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I spend my days inside fraud networks most Americans never see — dark web forums, Telegram channels and marketplaces where stolen identities are bought and sold like commodities. I study them because understanding how these systems work is the only way to stay ahead of them.

What I’m seeing right now should concern every American.

Iran, North Korea, Russia and China are not just conducting cyberattacks against the United States. They are running coordinated financial fraud operations inside our system — deliberately, systematically and in ways our defenses were never designed to detect.

This isn’t ordinary crime. It’s statecraft.

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While policymakers rightly focus on Iranian cyber threats to power grids and water systems, a quieter operation is already underway, and this is one that reaches directly into the U.S. financial system using the same tools as everyday fraudsters.

Iran has spent decades building what amounts to a parallel financial network that is designed to function when access to the formal system is restricted.

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It relies on front companies registered across multiple jurisdictions, nominee directors who exist only on paper and bank accounts opened with stolen or fabricated identities. Each new round of sanctions forces adaptation and, each time, the system evolves. We see new shell companies appear and new identities being deployed. Funds are routed through intermediaries that cannot see who is actually behind the transactions.

For example, on June 6, 2025, the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctioned over 40 individuals and entities linked to the three Zarringhalam brothers — Mansour, Nasser, and Fazlolah --brothers for laundering billions through Iran’s "shadow banking" network. This network uses exchange houses and front companies in the UAE and Hong Kong to evade sanctions and move funds from oil and petrochemical sales.

The operation enables payments to flow through international banks in multiple currencies on behalf of sanctioned Iranian entities, including military-linked groups. Proceeds help finance Iran’s nuclear and missile programs as well as support terrorist proxies.

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North Korea’s approach is even more direct.

The regime has placed IT workers inside U.S. companies using fabricated identities. These are not low-level scams. The identities are constructed from stolen personal information, purchased documents, and in some cases fully synthetic profiles built to pass employment verification.

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Those workers draw legitimate salaries, which flow into accounts that feed into laundering pipelines. The money moves through layers of transactions designed to look like ordinary retail banking activity, until its origin is effectively invisible.

Russia plays a different role: supplier.

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Infostealer malware operations harvest Social Security numbers, dates of birth and account credentials from millions of Americans. That data feeds dark web markets where identity components are packaged and sold to criminals and foreign state actors alike.

China, by contrast, plays a long game. In 2015, Chinese state actors breached the Office of Personnel Management, exposing sensitive data on 21.5 million people. That was one of the most impactful intelligence windfalls of recent times and it created a durable identity dataset that has been detailed enough to build, verify and sustain false identities at scale.

That data didn’t disappear after the breach. It has circulated for years in underground markets, where it can be combined with other stolen information to construct identities that pass financial and employment checks.

In other words, China didn’t just steal data. It helped seed the very identity ecosystem that others — including Iran and North Korea — can now exploit.

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What makes this so hard to confront is that none of these states are running a separate, exotic operation. They are the heaviest users of the same global identity fraud ecosystem that ordinary criminals use. The same document forgery platforms. The same AI-composited selfie tools used to defeat identity verification checks. The same Telegram channels and dark web markets. The difference is not the tooling. It is who is holding it and what they intend to do with it.

Our financial defenses were built to catch criminals. They screen names against sanctions lists. They flag behavioral anomalies. They check documents. None of that is sufficient when the adversary has the patience to cultivate an identity over years before activating it, and the resources of a state intelligence agency behind every step.

I watch these networks every day. The infrastructure our enemies rely on is not hidden. It is operating openly, in the same places domestic criminals operate, using the same playbook. And in some cases, these states are not just the heaviest users of that shared infrastructure. They are its primary suppliers. Russia's infostealer operations produce the raw identity components that end up in Iranian front company structures. China's OPM breach seeded a dataset that has been circulating in dark web markets ever since. The question is whether American institutions are prepared to treat that as the national security threat it is. Right now, most of them are not.

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The Democratic Party wants to break the United States Senate’s legislative filibuster in order to pack the Supreme Court with jurisprudential clones of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who has quickly emerged as the most radical of the nine justices. (Justice Jackson is also the most loquacious, as Mollie Hemingway points out in her new bestseller, "Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution." Justice Jackson uttered 78,215 words from the bench in the 2023-2025 term. Justices Gorsuch and Kagan got the silver and bronze in the spoken-word competition, but it wasn’t close, as they were both around 50,000 words apiece.

President Joe Biden supported expanding the Court to 14 members in April 2021. Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey is one of many senators who have also applauded the number 14. That’s no surprise, as adding five radicals to Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor would lock in an eight-vote bloc of justices who, after that revolution, would simply be legislators in robes. Kiss the Constitution goodbye if and when "the Nine" becomes "the Fourteen." Hard-left progressivism, whatever the flavor of that day may be, will be in the saddle.

The Fifth and 14th Amendments to the Constitution guarantee every American "due process of law." Do those guarantees stand between a left-wing Congress and a left-wing president bent on torching the Constitution?

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It is hard to deny that all precedents would be out the door with a radicalized Court packed with progressive activist law professors. The precedents might end up out the door with a nine-justice court if Democrats win enough elections, as Father Time remains undefeated when it comes to the current membership of the Court. That would not be a radical change, but rather a process the public could see and intervene in via elections. There is no denying that the Supreme Court vacancy at the time of the 2016 election helped power President Donald Trump’s stunning upset win that year. More than a few voters that year were motivated by the fear of a Court dominated by nominees of prospective President Hillary Clinton.

Democrats are quick to point out that the Constitution is silent on the exact number of justices and that, in fact, Congress often tweaked the number of justices between 1789 and the Judiciary Act of 1869, which fixed the number of justices at nine, a number that has not changed since.

That 1869 act followed fast on the heels of the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868 and which joined its guarantee of "due process of law" to that same guarantee in the Fifth Amendment. The 14th Amendment’s ratification in 1868 and the Court’s right-sizing, which followed the next year, suggests a consensus at the time of the amendment, one that has never been changed since. (The Court has also never had more than 10 justices, and that just briefly.) The Biden-Markey proposal is many things, but it is not rooted in American history, and it certainly would destroy "due process of law" in the nation.

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Court-packing would, in fact, mark the actual end of the rule of law, and the manipulation of the Court would follow every future political upheaval in which both houses of Congress and the president controlled the federal legislative process. That’s just what happens when suddenly a major break with tradition and practice occurs. The other side of the aisle adopts the tactic too.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid broke the Senate’s filibuster rules via the "nuclear option" in order to confirm judges to the D.C. Circuit in 2013 over the objection and warning of then-Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. Soon the Senate’s majority switched from Democrats to Republicans, and McConnell made good on his warning by using simple majorities to confirm three nominees to the Supreme Court put forward by President Trump. Bad move, Harry, but not one that out-and-out destroyed the institution of the Court.

WHY JUSTICE JACKSON IS A FISH OUT OF WATER ON THE SUPREME COURT

Packing the Supreme Court via simple-majority votes — or even by supermajority — would be a disaster, the sort of convulsion that marked the end days of the Roman Republic, when political maneuvering and continual breaches of fundamental traditions occurred and relations between the two parties so soured more than two thousand years ago that civil wars were triggered and eventually dictatorship was the only answer. Republics built on the rule of law are not the norm. They are history’s exceptions. We have one. We should work hard to keep it intact.

There is an excellent argument that court-packing is actually rule-of-law-busting and thus violates the Fifth and 14th Amendments’ guarantees of due process of law. But who would be able to make that argument? Who would have standing to bring the challenge to proposed court-packing legislation, and when would such a challenge be ripe? These are difficult hurdles for any litigant bringing any case. A litigant must show actual injury — a "concrete and particularized" injury, one traceable to defendants’ conduct and an injury that the Court could actually redress.

DEM SENATE CANDIDATE CALLS TO 'SHUT THE WHITE HOUSE DOWN,' IMPEACH 2 SUPREME COURT JUSTICES

Certainly no challenge would lie from anyone in the immediate aftermath of the filibuster being broken, but how about the moment after the court-packing legislation was signed? Who could ask the Court if the destruction of the rule of law was OK by the Nine before their number soared to Fourteen?

Perhaps Professors Randy Barnett and Josh Holmes, co-authors of the best constitutional law casebook out there right now. All of their decades-long work on that terrific casebook would be destroyed immediately, as a 14-member court would make kindling out of all prior decisions (and all the casebooks that explain them) and do so in rather quick fashion.

Perhaps one of the nine justices could bring the case? Their individual authority would be diluted by the expansion to 14 — but would any of them want to be the justice arguing to keep their power intact?

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Time for the people serious about preserving the rule of law to begin thinking through how to protect due process of law in this country come 2029, if a Democratic president and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate do what they will almost certainly pledge to do on the campaign trail: end the filibuster and pack the Court.

And it is also time for the Senate Republican caucus to bravely and fearlessly defend the legislative filibuster as it currently exists. The legislative filibuster is the biggest hurdle in the way of would-be court-wreckers, the early-warning system that danger to the rule of law is drawing close.

The GOP should be the party of the Constitution and the rule of law, and it ought to be out front right now defending the Court’s membership at nine and the filibuster generally. Win the argument about the filibuster, and you will never have to win the case against court-packing or even worry about "standing" and "ripeness."

Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor and host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" heard weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh drives Americans home on the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcasting. This column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.

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I don’t know how Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick thought she had a prayer of hanging onto her seat. 

The Florida Democrat was indicted six months ago on charges of embezzling $5 million from FEMA. She says she’s innocent, but if convicted faces up to 53 years in prison.

In the past, the congresswoman would simply try to beat the prosecution in court.

But the House Ethics Committee took up the case, and granted her a delay when she lost her legal representation.

INDICTED DEMOCRAT SHEILA CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK TO RESIGN FROM CONGRESS AMID EXPULSION THREAT

But on Tuesday, 20 minutes before the ethics panel was going to recommend her expulsion, she resigned – accusing the committee of a "witch hunt."

This has suddenly become the default setting for legislators in trouble – you can’t fire me, I quit.

It’s like scrambling down the fire escape of a burning building to flee a blaze that you set yourself, all the while complaining about the smoke.

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In just the last nine days, two other members of Congress pulled the same maneuver.

Eric Swalwell surrendered his seat on April 14 after mounting accusations of sexual misconduct, which he denies, despite the California Democrat’s repeated insistence, after dropping his gubernatorial campaign, that he would not resign.

That same day, Texas Republican Tony Gonzales, who text messages showed having an affair with staffer Regina Santos-Aviles, vowed to keep his seat, even after she tragically committed suicide.

Both men bailed in the face of virtually guaranteed expulsion.

When these lawmakers quit, the Ethics Committee automatically loses jurisdiction, like the wave of a magic wand.

It’s not that anyone is fooled. Every story says they acted to avoid the official disgrace of being kicked out of Congress. But in the history books it just goes down as a resignation.

This is a sea change, and I suppose you could argue the result is the same. Far too often in the past, the bipartisan ethics panel has dragged its feet, done nothing or suggested only a mild sanction.

CORY MILLS SAYS MACE EXPULSION PUSH COULD DRAG HOUSE INTO DANGEROUS NEW TERRITORY

Cherfulis-McCormick, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, won a special election to represent parts of Florida’s Palm Beach and Broward counties.

The charges, which date to the pandemic in 2021, say Cherfilus-McCormick received federal disaster funds meant to fight COVID-19 at the healthcare company owned by her family. Within two months, the indictment says, more than $100,000 was spent to buy her a 3-carat diamond ring.   

The lawmaker was also charged with hiding personal expenses and political spending by listing them as charitable contributions and business deductions. Her brother and two aides were also named in the indictment, which included money laundering, false tax returns and listing donations from straw donors.

Cherfilus-McCormick dismissed what she called "an unjust, baseless, sham indictment" – and vowed not to resign. Until she did.

And the exodus may not be over. The Ethics Committee voted on Tuesday to investigate Florida Republican Cory Mills. 

The allegations, according to the panel: Violating campaign finance laws in his 2022 and 2024 campaigns. Filing false reports with Congress. Soliciting and receiving improper gifts. Misusing government resources. And accusations of "sexual misconduct and/or dating violence."

"I don’t plan to resign. We’re going to seek reelection," Mills told reporters, adding that he is cooperating.

There’s a hefty dose of partisan politics in the closely divided House. The departures of Swalwell, Gonzales and Cherfilus-McCormick means two Democrats and one Republican have been ousted. The Dems would love to even the score.

Speaker Mike Johnson, who pushed hard to expel Cherfilus-McCormick, has refused to criticize Mills. 

NANCY MACE MOVES TO EXPEL FELLOW REPUBLICAN CORY MILLS, CITING MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS

A state judge issued a restraining order against Mills last fall after a beauty contest winner who says she lived with him when he was in Florida alleged that he threatened to blackmail her by releasing images of them having sex. Mills called the accusation false and blamed it on a political opponent.

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace has introduced an expulsion resolution against Mills. "Cory, your days are numbered. Start packing," said Mace, who is being scrutinized by the ethics panel for improper reimbursement practices.    

In American history, only 21 members of Congress have been expelled – and 17 of those were for supporting the Confederacy during the Civil War.

The first Senate expulsion, in 1797, was of William Blount for conspiracy in helping Great Britain seize Spanish territory.

The first House expulsion was in 1980, when Michael "Ozzie" Myers was banished for bribery in the Abscam scandal.

James Trafficant was expelled in 2002 after being convicted of racketeering, bribery and tax evasion.

And George Santos – you remember him, the serial fabricator – was evicted in 2023 after an Ethics Committee report on campaign fraud.

That’s it. The Constitution requires a two-thirds majority in either house.

But in the case of Traficant, did the House really have to wait for a criminal conviction to decide that he was unfit to serve?

The House moved more quickly in the case of Ozzie Myers, who accepted a $50,000 bribe from undercover FBI agents and was caught on tape saying "money talks in this business and bulls--- walks."

In a rare tactic at the time, Anthony Weiner resigned during a sexting scandal in 2011 to avoid expulsion. One incentive: Turns out you can still get your federal benefits if you quit. 

It wasn’t until 2017 that Weiner pled guilty to sexting a 15-year-old girl and drew a 21-month sentence. His laptop famously became an issue in Hillary Clinton’s campaign the previous year.

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The marketing of departures also applies to the executive branch, and most corporations as well.

President Trump has fired three Cabinet members in recent weeks: Kristi Noem at Homeland Security, Pam Bondi at Justice, and Lori Chavez-DeRemer at Labor.

But these are always framed as resignations, though there’s nothing voluntary about it.

The president heaps praise on their performance. The exiles say they were thrilled to have the job. They know it’s a crock. We all know it’s a crock. But it provides a fig leaf of dignity.

Bondi and Noem may have committed political malpractice or, as at DOJ, not delivered the results Trump wanted in charging and convicting his political enemies.

But only Chavez-DeRemer is under investigation, by Labor’s inspector general. She has been accused of daytime drinking, ordering her staff to buy her wine at night, having an affair with one of her security guards, and using government resources for personal trips. Several top aides, including the security official, have resigned. Her husband has been barred from the building over complaints of unwanted sexual advances.

Chavez-DeRemer, who denies any wrongdoing, hasn’t been charged with anything, but was days away from being interviewed by investigators and became a growing distraction.  

"It has been an honor and a privilege to serve this historic administration and work for the greatest president of my lifetime," she said in an X posting.

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE'S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY'S HOTTEST STORIES

Maybe we’re sliding into an era of greater accountability. The long-toothless Ethics Committee is finally showing some bite. 

The voters always have the option of recalling House members in the next election, but that doesn’t mean much when nearly all districts are safe. But perhaps we’re reaching the point where it isn’t politically safe when Congress fails to police its own.  

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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday to push for wildfire relief funding, marking a rare moment of cooperation after months of clashes.

Bass shared a photo on X showing her and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger meeting with Trump and senior administration officials in the Oval Office.

Bass and Barger said the meeting included a "positive discussion" about Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding and rebuilding efforts following last year’s Palisades and Eaton fires.

"This afternoon we met with President Trump and Administration officials to advocate for families who lost everything," they said in a joint statement. "We had a very positive discussion about FEMA and other rebuilding funds as well as the support of the President to continue joining us in pressuring the insurance companies to pay what they owe – and for the big banks to step up to ease the financial pressure on L.A. families."

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"Our job is to fight for our communities," they added. "When it comes to this recovery, our federal partners are essential, and we are grateful for the support of the President."

The meeting comes after a yearlong standoff between California leaders and the Trump administration over wildfire recovery funding and the federal government’s role in rebuilding efforts.

The fires scorched more than 37,700 acres — which is larger than Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and Universal Studios combined — and destroyed more than 16,200 structures. The fires caused tens of billions of dollars in damage, and rebuilding efforts are ongoing as residents navigate insurance claims and rising costs.

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FEMA announced more than $3 billion in aid last June, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom later sought $33.9 billion in additional federal funding, according to the Los Angeles Times.

More recently, Newsom criticized Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over delays in releasing more than $500 million in FEMA funding tied to wildfire recovery.

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Bass, who has clashed with the Trump administration in recent months, including over immigration enforcement protests in Los Angeles, drew criticism from some online following the meeting.

Reality TV personality Spencer Pratt, who is running for mayor, mocked Bass on social media, posting "MAGA KAREN" in response to the Oval Office photo and accusing her of aligning with Trump ahead of the election.

He added, "Karen Bass sold her soul to Trump in a last-ditch desperation move ahead of the election LMAO."

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and Bass’ office for comment.

Fox News Digital's Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

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House Democrats are launching an investigation into FBI Director Kash Patel following a bombshell story from The Atlantic alleging he had "alarmed colleagues" with excessive drinking and erratic behavior. 

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and House Judiciary Democrats are demanding that Patel complete a 10-question test identifying "hazardous drinking behaviors" under the penalty of perjury.

"These glimpses of your relationship to alcohol would be alarming to see in an FBI agent; for us to see them in the FBI Director himself is shocking and indicative of a public emergency," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Patel late Tuesday evening. 

Patel has vigorously denied the allegations in The Atlantic story and said Tuesday he has "never been intoxicated on the job."

LEFT-WING GROUP CHASES PROOF OF KASH PATEL'S ALLEGED 'EXCESSIVE DRINKING' AS DEMS EYE FBI DIRECTOR'S OUSTER

"I can say unequivocally that I never listen to the fake news mafia, and as when they get louder, it just means I’m doing my job," he added, during a joint press conference with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Raskin also sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Chairman Jim Jordan, demanding that the top Republican require Patel to testify under oath in person if he does not provide the requested information.

The missive is likely to fall on deaf ears, with a spokesperson for the committee Republicans slamming the letter as "unserious" in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"Crime is down to record-low levels. Criminals are behind bars, and America is safer thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Director Patel," the spokesperson said. "This is just another unserious effort from anonymous sources and partisan actors to attack the President and his Administration." 

Democrats’ probe comes after Patel on Monday sued the outlet and Sarah Fitzpatrick, the story’s author, for $250 million in a defamation lawsuit alleging "actual malice."

 KASH PATEL CALLS ‘BULLS**T’ ON SWALWELL IN HEATED EXCHANGE OVER EPSTEIN FILES

The story, relying completely on anonymous sourcing, cited several officials detailing an alleged "emotional outburst" Patel had after being logged out of his computer. The outlet also reported officials alleging several instances of the FBI director engaging in copious drinking that led to difficulties waking him up.

"Defendants are of course free to criticize the leadership of the FBI, but they crossed the legal line by publishing an article replete with false and obviously fabricated allegations designed to destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office," the lawsuit states. 

The Atlantic released a statement defending its reporting and argued Patel’s lawsuit is "meritless."

Trump administration officials have publicly defended Patel following the viral story.

Blanche told reporters Tuesday that he had "a lot of concerns" with the report’s anonymous sourcing, but said he had not read it.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Atlantic that "Director Patel remains a critical player on the administration’s law and order team."

Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI for comment.

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill Tuesday allowing nursing home residents to drink alcohol, clearing the way for "happy hour" in senior living facilities.

Previously, Minnesota law barred facilities from organizing events that included alcohol without a liquor license. The new "Grandparents’ Happy Hour" law allows nursing homes and assisted living facilities to serve alcohol without one.

The measure also updates the state’s liquor laws, allowing some cities to issue licenses and easing rules for certain businesses, including nursing homes and University of Minnesota facilities.

Walz announced the bill in a post on X, encouraging seniors to enjoy a drink.

STATE OFFICIALS AND DAYCARE MANAGER PUSH BACK ON VIRAL VIDEO FRAUD ALLEGATIONS IN MINNESOTA

"Living in a nursing home shouldn’t mean giving up everyday freedoms," Walz wrote in a post on X. "I just signed a bill allowing seniors living in nursing homes to consume alcohol - so that everyone can enjoy happy hour!"

The law requires staff serving alcohol to be at least 18 years old, and facilities are responsible for ensuring residents do not overindulge.

The bill drew attention during the legislative session, largely due to Anita LeBrun, an 88-year-old resident of an assisted living facility whose support went viral.

FEDERAL PROSECUTORS OPEN INVESTIGATION INTO WALZ, FREY OVER ALLEGED IMPEDING OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

"My friends and I love happy hour, just like many of you do, I am sure," LeBrun said before the House Commerce, Finance and Policy Committee last month. 

"Over a shared drink, we get to reminisce about parts of our lives, military service, raising a family, the loss of a friend, and celebrating the golden phase of our lives too," she said.

LeBrun also told a state Senate committee that living in an assisted facility "doesn’t mean that we should have fewer freedoms than anyone else."

BIDEN-ERA HEALTH OFFICIALS QUIETLY URGED LIMITING ADULT ALCOHOL INTAKE AS TRUMP TAKES REINS FOR NEW GUIDANCE

She later appeared on "Fox & Friends," describing social gatherings with snacks and music where residents previously had to bring their own alcohol due to restrictions.

While policies vary, senior living communities in many states allow residents to drink or host informal social hours.

Minnesota’s rules stood out because they limited how facilities could organize and serve alcohol in communal settings.

"Living in a nursing home or assisted living facility should not mean giving up everyday freedoms," Walz said in a statement. "This bipartisan bill increases independence and safety under clear regulations, while ensuring residents are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve—including the ability to get together for happy hour."

As the bill was considered, industry advocates said it would preserve small routines that support quality of life.

"Ultimately, the ‘free the happy hour’ bill is about restoring a fundamental expectation — that moving into a senior living community does not mean giving up one’s autonomy," LeadingAge Minnesota, an industry group that represents senior living providers, said in a statement last month.

Fox News Digital's Deirdre Bardolf contributed to this report.

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Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Federal Reserve for the next four years, heads into a high-stakes confirmation hearing Tuesday with lawmakers on Capitol Hill set to scrutinize his views on inflation, independence and the Fed’s role.

The hearing comes as the Federal Reserve faces mounting political, legal and economic pressure, making it a key test of how the next chair could reshape the central bank’s independence at a critical moment for the U.S. economy.

And with current Fed Chair Jerome Powell's term coming to an end on May 15, 2026, Republicans are scurrying to get a nominee confirmed even though they face pushback within the party.

THE ONE LINE IN WARSH’S TESTIMONY SIGNALING A BREAK FROM THE FED’S STATUS QUO

No institution has more influence over what people can afford than the Federal Reserve — an impact Americans feel every month. But that influence isn’t always obvious.

The Fed doesn’t set the price of groceries or cars, but it does determine how expensive it is to borrow money to pay for them. And right now, borrowing is costly. High interest rates mean larger monthly payments on mortgages, car loans and credit cards — even if sticker prices haven’t changed.

This makes the Fed’s leadership especially consequential.

Against that backdrop, Warsh’s potential ascent would come at a turbulent time for the institution.

The pressure is coming from multiple fronts: the Justice Department is conducting a criminal probe involving Powell, the Supreme Court is weighing limits on the Fed’s independence and rising costs are testing Trump’s affordability pledge—intensifying the stakes for the next chair.

Adding to the uncertainty, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has signaled he may not support Warsh’s nomination in committee unless the Justice Department drops its investigation into Powell.

Taken together, what began as tension over interest-rate policy has since broadened into a wider confrontation, marking one of the most challenging stretches of Powell’s eight-year tenure leading the Fed.

TRUMP VS THE FEDERAL RESERVE: HOW THE CLASH REACHED UNCHARTED TERRITORY

Powell has called the DOJ investigation "unprecedented," describing it as another example of what he sees as escalating pressure on the central bank. His unusually public response — after days of private consultations with advisers — marks a sharp departure from his typically measured approach.

In March, Powell told reporters at the Federal Reserve he has "no intention of leaving" the central bank until the DOJ investigation is "fully resolved with transparency and finality." His term is slated to end next month.

Like Powell, Warsh is not an economist by training, instead bringing a background in law and finance that has shaped his views on the central bank.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Stanford University in 1992 and a law degree from Harvard in 1995, before building his career at Morgan Stanley. At 35, he became the youngest person to serve on the Fed’s Board of Governors in 2006.

Though he stepped down in 2011, Warsh was widely seen as the Fed’s key liaison to Wall Street during the 2008 financial crisis. He previously served in the Bush administration as a special assistant to the president for economic policy and executive secretary at the National Economic Council.

Warsh was also among Trump’s leading candidates to replace then-Fed Chair Janet Yellen in 2017, though the president ultimately selected Powell for the role.

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