Thune Joins America’s Newsroom on Fox News
June 5, 2025
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) today joined America’s Newsroom on Fox News. On pro-growth policies: “[E]verybody’s going
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) today joined America’s Newsroom on Fox News. On pro-growth policies: “[E]verybody’s going
The explosive growth of the data centers needed to power America’s fast-rising demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing has spurred states to dangle incentives in hopes of landing an economic bonanza. It’s also eliciting pushback in places where an influx of data centers has caused friction with neighboring communities. Activity in state legislatures — and competition for data centers — has been brisk. Many states are offering financial incentives or tax breaks worth tens of millions of dollars. In some cases, those incentives are winning approval only after a fight or efforts to attach riders that require data centers to pay for their own electricity or meet energy efficiency standards.
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst is facing backlash after saying “we all are going to die” while talking about potential changes to Medicaid eligibility at a town hall in north-central Iowa. Despite shouts and groans from the crowd at a high school in Parkersburg, Iowa, Ernst stayed on message as she defended the tax and immigration package making its way through Congress. But as she emphasized the reasons for the $700 billion in reduced Medicaid spending, someone in the crowd yelled that people are going to die without coverage. Ernst said: “People are not … well, we all are going to die,” prompting groans from the audience.
Former President Joe Biden has delivered the first remarks since he announced he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer, speaking in a steady voice during a somber Memorial Day gathering and later smiling and saying he’s “feeling good.” Biden spoke at an annual gathering marking Memorial Day at Veterans Memorial Park in his home state of Delaware, not far from his home in Wilmington. The event coincided with the 10th anniversary of his son Beau’s death. It also comes amid renewed questions about Biden’s mental and physical health after the recent publication of a book about his fitness for office.
Bernard Kerik, who served as New York City’s police commissioner on 9/11 and later pleaded guilty to tax fraud before being pardoned, has died. He was 69. FBI Director Kash Patel says Kerik’s death Thursday came after an unspecified “private battle with illness.” Kerik was hailed as a hero after the 9/11 attack and eventually nominated to head the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, before a dramatic fall from grace that ended with him behind bars. In 2009, he pleaded guilty to federal tax fraud and false statement charges. He served nearly four years in prison. Trump pardoned Kerik during a 2020 clemency blitz.
President Donald Trump is holding a rally in Pennsylvania on Friday to celebrate a details-to-come deal for Japan-based Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel. He says the plan will keep the iconic American steelmaker under U.S. control. Trump initially vowed to block the Japanese steelmaker’s bid to buy Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel. But he changed course and announced an agreement last week for what he described as “partial ownership” by Nippon. It’s not clear if the deal Trump’s administration helped broker has been finalized or how ownership would be structured.
New York City police are investigating two detectives who worked security at an upscale Manhattan townhouse where an Italian man was kidnapped and tortured for weeks by two crypto investors who wanted to steal his Bitcoin. A city official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the two detectives have been placed on modified leave. They said the department is probing whether the officers were approved to do off duty security work. They also confirmed one of the detectives serves on Mayor Eric Adams’ security detail and drove the victim from the airport to the townhouse.
A man who blamed exposure to far-right extremist content for leading him to threaten Democratic election officials in Colorado and Arizona has been sentenced to three years in prison. A judge said Thursday that the penalty for what he called “keyboard terrorism” needed to be serious enough to deter others. The federal judge said threats against public officials are on the rise and people need to worked out differences through the democratic process, not violence. The convicted man, Teak Ty Brockbank, apologized for his “ugly posts” and says he has turned away from the online fear, hate and anger that derailed his life.
Harrison Ruffin Tyler died on Sunday. He is the last living grandson of U.S. President John Tyler known for preserving his grandfather’s plantation and nearby Union Civil War fort. The cause of Tyler’s death on Sunday was not immediately available. Tyler’s grandfather was a Democrat nicknamed the “Accidental President” after unexpectedly assuming the presidency when President William Henry Harrison died in office. The time between the president’s birth and his grandson’s death spans 235 years.
A push in Texas to ban children under 18 years old from social media platforms is fading at the state Capitol. Lawmakers on Wednesday night did not take a key vote on creating one of the nation’s toughest restrictions aimed at keeping minors off the platforms. The bill aimed to go further than Florida’s ban on social media for minors under 14. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has not said publicly whether he supported the proposed ban. It was opposed by tech trade groups and critics who called it it an unconstitutional limit on free speech.
Utah Republicans passed a ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender youth in 2023 and argued it was needed to protect vulnerable kids from treatments that could cause long-term harm. The newly released results of a study commissioned under that very law tell a different story. The Republican-controlled Legislature is facing pressure to reconsider the restrictions. Utah health experts concluded from a study of thousands of transgender people that gender-affirming care generated “positive mental health and psychosocial functioning outcomes.” Some state Republicans said they were open to considering the findings, while others were quick to dismiss the new report.
One of the world’s most acclaimed writers, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, has died at 87. A publicist for his U.S. publisher confirmed the death Wednesday. The Kenyan man of letters wrote dozens of fiction and nonfiction books that traced his country’s history from British imperialism to home-ruled tyranny and challenged not only the stories told but the language used to tell them. Whether through novels such as “The Wizard of the Crow” or “Petals of Blood,” or his landmark critique “Decolonizing the Mind,” Ngũgĩ embodied the very heights of the artist’s calling. He was a truth teller, rule breaker and explorer of myth.
President Donald Trump has pardoned former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, a New York Republican who resigned from Congress after a tax fraud conviction. The pardon was disclosed Wednesday by a White House official who requested anonymity before an official announcement. Grimm, a former Marine and FBI agent, pleaded guilty in late 2014 to underreporting wages and revenue at a restaurant he ran in Manhattan. He resigned from Congress the following year and served eight months in prison. Grimm tried to reenter politics in 2018 but lost a primary for his old district.
U.S. officials say the State Department has halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students hoping to study in the U.S. while it prepares to expand the screening of their activity on social media. A U.S. official said Tuesday the suspension is intended to be temporary and does not apply to applicants who already had scheduled their visa interviews. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an internal administration document. A cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by The Associated Press says the State Department plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting.
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