FIRST ON FOX: House Democrats paved the way for President Donald Trump's anti-fraud division to survive beyond his presidency, but one Republican fears it'll be a different outcome in the Senate. Sen.Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., shared with Fox News Digital that he was introducing legislation that would make the National Fraud Enforcement Division permanent.
It comes after a bill to do the same thing cruised through the House.The lawmaker made it official Tuesday night when the Senate reopened for business.But the Senate is a different political animal, and Democrats’ possible reticence to give Trump a win before the midterm elections may thwart his plan.
Schmitt, during an interview with Fox News Digital, contended that since the sprawling Minnesota fraud scandal was unveiled earlier this year, Democrats have been on the back foot.DEMOCRATS RELUCTANTLY HAND TRUMP MAJOR VICTORY ON FRAUD PROGRAM TARGETING TIM WALZPresident Donald Trump listens to a question from a reporter during an event about healthcare in the Oval Office of the White House, on Sept.18, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
(Jacquelyn Martin/AP)"They're very defensive about it, and you know the fact is that you had — maybe it had something to do with this sort of toxic empathy or suicidal empathy [they] have done on immigration where you had these Somali fraudsters and maybe, maybe their instinct to defend every group of people that came here from somewhere else, even if they're defrauding the American people, overrode their logic."Still, House Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., begrudgingly gave Trump a win last week and voted to make his anti-fraud task force permanent.That bipartisan vote comes as Democrats are reconciling with their messaging on rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.And New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has increasingly been one of the progressive leaders of the party, warned Democrats had ceded ground on issues like quality of life and rooting out wast...