A GOP lawmaker leading on Congress’ response to Big Tech is calling for a commission to streamline the U.S.’s development of artificial intelligence technology, warning that Congress is moving ‘too slow’ on the rapidly advancing sector.

Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., teamed up with Democratic Reps. Ted Lieu and Anna Eshoo this week to introduce the National AI Commission Act, which calls for a panel of 20 experts across various facets of AI to convene and advise the U.S. government on the risks and opportunities associated with it. 

‘I think that we should look at this bill very closely and move it very quickly,’ Buck told Fox News Digital. ‘But I think we should take our time in putting the commission together, make sure we get the right people, take our time with what the right ideas are and how to approach this.’

Buck has long been one of Capitol Hill’s most ardent opponents of the unchecked expansion of Big Tech. He confessed Congress was moving at a slow, ‘deliberative’ pace on AI, as it usually does, but argued that the commission would aid in those deliberations.

‘It took a few years to figure out what Congress wanted to do with the internet, and the mistake that was made back then was that they didn’t follow up every year on how to make it even better,’ Buck said.

He continued: ‘And that’s what I think we need to do with this commission, is keep it in place long enough so that we can see some of the results of the legislation and regulation that’s been happening.’

‘I think we’re behind now,’ Buck responded when asked if he was worried about Capitol Hill falling behind on AI. 

‘Congress is intended to act slow. We don’t want laws passed that affect the entire country overnight, so it really is a deliberative process. And I think that this commission will help with that deliberative process,’ he said, comparing the breakneck pace of AI development today to the rise of the internet. 

Many lawmakers who have urged action on AI have compared it to the web and social media when warning colleagues to get ahead of its development to better manage the potential risks.

‘I hope Congress stays on top of this and doesn’t just shirk its responsibilities and walk away and say, ‘We did it,’ and now it’s over,’ Buck cautioned. ‘We learned a lot from the first five, six years of the internet, that Congress could have avoided some of the problems that we saw 20 years later.’

FIRST ON FOX: A hawkish immigration group is estimating that there are nearly 17 million illegal immigrants currently living in the United States — and that the number has increased by 16% since President Biden took office in early 2021.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which calls for lower overall levels of immigration, is publishing a new research report on the number of people living illegally in the U.S.

That report estimates that there are approximately 16.8 illegal immigrants in the U.S., up from 15.5 million in January 2022. Other groups have put the estimate in recent years at around 11 million, which is the most quoted number.

‘This estimate is also a 2.3 million increase from our end-of-2020 estimate, meaning the illegal alien population increased 16 percent nationwide during just the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency,’ the report says.

The Biden administration has been dealing with a migrant crisis now into its third year. It abolished a number of Trump-era policies including border wall construction and the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) and has interior ICE enforcement. Deportations plummeted, and Republicans have hammered the administration for expanding ‘catch-and-release’ policies that had largely ended under the Trump administration.

The administration has countered, arguing that it is rebuilding an asylum system that was destroyed under the prior administration, and more recently has touted tougher enforcement measures at the border alongside expanded legal pathways. 

There were more than 200,000 encounters at the southern border in May, bringing the overall total of encounters this fiscal year to over 1.6 million so far. The administration said that half of those 204,000 were encountered before the expiration of the Title 42 public health order — which allowed for the rapid expulsion of migrants due to COVID-19 — on May 11. 

FAIR’s analysis defines an illegal alien as ‘any alien who is present in the United States without legal status, like a valid visa or lawful permanent residence.’

That, therefore also includes those who are protected from deportation — including recipients of deferred enforced departure, Temporary Protected Status, and those who have been paroled into the U.S. — who are described in immigration law as ‘lawfully present’ despite a lack of legal status. The administration recently extended TPS for approximately 330,000 nationals from four countries.

FAIR acknowledges that accurately estimating the population of illegal immigrants can be murky and inexact, given the size and distribution of the population — and that many live at least partially in the shadows. Many typical estimates are based on Census Bureau data.

‘In truth, we do not know exactly how many people cross the border illegally and evade immigration authorities, nor can anyone accurately quantify overstays or gotaways. We can only estimate these figures based on changes in annual census data, along with how many individuals CBP and ICE believe slip through undetected,’ the report says.

FAIR uses Census data, applies an estimate that the population is being undercounted by approximately 30%, which it says is consistent with past estimates of nonresponse rates for illegal immigrants — and then uses increases in the measured foreign-born population ‘which contain a higher proportion of illegal immigrants than previous years due to inadequate border security and the expansion of dubious immigration parole programs.’

The report argues that the increase has been driven by relaxed border restrictions and a hiring boost post-COVID by U.S. companies as well as Biden policies that have increased ‘pull factors’ drawing migrants north, including the use of parole and greater use of Notices to Appear. It also cites restrictions placed on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that are currently being challenged by a lawsuit and have been blocked temporarily.

The Biden administration has faulted Republicans in Congress for the ongoing migrant crisis, and has argued that there is a need for a comprehensive immigration bill to fix what it says is a ‘broken’ system.
That legislation, first introduced in early 2021, has been rejected by Republicans specifically for the inclusion of a mass pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already in the country.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday that President Biden should use military force to take out Chinese military assets in Cuba.

Earlier this month, the Biden administration confirmed China was seeking to construct a military training facility in Cuba, which would allow it to permanently station troops in the country located less than 100 miles from Florida’s coast.

‘I support an Authorization for Use of Military Force to take out the Chinese assets in Cuba,’ said Gaetz, a vocal critic of China’s global ambitions, while the committee was debating amendments for the National Defense Authorization Act.

‘We should be a lot more concerned that China is functionally turning Cuba into a stationary aircraft carrier right off the coast of Florida,’ Gaetz said.

Gaetz also introduced a provision, which passed, that would prohibit Department of Defense funds from going toward drag shows.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., warned the Biden administration earlier this month that China having a spy base on the island would pose an ‘imminent threat’ to America. He also urged the White House to take action to bolster national security.

‘As the Member of Congress for America’s Southernmost district, which includes the entirety of the Florida Keys, this espionage base poses a direct threat to my constituents and to the millions of tourists who visit South Florida every year,’ Gimenez said.

He added: ‘Communist China is proactively undermining the United States across the Western Hemisphere and I urge this Administration to build a robust, comprehensive, and expedient strategy to counter the CCP’s malign influence with neighboring states.’

The Wall Street Journal reported talks about constructing a potential military facility on Cuba’s northern coast ‘are at an advanced stage but not concluded.’

According to the report, China intends to use a military base in Cuba as part of a new global network of military outposts.

However, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the report on the China-Cuba base is ‘not accurate.’ The National Security Council told Fox News that the WSJ report was inaccurate but did not elaborate.

The Biden administration later confirmed China is working to increase its spying efforts in Cuba, calling it an ‘ongoing issue’ but said it was nothing new.

The administration official said it was aware of a ‘number of’ efforts by the People’s Republic of China ‘around the world to expand its overseas logistics, basing, and collection infrastructure.’ These outposts would allow the People’s Liberation Army ‘to project and sustain military power at a greater distance.’

Debate for the NDAA ended shortly after midnight Thursday after more than 12 hours. In its current form, the new defense budget would give members of the Armed Services a 5.2% pay raise, the largest in over 20 years, and increase mental healthcare services available to these members.

Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Virginia, described it as a ‘great bill.’

‘Providing for our nation’s defense is the top priority for the House Armed Services Committee and I am incredibly proud of the bipartisan work we’ve accomplished in the FY24 NDAA,’ added Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala.

‘This year’s NDAA includes provisions that counter China’s aggression, boost oversight of the Department of Defense, and support our service members and their families,’ Rogers said. ‘Additionally, this year’s bill saves taxpayers billions of dollars while still making critical investments in innovative technologies and our defense industrial base.

He added: ‘I thank my colleagues on the committee for their hard work in support of our national security. I look forward to advancing this bill to the full House in the coming weeks.’

Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

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The vast majority of people arrested in San Francisco’s crackdown on open-air drug markets have been from out of town, according to police data. One recovery advocate says people from other counties and states see the liberal city as a sanctuary for illicit activity.

‘Everyone knows that San Francisco kind of takes a hands-off approach to law enforcement,’ recovering addict-turned-activist Tom Wolf told Fox News. ‘So they know that if they come to San Francisco they can get high, they can probably score a free tent, get money from the government and get food stamps and health insurance all while living on the street for free.’

San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said two weeks of the crackdown on open-air drug markets in the Tenderloin neighborhood yielded 45 arrests. Of the drug users arrested, only three reported being from San Francisco.

‘The majority of the people that we are coming in contact with … they don’t live here,’ Scott said at a recent San Francisco Police Commission meeting.

Scott called the statistics ‘surprising’ but could only offer anecdotal answers for why more than 90% of alleged users were not local. He said he has spoken with people on the streets, asking why they chose to do drugs in San Francisco.

‘I’ve gotten answers like, ‘Drugs are cheap and plenty available, and you’ve got an environment where it’s permitted,’’ Scott said.

Wolf was addicted to heroin and homeless in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district in 2018. His sixth arrest landed him in jail long enough to get clean and reevaluate his life, he said. Now, he is a recovery advocate and has often criticized city and state officials’ approach to the drug crisis.

‘The fact of the matter is that San Francisco is a regional magnet for homelessness,’ Wolf said. ‘We have robust services, everybody leaves you alone, and we have the cheapest drugs in California right here in San Francisco. That all has to change if we want to save the city.’

At least a dozen of the individuals arrested had other warrants, Mayor London Breed noted in a Board of Supervisors meeting last week.

‘People abscond from their law enforcement obligations or their legal obligations in other counties and come to San Francisco to disappear off the grid,’ Wolf said.

San Francisco police are targeting drug sales and ‘blatant public illicit drug use,’ according to Scott’s presentation at the police commission meeting. California Highway Patrol (CHP) and the California National Guard are also assisting local law enforcement at the behest of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

In just six weeks, CHP seized enough fentanyl in San Francisco to kill more than 2.1 million people, according to Newsom’s office.

Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin. It is responsible for the majority of accidental overdose deaths in San Francisco, according to the medical examiner.

Wolf thinks fentanyl is ‘changing the game’ by increasing overdose deaths and causing more people to demand action.

‘Voices like mine and others that have decided to speak up and say we’ve had enough,’ Wolf said. ‘We’re coming with lived experience from the streets saying, ‘Look, I lived this. I promise you, what we’re doing right now isn’t working.”

He added, ‘It’s forcing our political leaders to listen and hopefully take some action.’

Three progressives prosecutors in Virginia won their primary contests Tuesday night thanks to ongoing financial support from billionaire George Soros.

Arlington-Falls Church Commonwealth Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti won a decisive victory against primary challenger Josh Katcher after running a reelection campaign focused on ‘restorative justice’ principles, such as ending cash bail and drug criminalization.

Fox News Digital reported this month that as of June 8, two Soros-backed committees invested a total of more than $350,000 in two Virginia prosecutors, who he helped get elected four years ago, who were at risk of losing their seats to Democrat challengers in the June 20 primary.

Dehghani-Tafti received a combined $326,000 toward her reelection.

Fairfax County Attorney Steve Descano, a progressive backed by $26,500 in Soros money this cycle, was also victorious Tuesday night after beating primary challenger Ed Nuttall by more than 10 points.

Descano, a far-left figure who vowed to defy any abortion restrictions passed through the legislative process in his state, has faced criticism for his perceived soft-on-crime policies, including dropping charges against a career criminal who nearly killed a mother and her three children in a road-rage incident.

In addition to Dehghani-Tafti and Descano, Loudoun County Prosecutor Buta Biberaj was victorious against her primary opponent, Elizabeth Lancaster, by more than 10 points.

Biberaj, also backed by the vast George Soros network, has repeatedly come under fire since she started the job in 2020. Last year, she was hit with a bar complaint after a circuit court judge booted her office from a criminal case for ‘deliberately misleading the Court and the public’ and for hiring a convicted sex offender as a paralegal.

Biberaj was also booted due to worries about ‘impartiality’ from a high-profile case that drew national attention. That case involved a Virginia father who spoke out at a school board meeting after his daughter was sexually assaulted in a public school bathroom by a male student.

‘The primary victories by the three Soros bought-and-paid for rogue prosecutors in northern Virginia is not surprising given the amount of direct and indirect spending by Soros PACs in these three races,’ Cully Stimson, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. ‘Despite the fact that crime is going up in their counties because of their pro-criminal policies, low voter turnout, Soros bucks and lackluster primary opponents made the difference.’

Stimson, co-author along with Heritage legal fellow Zack Smith of the upcoming book ‘Rogue Prosecutors: How Radical Soros Lawyers Are Destroying America’s Communities,’ added that the real winners Tuesday night were the ‘career criminals.’

‘The real losers in these three counties are the residents, who will now continue to suffer as victims, and the police, who are further demoralized because they don’t have a partner in the DA’s office,’ he said.

On the Republican primary side, six out of six GOP candidates endorsed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin in contested nomination races in the Senate and House won Tuesday night, making Youngkin a perfect 10 for 10 in contested primaries this year.

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.

The Massachusetts Air National Guardsman facing allegations of leaking sensitive documents from the Pentagon pleaded not guilty to the charges on Wednesday in federal court.

Jack Teixeira, 21, appeared in a Worcester, Massachusetts, courtroom on Wednesday afternoon, nearly a week after a federal grand jury indicted him.

The North Dighton resident faces six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. 

Teixeira was arrested on April 13 on suspicion that he shared highly classified military documents pertaining to the war in Ukraine, as well as top national security issues in a chat room on Discord, a social media platform.

PENTAGON LEAK SUSPECT JACK TEIXEIRA INDICTED BY FEDERAL GRAND JURY 

In court on Wednesday, Teixeira was handcuffed and wearing orange jail garb.

He reportedly smiled at family members seated in the courtroom at the beginning of the hearing. When asked how he pleaded after each count, Teixeira, who was seated next to his lawyers at the defense table, leaned over to the microphone to say, ‘Not guilty, your honor.’

JACK TEIXEIRA MISHANDLED CLASSIFIED INFORMATION TWICE BEFORE HIGH-PROFILE LEAK: REPORT 

The defense requested the judge reconsider Teixeira’s detention order, which was denied.

A magistrate judge ruled last month that Teixeira was to remain in jail for the entirety of the case, adding his release could pose a risk of him fleeing the country or obstructing justice.

Teixeira held a top-secret information security clearance that would grant him access to the classified information.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said last week that those granted security clearances are entrusted with protecting classified information and safeguarding the nation’s secrets. The allegations in the indictment, he added, ‘reveal a serious violation of that trust.’

The leaked documents exposed secret assessments of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the capabilities and geopolitical interests of other nations and other national security issues.

Air Force officials reportedly ordered Teixeira in September and October 2022 to ‘cease and desist on any deep dives into classified intelligence information,’ according to The New York Times, which reported he had been caught accessing classified materials before.

‘Teixeira had previously been notified to focus on his own career duties and not to seek out intelligence products,’ a superior wrote in a memo dated Feb. 4, according to the report. 

Teixeira faces more than a decade in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if found guilty.  

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., who previously asked Hunter Biden for a briefing ‘on the Ukraine,’ launched her bid for Democrat Sen. Tom Carper’s Delaware seat Wednesday. 

‘I’m running to represent Delaware in the United States Senate,’ Blunt Rochester posted on Twitter. ‘I’m filled with Bright Hope for our future. But a more perfect union isn’t a destination. It’s a journey. Let’s go on it together.’

Blunt Rochester, the lone Delaware representative, included a heartfelt video alongside her announcement, featuring photos and anecdotes of her late husband, Charles Rochester. She was elected in 2017 as the first woman and person of color to represent Delaware in Congress.

‘It’s been the greatest honor of my life to represent Delaware, to protect our seniors, our environment, our small businesses and women’s reproductive rights,’ she said. ‘But we’ve got so much more to do.’

Blunt Rochester’s announcement comes almost exactly a month after Carper announced his retirement in late May. When asked if he had any favorite contenders to succeed him, Carper mentioned Blunt Rochester. 

‘I spoke with her this morning,’ Carper said at the time of his retirement announcement. ‘I said, ‘You’ve been patient waiting for me to get out of the way, and I’m going to get out off the way.’’

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also spoke with Blunt Rochester about her expectation to run shortly after Carper’s announcement. 

‘Senate Majority Leader Schumer spoke with Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester by phone shortly after hearing of Sen. Tom Carper’s decision not to seek re-election,’ a Schumer spokesperson said at the time. ‘He told her he believes she could be a really good senator and he looks forward to sitting down with her soon.’

Fox News Digital previously reported that Blunt Rochester thanked Hunter Biden in 2016 for his ‘generous contribution’ to her campaign and also asked him for a briefing ‘on the Ukraine.’ She is currently one of President Biden’s national co-chairs for his 2024 campaign and served in the same role during his 2020 campaign. 

Months before winning her election against Republican Hans Reigle in 2016, Blunt Rochester sent Hunter an email thanking him for donating to her campaign.

‘I just told Brian that I saw your contribution online,’ she wrote Feb. 5, 2016. ‘I can’t thank you enough. You know that it’s not easy running for any office.  It means a lot to have you on my team.

LAWMAKERS SUBPOENA HUNTER BIDEN’S EX-BUSINESS PARTNER FOR DEPOSITION IN BIDEN FAMILY INVESTIGATION: REPORT

‘By the way, I’m sure Brian will tell you that I will be in DC next Tuesday and Wednesday.’

Emails show Hunter responded less than an hour later, writing, ‘Let me know what more I can do- lets do a fundraiser in the second quarter down here in DC.’ 

Blunt Rochester thanked Hunter again 10 days later, asking if he could brief her ‘on the Ukraine.’ FEC records show Hunter made four donations to Blunt Rochester’s campaign in 2016, totaling $3,000.

Several prominent Democrats have already come out in support of Blunt Rochester alongside Carper, including Sen. Elizabeth, Warren, D-Mass. and former White House chief of staff Ron Klain. 

‘Woo-hoo! Great news for families in Delaware and across the country,’ Warren wrote as she quote-tweeted Blunt Rochester’s announcement. 

‘.@LisaBRochester will make an excellent U.S. Senator for the people of Delaware! She’s just the kind of leader that we need, and she will make us proud,’ Carper tweeted. 

If she were to win, Blunt Rochester would be the third Black female senator in history, following former Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, D-Ill., and Kamala Harris, who represented California in the Senate before being elected vice president in 2020. 

Blunt Rochester is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Cameron Cawthorne, Jessica Chasmar, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.