Remember the short-lived dockworkers’ strike which crippled ports on the East and Gulf Coasts in October?

The strike only lasted three days, but cost the American economy billions in lost revenue. The work stoppage was temporarily resolved when the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) agreed to a 61.5% wage increase over the next six years. The ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance tabled other issues, the most important of which is the automation of ports.

The contract extension that was negotiated expires on January 15, 2025 – five days before President-elect Trump takes office for his second term.

DOCKWORKERS’ UNION WALKS AWAY NEGOTIATIONS WITH EAST AND GULF COAST EMPLOYERS

However, there is a major glitch, which had been under-reported by corporate media: the two sides stopped all negotiations in mid-November, with the ILA walking away from the negotiating table, stating, “USMX introduced language in their proposal for semi-automated equipment to be used at ILA ports, which this union outright rejected. The ILA recognized this as a renewed attempt by USMX to eliminate ILA jobs with automation and broke off talks.”

The president of the ILA, Harold J. Daggett is adamant that no automation enters American ports under his control. Mr. Daggett is against almost any use of technology. He is even against E-Z pass use on the nation’s tollways, lamenting the loss of toll booth workers’ union jobs because E-Z Passes allow “motorists to zip through like it’s nothing and then get billed in the mail… all those union jobs are gone,” he claimed in a post to the ILA’s YouTube channel in September.

Perhaps Mr. Daggett should do some reading. According to a recent survey by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence, United States ports are some of the least efficient in the world, with the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach being ranked as the two least efficient ports in the world, losing to such ports as Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo. 

Yes, ports in the United States are less efficient than ports in third-world nations. No American port was near the top 10 most efficient ports in the world. The culprit – the lack of automation. It takes between one and three days to unload a container ship in the United States. By comparison, ports in Japan take 0.36 days to unload a similarly sized ship.

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Mr. Daggett is focused on the wrong fight. Instead of fighting automation, he should embrace it. Instead of walking away from the negotiating table in order to protect antiquated union jobs, he should be pushing the USMX to automate faster, while protecting jobs.

A simple position of embracing automation but guaranteeing that any union member who loses his or her job to automation will be hired by the USMX with the same salary and benefits package, would avoid a strike and would help the United States transition its ports to being world-class, moving us out of the nineteenth century and into the twenty-first century.

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Newly nominated Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, will have to address this challenge on day one of the Trump administration. Secretary Duffy needs to show that he will remove the DOT’s focus on equity in roads and bridges and drive efficiencies, returning the United States to its rightful position as the most advanced nation in the world.

The answers are not hard, they only take courage to implement.

The pardon debate – individual, group, partisan, preemptive – is spinning out of control.

In his “Meet the Press” interview, Donald Trump mocked Joe Biden’s repeated assurances about Hunter: “‘I’m not going to give my son a pardon. I will not under any circumstances give him a pardon.’ I watch this and I always knew he was going to give him a pardon.”

In a portion of that interview that did not air but was posted online, the president-elect complained to Kristen Welker:

“The press was obviously unfair to me. The press, no president has ever gotten treated by the press like I was.”

BIDEN’S PARDONING OF HUNTER INDICATES HE HAS ‘A LOT MORE TO HIDE’: LARA TRUMP

Why did he appear on “Meet the Press”? “You’re very hostile,” Trump said. Her response: “Well, hopefully, you thought it was a fair interview. We covered a lot of policy grounds.”

“It’s fair only in that you allowed me to say what I say. But you know, the answers to questions are, you know, pretty nasty. But look, because I’ve seen you interview other people like Biden.”

“I’ve never interviewed President Biden,” Welker responded. Trump said he was speaking “metaphorically.”

“I’ve seen George Stephanopoulos interview. And he’s a tough interviewer. It’s the softest interview I’ve seen. CNN interview. They give these soft, you know, what’s your favorite ice cream? It’s a whole different deal. I don’t understand why.”

The strength of Welker’s approach is that she asked as many as half a dozen follow-ups on major topics, making more news. When she asked, for instance, whether he would actually deport 11 million illegal immigrants, as he’d said constantly on the campaign trail, he answered yes – which for some reason lots of news outlets led with. But a subsequent question got Trump to say he didn’t think the Dreamers should be expelled and would work it out with the Democrats.

As for Trump, he reminded me of the candidate I interviewed twice this year. He was sharp and serious, connecting on each pitch, fouling a few off. This was not the candidate talking about sharks at rallies. 

BIDEN, TRUMP BOTH RIP DOJ AFTER PRESIDENT PARDONS HUNTER

With one significant misstep, he made the case that he was not seeking retribution – even backing off a campaign pledge that he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden.

That misstep, when Trump couldn’t hold back, was in saying of the House Jan. 6 Committee members, including Liz Cheney: “For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.”

He did add the caveat that he would let his attorney general and FBI chief make that decision, but it allowed media outlets to lead with Trump wanting his political opponents behind bars. For what it’s worth, there’s no crime in lawmakers holding hearings, and this business about them withholding information seems like a real stretch.

Now back to the pardons. This mushrooming debate was obviously triggered by the president breaking his repeated promise with a sweeping, decade-long pardon of his son, a 54-year-old convicted criminal.

But then, as first reported by Politico, we learned that the Biden White House is debating whether to issue a whole bunch of preemptive pardons to people perceived to be potential targets of Trumpian retaliation.

But the inconvenient truth is that anyone accepting such a pardon would essentially admit to the appearance of being guilty. That’s why Sen.-elect Adam Schiff says he doesn’t want a pardon and won’t accept one.

MEDIA ADMITS THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS TOO ‘WOKE’ AFTER KAMALA HARRIS’ 2024 LOSS

But many of those potential recipients don’t even know they’re under consideration for sweeping pardons covering anything they may or may not have done.

It is a truly awful idea, and with Biden and Trump both agreeing that DOJ engages in unfair and selective prosecutions – which in the Republican’s case made his numbers go up – the stage is set for endless rounds of payback against each previous administration.

I remember first thinking about the unchecked power of presidential pardons when Bill Clinton delivered a last-minute one to ally and super-wealthy Marc Rich.

Former President Bill Clinton used his pardoning power to let off Marc Rich, an uber-wealthy ally of his. (Photo by Julia Beverly/Getty Images)

So it’s time to hear from Alexander Hamilton, who pushed it into the Constitution. Keep in mind that in that horse-and-buggy era, there were very few federal offenses because most law enforcement was done by the states.

In Federalist 74, published in 1788, Hamilton said a single person was better equipped than an unwieldy group, and such decisions should be broadly applied to help those in need.   

“In seasons of insurrection or rebellion,” the future Treasury secretary wrote, “there are often critical moments, when a welltimed offer of pardon to the insurgents or rebels may restore the tranquillity of the commonwealth.”

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Otherwise, it might be too late.

But another founding father, George Mason, opposed him, saying a president “may frequently pardon crimes which were advised by himself. It may happen, at some future day, that he will establish a monarchy, and destroy the republic. If he has the power of granting pardons before indictment, or conviction, may he not stop inquiry and prevent detection?”

An excellent argument, but Hamilton won out.

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As Hamilton envisioned, George Washington, in 1794, granted clemency to leaders of the Whiskey Rebellion to calm a fraught situation.

Something tells me that Biden, Trump and their allies aren’t poring over the Federalist papers. But it’s still an awful lot of sweeping power to place in the hands of one chief executive, for which the only remedy is impeachment.

Prosecutors in New York City charged accused UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione with murder late Monday night, according to online court records.

The 26-year-old was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon (loaded firearm), possession of a forged instrument and criminal possession of a weapon (firearm silencer) in the brazen Dec. 4 shooting death of Brian Thompson.

Thompson, 50, was shot from behind on the sidewalk outside a NYC Hilton hotel before a shareholder conference. He was appointed the CEO of the company in April 2021.

Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday after a five-day nationwide manhunt for Thompson’s killer.

UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO MURDER SUSPECT ARRESTED AT PENNSYLVANIA MCDONALD’S

Rookie Altoona police officer Tyler Frye took Mangione into custody after an employee and a customer at a McDonald’s in the town thought he looked like the suspect on a wanted poster and called authorities.

When officers approached Mangione, who was wearing a mask and a beanie and working on a laptop in the back of the restaurant, and asked him to remove his face covering, they recognized him as the suspect wanted for questioning in Thompson’s murder.

During that encounter, he allegedly handed over a fake ID, gave a phony name, and “became quiet and started to shake” when asked if he’d recently been to New York.

He was also allegedly in possession of writings criticizing the healthcare industry and a ghost gun similar to the one believed to have been used to kill Thompson.

Luigi Mangione was charged with multiple crimes, including first-degree murder, in New York City late Monday night in connection with the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Altoona police initially took Mangione into custody on charges unrelated to Thompson’s murder – possession of an unlicensed firearm, providing false identification to police and forgery.

WHO IS LUIGI MANGIONE, SUSPECT IN UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO MURDER? 

Mangione graduated top of his class from the elite Gilman School in Baltimore, and even delivered the commencement speech at his 2016 graduation, according to video of the ceremony.

“He seemed like a smart kid, he was always doing the right thing, it seemed like,” a former classmate, who was shocked by the arrest, told Fox News Digital Monday. “Wasn’t crazy.”

He then graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in engineering and was part of the Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society for Electrical and Computer Engineering.

A photo obtained by Fox News Digital shows Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)

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Mangione is expected to be extradited to New York as early as Tuesday.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz and Brooke Curto contributed to this report.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, signed a bill into law on Monday to prohibit public libraries and school libraries from banning books in the state.

The law will also implement protections for librarians who follow the law against civil and criminal charges, according to The Associated Press.

This makes New Jersey the latest state to enact a law prohibiting book bans, joining other Democrat-led states, including Illinois and Minnesota.

Murphy signed the bill at Princeton’s public library, located near Princeton University. The legislation comes in response to Republican-leaning states that have looked to remove books in recent years from school curriculum and school libraries that they deem inappropriate for young children, such as books containing sexually explicit material or that center on LGBTQ+ or Critical Race Theory.

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“It’s the antithesis of all these book banning states that you see,” the governor said. “I’m incredibly proud to have signed it, but also acknowledge that America — and this is yet another good example — is becoming a patchwork quilt country. It really matters where you live.”

Under the law, public libraries and school libraries may not exclude books because of the origin, background or views of the material or of its authors. Libraries will also be prohibited from censoring books solely because a person finds them offensive.

The bill allows books to be restricted in the case of “developmentally inappropriate material” for certain age groups. The law also requires local school boards and the governing bodies of public libraries to establish policies for book curation and the removal of library materials, including a way to address concerns over certain titles.

Lawmakers in more than 15 states have proposed bills this year to impose harsh penalties on libraries or librarians.

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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy speaks at Princeton Public Library before signing legislation aimed at prohibiting school and public libraries from banning books in the state on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (AP)

Conservative parents and activists argue that the books are too sexually explicit or otherwise inappropriate, particularly for younger children. National groups such as Moms for Liberty have said parents should have more of a say over which books ought to be available to their children.

Librarians praised the enactment of New Jersey’s law, with Karen Grant, president of the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, saying the bill recognizes librarians’ professionalism and promotes libraries as a source of information.

“The bill will protect the intellectual freedom of students as well as acknowledge that school libraries are centers for voluntary inquiry, fostering students’ growth and development,” Grant said.

Retired librarian Martha Hickson spoke on Monday alongside the governor about how parents first suggested her book collections contained pedophilia and pornography during a school board meeting in 2021. She watched the livestream in shock as they objected to the availability of the novel “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison, which contains graphic descriptions of sex between men and children, and the illustrated memoir “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe.

Retired librarian Martha Hickson speaks at Princeton Public Library on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, where Gov. Phil Murphy was set to sign a bill aimed at prohibiting bans on books in schools and public libraries. (AP)

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Hickson, who said parents suggested she should be criminally liable for the availability of the books, said Monday that it was time to celebrate after three years of harassment.

“I’m thrilled,” she said. “After more than three years of harassment, this legislation is a relief to readers and librarians.”

The law is set to take effect in a year, although the state education commissioner and state librarian may begin taking steps to implement the law.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Cincinnati Bengals have had some crushing defeats this season, but something finally went their way to cash a 23-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys on “Monday Night Football.”

The Bengals snapped a three-game losing streak, moving to 5-8 on the season. Meanwhile, the Cowboys’ win streak of two games comes to a halt and they are also 5-8 on the year. 

At the two-minute warning, the Bengals were in their own zone after a potential game-winning drive went awry. Facing fourth-and-27, they had no choice but to punt, and things got much worse when Cal Adomitis blocked the punt which should’ve given the Cowboys perfect field position to take the lead late in the game. 

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Then, that big Bengals break came for Zac Taylor’s squad. 

Amani Oruwariye thought it was smart to try and recover the bouncing ball as it was making its way downfield, but he was unable to field it cleanly. 

Since it touched Oruwariye, the Bengals could recover and regain possession, and that’s exactly what happened as Maema Njongmeta fell on the ball at the Cincinnati 43-yard line to give Joe Burrow and his crew another shot at taking the lead. 

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Just three plays later, Burrow found ol’ reliable, Ja’Marr Chase, on a short pass where he made a Cowboys cornerback miss and he was off to the races for a 40-yard touchdown to make it 27-20 after the extra point. 

That capped another “Monday Night Football” highlight reel for Chase, who finished the game with 177 yards on 14 catches with two touchdowns, which also included the first for the Bengals on the night. 

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (88) makes a touchdown over the Cincinnati Bengals in the first quarter during Monday Night Football at AT&T Stadium in Arlington,Texas on Monday, December 9, 2024. (IMAGN)

Cooper Rush and the Cowboys did have enough time to move downfield for a potential game-tying drive. But on fourth-and-7 near midfield, Rush overshot Jake Ferguson and the ball hit the turf, sealing Dallas’ fate as a loss. 

CeeDee Lamb, who scored the game’s first touchdown and had 93 yards on six catches, was jumping up and down because he was wide open in the middle of the field. Rush didn’t see him, and thus the result. 

Burrow’s night was another spectacular one, as he went 33-for-44 for 369 yards with three touchdowns – the other a catch-and-run by running back Chase Brown in the first half – as well as an interception.

For the Cowboys, a positive trend continued for Rico Dowdle despite the loss, as the young running back rushed for a game-high 131 yards on just 18 carries. Since taking over the lead role in the backfield, Dowdle has really turned it on late in the season. 

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase (1) and wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) celebrate Chase’s touchdown in the first quarter of Dallas Cowboys during Monday Night Football at AT&T Stadium in Arlington,Texas on Monday, December 9, 2024. (IMAGN)

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Both of these teams might not be in playoff position with four games remaining, but a primetime thriller was seen at AT&T Stadium where the Bengals finally tasted victory again. 

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President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, celebrated that he had a “great meeting” with Sen. Joni Ernst after the Iowa Republican slow-walked an endorsement of the Cabinet nominee. 

“It was a great meeting. People don’t really know this. I’ve known Sen. Ernst for over 10 years. I knew her when she was a state senator running to be the first female combat veteran,” Hegseth told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in an exclusive interview Monday evening. “And we supported her in that effort, and have continued to.”

“You get into these meetings and you to listen to senators –  it’s an amazing advise and consent process — and you hear how thoughtful, serious, substantive they are on these key issues that pertain to our Defense Department,” he continued. “And Joni Ernst is front and center on that. So to able to have phone calls and meetings time and time again to talk over the issues is really, really important. The fact that she’s willing to support me through this process means a lot.”

AFTER SECOND MEETING WITH HEGSETH, ERNST HINTS AT WHETHER SHE WILL OR WON’T SUPPORT CONFIRMATION

Hegseth has been spending his days on Capitol Hill meeting with Republican senators to rally support as he battles allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking and mismanaging a veterans nonprofit organization. Hegseth has denied the allegations and vowed that he won’t drink “a drop of alcohol” if confirmed to Trump’s cabinet.

PETE HEGSETH SAYS HE WILL BE ‘STANDING RIGHT HERE IN THIS FIGHT’ AFTER MEETING WITH SENATORS

Among Hegseth’s meetings on Monday, he again met with Ernst, who sits on the ​​Senate Armed Services Committee, after meeting with her last week. 

Last week, Ernst withheld committing to voting in favor of Hegseth, but hinted Monday that she is beginning to support the Trump nominee. 

Ernst wrote in a statement Monday that “as I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.”

She added in her statement that “following our encouraging conversations, Pete committed to completing a full audit of the Pentagon and selecting a senior official who will uphold the roles and value of our servicemen and women – based on quality and standards, not quotas – and who will prioritize and strengthen my work to prevent sexual assault within the ranks.”

Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth joins Fox News Sean Hannity.  (Fox News)

​​Trump nominated Hegseth, a former National Guard officer, as secretary of defense last month, saying “with Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.” Hegseth was a host on “Fox & Friends Weekend” before Trump’s nomination. 

Fox News Digital reported Sunday, following Ernst’s initial hesitation to support Hegseth, that Trump’s allies were expected to ramp up criticisms against her as she stalls on offering support to Trump’s secretary of defense pick.

CONSERVATIVE GROUP COMPILES LIST OF ‘WOKE’ SENIOR OFFICERS THEY WANT PETE HEGSETH TO FIRE

“It’s really this simple: If you oppose President Trump’s nominees, you oppose the Trump agenda and there will be a political price to pay for that. We are well aware that there are certain establishment Senators trying to tank the President’s nominees to make him look weak and damage him politically, and we’re just not going to allow that to happen,” a top Trump ally told Fox News Digital. 

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) talks to reporters following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon in the U.S. Capitol on February 14, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Hegseth continued in his interview with Hannity that he will also meet with Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, who Hannity identified as a pair of more liberal Republican senators compared to their colleagues. 

“We will be meeting with Sen. Collins on Wednesday and Sen. Murkowski on Tuesday. And let me tell you, Sean, the founders got this right. This is not a trivial process. This is a real thing: advise and consent of a nominee who the president has chosen. And I’m so grateful that President Trump would have the faith in me to lead the Defense Department, to choose me to do that. But this advise and consent process, meeting with all the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and they all have great questions, and my answers are for them,” Hegseth said. 

The SecDef nominee also pushed back on claims of impropriety during the interview, arguing “the left is trying to turn this into a trial in the media –  show trial –  and we’re not going to let that happen.”

“I’m going to walk into the door of every one of these senators with just, as an open book, willing to answer their questions, because they deserve answers. … I’ve heard great things about all of these senators and the questions they want to ask, and we look forward to earning these votes. That’s what it’s about, ultimately earning the votes through the committee and through the entire U.S. Senate,” he said. 

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be defense secretary, is joined by his wife Jennifer Hegseth, as they walk through the basement of the Capitol, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

DOZENS OF PROMINENT VETERANS SIGN ONTO LETTER SUPPORTING ‘OUTSTANDING’ HEGSETH NOMINATION AMID CONTROVERSIES

Reports surfaced last week alleging Trump had lost faith in his nominee as Democrats slammed the choice and some Republicans, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, remarked the allegations against Hegseth were “disturbing.” Trump bucked the claims when he doubled down on his support of Hegseth in a Truth Social post on Friday, while Vice President-elect JD Vance also said the Trump team is “​​not abandoning this nomination.”

Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump takes the stage during a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena on August 23, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. The rally, held in partnership with Turning Point PAC and Turning Point Action, comes come two weeks after Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Vice President Harris held a rally at the same location.  (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

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​​”Pete Hegseth is doing very well. His support is strong and deep,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. “He will be a fantastic, high ​​energy, Secretary of Defense, one who leads with charisma and skill. Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!”

Fox News Digital’s Cameron Cawthorne and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. 

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, praised women in the military as some of the “greatest warriors” after critics took issue with comments he made about women not being fit to serve in combat roles. 

“I also want an opportunity here to clarify comments that have been misconstrued, that I somehow don’t support women in the military, some of our greatest warriors, our best warriors out there are women,” he told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday. 

Female service members “love our nation, want to defend that flag, and they do it every single day around the globe. I’m not presuming anything,” he added. 

“But after President Trump asked me to be his Secretary of Defense, should I get the opportunity to do that, I look forward to being a secretary for all our warriors, men and women, for the amazing contributions they make in our military.”

Hegseth will spend this week meeting with senators on Capitol Hill to court the 50 votes he needs to secure the Cabinet level position. 

AFTER SECOND MEETING WITH HEGSETH, ERNST HINTS AT WHETHER SHE WILL OR WON’T SUPPORT CONFIRMATION

In a November 7 episode of the Shawn Ryan podcast, which aired mere days before Hegseth, a former Fox News employee, was tapped to serve as Defense Secretary, the nominee said: “I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.”

Hegseth asserted that women serving in combat roles “hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal” and “has made fighting more complicated.”

Hegseth noted that he was not necessarily advocating for making the change right now, commenting; “Imagine the demagoguery in Washington, D.C., if you were actually making the case for, you know, ‘We should scale back women in combat.’”

Hegseth is attending meetings on Capitol Hill with senators whose vote he needs to be confirmed (Anna Moneymaker)

“As the disclaimer for everybody out there,” he added, “we’ve all served with women and they’re great, it’s just our institutions don’t have to incentivize that in places where … over human history, men are more capable.”

TRUMP RALLIES BEHIND HEGSETH BUT INVITES DESANTIS TO ARMY-NAVY GAME

He said, “I love women service members who contribute amazingly,” but asserted that “everything about women serving together makes the situation more complicated and complication in combat means casualties are worse.”

He also criticized the upper echelons of military leadership for changing standards and prioritizing filling diversity quotas above combat effectiveness. He pointed to a 2015 study by the Marine Corps that found that integrated male-female units did “drastically worse” in terms of combat effectiveness than all-male units.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be defense secretary, left, joined by his wife Jennifer Hegseth, attends a meeting with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (AP )

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“Between bone density and lung capacity and muscle strength, men and women are just different,” he said. “So, I’m ok with if you maintain the standards just where they are for everybody, and if there’s some, you know, hard-charging female that meets that standard, great, cool, join the infantry battalion. But that is not what’s happened. What has happened is the standards have lowered.”

U.S. lawmakers from New Jersey joined in many residents’ frustrations over dozens of reports of drones being flown near sensitive sites like a military research facility in recent weeks, and they are now calling on federal agencies to immediately help investigate and address the escalating issue.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., joined law enforcement leaders in his district on Monday on Long Beach Island, having been one of the key figures leading efforts to investigate the source and possible risks associated with the drone activity.

“I have been speaking with Ocean County Sheriff Mike Mastronardy, Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden, and national security officials located in the area to discuss the widespread reports of unidentified drone activity across my central New Jersey congressional district and across our state,” Smith said in a statement. “Understandably, New Jersey residents are very alarmed at this significant and reoccurring phenomenon – and the tepid response from our state and federal agencies so far is totally unacceptable. As we saw with the Chinese spy balloon last year, our fiercest adversaries will stop at nothing to surveil our homeland and threaten our national security.”

NEW JERSEY GOV PHIL MURPHY CALLS FOR FEDERAL HELP AMID ‘VERY SOPHISTICATED’ DRONE SIGHTINGS: ‘WE NEED MORE’

The FBI has been investigating reports of several mysterious nighttime drone flights that started occurring last month in central New Jersey, and the agency has since called on the public for help. Since making the call, residents have reported seeing drones in other areas of the state.

According to Gov. Phil Murphy, there were 49 reports of drones on Sunday alone, mostly in Hunterdon County. The Democrat governor said his numbers included possible sightings and potentially the same drone being reported more than once.

“This is something we’re taking deadly seriously. I don’t blame people for being frustrated,” Murphy said.

NEW JERSEY LEADERS SPEAK TO DHS AS UNUSUAL DRONE SIGHTINGS NOW ALSO REPORTED OVER NEW YORK

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (Spencer Platt/Getty Images/File)

Who is piloting the drones and why are both mysteries, though federal and state officials continue to say there is no known risk or threat to public safety.

But Smith said that while the source of the drone activity is yet to be determined, communication channels between authorities, including law enforcement officials and federal partners, must be “drastically improved” in order to work quickly through the challenges with unmanned aerial systems.

“The people of New Jersey deserve swift and bold action on the part of our state and federal agencies to investigate, assess, and address the situation immediately and to alleviate the growing concerns of our community,” Smith said, adding that he has made inquiries to multiple federal agencies about the sightings. “I will continue working around the clock to ensure law enforcement has all the tools and authorities necessary to identify these unmanned aerial systems and until New Jersey residents have the comprehensive answers they deserve.”

NEW JERSEY SEES MORE DRONES OVERHEAD AS GOV CANDIDATE FLOATS THEORY ON UNSOLVED MYSTERY

New Jersey drone sighting map (Fox & Friends/Screengrab)

Likewise, Rep. Tom Kean, R-N.J., also expressed frustration with the lack of urgency surrounding the unmanned drones over the Garden State.

“I join thousands of New Jersey residents in deep frustration regarding the growing concerns over drones operating in our skies. The safety and privacy of our residents must be a top priority, and right now, both are being put at risk,” Kean wrote on X. “I am calling for the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration, and other appropriate federal agencies to deploy greater resources to investigate and address this escalating issue.”

“Additionally, an in-depth public briefing from authorities should take place immediately,” he added. “The people of New Jersey deserve answers, and I will continue to demand accountability to ensure their rights and security are fully protected.”

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Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use, though they are subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations and flight restrictions.

Drone operators are also required to be FAA certified.

The majority of the drones spotted over New Jersey were reportedly larger than those used by hobbyists.

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Some questions and concerns were raised over the flights because they took place near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility, as well as over President-elect Trump’s Bedminster golf course.

The FBI is asking residents to share any videos or photos they have of the flights, along with any other relevant information.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A conservative influencer who helped President-elect Donald Trump claim victory in Pennsylvania is now focusing on New Jersey—a state that he suggests could flip red in upcoming elections.

In November, Vice President Kamala Harris secured victory in New Jersey with 52% of the vote, defeating President-elect Donald Trump by just under six points in a state that was never considered a battleground. The gap between the two candidates was much tighter than in 2020, when President Biden carried the state by almost 16 points.

Some analysts now suggest New Jersey has transitioned from a blue state to a swing state.

Scott Presler, the founder of Early Vote Action, a Political Action Committee (PAC), appeared to agree with the sentiment during a conversation with Fox News Digital.

CRISSCROSSING PA TO REGISTER VOTERS, SCOTT PRESLER SAYS HE’S ‘MOVING THE NEEDLE’ AS KEY COUNTIES FLIP RED

“We are going to use the Pennsylvania model of voter registration and not reinvent the wheel, but just take all of those things we learned and apply them to New Jersey. And we’re going to play it smarter, not harder,” he said.

Presler said his work in Pennsylvania for the 2024 election was an attempt to build up infrastructure for Republicans that was “lacking” in past election cycles. He revealed that his work in the state focused on three main elements: education, ground game and voter registration.

“One of the biggest hurdles that we had going into the 2024 presidential is kind of getting conservatives to get on board with mail-in voting, with early voting, understanding our all of the above approach to ultimately trying to get Pennsylvania to swing in Donald Trump’s favor,” he added.

Presler said that Republicans over the last four years have had difficulties overcoming the Democrat’s advantage in voter registration. In 2020, Democrats had a 650,000-person registration advantage. Today, that margin has shrunk by 300,000.

SCOTT PRESLER TRAVELS AMERICA CLEANING UP LIBERAL CITIES FAILED BY DEMOCRATIC POLICIES

Scott Presler has worked to clean up American cities that have been let down by “failed Democrat policies” while registering a new generation of Republican voters along the way. ((Scott Presler))

“I’m a numbers guy. I always look at things from a mathematical perspective,” Presler said, noting that he focused on significant demographics that may be willing to support Trump.

“We went to the truck stops to talk about mail-in voting with that community. They may not show up on Election Day. There are 90,000 Amish, and I know that Fox News Digital even had a team follow us with our work going to farmers markets and Lancaster,” he said. “There are 800,000 veterans. So, we went to the VFW and the American Legion. There are 930,000 hunters. So, we went to the gun stores and the gun ranges.”

Above all, Presler said the “secret sauce” to winning Pennsylvania in 2024 was stopping the “proverbial bleeding” in the big cities and bumping up the rural turnout.

Next week, Presler is heading to the Sussex County Christmas Party in New Jersey. The area borders Pike County, a red rural Pennsylvania county. His organization aims to forge relationships on the Pennsylvania and New Jersey border.

Presler has also hired staff to do voter registration on the Wildwood boardwalk all throughout the spring and summer—not only registering New Jersey voters but also “double dipping” and tapping into the Pennsylvania vote.

SCOTT PRESLER ON EARLY VOTING AND THE AMISH VOTE’S IMPACT

Pictured: Large crowds gather on the beach in Wildwood for Trump’s rally.  (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)

“Our staff are going to help New Jersey, and after we help New Jersey in 2025, we’re going to ask New Jersey and say, ‘Hey, will you come across the border legally and help Pennsylvania with our gubernatorial election in 2026?’” he said.

President-elect Donald Trump held a rally in Wildwood during his 2024 campaign. Presler noted that while a lot of people made fun of Trump for holding a rally there, they didn’t understand that the area has a certain political significance.

“Wildwood is where Philly goes to the beach,” he said.  

New Jersey last voted for a Republican presidential candidate in 1988, when Vice President George H. W. Bush defeated Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. The state had voted for Republican candidates from 1968 until 1992 when the state kicked off its ongoing blue voting trends.

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