FIRST ON FOX — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent highlighted the stark difference he sees emerging between Texas and California as well as the “tale of two states” cropping up between red and blue jurisdictions.

“In California, I saw firsthand what years of failed governance looks like: a tax system that is hostile to ambition. A regulatory state that smothers enterprise. An economic climate indifferent to consequence,” he said during a meeting at the Petroleum Club of Houston on Friday in remarks shared exclusively with Fox News Digital.

California has seen a number of high-profile defections in recent years, with many businesses and wealthy individuals citing the state’s regulations and taxation regime as the reasons for their exit. 

CORPORATE AMERICA IS ON THE MOVE, AND THESE RED STATES ARE CASHING IN

Chevron, Tesla, Charles Schwab and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, to name a few, have all abandoned their California headquarters and shifted operations to Texas. IRS migration data also shows that the Golden State is hemorrhaging high-earning taxpayers, imperiling its finances.

“Here in Texas, meanwhile, the contrast is so striking that it begins to feel like a tale of two states,” Bessent said.

And it’s true that the Lone Star State’s business-friendly policies and lower taxes have attracted more American families and businesses to move from other states to Texas. 

THE RED-STATE WINNERS IN THE CLIMB TO BECOME AMERICA’S NEXT ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE

During the meeting on Friday, Bessent also highlighted the importance of energy policy as a cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s economic policies.

“The AI race may be accelerated by the elegance of our code, but it will be won by the abundance of our energy,” he said. “More than strengthening an economy, energy abundance also secures a nation. Economic security is national security.”

RED STATES ARE THE ONES GOING GREEN AND WINNING THE CLEAN ENERGY RACE

He said that Texas is spearheading that growth.

Texas has rapidly expanded its energy production to meet booming demand, partially spurred by the construction of new data centers, recently surpassing California as the state with the most utility-scale solar capacity and hitting record-breaking levels for both crude oil production and low-carbon electricity generation.

“Texas has become America’s center of gravity because it is fostering the conditions for families and businesses to flourish,” Bessent went on.

Data indicates that Texas has seen considerable success in attracting businesses and taxpayers to the state. 

Of the 725 companies that relocated headquarters between 2018 and 2025, per a CBRE report, 230 of them moved to Houston, Dallas and Austin alone. IRS migration data also shows that the Lone Star state saw a net increase of 56,000 tax filers between 2022 and 2023.

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Law enforcement officials responded to Washington, D.C.’s National Mall on Thursday after a giant “8647” message appeared to be etched into the grass, prompting an investigation as federal authorities remain on heightened alert over political threats and violence. 

“The deranged vandalism on our National Mall will not be tolerated,” an Interior Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Any threat against the President is taken very seriously by the Department, and our U.S. Park Police will investigate this incident and hold those responsible accountable.”

The marking was etched into the grass between the Washington Monument and the World War II memorial. The administration has previously interpreted the number “86” as a political threat, pointing to its common use in the restaurant industry to mean removing or refusing service, while 47 appears to refer to Trump as the 47th president.

The administration has previously treated “86 47” messages as threatening, arguing that “86” can mean to get rid of or remove, per restaurant industry slang, while “47” refers to Trump as the 47th president.

EX-FBI CHIEF COMEY’S POST TO ‘86’ TRUMP CONDEMNED BY WHITE HOUSE AS ATTEMPT TO PUT ‘HIT’ ON PRESIDENT

U.S. Park Police responded to the incident around noon, FOX 5 reported. Grass samples were also collected for testing and examination in the area by investigators.

“Anyone who engages in or endorses political violence or assassination culture must be condemned in the harshest terms possible,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital. “They should also immediately seek psychiatric help to treat their severe and debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has warped their brains and made them sick in the head.”

The incident took place days before Trump’s birthday on Sunday, which coincides with the UFC Freedom Fight taking place on the South Law, which is expected to attract 4,000 spectators to the White House.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship was set up near the Lincoln Memorial for a weigh-in event on Friday.

America’s 250th birthday brings major events to the nation’s capital as D.C. braces for massive crowds, tight security, road closures and heightened law enforcement presence.

FROM RALLY GUNFIRE TO WHITE HOUSE SHOOTING, THREATS AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP CONTINUE TO MOUNT

Trump has repeatedly been targeted by violence, including just in April at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.

There were two assassination attempts on Trump’s life in 2024, beginning in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a bullet grazed his ear after a gunman climbed onto a roof during a rally on July 13, 2024.

The incident comes amid heightened administration scrutiny of “86 47” messages after the Department of Justice charged former FBI Director James Comey over a similar message. 

Comey was charged with two federal counts over an Instagram post last year showing seashells arranged to read “86 47,” and faces a maximum 10 years in prison if convicted. Comey has denied wrongdoing, saying he did not intend the post as a call for violence and removed it once critics interpreted it as a threat.

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One of the government’s most powerful surveillance tools will go dark this weekend, and lawmakers aren’t sure what that means for the nation’s intelligence-gathering authorities. 

Democrats rejected attempts in the House and Senate to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in an act of defiance against President Donald Trump, who tapped Housing chief Bill Pulte to temporarily oversee the nation’s intelligence services. 

But there are differing trains of thought on the ramifications of failing to renew the program. Some lawmakers argued that an extension was not necessary given that FISA courts had authorized continued intelligence gathering until March 2027. 

SPY PROGRAM CREDITED WITH STOPPING TAYLOR SWIFT TERROR PLOT BARRELS TOWARD EXPIRATION

Others say that it opens up the possibility for telecommunications and major tech companies like Google to decline handing over information without explicit direction from Congress.

“We don’t know the answer to that,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said. “But it is, obviously, a high-risk proposition.” 

Boiled down, the Section 702 program allows the U.S. government to collect intelligence on foreigners abroad who are using U.S. communication systems, and it serves as a major part of Trump’s daily intelligence briefing. 

But it also sweeps up communications from Americans who are talking to foreign suspects — a key issue that threatened reauthorization among privacy hawks in both parties well before Pulte’s appointment.

CONSERVATIVE FISA REVOLT POSES FRESH TEST FOR SPEAKER JOHNSON

“That is a gray area, and it’s one of the things that we’re going to have to work through,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told Fox News when asked whether providers would still continue to share information with the government if the program was not authorized.

“What is clear is that we are going to have to address the issue of extending surveillance authority legislatively. And the problem is that the Trump administration has decided to toss this hand grenade into the middle of sensitive negotiations,” he added, referring to Pulte.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., contended that there were already thousands of FISA certifications approved, it’s just that new certifications wouldn’t be allowed until the program was reauthorized.

“It’s not like that will be the end of our ability to surveil foreign terrorists,” Kennedy said. 

The standoff is not expected to end soon. Trump’s decision to nominate former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton to serve as the permanent director of national intelligence also failed to soften Democrats’ opposition.

Many lawmakers remain unwilling to back a renewal of the program while Pulte continues serving in the acting role.

THE TOP 3 FACTORS HEIGHTENING THE RISK OF TERROR ATTACKS ON THE HOMELAND

“Nobody disputes that FISA has been used to stop terrorist attacks on our homeland here,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Thursday. “And why would anybody vote to end that tool is beside me.”

Meanwhile, the House is scheduled to begin a week-long recess next week, meaning that even if there is a resolution in the Senate in the coming week, the program will likely remain dark until they return. 

The program’s expiration marks the first extended lapse since it was enacted in 2008. The Trump administration has argued that the surveillance authority is a critical national security tool, crediting it with helping foil a mass-casualty terror plot targeting a 2024 Taylor Swift concert in Austria and combat North Korean hackers, among other successes.

The uncharted territory comes amid a heightened threat environment as the war with Iran continues and large-scale events, such as the World Cup and America 250 celebrations, are beginning to ramp up.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton, R-Ark., argued on the Senate floor in his bid to extend the program that there was a bipartisan bill waiting to be passed, but in the meantime, lawmakers should pause the partisan animosity and support an extension. 

“If we don’t extend it for at least a few weeks while we continue to try to work on our differences, the consequences could be severe,” Cotton said. “The consequences, to be frank, could be fatal.”

Still, Democrats counter that had Trump not appointed Pulte, or at least waited until the reauthorization was completed, Congress would not be in the current logjam. 

“I cannot stress enough to you that none of this, none of this needed to happen,” Warner said. 

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As Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico works to brand himself as a “law and order Democrat,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is rolling out a sweeping public safety agenda that could force the left’s rising star to defend parts of his legislative record on crime, bail reform and policing.

Abbott, who is pushing to remove so-called “rogue” prosecutors, create a statewide prosecutor and deny bail to illegal immigrants accused of violent crimes, told Fox News Digital the proposals are necessary.

“Texas Democrats have consistently sided with criminals over the citizens they were elected to protect,” Abbott told Fox News Digital, adding, “Keeping dangerous offenders behind bars is one of the most important responsibilities of government.”

While Abbott’s proposals still need approval from lawmakers, they are already shaping a broader debate over crime and public safety in Texas ahead of the midterm elections.

TRAVIS COUNTY DA FACES RENEWED ‘SOFT ON CRIME’ CRITICISM AFTER CAREER CRIMINAL CHARGED WITH MURDER

Talarico has highlighted endorsements from law enforcement figures, including former Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno, to bolster his public safety record, but Abbott’s allies argue his voting record and absences from key public safety votes tell a different story.

Talarico was absent for a vote on a bill named after slain Houston preteen Jocelyn Nungaray that would have automatically denied bail to illegal immigrants charged with violent crimes. Talarico’s campaign defended the missed vote, telling Fox News Digital Talarico had an excused absence. The bill ultimately failed to pass, but Abbott is seeking to revive the measure.

Among the public safety measures Talarico voted against were House Bill 1900, which prevented Texas cities from defunding their police departments; House Bill 20, which tightened bail restrictions for violent offenders; and Senate Bill 4, which established mandatory prison sentences for human smuggling and stash house operations. Abbott later signed all three measures into law.

“James Talarico’s disastrous record on public safety is indistinguishable from the Texas Democrats who have repeatedly opposed common-sense measures to support law enforcement and keep violent criminals off the streets,” Eduardo Leal, press secretary for Abbott’s campaign, told Fox News Digital. “He’s led his Democrat colleagues to vote against legislation that prevented cities from defunding the police and twice failed to show up for votes to deny bail to illegal immigrants charged with violent crimes.”

Talarico’s campaign has pushed back on Abbott’s characterization, pointing to Talarico previously voting in favor of Abbott’s sweeping bail reform measure passed last year and voting for billions of dollars in funding for Texas law enforcement.

“This baseless attack is a flat-out lie. James opposes defunding the police, has voted to deny bail for violent criminals, supports prosecuting violent felons, and has a proven track record of sending billions of dollars to support law enforcement,” Talarico’s campaign spokesperson JT Ellis said in a statement.

But as crime continues to dominate headlines nationwide, Texas has not been immune, with Abbott blaming what he describes as soft-on-crime district attorneys for failing to hold offenders accountable. Abbott’s campaign team pointed to the release of two murder suspects in Austin on reduced bonds after Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza’s office missed the 90-day deadline for securing indictments last year. Meanwhile, Garza’s office has secured the indictments of 21 police officers over allegations of misconduct in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON SUED OVER NEW RULE TO REIN IN ‘ROGUE’ DAS BY ALLOWING HIM ACCESS TO THEIR CASE RECORDS

And in court Monday, a judge dismissed two motions targeting the Travis County District Attorney, first assistant and several prosecutors, meaning they are no longer facing allegations of criminal wrongdoing.

Abbott’s office says concerns about district attorneys such as Garza are driving its push to create a Texas statewide prosecutor, a new office that would operate separately from the attorney general’s office and focus on prosecuting the state’s most serious crimes.

The proposal to create a Texas statewide prosecutor would require approval from the Texas Legislature, which would need to establish and fund the new office through statute. Unlike some of Abbott’s other public safety initiatives, the measure would not require a constitutional amendment.

An official from Abbott’s campaign team told Fox News Digital that creating this new office is necessary because current state statutes provide that the attorney general’s office has no general prosecutorial authority.

Criminal prosecutions are generally handled by locally elected district and county attorneys, and the Attorney General may intervene only when authorized by statute, requested by local prosecutors, or otherwise permitted by law.

Under the proposal, if a district attorney does not pursue an indictment within 90 days, the statewide prosecutor would be authorized to intervene and take over the prosecution.

GOV ABBOTT UNVEILS NEW CAMPAIGN EXPOSING HORRIFIC DANGERS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Police departments would be required to send reports involving certain serious crimes to both local district attorneys and the statewide prosecutor, enabling the office to track cases from the beginning.

Garza dubbed Abbott’s sweeping criminal justice reform proposal to be a “distraction from the governor’s litany of failures.”

“Under his leadership, Texans are paying more for groceries, public schools are losing funding, and too many Texans lack access to healthcare and mental healthcare,” Garza said.

Abbott’s other two legislative requests — ending bail for illegal immigrants and making it possible to impeach district attorneys — would require a statewide vote by Texans.

Last month, Abbott ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to expand the Texas Repeat Offender Task Force from the Houston area into the Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin regions, saying the effort will help target violent repeat offenders and improve public safety. Since launching in October, the task force has arrested 728 repeat offenders, including 455 high-threat suspects; seized large quantities of drugs and weapons; encountered 155 known gang members; and recovered 25 stolen vehicles.

“The choice in this election is clear,” Abbott said. “Republicans will protect communities and prosecute criminals, while Democrats stand with the very people who threaten public safety.”

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A controversial memo issued by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2021 aimed at addressing the alleged threat posed to school boards by dissatisfied parents caused an internal revolt at the Justice Department, according to documents obtained by Fox News. 

As parents across the nation took to school board meetings to vent their dissatisfaction with COVID-era learning restrictions as well as how race and gender were being taught in classrooms, the National Association for School Boards appealed to the Justice Department for assistance, claiming that some actions taken by angry parents could be classified as “domestic terrorism.” 

The Justice Department in October 2021 issued a memo to coordinate a response to what the department described as an “increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members, teachers and workers in our nation’s public schools” by parents. 

Newly released emails, however, indicate that high-ranking officials at the DOJ were skeptical of this move, predicting that it could transform into a political headache for the Biden administration.

MAJOR PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD SIMULATES PARENT ‘TERRORIST’ ATTACK AFTER FATAL ACCIDENT KILLS STUDENT

“I don’t think it’s possible to state how strongly I object to this. It will completely and totally nuke our election threats efforts, and will damage the reputation of the Public Integrity Section into the bargain,” one deputy assistant attorney general wrote on an internal email chain. “It’s like they’ve affirmatively trying to make this thing not work and look political.”

“If they do this, they might as well rename the damn thing the Anti-MAGA Task Force,” they continued. 

“Exactly!” the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section chief responded. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

Some at the DOJ also questioned whether or not the agency had the authority to address purported threats to school board members in the way that was being proposed.

ANDREW MCCARTHY: BIDEN-HARRIS JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TANGLES WITH RED STATES ON ELECTION DAY

“We will not do this,” one principal deputy assistant attorney general wrote. “There is no conceivable connection to [public integrity] (indeed, I’m not seeing a federal interest of any kind.). And if they’re going to make the AG’s memo to the field about this and election threats, I’m going to strongly recommend that they not send it.”

The Public Integrity section chief chimed in that the memo could turn the Justice Department and the FBI into the “threat police” and that it contained “no limiting principle at all.”

After sparking a firestorm of criticism from GOP lawmakers, state officials, pundits and parents’ groups, the NSAB formally apologized for its letter to the Biden administration calling for legal scrutiny to apply to disgruntled parents.

 CNN HOST RECALLS HOW COVID CAUSED THE ‘RADICALIZATION’ OF PARENTS

“On behalf of NSBA, we regret and apologize for the letter,” the organization wrote in a memo to its members. “There was no justification for some of the language included in the letter. We should have had a better process in place to allow for consultation on a communication of this significance. We apologize also for the strain and stress this situation has caused you and your organizations.”

Though Garland was pressed to retract his memo or apologize, he instead opted to defend his decision.

“The obligation of the Justice Department is to protect the American people against violence and threats of violence and that particularly includes public officials,” he said of the memo.

The DOJ and Garland did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Friday.

Fox News’ David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report. 

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Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas predicted “disaster” in the upcoming midterms and thinks that President Donald Trump will then face “the most miserable two years of his life” during the final stretch of his White House tenure, The New York Times reported.

Cornyn lost the Texas Republican U.S. Senate primary runoff to President Donald Trump-endorsed Lone Star State Attorney General Ken Paxton last month.

The contest was not even close — Paxton shellacked the long-serving incumbent senator in the race. Cornyn has served in the Senate since late 2002.

MAGA TRIUMPH: TRUMP ALLY KEN PAXTON DEFEATS JOHN CORNYN IN BITTER TEXAS GOP PRIMARY WAR

Trump backed Paxton a week before the May 26 contest, as early voting was already underway.

“I had really thought that we’d gone on so long with no endorsement that he was just going to stay out of it,” Cornyn said, according to the Times. “But he couldn’t resist.”

“If he would do that to me, he would do that to anybody,” Cornyn said, according to the outlet. “There’s never going to be good enough for him, other than 100 percent, you know, slavish adherence to whatever he wants. But obviously that’s not what the senator’s role is supposed to be, especially in terms of checks and balances.”

TRUMP FLEXES MAGA MUSCLE IN TEXAS SENATE RUNOFF CLASH BETWEEN CORNYN AND PAXTON

In a May 27 Truth Social post, Trump said Cornyn “will remain my friend for a long time to come, as we both watch Ken become a fantastic, common sense Senator, one who is respected by all.”

“If that’s the way friends treat you, you wonder about his enemies,” Cornyn said, according to the Times.

KEN PAXTON DIDN’T NEED TRUMP’S ENDORSEMENT TO BEAT CORNYN, TEXAS VOTERS SAY

“It’s going to make things harder, certainly more expensive in Texas, and make it harder around the country,” Cornyn said, predicting the president will eventually regret his actions, according to the Times. “I don’t say that with any sort of desire for vengeance; I just think that’s the way it’s going to be. He’s going to have the most miserable two years of his life in the last two years of his term, I think, because I think November is going to be a disaster.”

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Britain’s defense secretary resigned Thursday after accusing Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government of failing to adequately fund the military despite rising threats from Russia and growing NATO demands, delivering a major political blow to the prime minister ahead of July’s alliance summit.

In a sharply worded resignation letter, John Healey said the government had failed to commit the resources needed to execute Britain’s long-term defense strategy, arguing the country’s armed forces risk being left short of the money, personnel and industrial capacity needed to meet mounting security challenges.

“This new era for defence required further investment through the Defence Investment Plan,” Healey wrote. “Since then, you have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats.”

While European governments have pledged major increases in defense spending and warned that Russia poses a long-term threat to the alliance, many continue to struggle with the political and fiscal realities of rebuilding armed forces after decades of post-Cold War cuts. The debate has taken on added urgency as Trump pushes European nations to assume a greater share of responsibility for their own defense.

UK DEFENSE MINISTER WARNS PUTIN OF ‘SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES’ AFTER COVERT UNDERWATER MILITARY OPERATION

Healey’s departure appears to stem from a dispute over the pace and scale of future defense spending. In his letter, he argued that Britain should commit to spending 3% of gross domestic product on defense by 2030 and criticized a government funding plan that he said would reach only 2.68% by the end of the decade.

“The Government cannot warn about Russia, Iran and China, then produce a Defence Investment Plan that leaves the Armed Forces short of the money, people, stockpiles and industrial capacity needed to meet that threat,” retired British army Major Andrew Fox, senior associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital. 

“For Keir Starmer, this is now a test of seriousness. A Defence Secretary resigning over national security tells our allies, our enemies and our own troops that Britain’s defence ambitions are not being properly funded.” 

Healey had been one of Starmer’s most loyal cabinet allies, publicly defending the prime minister during recent internal Labour Party unrest.

LABOUR MP PUTS CABINET ‘ON NOTICE,’ THREATENS TO TRIGGER LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE AGAINST STARMER BY MONDAY

The resignation intensifies pressure on Starmer, who already is battling questions about his political future after a series of electoral setbacks and growing unrest within his own Labour Party.

The dispute arrives at a pivotal moment for NATO. Alliance leaders recently agreed to significantly increase defense spending targets amid continued concerns about Russia’s military ambitions and growing pressure from President Donald Trump for European allies to assume a greater share of the burden for their own defense.

Healey himself had been telling Parliament that Starmer was determined to publish the Defence Investment Plan before the upcoming NATO summit July 7. Healey learned the final details of the spending settlement only days before his Monday resignation, according to the Guardian. 

EUROPE’S $116B FIGHTER JET ‘FAILURE’ RAISES FRESH DOUBTS ABOUT ABILITY TO DEFEND ITSELF WITHOUT US

In recent weeks, Europe’s flagship Future Combat Air System sixth-generation fighter project collapsed after years of disputes between France and Germany, raising fresh doubts about the continent’s ability to execute major defense initiatives despite repeated pledges to strengthen its military posture.

Robert Jenrick, now one of Reform UK’s most prominent figures, praised Healey and directly blamed Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves. 

“Good on Healey. Shame on them. Reeves and Starmer should go too.”

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey likewise argued the resignation demonstrated the need for the government to devote greater resources to national defense, saying Labour must “get serious about funding our armed forces properly.”

Britain remains one of NATO’s most important military powers, but there is growing debate about whether its armed forces are large enough and adequately funded to sustain the leadership role successive governments have promised. 

Britain’s own parliamentary defense committee recently warned that while the UK remains a leading European military power, its ability to maintain that position is under pressure.

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