NEWS AND OPINION:

The House Committee on Homeland Security will live up to its name on Wednesday. The committee will consider 14 bills in a session focused on some very specific security concerns.

“Among the legislation the Committee will mark up are measures to ban the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from procuring batteries made by Chinese Communist Party-linked companies, amplify law enforcement operations with foreign partners to combat human smuggling and drug trafficking, and enhance information sharing between DHS and critical law enforcement partners to counter terrorism and other threats to homeland security,” the committee advised in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

“The Committee will also mark up legislation to boost Custom and Border Protection’s ability to address maintenance and repair projects at ports of entries along the border, improve airport screening for veterans and disabled passengers and enhance airport security, and increase the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of drug detection equipment and reference libraries used by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies,” the statement said.

Curious? Watch the event streamed live on YouTube at 10 a.m. EDT Wednesday. Find it here.

NOT WHAT IT SEEMS

“Though President Joe Biden touts the economy under his administration, polls consistently show Americans are sour on the state of economic affairs — probably because, as economist E.J. Antoni told The Federalist, ’the economy has only been adding jobs that are held by foreign-born workers while native-born Americans are losing jobs,’” wrote Brianna Lyman, an elections correspondent for The Federalist.

Mr. Antoni is a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, focused on fiscal and monetary policy.

“Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for the month of May shows that foreign-born workers in the United States gained 637,000 jobs year-over-year, while native-born workers lost roughly 299,000,” Ms. Lyman said.

ON THE RADAR

In the meantime, the aforementioned Federalist Society will host the “2024 Freedom of Thought Conference: Corporate Rights and Individual Liberties,” a day-long event at the historic Mayflower Hotel in Northwest Washington, not far from the White House.

The date is June 20 and the get together will feature 24 speakers who hail from noteworthy law firms, universities and federal agencies.

“The conference will have a series of expert panels throughout the day covering topics such as do corporations have similar rights to natural persons, the responsibility of states in protecting citizens’ rights, and frameworks for resolving conflicting interests between corporations and citizens,” according to an advance notice shared with Inside the Beltway.

Among the topics of discussion: “The Challenge of Citizens United,” “Securing Rights of a Free People” and “Did James Madison Think Corporations Were People Too?”

Founded in 1982, the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies is a group of conservatives and libertarians “dedicated to reforming the current legal order” according to its website. Find the conference — and plenty of other Federalist Society events — at fedsoc.org/events.

FOXIFIED

During the week of June 3-9, Fox News was the leading network in the entire cable realm during primetime and throughout the day, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. In primetime Fox News drew an average of 2.1 million viewers, compared to MSNBC with 1.2 million and CNN with 485,000. During daytime viewing hours, Fox News had an average audience of 1.3 million; MSNBC attracted 759,000 and CNN 404,000.

“The Five” still commands a jumbo audience with a daily average of 3.2 million viewers, followed by “Jesse Watters Prime Time” (2.9 million); “Hannity” (2.5 million viewers); and “Special Report with Bret Baier” and “The Ingraham Angle,” both drawing an average audience of 2.1 million viewers.

The Fox News daytime lineup continued to surpass broadcast programs during the week. “Outnumbered” (1.6 million daily average), “America’s Newsroom” (also 1.6 million), “America Reports” (1.5 million), “The Faulkner Focus” (1.5 million) and “The Story” (also 1.5 million) all trumped their network competition.

Here’s a few sample audience numbers for those daytime rivals: ABC’s “GMA3” had an average audience of 1.3 million, NBC’s “Today with Hoda and Jenna” also averaged 1.3 million and CBS’ “The Talk” drew a 1.2 million daily average.

Late-night host Greg Gutfeld and his noteworthy assortment of guests, led by regulars Kat Timpf and Tyrus, continue to best their rivals with an average nightly audience of 2.4 million. The “Gutfeld!” show topped ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (1.8 million), CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (also 1.8 million) and NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” (1.2 million).

FOR THE LEXICON

“Dark MAGA.”

This mysterious two-word phrase is actually the color of speciality T-shirts available through former President Donald Trump’s campaign website. Indeed, the shirts are ash gray emblazoned only with the word “MAGA” in bold black letters.

They were very popular. The online campaign store ran out of them “in minutes,” according to a notice from the Trump campaign. The shirts have returned, however. There’s also a “Never Surrender” hat as well.

Find these sartorial statements at Mr. Trump’s website, found at Donaldjtrump.com. Choose the “Shop” pull-down menu in the upper right hand corner.

POLL DU JOUR

• 55% of U.S. adults are “very concerned” that artificial intelligence could lead to the spread of misinformation in U.S. elections.

• 60% of Republicans, 51% of independents and 54% of Democrats agree.

• 24% are “somewhat concerned” it could lead to the spread of misinformation in elections.

• 24% of Republicans, 24% of independents and 25% of Democrats agree.

• 8% are not very concerned about the spread of misinformation.

• 9% of Republicans, 6% of independents and 8% of Democrats agree.

• 3% are not concerned at all about the spread of misinformation.

• 3% of Republicans, 4% of independents and 4% of Democrats agree.

• 9% are not sure about the issue.

• 5% of Republicans, 15% of independents and 9% of Democrats agree.

SOURCE: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,766 U.S. adults conducted online June 2-4.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, on Facebook @HarperUniverse.

• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.