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19 Republican AGs ask DOJ to investigate nonprofits over foreign funding | Fox News

Billions in foreign cash tied to US climate network draws scrutiny from Republican AGs

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen leads 19-state effort targeting nonprofits that received money from foreign foundations

By Ashley Oliver
Fox News

Published February 13, 2026 10:48am EST

FIRST ON FOX:Nineteen Republican attorneys general on Friday asked the Department of Justice to investigate dozens of U.S.-based nonprofits for potential violations of federal foreign agent laws after receiving nearly $2 billion in foreign funding over the past decade.

The state attorneys general urged Attorney General Pam Bondi and the DOJ’s national security division head, John Eisenberg, to open the probe after the nonprofits accepted the funding from five foreign-based climate foundations, according to a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital.

The funding may have been used to improperly influence U.S. energy policies without the nonprofits registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the attorneys general wrote.

[CLIMATE GROUP SCRUBS JUDGES’ NAMES FROM WEBSITE AFTER UNEARTHED CHATS UNMASKED COZY TIES]

Climate activists attend a rally to end fossil fuels, in New York, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023.(AP Photo/Bryan Woolston)

The attorneys general identified more than 150 U.S.-based organizations the DOJ should investigate, saying there was “substantial evidence” that many of them were violating FARA by “engaging in coordinated funding and advocacy efforts to influence [U.S. energy policy] and undermine American energy independence.”

The five foreign groups named in the letter, the Oak Foundation, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Quadrature Climate Foundation, KR Foundation and Laudes Foundation, were found by the conservative watchdog Americans for Public Trust to have funneled the money to the smaller organizations over the past decade.

The letter was led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen. Fox News Digital reached out to the five groups for comment.

The attorneys general alleged the foreign foundations used funding to “direct climate activism and influence energy policy in the United States, including by funding U.S. policy fights, litigation, research, protests, and lobbying to advance an extreme, foreign, activist agenda.”

[BOMBSHELL REPORT SHOWS FOREIGN CHARITIES DUMPED BILLIONS INTO US POLITICAL ADVOCACY GROUPS, ‘ERODE’ DEMOCRACY’]

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen speaks during a rally for President Donald Trump, Aug. 9, 2024, in Bozeman, Montana.(Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

At least one of the foreign groups, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, “has documented ties to the Chinese Communist Party,” the attorneys general said.

They noted a separate December 2025 request from more than two dozen state attorneys general seeking a FARA investigation into two U.S.-based groups connected to CIFF.

Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.

Read a copy of the letter below. App users click[here]

Under the [FARA statute], entities must register if they act as an “agent” of a “foreign principal” and engage in certain political activities.

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The attorneys general argued the foreign foundations qualified as foreign principals because they are incorporated in Switzerland, Denmark and the United Kingdom.

They also said the nonprofits’ activities did not appear to fall under any exemptions under the law, adding that the “burden of establishing the availability of an exemption from registration under the Act shall rest upon the person for whose benefit the exemption is claimed.”

Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.

Trump’s Operation Metro Surge located 3,000 missing migrant children in Minneapolis, Emmer says

The Trump administration announced Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis is coming to an end

By Elizabeth Elkind, Kiera McDonald
Fox News

Published February 13, 2026 12:22pm EST

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, the highest ranking Minnesotan in Congress, spoke with Fox News Digital after testifying about law enforcement in Minneapolis before the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

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The highest-ranking Minnesotan in Congress is arguing that President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his state is already producing incredible results.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Operation Metro Surge, the federal law enforcement action in Minneapolis, helped recover some 3,000 migrant children who were previously thought to be missing.

“Do you realize that Operation Metro Surge picked up 4,000 illegal alien criminals? Rapists, murderers, pedophiles, drug dealers — 4,000!” Emmer said.

“And by the way, I was told that, coming down here from the House floor, that they’ve also located 3,000 missing migrant children. I mean, that’s just in the Minneapolis area. You gotta be kidding me.”

BORDER CZAR HOMAN MEETS WITH MINNESOTA OFFICIALS FOLLOWING IMMIGRATION OPERATION TENSIONS

President Donald Trump’s crackdown in Minneapolis is drawing to a close with thousands of missing migrant children found, and illegal immigrants arrested, officials said.(John Moore/Getty Images; Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

Emmer, who has emerged as one of Trump’s most outspoken congressional allies during his second White House term, is also an aggressive critic of his state’s Democratic leadership.

He accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison of rooting against the success of the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

“Their crazy sanctuary state and sanctuary city policies literally have allowed these criminals to roam our streets and put our law-abiding, tax-paying, American citizens’ — good Minnesotans’ — lives at risk,” Emmer said.

LEAVITT VOWS NOTHING WILL STOP ICE ENFORCEMENT AFTER 4,000 ILLEGAL ALIEN CRIMINALS CAUGHT IN MINNESOTA

Trump ordered a surge of federal law enforcement, primarily Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), to the progressive-run city in a bid to find and arrest illegal immigrants that have been shielded by its sanctuary policies.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., during a television interview at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 30, 2025.(Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The administration announced on Thursday that it was ending the deployment.

The federal operation in Minneapolis has been controversial at times and led to fierce clashes between law enforcement and city residents. Criticism or praise have largely fallen along partisan lines.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle called for added scrutiny after two U.S. citizens were shot during anti-ICE demonstrations there. Renee Nicole Good was killed by an ICE agent after being accused of hitting him with her car while attempting to drive away, while Alex Pretti was fatally shot multiple times by Border Patrol weeks later.

Emmer blamed the chaos on a refusal by state and city Democrats to cooperate with federal authorities.

“I don’t care if you think they were in the right place, the wrong place, it doesn’t matter. A loss of a life is tragic, but it didn’t have to be this way,” he said. “Had there been cooperation, none of this would have happened. If they will cooperate, which it sounds like they are now going forward, things are going to settle down very fast.”

Minneapolis police in tactical gear arrive on the street in downtown Minneapolis as protesters gather on Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis.(Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)

Trump had responded to the uproar by replacing federal leadership there, bringing in border czar Tom Homan to lead the government effort instead of Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino. Homan’s appointment has been praised by Republicans.

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Emmer said Homan took a “great step” in announcing the drawdown on Thursday, arguing “the numbers speak for themselves.”

“I think what the administration has done is frankly excellent. Tom Homan, I think, announced … that Operation Metro Surge was successful and that they’re going to be ending it and the president approved of that, which tells me that they’re getting the cooperation that they need [from state and local authorities],” he said.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

Lindsey Vonn says she will need at least 2 more surgeries after crash at Winter Olympics

Updated on: February 13, 2026 / 1:18 PM EST / CBS News

American skier Lindsey Vonn said Friday she’ll need at least two more surgeries after breaking her left leg in a crash during her downhill race at the Winter Olympics last weekend.

Vonn said earlier this week she was recovering from her third surgery for the injury.

The 41-year-old Olympic veteran from Colorado gave the latest update on her condition in a social media video, saying she expects to have another surgery Saturday. If that goes well, she can potentially leave Italy and return to the U.S., where she’ll need another operation, she said.

Vonn said she’s had a “hard few days” in the hospital and that she was “very much immobile.”

“I’m finally feeling more like myself, but I have a long, long way to go,” she said.

She thanked those who have been sending flowers, letters and stuffed animals while she is in the hospital. Friends and family members have also been visiting her while she’s been receiving treatment.

“I feel very lucky and fortunate to have so many people around me that have really helped me get through this,” she said.

Vonn said watching her fellow Americans compete in the Olympics has been lifting her spirits.

“Good job, team, and keep crushing it,” Vonn said.

Vonn crashed seconds into her downhill Olympic race Sunday after she decided to compete despite rupturing her left ACL in a different crash during a World Cup event in the Swiss Alps last month.

The three-time Olympic medalist had come out of retirement to compete in the Milan Cortina Games, but said she felt confident she could still complete the race with the help of a knee brace.

Haley Ott contributed to this report.

王毅会乌外长：中方愿为乌克兰提供新的人道主义援助 | 联合早报

发布/2026年2月13日 23:39

王毅会乌外长：中方愿为乌克兰提供新的人道主义援助

中国外交部长王毅（右四）星期五在德国慕尼黑安全会议期间，与乌克兰外长瑟比加（左四）举行场边会谈。 （法新社）

中国外交部长王毅在与乌克兰外长瑟比加会面时说，中方愿为乌克兰提供新的人道主义援助，并为乌克兰危机早日解决发挥建设性作用。

据中国外交部官网消息，中共政治局委员、中国外交部长王毅当地时间星期五（2月13日）在出席慕尼黑安全会议期间，会见乌克兰外长瑟比加。

王毅表示，今年是中乌建立战略伙伴关系15周年，明年两国将迎来建交35周年。国际形势发生很大变化，但中方秉持相互尊重、平等互利、合作共赢的建交初心，珍视中乌传统友好，持续推进两国各领域合作。

他说，去年中乌贸易稳定发展，中国继续保持乌最大贸易伙伴和最大进口来源国地位，两国政府间合作委员会各分委会会议接续举办，为两国人民带来福祉。

王毅指出，中乌关系要锚定正确方向，保持稳定健康发展。中方愿为乌提供新的人道主义援助。希望乌方继续确保中国在乌人员和机构安全。

王毅说，近段时间，围绕乌克兰危机的各种对话密集推进，令人欣慰。中方的立场一以贯之，始终以中国国家主席习近平提出的“四个应该”作为根本遵循，坚持客观公正，积极劝和促谈。“我们愿同乌方保持沟通，同国际社会一道，为危机早日政治解决发挥建设性作用”。

“四个应该”指的是， 各国主权、领土完整都应该得到尊重，联合国宪章宗旨和原则都应该得到遵守，各国合理安全关切都应该得到重视，一切有利于解决危机的努力都应该得到支持。

另据路透社报道，瑟比加星期五接受乌克兰电视台Novyny Live访问时说，他已邀请王毅访问乌克兰，并称北京将能协助终结历时四年的俄乌战争。

瑟比加说：“中国将为乌克兰带来公正的和平扮演重要角色。我们感谢中国支持乌克兰确保领土和主权的完整，而我们进行了颇具实质性和务实的对话。”

Fetterman rips Democrats for prioritizing politics in DHS shutdown showdown | Fox News

By Alex Miller | Fox News
Published February 13, 2026 10:37am EST

Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram discusses two failed votes on Homeland Security funding amid Democrat calls for ICE reform and the resulting partial government shutdown that will impact other government employees.

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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., the lone Senate Democrat to join the GOP to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), accused his colleagues of choosing party over country in their shutdown vote.

Senate Democrats dug their heels in against funding the agency on Thursday in their pursuit of stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good during immigration operations in Minnesota.

But Fetterman believed that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his party were missing the point.

[Image 1]

[GOVERNMENT TO SHUT DOWN AT MIDNIGHT AFTER DEMS, WHITE HOUSE FAIL TO STRIKE DHS DEAL]

[Image 2]

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., bucked his party again and joined Senate Republicans to fund DHS. He argued that ICE, CBP and immigration operations wouldn’t be hurt by a shutdown, but other crucial functions like TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard would.(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

“This shutdown literally has zero impact on ICE functionality,” Fetterman said in a post on X. “Country over party is refusing to hit the entire Department of Homeland Security. Democracy demands a way forward to reform ICE without damaging our critical national security agencies.”

Senate Democrats’ refusal to fund DHS this week has made a partial government shutdown affecting only DHS inevitable. The deadline to strike a deal is midnight Friday, and the likelihood of that happening is nearly nonexistent.

That’s because both chambers of Congress quickly fled Washington, D.C., on Thursday, with many in the upper chamber leaving the country altogether for the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

[DHS SHUTDOWN EXPLAINED: WHO WORKS WITHOUT PAY, WHAT HAPPENS TO AIRPORTS AND DISASTER RESPONSE]

[Image 3]

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced that Democrats wouldn’t accept a funding extension to DHS with just days left until a partial shutdown.(Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Schumer and his caucus argued that the White House and Republicans weren’t serious about reforms to ICE or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and contended that the GOP’s counteroffer to their own list of demands didn’t go far enough to earn their votes.

But to Fetterman’s point, shutting down DHS won’t halt the cash flow to immigration operations.

[Image 4]

That’s because congressional Republicans last year injected roughly $75 billion into the agency for ICE with President Donald Trump’s marquee “big, beautiful bill.” That money is spread across the next four years, meaning that a shutdown now will have little, if any, effect on ICE’s core functions.

[DEMS DIG IN, GUARANTEE SHUTDOWN WITH BLOCK OF DHS FUNDING]

[Image 5]

A TSA agent wears a patch on his uniform at the Miami International Airport on Dec. 17, 2024, in Miami.(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

But other functions under DHS’ purview, like TSA, FEMA, the Coast Guard and more, will experience the brunt of the partial shutdown.

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Negotiations on striking a deal are expected to continue in the background, and Senate Democrats have signaled that they’re considering offering a counteroffer to the White House in response to the GOP proposal.

Still, a vote to reopen and fund the agency won’t happen until early next week at best.

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced an executive order directing the Department of War to pursue new agreements with coal plants to ensure a “more reliable” electric grid. (Pool)

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President Donald Trump says the military will start “buying a lot of coal” as part of a new push to boost domestic coal production and strengthen what he describes as the reliability of the U.S. power grid. Turning that pledge into reality, however, will require navigating Pentagon procurement rules, congressional funding limits and the physical constraints of the electric grid.

A new executive order, signed Wednesday, directs the secretary of war to “seek to procure” power from coal-fired facilities through long-term power purchase agreements serving military installations and other mission-critical facilities. It also calls on the Department of Energy to help keep certain coal plants online.

But executive orders set policy direction — they do not automatically create new funding or rewrite electricity market rules. The order itself states that implementation must be consistent with applicable law and “subject to the availability of appropriations.”

“Executive orders can’t drive appropriations,” said Jerry McGinn, a former Pentagon official and now executive director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

LIZ PEEK: TRUMP WHITE HOUSE FIRED UP ABOUT KING COAL’S RETURN TO POWER

President Trump is looking to boost coal in the U.S. through directing the Department of War to enter into energy purchasing agreements.(Wen Ya/Getty Images)

What the War Department can do is direct its contracting offices to pursue agreements with coal-fired plants where feasible.

The military routinely enters into long-term electricity supply agreements to power individual installations, including projects at bases such as Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and Fort Cavazos in Texas, where on-site generation has been developed through third-party contracts.

In theory, it could structure deals with nearby coal facilities if officials determine the contracts enhance grid reliability, fuel security or mission assurance — priorities outlined in the order.

“They have a great amount of flexibility,” McGinn said, noting that energy sourcing decisions would depend on what is workable at individual installations.

That flexibility, however, operates base by base — not nationwide.

The War Department does not regulate regional electricity markets. It can sign contracts for power serving specific installations, but it does not set dispatch rules for grid operators or dictate fuel choices for civilian utilities.

Most military bases are connected to regional grids, where electricity from multiple sources — natural gas, nuclear, renewables and coal — is pooled together and dispatched according to market rules. Even if the Pentagon signs a contract with a specific coal plant, the electricity physically delivered to a base would still come from the broader grid mix.

President Donald Trump signs an executive order at the White House on Dec. 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Trump has signed more executive orders in 2025 than he did in all four years of his first presidency, combined.((Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

In practice, such agreements would function primarily as financial commitments to particular facilities rather than a literal rerouting of coal-generated power.

TRUMP’S ENERGY DOMINANCE REWRITES THE STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE AFTER BIDEN DRAWDOWNS

Scale presents another constraint. Coal plants are large generators, often producing far more electricity than a single installation consumes. While military bases use significant power, contracts would need to be sizable and long term to meaningfully sustain entire commercial facilities.

If shifting energy sourcing at certain bases requires infrastructure changes or new contractual arrangements, that could require additional Defense or Energy Department investment, McGinn said.

“It would sort of be a determination on where does this make sense, where can we do this easily, and where do we want to invest,” he said.

Any significant expansion of contracts or infrastructure spending would likely involve Congress.

Utility costs for bases are typically paid through operations and maintenance accounts approved by lawmakers. If implementing the policy requires new construction, transmission upgrades or higher long-term energy costs, additional appropriations could be required.

The administration says the directive is meant to ensure uninterrupted, on-demand baseload power for military installations and critical defense facilities, grounded in the belief that coal provides reliable and resilient energy that intermittent sources do not, according to the White House fact sheet.

The fact sheet also explicitly ties the policy to broader aims of energy security, economic stability and “energy dominance.”

Trump and his team repeatedly have described the move as part of a broader push to revitalize coal production and protect coal jobs — including the $175 million in Department of Energy funding for coal plant upgrades and “beautiful, clean coal” rhetoric at the signing event. At that event, he said the military will be “buying a lot of coal” and framed the actions as support for hard-working miners and “reliable power.”

The White House is pursuing a parallel strategy to revive certain coal plants that have shut down or face retirement. Trump said the Department of Energy would issue funds to facilities in West Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina and Kentucky to keep them operating or restart idled units.

Recommissioning a coal plant can vary significantly depending on its status.

Facilities that have been temporarily idled or “mothballed” may be able to return to service in months. Fully retired plants, however, can require extensive equipment repairs, environmental compliance reviews, workforce rehiring and transmission readiness upgrades — a process that can take considerably longer.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on how the directive would be implemented.

A Pentagon spokesperson said the Department intends to move forward under existing authorities.

“The Department of War fully supports the President’s Executive Order to strengthen national defense through reliable coal power,” Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a Friday statement. “In coordination with the Department of Energy, we will prioritize and seek to procure long-term Power Purchase Agreements with coal-fired facilities where they enhance grid reliability, prevent blackouts, and ensure mission assurance for critical defense and intelligence operations.”

A Pentagon spokesperson said the Department intends to move forward under existing authorities.(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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Ultimately, the impact of Trump’s directive will depend on execution. Targeted contracts near specific installations could provide limited support to certain facilities.

A broader effort to use military purchasing power to sustain multiple commercial coal plants would likely require substantial funding, careful contract structuring and congressional backing.

两批美禄能量棒可能有异物 食品局下令召回

发布/2026年2月13日 23:42

文告指出，这两批能量棒分别是今年8月31日到期的Nestlé Milo Snack Bar（Original）（左）和同天到期，澳洲产的Nestlé Milo Snack Bar（Dipped）（右）。 （取自新加坡食品局脸书）

因可能含橡胶异物，食品局下令召回两批美禄能量棒。

新加坡食品局星期五（2月13日）发布文告说，当局接获雀巢新加坡（Nestlé Singapore Pte Ltd）通报，指澳大利亚制造商主动召回多款雀巢美禄（Milo）能量棒产品，原因是产品可能含有橡胶异物。

作为预防措施，食品局已指示进口商雀巢新加坡召回相关产品。召回行动仍在进行中。

文告指出，这两批能量棒分别是今年8月31日到期的Nestlé Milo Snack Bar（Original）和同天到期，澳洲产的Nestlé Milo Snack Bar（Dipped）。

根据食品销售法令（Sale of Food Act），商家不得出售已知不安全的食品。

食品局说：“已购买受影响产品的消费者，应停止食用。已食用并担心可能影响健康的公众，应立即就医。消费者可联系购买柜台咨询详情。”

Indian man pleads guilty in New York over alleged plot against Sikh separatist

By Reuters
February 13, 2026 4:32 PM UTC Updated 2 hours ago

NEW YORK, Feb 13 (Reuters) – An Indian man charged with orchestrating an unsuccessful Indian government-backed plot to kill a Sikh separatist in New York City pleaded guilty on Friday to three criminal charges, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan said.

Nikhil Gupta, 54, pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carry a maximum combined sentence of 40 years in prison, the spokesperson said.

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Gupta entered his plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan federal court.

Lawyers for Gupta were not immediately available for comment. Gupta has been jailed in Brooklyn since his June 2024 extradition to the United States from the Czech Republic, where he had been arrested a year earlier. He had pleaded not guilty immediately after his extradition.

U.S. prosecutors accused Gupta of plotting with an Indian government official to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a U.S. resident and dual U.S.-Canadian citizen who advocated for a sovereign Sikh state in northern India.

India’s government has dissociated itself from any plot against Pannun, saying it was against government policy.

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The discovery of alleged assassination plots against Sikh separatists in the United States and Canada has tested relations with India, which has also denied involvement in such plots.

Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Holmes

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US judge orders Trump administration to facilitate deported college student’s return

February 13, 2026 6:36 PM UTC / Reuters

BOSTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) – A federal judge in Boston on Friday ordered U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to facilitate the return of a college student it acknowledged it had deported to Honduras in violation of a court order but had declined to bring back.

U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns said it was “time for the government to make amends” as he gave it two weeks to facilitate the return of Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, a Babson College student who was deported after being detained at an airport while traveling to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with her family in Texas.

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Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Chris Reese

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节点运行失败

Virginia Supreme Court greenlights referendum in congressional redistricting fight with US House majority at stake

By Paul Steinhauser, Charles Creitz | Fox News
Published February 13, 2026 11:42am EST

In a crucial decision on Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a high-stakes referendum scheduled for April 21 on congressional redistricting can go forward.

It’s a victory for Democrats in Virginia, who are fast-tracking a proposed new congressional map that would give the competitive state up to four more left-leaning U.S. House districts in time for this year’s midterm elections.

Virginia is the latest battleground, with Florida on deck, in the ongoing crucial battle between President Donald Trump and Republicans versus Democrats to alter congressional maps ahead of November’s elections.

Republicans are defending their razor-thin House majority in the midterms, and Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to win back control of the chamber. That means the redistricting efforts in Virginia and other states may very well decide which party controls the House next year.

But the proposed map in Virginia, which the Democrat-controlled legislature is expected to give final approval in the coming days, followed by Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger signing it, still needs the approval of voters in the Commonwealth.

Republicans had challenged the validity of the referendum, arguing that Democrats had erred procedurally when the legislature approved amendments to the state Constitution. And last month, a lower court ruled in the GOP’s favor.

But the ruling by the state Supreme Court greenlights the ballot measure, which asks voters to give the legislature, rather than Virginia’s current non-partisan commission, redistricting power through the 2030 election.

“Today’s order is a huge win for Virginia voters,” Dan Gottlieb, spokesperson for Democrat-aligned Virginians for Fair Elections, said in a statement.”The Court made it clear that nothing in this case stops the April 21 referendum from moving forward and that Virginians will have the final say.”

Early voting on the referendum is scheduled to start on March 6.

Longtime Republican state lawmaker Terry Kilgore, looking ahead to the referendum vote, told reporters, “we’re going to make our case to Virginians that this is unfair. This is unprecedented. And, quite frankly it’s against the law we believe.”

Friday’s ruling on the referendum doesn’t mean the legal challenges are over. Democrats are still defending their ability to redraw the maps, and the state Supreme Court may schedule arguments in that case.

“Last October, democrats took an unprecedented step to illegally pass a constitutional amendment at the 11th hour. The judiciary agreed, and the Supreme Court has taken up and fast-tracked the case. Make no mistake, the rule of law will prevail,” Republican state Sen. Ryan McDougle, the Virginia Senate MInority Leader told Fox News Digital.

Republicans charge that the Democrats’ redistricting effort is an “unconstitutional power grab.”

Virginians for Fair Maps, a Republican-aligned group that opposes the redistricting push, has highlighted that “Virginians came together to pass bipartisan redistricting reform — a process that took the power to draw maps out of politicians’ hands. Now, politicians in Richmond want to undo that progress.”

And the Republican National Committee has called the Democrats’ push in Virginia a “power grab.”

But Democrats have countered that it’s a necessary step to balance out partisan gerrymandering already implemented in other states by the GOP.

Aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterms, Trump last spring first floated the idea of rare, but not unheard of, mid-decade congressional redistricting.

The mission was simple: redraw congressional district maps in red states to pad the GOP’s razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

Trump’s first target was Texas.

When asked by reporters last summer about his plan to add Republican-leaning House seats across the country, the president said, “Texas will be the biggest one. And that’ll be five.”

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas called a special session of the GOP-dominated state legislature to pass the new map.

But Democratic state lawmakers, who broke quorum for two weeks as they fled Texas in a bid to delay the passage of the redistricting bill, energized Democrats across the country.

Among those leading the fight against Trump’s redistricting was Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.

California voters in November overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that temporarily sidetracked the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and returned the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democratic-dominated legislature.

That is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts in California, which aimed to counter the move by Texas to redraw their maps.

The fight quickly spread beyond Texas and California.

Republican-controlled Missouri and Ohio, and swing state North Carolina, where the GOP dominates the legislature, have drawn new maps as part of the president’s push.

In blows to Republicans, a Utah district judge late last year rejected a congressional district map drawn up by the state’s GOP-dominated legislature and instead approved an alternate that will create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the midterms.

But Utah Republicans have appealed to the state Supreme Court to block a new court-ordered map for this year’s elections.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Indiana’s Senate in December defied Trump, shooting down a redistricting bill that had passed the state House. The showdown in the Indiana statehouse grabbed plenty of national attention.

Florida’s next up.

Two-term Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and state lawmakers in the GOP-dominated legislature are hoping to pick up an additional three to five right-leaning seats through a redistricting push during a special legislative session in April.

But the bid by DeSantis and Republicans in Tallahassee last week drew its first lawsuit, from a group aligned with Florida Democrats. The lawsuit contends that the governor and Secretary of State Cordy Byrd don’t have the legal authority to reshape election laws, after Byrd pushed back congressional qualifying dates from April to June.

Democrats in solidly blue Maryland are also pushing redistricting, which could result in one extra left-leaning congressional seat. But the effort, pushed by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and green-lighted by state House Democrats, is facing opposition from Senate President Bill Ferguson, a fellow Democrat.

Lastly, Republicans in South Carolina, Nebraska, Kansas and New Hampshire, and Democrats in Illinois and Washington State are also exploring possible bids to redraw the maps.

Hovering over the redistricting wars is the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule in Louisiana v. Callais, a crucial case that may lead to the overturning of a key provision in the Voting Rights Act.

If the ruling goes the way of the conservatives on the high court, it could lead to the redrawing of a slew of majority-minority districts across the county, which would greatly favor Republicans.

But it is very much up in the air — when the court will rule, and what it will actually do.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast.