A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a bill last week aimed at preventing minor federal officials who were never confirmed by the Senate from imposing billions of dollars of regulatory costs on Americans each year.

The ‘Ensuring Accountability in Agency Rulemaking Act’ was put forward by Reps. Ben Cline, R-Va., Jared Golden, D-Maine, and a handful of other Republicans last week. The bill is an attempt to ensure all federal regulations are legally initiated and issued by federal officials who are Senate-confirmed and thus more accountable to American voters.

Cline said too many regulations are released by minor agency officials, which has led to myriad new rules that contribute to soaring federal mandates, which he said costs 10% of America’s gross domestic product each year.

‘The problem is across the board,’ Cline told Fox News Digital. ‘It’s just in varying degrees, depending on which agency you’re dealing with.’

The bill is a response to a 2019 study by the Pacific Legal Foundation, which found that 98% of all rules that came out of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 2001 and 2017 were issued ‘illegally’ by non-Senate confirmed officials and that other agencies had similar problems. The study found that 25 of those rules had an economic impact of more than $100 million and that the FDA’s high incidence of rules issued by minor officials meant that more than 70% of all HHS rules were ‘unconstitutional.’

Joe Luppino-Esposito, deputy legal policy director at the foundation, said his group has been involved in lawsuits against federal rules that are not issued properly, which has forced some agencies to go back and get sign-off from appointed officials.

The legal theory underpinning this effort is that the Constitution’s Appointments Clause requires senior appointed officials to impose regulatory burdens on Americans, a view the foundation says has been supported by a few Supreme Court cases: Buckley v. Valeo in 1976 and Edmond v. United States in 1997. The foundation says those cases backed the idea that ‘only principal agency officers (like department heads and assistant secretaries confirmed by the Senate) may issue regulations that have the force of law.’

Luppino-Esposito said the bipartisan nature of Cline’s bill shows that ‘people on both sides of the aisle are recognizing’ the problem of ceding too much authority to minor, unknown officials who aren’t directly accountable to the people.

Cline said he and Golden joined the House Problem Solvers’ Caucus at the same time and that they both agree on the need to address this growing issue.

‘We both share an outlook on overreaching executive branch authority, and I think we’re trying to solve a problem here that’s gotten … to be a significant program and is affecting the daily lives of Americans,’ he said.

Cline also predicted that new House Republican leadership would be interested in moving the bill soon.

‘Leadership is going to be interested in setting down markers on overreaching by the executive branch, and so they’ve looked to bills like this one that have statistics and facts and figured to back them up, so hopefully we’ll see this move fairly early,’ he said.

Under the bill, most federal rules would have to be ‘issued and signed by an individual appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.’ The bill also holds that rules must be initiated by these senior officials.

Republican Rep. Jim Banks says ‘Indiana deserves a conservative senator’ and highlights that he’s ‘been a leading conservative voice in the House.’

Banks, a former state senator and a veteran of the Afghanistan war who is in his fourth term representing a district in northeast Indiana, on Tuesday formally launched his candidacy for the Senate in a 2024 run to succeed GOP Sen. Mike Braun, who last month announced that he’s bidding for governor of the Hoosier State rather than seek reelection.

Banks, in an interview with Fox News ahead of his announcement, said he intends ‘to go to the Senate and be the type of conservative fighter that Hoosiers expect out of their senator.’

‘I’m 100% pro-life, pro-family, pro-military, pro-veteran, focused on the issues that the voters care most about today, which is holding the Biden administration accountable and restoring America, fighting for our conservative values, putting America first, and that’s what I want to do in the Senate,’ he said.

Banks launched his Senate campaign with a statement and video and announced it in a live national interview on Fox News’ ‘Fox and Friends.’ He says he’ll travel throughout the state to meet with friends and supporters and speak with local media in the coming days.

He’s showcasing two high-profile endorsements as he jumps into the Senate race: Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a rising star in the GOP, and Rep. Larry Bucshon, who represents Indiana’s 8th Congressional District in the southwest corner of the state. 

Banks, who spent the last two years chairing the Republican Study Committee, an influential group of conservative House lawmakers, said, ‘I feel called to step up and run for the Senate because we need new, fresh conservative leadership in the United States Senate. That’s what Indiana expects. That’s what Indiana deserves — a conservative fighter in the Senate.’

‘The United States Senate is a place where I can do even more for the conservative values that I and the voters of Indiana care about,’ he said. 

Banks said that the growing national debt, the threat from China and wokeism are ‘the three biggest issues facing our country today.’

Arguing that China poses a threat ‘to our American way of life,’ Banks said he’s ‘been a leading voice in the House to hold China accountable for stealing our jobs, giving us COVID, and the Senate presents an even bigger platform to do more to combat the China threat and hold China accountable.’

He called wokeism ‘a cancer in America, and if we allow wokeism to continue to take hold of our institutions, our schools, our military, our government, corporate, that will be the death of [this] country. I’ve been leading the fight in the House, and the Senate’s an even bigger platform to fight back against critical race theory, anti-Americanism and wokeness.’

And he said that ‘the omnibus [bill] that passed out of the Senate was frankly a key factor in my decision’ in running for the Senate because it was ‘an indicator that we need fiscal conservatives in the Senate that will fight back against big spending omnibus bills, not go along with it.’

The massive bipartisan spending bill, which averted a government shutdown, was supported by longtime Senate GOP leader Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Asked if he would support McConnell, Banks said, ‘I think we need new conservative voices and leaders in the Senate. That’s why I’m running. There aren’t enough of them, and the omnibus bill is an example of that. There’s lots of other examples where we’ve had Republican senators in the U.S. Senate go along with the Democrats and pass the radical Biden agenda. And I want to go there and fight back against it.’

Indiana was once a general election battleground state but has become solidly red over the past decade, and the open Senate seat race could get crowded. While Banks is the first major GOP candidate to jump into the race, he’s likely to face competition for the Republican Senate nomination.

Supporters of Republican Mitch Daniels say the former two-term governor — who was known as a fiscal conservative during his tenure steering Indiana — is seriously mulling a Senate bid. Last week, the Club for Growth, a well-known free-market advocacy group that weighs into GOP primaries, launched an ad charging that ‘moderate Mitch’ was ‘wrong’ for the Senate. The small ad buy was a sign that Daniels could face opposition from the right if he mounts a Senate bid.

Among the others mulling a bid is Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz, who represents a district in the central part of the state that includes parts of Indianapolis and its suburbs.

Banks — who in November narrowly lost to Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the chair the past two cycles of the National Republican Congressional Committee, in the race for House majority whip, which is the No. 3 leadership position in the incoming Republican majority in the chamber — has long been an ally and strong supporter of former President Donald Trump.

The former president, who in November announced his third White House bid, remains one of the most popular and influential politicians in the GOP.

‘I’m a big fan of President Trump and what he’s done for our country, what he’s done for the Republican Party. He remains very popular in the state of Indiana, and of course, I would love to have President Trump’s endorsement because it’s a significant show of support from someone who fought hard to put America first and who I fought alongside with when he was president,’ Banks said.

The congressman said that he ‘was a leader in fighting to secure our border and America First foreign policy, America First economic policies, to put American workers first, and our immigration policies, trade policies. President Trump knows that, and I would be very glad to have his support.’

Joe Rogan ripped President Biden over his classified documents scandal in multiple episodes of ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast, expressing shock that the think tank where some of Biden’s classified materials were discovered received tens of millions of dollars from China. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents after two caches of classified documents from Biden’s time as vice president were found in the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., as well as the president’s private residence In Wilmington, Delaware. The White House has insisted Biden has been transparent with the document discoveries, noting that the president’s attorneys immediately turned over the materials to the Justice Department, although the document discoveries were kept secret for months before being disclosed to the public. 

Last week, while interviewing former CIA covert operations officer and CEO of Portman Square Group Mike Baker, Rogan was floored by a New York Post report that the Penn Biden Center received tens of millions of dollars in ‘gifts’ from anonymous Chinese donors.

‘So the Chinese might be funding a think tank that has classified documents?’ Rogan said. ‘$54 million in Chinese gifts donated to UPenn, home of the Biden Center. What the f—, man? $54 million in gifts. This is just like, you know, yo-yos, and s—. Xboxes, beer koozies. What the f— are they giving them?’

JOE ROGAN SCORCHES ‘LIBERAL ROBOT ZOMBIE’ PHENOMENON THAT BRAINSWASHES PEOPLE: ‘CAN’T THINK FOR THEMSELVES’ 

Baker and Rogan agreed that the Chinese funding for the Penn Biden Center may be a bigger story than the 10 pages of classified documents discovered in Biden’s old office there.  

‘What’s crazy is that the documents being there are the big story, not that China gave them 50 plus million dollars,’ Rogan said. ‘That’s a big g—— story. And that seems to be par for the course, right?’

Rogan questioned if the policies put forward by the think tank were influenced by donations received. ‘So this Biden Penn think tank, what did they promote?’ Rogan said. ‘Like, what did they, let’s see if we can find out what $54 million from China gets you.’ 

Later on Saturday, Rogan told comedians Matt McCusker and Shane Gillis he doesn’t know much about politics, ‘but if I had to guess, they’re trying to get rid of [Biden].’ 

‘My guess would be they’re trying to get rid of him, if all of a sudden his own aides are sending these, instead of like taking these classified documents which you have located and go, ‘Well, let’s not do that again’, and f—ing locking them up somewhere,’ Rogan said. ‘His own aides? That sounds sus.’

‘No one self reported that f—ing laptop,’ Rogan continued, referring to Hunter Biden’s laptop. ‘They got a hold of the social media companies and lied to them. They did whatever the f— they could to keep that from happening. And even this, they discovered this before the midterms. They didn’t release the information until after the midterms.’

FIRST ON FOX: Obama administration ethics chief Walter Shaub said that President Biden’s retention of classified documents at his think tank and Delaware garage is ‘an inexcusable neglect’ of basic security protocols.

Shaub weighed in on the growing scandal that saw Biden’s White House attorneys turning over classified documents found at the president’s Penn Biden Center think tank and by his Corvette in his Wilmington, Delaware garage.

‘It’s nothing like Trump’s deliberate refusal to return classified records demanded by the National Archives, but Biden’s own retention of classified records reflects an inexcusable neglect of the most basic security protocols,’ the Obama administration ethics chief told Fox News Digital.

‘The fact that the White House didn’t mention that records were found in more than one location when first asked about them was a breach of trust with the public and a self-inflicted wound,’ Shaub said.

‘Based on what we know so far, it seems unlikely that he’s at risk of any of legal consequences, but I’m glad Garland appointed a special counsel to show even-handed treatment of the current and former president,’ he added.

Shaub’s comments come as the president weathers the growing scandal that legal scholars say could see Biden’s attorneys as ‘likely witnesses in a criminal investigation.’

‘We do not know what the evidence will show. The most serious discovery would be evidence that Biden worked off their documents or removed them from their classification folders,’ George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley previously told Fox News Digital.

‘That would not only destroy the ‘inadvertence’ defense but make his public comments potentially deceitful of both the public and investigators,’ he continued. ‘While gross mishandling does not require evil intent, unintentional violations are often addressed outside of the criminal justice system. The most serious violations have been prosecuted where material was intentionally removed.’

Turley said that intent ‘can be established not only at the time of the removal but during the storage of the documents’ and that if ‘these documents were used or knowingly possessed over the six years, it would qualify as an intentional act to unlawfully possess the material.’

‘The use of private counsel without clearances following the first discovery on Nov. 2 could itself be viewed as reckless and gross mishandling,’ Turley said. ‘Moreover, those lawyers are now likely witnesses in a criminal investigation.’

Republicans on Capitol Hill demanded the visitor logs this weekend following revelations that Biden’s lawyers had discovered a stash of classified documents inside the home’s garage. While it is common practice to keep comprehensive visitor logs at the White House, Biden’s lawyers say no such records exists for his home in Delaware.

‘Like every President in decades of modern history, his personal residence is personal,’ the White House Counsel’s Office told Fox News Digital on Monday. ‘But upon taking office, President Biden restored the norm and tradition of keeping White House visitors logs, including publishing them regularly, after the previous administration ended them.’

Biden is currently facing a special counsel investigation into his handling of classified documents after at least two stashes were found at his Wilmington home and a pro-Biden think tank in Washington, D.C.

The Secret Service also stated Sunday that while a detail is assigned to the home, they do not record visitors.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Peter Doocy contributed reporting.

A criminal trial was set to start Tuesday for a northeastern Kansas man who federal prosecutors say developed a fixation on U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner and threatened to kill him, at a time when authorities have seen a sharp increase in threats to the nation’s lawmakers and their families.

Prosecutors say Chase Neill, 32, threatened to kill LaTurner in a June 5 voicemail message left at the Republican congressman’s office, then continued to make threatening calls the following day.

His federal trial on one count of threatening a public official was scheduled to begin Tuesday with jury selection, weeks after a judge concluded evidence of mental illness doesn’t mean Neill can’t help his attorney or follow what happens in court.

A pretrial report said Neill believes he is ‘the Messiah.’ Prosecutors have said in court documents that Neill believes he was ‘obligated by God’ to warn ‘certain public figures’ and detail the results of not heeding his warnings.

U.S. District Judge Holly Teeter concluded during a hearing last month that ‘a preponderance of the evidence’ showed Neill was mentally competent to stand trial. The official notes from the hearing showed Teeter relied on a psychological evaluation of Neill, but that document is sealed and closed to the public.

A magistrate who ordered Neill to remain in custody in June 2022 said he also had threatened other members of Congress. The others have not been named and Neill is charged only with threatening LaTurner.

LaTurner was a Kansas state senator and state treasurer before winning his U.S. House seat in 2020. Until the Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature redrew political boundaries last year, LaTurner’s eastern Kansas district included Neill’s hometown of Lawrence, which includes the main University of Kansas campus and is among Kansas’ most liberal communities.

Members of Congress have seen a sharp rise in threats in the two years since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. In October, an intruder attacked and severely beat then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer in their San Francisco home.

Local school board members and election workers across the U.S. also have endured harassment, intimidation and threats of violence. Police in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Monday arrested a former Republican candidate for a state House seat in a series of shootings targeting the homes or offices of elected Democratic officials, though none were injured.

In the Kansas case, Neill’s attorney and prosecutors declined to comment ahead of the trial.

LaTurner’s office also did not comment. The congressman and four of his staffers are potential prosecution witnesses.

The pretrial report on Neill, describing his ‘Messiah’ belief, also said police in Lawrence had reports in March 2018 that Neill was delusional and paranoid and had accused one officer of trying to steal his ‘unicorn business idea.’ Neill was sentenced to six months in jail in February 2019 on a domestic battery charge, the report said.

U.S. Magistrate Rachel Schwartz cited the pretrial report in refusing a request from Neill in August to be released from custody. Schwartz said in her order that he had $150,000 in student loan debt but no income.

Schwartz also said in her order that Neill suffered a head injury four or five years ago ‘characterized as a head fracture.’

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday that special elections will be scheduled for Feb. 28 to fill three vacancies in the state’s House of Representatives.

One of the seats became vacant this month when 39-year-old Democratic Rep. Quentin Williams of Middletown died in a car crash just hours after he was sworn in for a third term.

The other two seats became vacant because of the resignations of Democratic Reps. Edwin Vargas Jr. of Hartford and Dan Fox of Stamford. Both lawmakers were reelected in November but chose not to serve another term.

The National Archives dismissed reports about mishandled documents from the Obama-Biden administration as ‘false and misleading’ just weeks before the first batch of classified documents were uncovered at the Penn Biden Center last fall.

The National Archives responded to questions about the documents on Oct. 11, less than a month before classified documents would be found at the Biden think tank in Washington. It argued that all documents from Obama administration had been ‘securely moved’ to locations that met ‘strict archival and security standards.’

‘Reports that indicate or imply that those Presidential records were in the possession of the former Presidents or their representatives, after they left office, or that the records were housed in substandard conditions, are false and misleading,’ the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) wrote.

NARA did not respond to a request for comment on whether President Biden’s garage in Wilmington, Delaware met its ‘strict archival and security standards.’

The October 11 statement came barely three weeks before Biden’s attorneys ‘unexpectedly discovered’ documents with classified markings at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, located in Washington, D.C.

White House lawyers would later find additional documents stashed inside the garage of Biden’s home in Wilmington. The White House says it has handed over all the documents in question and is cooperating fully with the DOJ’s investigation.

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate the matter last week, tapping former U.S. Attorney Robert Hur.

Republicans on Capitol Hill demanded visitor logs from Biden’s Wilmington home following the revelations this weekend. The White House Counsel’s Office has claimed no such records exist, however.

‘Like every President in decades of modern history, his personal residence is personal,’ the White House Counsel’s Office told Fox News Digital on Monday. ‘But upon taking office, President Biden restored the norm and tradition of keeping White House visitors logs, including publishing them regularly, after the previous administration ended them.’

The U.S. Secret Service also said that while detail is assigned to the home, they do not record visitors.

‘We don’t independently maintain our own visitor logs because it’s a private residence,’ USSS spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told reporters.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said he will ‘continue to press’ for information about the documents despite the lack of a visitor log, however.

‘President Biden promised to have the most transparent administration in history, but he refuses to be transparent when it matters most,’ Comer told Fox News Digital. ‘The White House, National Archives, and the Justice Department withheld information from Congress and the American people about classified records found in unsecure locations from Joe Biden’s time as vice president. The American people deserve transparency, not secrecy.’

EXCLUSIVE – As she fights for another two-year term steering the Republican National Committee, chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is landing the support of dozens and dozens of leading GOP donors.

In a letter shared first with Fox News on Tuesday, roughly 150 top Republican Party donors endorsed McDaniel and emphasized that ‘Ronna has led the Party with integrity and transparency. She has demonstrated good judgment and a steady hand as she guided the RNC through challenging political times.’

McDaniel, who’s running for a fourth term steering the RNC, which is unprecedented in modern times, is being challenged by Harmeet Dhillon, an attorney who is also an RNC committee member from California and who served as a legal adviser on former President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign. Dhillon announced her bid for RNC chair on the Fox News Channel last month.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who’s a strong supporter of Trump’s unproven claims the 2020 presidential election was rigged and stolen, is also challenging McDaniel.

The RNC showdown, the national party committee’s first hotly contested chair race in a dozen years, has turned into a contentious family feud as the GOP decides its leadership while the party jumps into an election cycle in which it aims to win back the White House, regain the Senate majority, and hold its fragile control of the House. And it comes as the party aims to rebound from a disappointing showing in November’s midterm elections, and as it debates the future of the party and Trump’s continued influence over the GOP.

‘Under Ronna’s unwavering leadership, the RNC has made consistent, critical contributions to the Republican ecosystem,’ the donors highlighted in their letter. ‘As investors in the Party and successful leaders in our businesses and communities, we believe Ronna should be elected to another term to continue this important work, which she will do with skill and determination.’

The new backing of McDaniel by major donors follows the endorsements earlier this month by four current and former RNC Finance Chairs: Ambassador Duke Buchan III, Todd Ricketts, Ray Washburne, and Ron Weiser.

McDaniel, who as Michigan GOP chair was Trump’s handpicked choice to steer the committee after he won the White House in 2016, was re-elected to the post in 2019 and 2021. She has been a prolific fundraiser for the national party during her tenure steering the committee. According to McDaniel’s team, the chairwoman has hauled in record $1.5 billion during her tenure, traveled over half a million miles and held over 330 donor events.

But the GOP electoral setbacks in November, as well as in 2018, when the party lost its House majority, and in 2020 when it lost control of the Senate and the White House, all came on McDaniel’s watch, which sparked calls for a change of leadership.

Dhillon last week showcased a list of 20 GOP mega donors who are backing her and argued that the Republican Party’s ‘on the verge of permanent irrelevance’ if it fails to come together and support a change of leadership. 

‘We are calling on members of the RNC to thank Ronna McDaniel for her service and to support the only RNC member seeking to succeed her, Harmeet Dhillon – a bold visionary with the energy and experience to retool the party for success in 2024 and beyond,’ the donors said in their letter.

And in recent weeks several state GOP delegations have passed no confidence votes against McDaniel.

All three candidates will separately make their cases to the 168 RNC committee members who are eligible to vote for chair, at a forum next week as the RNC this year holds its annual winter meeting in Dana Point, California. The secret ballot vote for chair by the committee members will come on the final day of the RNC meeting, on Friday, Jan. 27. The forum is open only to the RNC committee members and their representatives or proxies.

Dhillon and Lindell separately have said they’ll take part in a public debate on Wednesday, Jan. 25, that’s being hosted by two conservative media outlets – the John Fredericks Media Network and Real America’s Voice. McDaniel has declined to attend, pointing to her existing commitment to the RNC members only forum.

McDaniel, in an interview last month with Fox News Digital, described her support as ‘pretty solid,’ touting endorsements from over 100 RNC committee members – which would far exceed the simple majority of the 168 members needed to win re-election.

But Dhillon has repeatedly questioned the firmness of McDaniel’s advertised support, and she’s emphasized in numerous interviews that she wants to take the party in a ‘fresh direction.’

EXCLUSIVE – Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas says that the new GOP majority in the House of Representatives should impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, President Joe Biden’s Homeland Security secretary, over the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.

‘The facts are that Secretary Mayorkas has repeatedly told the public that the border is secure and that the border is not open,’ Abbott said in a national exclusive interview with Fox News Digital ahead of his inauguration Tuesday for a third four-year term steering the Lone Star State.

‘He testified under oath to those two statements in front of the United States Congress, and despite what he is saying, the reality is under Secretary Mayorkas we have the largest number of people coming across the border illegally than ever in the history of the United States of America,’ the governor said.

And Abbott argued that Mayorkas ‘should be prosecuted for impeachment for lying to Congress and lying to Americans or because he’s incompetent at doing his job.’

The governor was interviewed after Republican Rep. Pat Fallon of Texas last week filed articles of impeachment against Mayorkas.

The current crisis at the nation’s southern border started building during the first couple of months of the Biden presidency, nearly two years ago, and Abbott has long been critical of the president’s handling of the issue.

As Biden earlier this month made his first visit to the border as president, Abbott was waiting for him on the tarmac at the airport in El Paso, Texas. The governor handed the president a letter in which he charged, ‘Your visit to our southern border with Mexico today is $20 billion too little and two years too late.’

Abbott, who also argued in his letter that the ‘chaos’ at the border was the president’s fault for failing to enforce federal immigration laws, has spent more than $4 billion to secure Texas’ 1,254 miles of border with Mexico.

The governor told Fox News that in his inaugural address, he’ll ‘point out that the reason why Texas is coming out of pocket $4 billion to secure the border is because Joe Biden is missing in action as it concerns border security. I will outline all of the strategies that we have deployed, which are unprecedented to secure the border, and tell the public that we will once again be funding border security for the next two years.’

But the Biden administration and other Democrats have heavily criticized Abbott over the past year for repeatedly sending buses of migrants from Texas to Democratic cities in the northeastern part of the nation, including more than 100 migrants dropped off in Washington, D.C., on a frigid Christmas Eve.

Border security isn’t the only topic on Abbott’s mind as he gives his inaugural address. So are the Texas economy, the state’s $32 billion budget surplus, and property tax cuts.

 ‘Texas is the No. 1 economy in the United States of America, through all these different types of metrics. That No. 1 economy has led Texas to have the largest budget surplus of any state and the largest surplus in the history of the state of Texas,’ Abbott said.

And the governor noted that ‘we recognize that money does not belong to the state, that money belongs to taxpayers. And so, we will provide a record property tax cut for the taxpayers of Texas.’

The conservative governor explained that ‘because we don’t have an income tax in the state of Texas, one way revenue is obtained is through property, and property taxes are burdening our taxpayers in the state of Texas, and the best way we can help our taxpayers in our state is to cut those property taxes.’

Abbott topped Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke – a former congressman who unsuccessfully ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination – by 11 points in November, his third straight double-digit gubernatorial victory in the reliably red state.

Thanks to his actions on immigration, abortion and a host of other issues, he’s become very visible and popular with conservatives across the country.

‘I have championed conservative causes because I believe that’s the right direction both for Texas as well as the United States,’ Abbott said when asked about the possibility of seeking the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.

But he emphasized that ‘my primary focus right now is to maintain those conservative principles and policies for the state of Texas and do my part to expand them across the country. But for the next six months, I’ve got to get these policies passed for the state of Texas to ensure that we put our state on a pathway for not just the next four years but for [the] next 40 years. ‘

Asked by Fox News if he’s not ruling out a potential White House run, Abbott said, ‘I think a more accurate way to say it is it’s not something I’m ruling in right now. I’m focused on Texas, period.’

EAGLE PASS, Texas – Alabama’s newest U.S. senator has spent more time at the southern border than on Capitol Hill during her brief time in office.

‘The people of Alabama did not elect me to let grass grow under my feet,’ Sen. Katie Britt said, standing in the shadow of a farmhouse outside Uvalde, Texas. ‘They elected me to get in here and to do something.’

Britt was in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 3 to get sworn in the U.S. Senate. The next week, the Republican joined a delegation of senators visiting the southern border, speaking with officials and others impacted by the migrant crisis.

‘In Washington, we have a problem with people who do a lot of talking but don’t actually take action,’ Britt said. ‘It’s day six on the job. It took Joe Biden 718 days to make it to the border, and here I am. Seeing it firsthand matters.’

Britt is considered a rising star in the GOP, handily winning a primary fight with former Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks. She went on to defeat her general election opponent, Democrat Will Boyd, by 36 points.

MEET ALABAMA GOP SEN. KATIE BRITT:

But the University of Alabama alumna is no stranger to Capitol Hill. She worked as chief of staff to Sen. Richard Shelby, who she succeeded this month.

Britt described herself as senator ‘100 out of 100’ in terms of her place in the pecking order on Capitol Hill. She later clarified that she was actually 99th — though still last — since Ben Sasse vacated his Nebraska seat and hadn’t been replaced when she made the remark.

‘When people say, ‘senator?’ I still kind of sort of look around and say, like, ‘who’s around me?’ So it has not quite sunk in,’ Britt said.

‘I am a wife. I am a momma of two school aged kids,’ said Britt. ‘My husband [former NFL player Wesley Britt] and I wrestled with even getting in this race.’

‘We believed that if our generation didn’t step up and fight for the next generation, we weren’t sure what was going to be left for our children,’ she continued.

Britt said there was ‘no shortage’ of issues to tackle when the Senate returns to Capitol Hill later this month.

‘Obviously, reining in spending, making sure that we drive down inflation, becoming not only energy independent again, but energy dominant,’ Britt told Fox News. ‘Unfortunately, right now in our country, whether we’re looking overseas at what’s going on there, here on our border or here at home, we have a lot in front of us.’

‘But I believe in this nation,’ she added. ‘I believe that it is my generation’s time to step up and to contribute, to make sure that the American dream is alive and well for the next generation.’

To watch the full interview with Britt, click here.