Senate showdown: Fetterman and McCormick set for high-stakes Pennsylvania forum
PROGRAMMING ALERT: THE SENATE PROJECT SERIES DISCUSSION WITH SENATORS JOHN FETTERMAN AND DAVID McCORMICK MODERATED BY FOX NEWS SUNDAY HOST SHANNON BREAM WILL BE STREAMED ON FOX NATION AND FOX NEWS DIGITAL MONDAY, JUNE 2 LIVE AT 9 AM ET.
Battleground Pennsylvania senators – Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Dave McCormick – will face off at a Fox News co-hosted forum to debate key issues affecting Americans.
The two first-term senators from the crucial northeastern swing state are taking part Monday in the sixth installment of The Senate Project series, organized by the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate and the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation.
The event, which will be moderated by Fox News' Shannon Bream, anchor of "Fox News Sunday," will take place at 9 a.m. ET in a full-sized replica of the U.S. Senate Chamber at the Kennedy Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, with a live audience.
Fox News Media is the exclusive media partner for the Senate Project and the conversation, which will be livestreamed on FOX Nation.
Sen. Mccormick 'Optimistic' About Working With Sen. Fetterman To Find 'Common Ground': 'Embracing' Change
Read On The Fox News App
The Senate Project series brings together sitting senators from opposing parties for civil dialogue about current political issues, with the goal of identifying solutions and bridging partisan divides. The series reflects the shared mission of the Kennedy Institute and Hatch Foundation to advance bipartisanship.
"Vigorous and open dialogue is an essential part of our democracy and having these two senators from opposite sides of the aisle discuss important issues of the day is a valuable contribution to the public discourse," Kennedy Institute Chairman Bruce A. Percelay said in a statement.
Matt Sandgren, the Hatch Foundation's executive director, added: "The Senate Project series continues to underscore the importance of bipartisan dialogue. This unique partnership between the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute is a model for achieving civility and solutions."
Previous installments of the series have featured GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a champion of the progressive movement; Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa; and Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware and then-Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who now serves as secretary of state in President Donald Trump's second administration.Original article source: Senate showdown: Fetterman and McCormick set for high-stakes Pennsylvania forum
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Post
17 minutes ago
- New York Post
Rubio warns Iran if it strikes back, it will be ‘worst mistake they ever made'
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday said the US attacked Iran because it 'tried to play'' President Trump — and warned if it attempts to retaliate, it will be 'the worst mistake they ever made.'' 'That was an Iranian choice. We didn't make that choice,' Rubio told Fox News' 'Sunday Morning Futures.' Iran 'tried to play' Trump similar to how 'they've played every American president for the last 35 years,' Rubio said. 'They did by playing games with Donald Trump. They made a huge mistake. 4 Secretary of State Marco Rubio stresses Sunday that the US is not at war with Iran at the moment. FOX News 'If they retaliate, it will be the worst mistake they've ever made,' he said. 'Look, we can fly in and out of Iran at will. We went in last night. The president sent our military forces from halfway across the world, went in, conducted this operation, left and not a shot was fired against us.' Rubio noted that Trump wrote to Iran about two months ago giving Tehran 60 days to negotiate over its nuclear program. 'They use diplomacy to hide behind and obfuscate and think they can buy themselves time. They think they're cute, they're not cute, and they're not going to get away with this stuff, not under President Trump,' Rubio said. Iran has seethed at the attack on its nuclear sites — dubbed 'Operation Midnight Hammer' by the US — and vowed that America 'shall be held fully accountable,' without elaborating on specifics. 4 President Trump was warned Iran that there will be consequences if it retaliates. POOL/AFP via Getty Images Some analysts have speculated that Iran could fire off attacks against US bases or other military assets in the region. In 2020, Iran attacked the Al-Asad Airbase in Iraq, where the US had troops stationed, in response to the killing of notorious Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani. But the Israelis have significantly degraded Iran's offensive and defensive capabilities since launching Operation Rising Lion against its enemy a little more than a week ago to take out its nuclear program. 'They are completely vulnerable, completely vulnerable,' Rubio said of Iran. 'They don't control their own airspace, they can't protect their own airspace. 'They can't even protect their own leaders,' he said. 'So I think it would be a big mistake if they did anything against us. But look, they'll have to make that decision.' One potential reprisal that many experts fear is that Iran could attempt to close the Straits of Hormuz, where an estimated 20% to 25% of the world's consumed oil flows. 4 The US deployed its famous B-2 stealth bombers to drop heavy-duty 'bunker-buster' bombs on Iran's nuclear facilities. 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs 'I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that because they heavily depend on the Straits of Hormuz for their oil,' Rubio said. 'If [Iranian officials try to close the waterway], it will be another terrible mistake. It's economic suicide for them if they do it.' The secretary of state stressed that 'this is not a war against Iran' and denied the US is seeking regime change with its military campaign against the theocracy. 4 All eyes are on Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to see how the brutal regime will respond to the American attacks on its three nuclear facilities. via Getty Images 'That's certainly not the goal of what we're working on here, the goal, stated very clearly in a letter the president sent the Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei],' the secretary of state said. Rubio also tore into Iran's troubled history, assessing that it's 'the sole source of instability in the entire Middle East, and the world's been paying a price for this for 40-something years. 'Imagine those people having a nuclear weapon, just one, just one nuclear weapon or even the capability to being on the threshold of having a nuclear weapon,' he warned. While several neighboring countries in the Middle East have condemned the strikes, Rubio claimed that 'privately, they all agree with us that this needed to be done.' He also suggested that European powers should consider slapping sanctions on Tehran.


The Hill
37 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump ropes Fed into debt fight as GOP faces fiscal mess
President Trump is pushing the Federal Reserve to go beyond its legal mandate and help him manage the national debt as Republicans face growing pressure over the nation's finances. In a series of remarks and social media posts, Trump has ripped Fed Chair Jerome Powell for refusing to lower interest rates, insisting he should help the White House manage the costs of servicing more than $36 trillion in national debt. ''Too Late' Jerome Powell is costing our Country Hundreds of Billions of Dollars. He is truly one of the dumbest, and most destructive, people in Government, and the Fed Board is complicit,' Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social, a day after the Fed held rates steady. While Trump has spent most of his two White House stints berating Powell to cut rates, only recently has he tied those demands to the country's deteriorating fiscal health. 'We're beginning to see what I think are the early warning signs that the Fed is going to be increasingly called upon to keep the government solvent,' said David Beckworth, senior research fellow and monetary policy director at the Mercatus Center, a libertarian-leaning think tank at George Mason University. 'When you begin to see this type of rhetoric, it's a clear sign that people are beginning to get nervous,' Beckworth explained. 'And how else can we save money? Well, let's turn into the Fed and put pressure on them.' Trump's escalating pressure on Powell over the national debt comes as he and Republicans stand to add trillions of dollars to it through a major tax-cut bill. Republican lawmakers are attempting to find common ground on what Trump has called his 'big, beautiful bill.' The legislation features an extension of his 2017 tax cuts, additional cuts the president proposed during the 2024 campaign, and steep cuts to social safety net programs. While GOP lawmakers claim the bill would help solve the country's fiscal woes, a range of ideologically diverse analysts forecast the bill to add anywhere between $2 trillion to nearly $4 trillion to the national debt. At the same time, Trump is attempting to secure GOP support to raise the debt ceiling before the Treasury Department runs out of ways to avoid a default — a deadline that could come as soon as August. Trump is 'kind of speaking out of both sides of his mouth,' said Dan Alpert, managing partner at investment firm Westwood Capital 'He's got this enormous, $3.5 trillion dollar continuation of a tax cut from his first term that he wants to get across the line,' Alpert added. Republican lawmakers have argued that such estimates don't take into account the economic growth unlocked by lower tax rates, which they say would help narrow deficits over time. But the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that even when accounting for growth impacts, the bill would still add $3.3 trillion to the debt over the next ten years — more than the CBO projected without considering the preferred GOP scoring. 'The fundamental issue is we have a Congress and a president who cannot bring the budget deficit under control,' Beckworth said. While both Republicans and Democrats are to blame, he added, 'for a party that has claimed historically it is concerned about their debt burden, it is going to blow things up even more.' Trump's efforts to push the Fed into managing the debt mark a significant break from more than 70 years of federal economic policy. During World War I and II, the Fed yielded to pressure from presidential administrations to keep interest rates low and ease the burden of the rising debt. While that practice extended for nearly a decade after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Fed and Treasury eventually reached an agreement in 1951, setting the stage for the next seven decades of economic management. 'The purpose of the 'accord' was to make Treasury manage its debt, rather than expecting the Fed to 'monetize' it. In turn, the Fed asserted its control of monetary policy via the setting of interest rates to meet congressional mandates for price stability and maximizing employment,' said Sarah Binder, political science professor at George Washington University and co-author of 'The Myth of Independence: How Congress Governs the Federal Reserve.' The Fed has since avoided anything that could be considered financing the federal debt while sticking to its 'dual mandate' of balancing unemployment and inflation. And while several presidents have verbally pressured the Fed to keep rates low since 1951, none has made a formal move to limit its legal authority over monetary policy. 'Based on most concepts of 'independent' monetary policy, the central bank shouldn't be monetizing the debt. That is, it shouldn't be taking the administration's financing needs into account when it aims to meet its mandates,' Binder said. 'Those mandates are price stability and strong labor markets,' she added. 'Congress has not given the Fed an additional mandate to make it easier for the Treasury to finance its debt.' But Trump could be laying the groundwork for a shift toward a 'fiscal dominance' regime, Beckworth warned, in which the Fed would be forced to clean up the government's fiscal mess and abandon the bank's legal obligation to keep prices stable and unemployment low. 'Maybe we're not there yet, but we're getting close,' Beckworth said. 'If they push, push, push, and then at some point, the Fed loses independence … and it's no longer able to control inflation.' Trump griped Wednesday, hours before the Fed's latest hold, that he was unable to sway Powell into making major interest rate reductions. 'He's not a smart person,' Trump said of Powell. 'I think he hates me, but that's OK, you know, he should. He should. I call him every name in the book to get him to do something.' Powell brushed off several questions Wednesday about Trump's attacks and the potential debt impact of the president's agenda, but has implored the White House and Congress throughout his time as Fed chief to get the nation's finances on a sustainable track. Trump will be able to add 'former Chair' to his list of names for Powell come 2026, when his four-year term leading the Fed board lapses. Whomever Trump nominates to succeed Powell will almost certainly be more aligned with the president's thinking and face an easy path to confirmation in a GOP-controlled Senate. Even so, Powell is but one of 12 Fed officials on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) who vote to set interest rates — all of whom voted to keep borrowing costs steady Wednesday. 'Even if you got rid of Powell, you'd have to remake the FOMC with yes-men,' Beckworth said. Powell could also choose to stay on as a member of the Fed board through 2028. That would be an usual move for a former Fed chair, but Powell has not ruled it out. 'Powell has not budged, and the FOMC has not budged despite Trump's incessant ranting and pressure and whatever else he can throw at them,' Beckworth said. 'They're still sticking to their guns.'


New York Post
43 minutes ago
- New York Post
NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani slams US bombing of Iran nuclear sites: ‘Dark new chapter'
Anti-Israel mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is blasting the US bombing of Iran's nuclear sites as an 'unconstitutional military action. 'Donald Trump ran for president promising to end wars, not start new ones,' the Democratic Socialist said in a statement released on X late Saturday. 'Today's unconstitutional military action represents a dark, new chapter in his endless betrayals that now threaten to plunge the world deeper into chaos,' the New York City candidate wrote. 'In a city as global as ours, the impacts of war are felt deeply here at home.' 4 'Donald Trump ran for president promising to end wars, not start new ones,' candidate Zohran Mamdani said in a statement on X, blasting the bombings. Vincent Alban/UPI/Shutterstock 4 'Today's unconstitutional military action represents a dark, new chapter in his endless betrayals that now threaten to plunge the world deeper into chaos,' Mamdani said about Trump's decision. AP Mamdani also blamed the 'political establishment' for spending money on weaponry and 'endless wars' rather than on fighting poverty and promoting peace. 'For Americans middle aged and younger, this is all we have known,' said Mamdani, who is running a strong second in polls to front-runner Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary for mayor. 'We cannot accept it any longer,' the candidate said. The Cuomo campaign had no immediate comment on the US airstrikes. But city Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander also slammed the bombing. 'Trump's reckless & unconstitutional strikes against Iran are a dangerous escalation of war — and threaten countless Iranian, Israeli & American lives,' Lander wrote on X on Saturday, after President Trump's address to the nation outlining why the US launched the bombs at Iran. 4 City Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander also condemned the bombing, calling it 'reckless & unconstitutional.' William Farrington 'My thoughts are with families fearing for their safety, and the thousands of New Yorkers worrying tonight about loved ones in Iran,' Lander said. Trump defended the bombing in his speech by saying, 'Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's No. 1 state sponsor of terror.' The US strikes came before Tuesday's final day of voting in the Big Apple's Democratic primary for mayor after Sunday's last day of early voting, overshadowing and potentially impacting the outcome. Stay up to date on the latest developments in the U.S. airstrike on Iran Mayor Eric Adams, who is seeking re-election on an independent ballot line, said he ordered the NYPD to 'increase its presence around religious, cultural, and diplomatic sites throughout the five boroughs' in the wake of the US attack. 'Thinking about our large Persian population here in NYC at this time,' he wrote on X on Saturday night. Mamdani's close Democratic Socialist ally, New York City Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said Trump's bombing of Iran is 'grounds for impeachment.' 4 Trump defended the bombing, saying, 'our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's No. 1 state sponsor of terror.' via REUTERS Mamdani has come under fire for his vicious bashing of Israel, which has also struck Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities in an effort to prevent Tehran from building nuke bombs. He is a staunch supporter of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against the Jewish state, and refused to condemn the 'globalize the intifada' rallying cry — a slogan that has been denounced for allegedly stoking antisemitic violence.