ETF Summary

The yearslong legal fight over former President Donald Trump’s decision to divert billions of dollars to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall formally ended on Tuesday.

Wisconsin became the last of 20 states to drop out of the two lawsuits, which were rendered all but moot when President Joe Biden issued an executive order in 2021 that halted wall construction using up to $6.7 billion intended for National Guard units, military construction projects and police.

Wisconsin stood to lose $8 million that was supposed to cover a new National Guard firing range. The federal government has since restored the money for the firing range, according to the Wisconsin Legislature’s attorneys and the state Justice Department.

The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals had ruled in favor of the states in October 2020, prompting the federal government to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the cases. After Biden’s executive order, the justices sent the cases back to a lower court.

A federal judge in Oakland, California, dismissed the other states, including California, New York, Colorado, Hawaii and Minnesota, from the lawsuits on July 17.

The Wisconsin Legislature’s finance committee granted the state Justice Department permission to drop out of the lawsuit Tuesday. The Republican-controlled committee voted unanimously and without debate.

The state Justice Department made its formal request to exit the lawsuits on July 18, triggering Tuesday’s meeting.

The department needed permission from legislators to get out of the cases because of a 2018 law that requires the agency to seek permission from the finance committee before settling lawsuits. Wisconsin Republicans passed the law to give themselves more oversight of Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul’s activities after he defeated his Republican predecessor in the November 2018 elections.

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Gov. Kim Reynolds can proceed with an appeal on a temporary block on the state’s new, restrictive abortion law, the Iowa Supreme Court said Tuesday.

Reynolds announced her intentions to appeal last week and said it was ‘just a matter of time’ before lawyers for the state filed the request, which they did Friday. The Iowa Supreme Court had to say whether the request could move forward.

The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the measure to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy during a July 11 special session, and the law went into effect days later, immediately after Reynolds signed it. The ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic launched a legal challenge and Judge Joseph Seidlin on July 17 granted their request to pause the law as the courts assess its constitutionality.

Abortion remains legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy while the new law is on hold.

Reynolds is asking the state Supreme Court to override the lower court’s ruling and allow the law to go back into effect. The full court considered Reynolds’ application for appeal, but a spokesperson declined to say whether all the justices will also consider the appeal itself.

A justice’s recusal led to a rare 3-3 decision in June and left the block intact on the nearly identical 2018 law, prompting Reynolds to call the special session. The 2018 law was passed despite state and federal court decisions at the time, including Roe, that affirmed a woman’s constitutional right to abortion. Both courts reversed those decisions last year.

The state Supreme Court can rule on the temporary injunction alone, or it can decide to fast-forward a decision on merits of the law itself.

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FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., considered one of 2024’s most vulnerable Democrats up for re-election, served as the president of a Las Vegas area synagogue that invited a drag queen to preside over services and discuss transgender ideology with children.

Congregation Ner Tamid, which touts being the largest Reform Synagogue in Nevada, held a ‘Rainbow Shabbat – Don’t Be A Drag, Just Be A Queen/Torah Study,’ as well as an LGBTQ Shabbat targeted toward children in March. 

The Rainbow Shabbat included drag queen Miss Livinya Karr, a biological male named Raymond Zachary, discussing drag and transgender ideology and claiming historical figures in the Torah and Bible wore drag, while at the LGBTQ Shabbat for children, those in attendance wore rainbow clothing and were read to from the book, ‘You Are Loved,’ which introduces readers to families with two moms and two dads.

During the Rainbow Shabbat, Karr boasted of being a ‘big old queen standing where the Rabbi normally goes,’ and claimed ‘drag is an art form’ that usually involves a male wearing makeup and clothing to ‘exaggerate female gender signifiers for entertainment purposes. The technical term is a gender illusionist.’

‘We are all drag queens. As our lord and savior RuPaul once said we are all born naked and everything else is drag,’ Karr said, referencing celebrity drag performer RuPaul, before claiming, ‘The Torah has many examples of drag whether we even notice them. Aside from the fact that every single one of our Bible stories centers around a man wearing a dress.’

Karr also claimed the story of Joseph in the Torah and Bible was the ‘first actual example of drag,’ and that it compared to the feeling he ‘felt the night they handed me my rehearsal [stiletto] shoes.’

It’s unclear whether Karr, who is based out of Huntington Beach, California, was paid for his appearance at the events, although he advertises on his website that he has ‘reliable transportation’ for ‘gigs and bookings.’

Rosen served as president of Congregation Ner Tamid from 2013 to 2016, prior to her 2017 election to Congress, and has maintained an active role in the synagogue according to numerous posts on social media.

In April 2021, the synagogue honored Rosen for her ‘years of dedication as our synagogue President and the significant service to our great state and community,’ and Rosen appeared in multiple photos posted on the synagogue’s Facebook page in April and May 2022.

In another Facebook post in November, the synagogue touted its connection to Rosen and noted her service as its president.

Fox News Digital reached out to Rosen’s Senate office, her re-election campaign and Congregation Ner Tamid for comment but did not receive responses.

Rosen faces what is expected to be a tough challenge from Republican Sam Brown, a former U.S. Army captain and veteran of the Afghanistan War.

A Democratic congressman began a ‘thirst strike’ on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to protest a Texas law critics say will override local ordinances such as mandatory water breaks for people working in the heat and to call for federal protections for those who work in hot temperatures. 

Rep. Greg Casar, whose congressional district includes parts of Austin and San Antonio, tweeted a photo of himself Tuesday with civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, while taking his last sip of water before his all-day strike. 

‘Just took my last drink of water before my thirst strike with the one and only, Dolores Huerta. #WorkersCantWait,’ he captioned the image. 

Casar planned to abstain from liquids to call for a federal heat rule to protect workers as record-setting temperatures continue to break across the country. The forecast in Washington D.C. was expected to reach 90 degrees on Tuesday. 

‘Today I’m on a thirst strike on the steps of the U.S. Capitol—not drinking water or taking breaks, through rain or shine, in solidarity with our nation’s workers,’ Casar said in another tweet. ‘Currently there are NO federal protections for workers exposed to heat.’

In a letter signed by more than 110 Democrats, Casar demanded the Biden Administration implement an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) workplace heat standard as soon as possible.

The signatories noted a law recently signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott they claim would strip power from cities and could eliminate existing heat protections in Dallas and Austin.

‘Our nation—and my home state of Texas—is experiencing a historic heatwave—exposing workers to deadly 100°+ temperatures,’ Casar tweeted. ‘Yet in the middle of this heatwave, @GregAbbott_TX signed a law *eliminating* workers rights to water breaks.’

House Bill 2127 doesn’t mention water breaks specifically but prohibits cities across the state from creating rules that go beyond state law. Currently, there are no federal or state rules that require employers to provide paid water breaks. The law is intended to prevent what is described as a ‘patchwork of regulations that apply inconsistently across this state’ 

During Tuesday’s thirst strike, several progressive Democrats were seen showing support for Casar, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Silvia Garcia, Hakeem Jeffries, Maxwell Frost and Ilhan Omar.

‘In the wealthiest country in the history of the world, workers shouldn’t be dying from heat-related illnesses. Proud to join this effort led by @GregCasar,’ Omar tweeted. 

Casar said he spoke with Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, who said the White House was ‘working hard to get a federal heat standard done, and it’s up to us to fight corporate greed so they can get it done.’

The Obamas’ personal chef who drowned Sunday while paddleboarding near the former president’s home on Martha’s Vineyard was not wearing a life vest and no foul play is suspected in his death, Massachusetts State Police said.  

The body of Tafari Campbell, 45, of Dumfries, Virginia, was recovered Monday morning from Edgartown Great Pond after an extensive search. 

A paddleboarder who was with Campbell told investigators they’d seen him standing on his paddleboard and lose his balance before falling into the water. The paddleboarder said Campbell struggled to stay afloat before submerging. Investigators were told Campbell was not wearing a personal flotation device.  

The fellow paddleboarder told investigators they tried to swim to Campbell’s location but couldn’t reach him in time. The paddleboarder swam to shore and asked someone to call 911. The Dukes County Regional Emergency Communications Center initiated an immediate emergency search and rescue response by multiple public safety agencies. 

The search was paused late Sunday but on Monday state police said sonar from a boat located the body about 100 feet from shore at a depth of about 8 feet.

The on-scene observation of the victim by State Police personnel and the post-mortem examination by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner revealed no external trauma or injuries.  

Though a 911 call came from the Obamas’ home, the former president and his wife, Michelle Obama, were not present at the time of the accident. Fox News Digital has requested an audio recording of the 911 call. 

The Daily Mail on Tuesday published photos of Malia and Sasha Obama leaving Martha’s Vineyard. 

In a statement, the former president and his wife, Michelle Obama, called Campbell a ‘beloved part of our family.’

‘When we first met him, he was a talented sous chef at the White House – creative and passionate about food, and its ability to bring people together,’ the couple said. ‘In the years that followed, we got to know him as a warm, fun, extraordinarily kind person who made all of our lives a little brighter.’

‘That’s why, when we were getting ready to leave the White House, we asked Tafari to stay with us, and he generously agreed. He’s been part of our lives ever since, and our hearts are broken that he’s gone.’

The Obamas said Campbell is survived by his wife and their twin boys.

Campbell is not the first former White House chef to drown. In June 2015, Walter Scheib, an executive chef at the White House who served former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, drowned while hiking a trail in Taos, New Mexico. 

Fox News’ Bryan Llenas and The Associated Press contributed to this report.