

5 takeaways from Zuckerberg’s essay on his vision for superintelligence

August 10, 2026 / 12:34 PM EDT / CBS News

Mark Zuckerberg said in an essay published on Meta’s website on Monday that artificial intelligence tools should be shared with “as many people and businesses as possible.”

In a 6,500-word post outlining the Meta founder’s vision of AI, Zuckerberg also expressed his belief that “superintelligence” — a theoretical form of AI with superior cognitive abilities to those of humans — will advance national security, lead to greater economic prosperity, and promote scientific and creative achievement.

“Humanity has witnessed many transformative advances. Each time there is fear that people will be left behind,” Zuckerberg wrote. “But each time humanity has come out with more people sharing greater prosperity, health and freedom. We believe this will be true with AI as well, and the abundance of the future can be shared by everyone.”

Zuckerberg touts the potential upsides of superintelligence — and Meta’s place in advancing it — but also warns that action is needed to maintain America’s competitive edge and ensure humanity retains control over the technology.

Here are five takeaways from Zuckerberg’s essay.

“Free or affordable access” to AI for all

Zuckerberg envisions a future in which individuals have a personal agent designed to assist them with everyday needs related to their health, careers, finances and relationships.

To encourage AI use, the tech billionaire said Meta will provide free versions of its tools to “billions of people” and seek to offer access to its AI technology for the “lowest price possible.”

Zuckerberg also committed to building a “fully private mode” for personal AI agents that will prevent Meta and other providers from seeing people’s information.

Jobs won’t disappear

Disputing widespread concerns that AI will displace workers, Zuckerberg said the technology will create new kinds of jobs that don’t exist today and allow people to do more with less. In his essay, he referred to superintelligence as a “tool of invention” rather than of automation.

“Company sizes may shrink — just as they did in the transition from industrial giants to tech companies,” Zuckerberg said. “But this doesn’t mean fewer jobs overall. It implies a larger number of companies with fewer people each.”

Data center community investments

Meta is among the so-called hyperscalers, along with rivals such as Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft, rushing to build data centers as growing AI demand spurs a need for more computing power. Yet the push is drawing intense public opposition over environmental, economic and other concerns.

Seeking to address such concerns, Zuckerberg said Monday that Meta will create an investment fund called the “Future is for Everyone Fund” to benefit communities where data centers are being built. The fund size will be $1 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Zuckerberg also committed to keeping electricity prices low, restoring local water supply and training workers to support its data center buildout. Meta’s 2026 capital spending budget of $145 billion will be used “largely to build data centers,” he noted.

Releasing open-source models

Zuckerberg argues in his essay that the U.S. should lower barriers that he said make it harder for U.S. open-source AI models to compete with those of foreign competitors. While there are risks to releasing models, allowing AI labs to keep them under lock and key as proprietary AI tools would be worse, he said.

To that end, Zuckerberg said Meta will “resume releasing some open source models soon.” According to The Wall Street Journal, Meta is planning to launch a new model with open weights — numerical values that determine a model’s behavior — called Muse Glimmer, as well as an open-weight version of Muse Spark 1.2, its most advanced AI coding model.

Working with the authorities

Zuckerberg also offered policy suggestions for how AI companies and the government can work together to advance AI safely. Those include sharing “intermediate training checkpoints of new models” with the government — allowing it to tackle potential security issues early on. AI labs should also work with law enforcement to prevent bad actors from misusing the models, he said.

Edited by Alain Sherter