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FIRST ON FOX: A top Republican in Utah has wasted no time fundraising as he explores the possibility of running for a seat in the U.S. Senate that's currently held by GOP Sen. Mitt Romney.

Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson, who launched an exploratory committee in April to consider running for the seat in the Senate, told Fox News Digital he has raised more than $2.2 million.

Partnered with a personal contribution of $1.2 million, Wilson has raised $1,018,586 from various donors in the last three months with 94% of those donations coming from Utah residents. Though he isn't likely to declare his official decision until sometime this fall, Wilson currently has more than $2.1 million cash on hand.

"We launched our exploratory committee in Utah earlier in April of this year to try to determine the level of support for my candidacy," Wilson told Fox News Digital. "What we've heard over that period of time is what we thought we would hear. We've heard that what Utahns are interested in [and] want is they want to have a strong, conservative leader and a fighter back in D.C. to represent Utah."

'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH': UTAH MAYOR ANNOUNCES BID TO TAKE ROMNEY'S SENATE SEAT

Discussing his committee's efforts, which he insisted have "gone exceptionally well" in recent weeks, Wilson said voters in the Beehive State are hoping to see D.C. become "a lot more like Utah instead of the other way around."

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Asked about the fundraising total and what that says about the likelihood of his candidacy in the race, Wilson said, "I think it's a reflection of not just me, but to all those that have been supportive. We have broken records. We've raised over $1,000,000 of other people's money from all across the state. And 94% of that money comes from within the state of Utah. I mean, it's remarkable."

Highlighting his accomplishments in office, Wilson said, "My main focus has been, every day, to get up and make sure we're doing everything to maintain and improve the quality of life for Utahns."

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"We've had the biggest tax cut in Utah history this year," he said. "We've cut Utahn's taxes over $1,000,000,000 in the last five years, and we've made massive investments in outdoor recreation infrastructure, transportation infrastructure. Utah, in almost every metric, is the best managed state in the country, and what we keep hearing is that that's what Utahns would like us to export to D.C. those skills and that expertise."

Wilson wouldn't specify the reasons he would be a better senator than Romney, but noted that he and his team are "putting ourselves and my potential candidacy in a position to win."

"You know, raising over $1 million and 94% of that coming from the state of Utah sends a strong message, regardless of who's running for the Senate," he added. "I am a good reflection of what people in the state are looking for."

UTAH REPUBLICAN MOVES TOWARD RUNNING FOR US SENATE SEAT HELD BY ROMNEY

Romney who was the GOP nominee in the 2012 presidential election and lost to former President Obama filed FEC paperwork last month in a possible first step toward running for re-election, but he has yet to make a final decision.

Wilson, a businessman who has represented Utah's 15th District in the state House since January 2011, said he and his team have been working to meet "individuals from every corner of the state" as he touted the "exciting" grassroots support he has received.

Asked about concerns from voters and what they've told him as he traveled the state, Wilson said, "One is they would like to have a lot less of D.C. in their lives, and the other thing is they are still reeling from the massive amount of inflation that's been caused by what a lot of us believe [is] the reckless spending that's happened in D.C."

"They're looking for leaders to help prevent those kinds of things from happening again," he added.

Wilson, a graduate from Weber State University, said he is "likely" to announce his candidacy in the race later this year.

"My guess is that we'll be making a decision sometime this fall, depending on how things continue to progress. But the overwhelming support and momentum that we've built makes me very optimistic at this point ... that it's something that we're likely to do," he said.

Should he jump into the race, Wilson will already face at least one Republican who will be vying for the seat currently held by Romney.

Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs a Republican who gained notoriety in 2020 for his opposition to mask mandates amid the coronavirus pandemic announced in May that he would make a run for the Senate seat held by Romney.

Picking up support from the Utah Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the state, Wilson was the first candidate to pose a challenge to Romney.

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When asked why he believes Romney may not be an effective leader for the state, Staggs told Fox News Digital, "Unfortunately, Mitt Romney has let personal beefs get in the way of good governance. From not standing with Mike Lee against raising the debt ceiling to voting for the $1.7 trillion omnibus, he has helped drive us deeper in debt."

Romney has gone on the record saying that if he runs, he has no doubt he would be successfully re-elected. He defeated Democrat Jenny Wilson with more than 62% of the vote in 2018.

"I'm convinced that if I run, I win. But that's a decision I'll make," Romney said of a potential re-election bid.

Fox News' Timothy H.J. Nerozzi and Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

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Utah Republican raises more than $2 million as he explores 'likely' bid to take Romney's Senate seat - Yahoo News

Singularly and obstinately, Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama, has refused to vote for promotion of senior military leaders, including the Joint Chief of Staff, and most immediately for the highest-ranking Marine General. His reason has nothing to do with the nominations. It is because he does not like the Biden Administrations rule that military coffers will be used to pay for a member of the military or their family member who must travel out of state for an abortion. He alleges that this stand-off will not harm our military, national defense or security. He offers no evidence for that position. It is bold-faced blackmail. He knows it, and evidently his constituents know and like it. That is the real reason why he is doing it. Military leadership unanimously disagrees. Former Joint Chief of Staff, General Mark A. Milley, under the Trump Administration has publicly denounced the action in the name of combat readiness and national security.

Earlier this week, a Trump-appointed federal judge, Judge Terry A. Doughty of Louisiana, issued an order on First Amendment grounds that restricts government interaction with social media sites on matters of disinformation. While some of the evidence does suggest overreach on the part of the Biden Administrations 2022 election efforts, this opinion paints a broad stroke, and probably violates the First Amendment on the side of the government too. Exceptions do include, according to The New York Times, that the government could still notify the platforms about posts detailing crimes, national security threats or foreign attempts to influence elections. All of those specifics fall under the rubric of cybersecurity, as does mis/disinformation. Does this judge have working knowledge of cybersecurity? Me thinks not. Like Senator Tuberville, he would prioritize his politics over the health and security of our country. Hunter Bidens computer is more important than lies about election fraud?

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For those who are not familiar with my reasons for running for Congress in a 2018 and 2020 Republican District, allow me to briefly retell the story. It was during the 2016 presidential campaign. Candidate Trump invited Russia to invade our servicers, supposedly to find Hillary Clintons emails. It may have been a joke, but it was not funny. I was eating a pizza in my new condominium in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts and I threw my dinner at the TV set, creating a little mess on the carpet. You can do better than that, Tracy, I said to myself. I revered my father, his four brothers and two brothers-in-law, who fought in World War II, as well as two cousins, one on each side of the family, who went to Vietnam. Maybe that reverence contributed to my sincere interest in cybersecurity. It is, after all, essentially national security. Frivolity about something so important, and so contemporarily in flux, was not becoming to a candidate from a major political party. Given what we came to know about his idolization of Putin, it was also boldly self-serving. I thought it was my turn to step up.

My parents were Republicans. My mother was very politically minded. She hated the Kennedys and I dont think ever voted for a Democrat. English-Irish ethnically, she loved Patrick Buchanan and, I suspect, would have been an ardent supporter of Trump. My father was more practically minded. He voted for Mario Cuomo, believed in choice, and would not have appreciated the grifter aspect of the previous president. He might have voted for him in 2016, but I dont think he would have in 2020. Dont ask me how I turned out so different. Race had something to do with it. I never once, even as a child, aligned with my parents prejudice. I credit my Catholic upbringing. Some of my middle school teachers were pro-civil rights and anti-Vietnam War, but it goes back earlier than that. The spirit of love, hope and charity struck a chord in me.

Something has shifted from those years when my parents were all about supporting our countrys national defense. Memorial Day was a very big deal in my family. My mother was rabidly anti-Communist. They both supported the war in Vietnam and voted enthusiastically for Nixon. Even as I began to translate my feelings as more in line with the Democratic politics, national security remained common ground between us. I was 12 when the United States invaded Cambodia, and I would say that is when I became more aware of the issue and against our foreign policy on that front. But still, I believed strongly in our military and have always advocated for robust national security.

What is wrong with the Republican Party? It has become so unprincipled, Machiavellian and ignorant. Applied to national security, these three traits are a disaster for the United States. I am particularly concerned about the two developments this week, Senator Tubervilles grandstand is based on polling in his state without a care for our countrys international fate. Naively, he acts as if our opponents on a global scale dont watch such antics with their own self-interest. This decision about mis/disinformation is from a judge who punches way above his weight. It is ignorant of cybersecurity and its connection to national security. Trump, of course, remains a potent threat. He will continue to run so long as the money comes in to pay his many lawyers bills and feed his ego. But what comes with it, given his predilection for autocrats, bodes very ill for our standing on the world stage. Other Republicans dont speak out. Elected officials run into elevators to avoid journalists. They shirk their responsibility embedded in the oath of office to defend the United States against threats both domestic and foreign. It is as if they live in an alternative reality.

Richard Hofstadter identified a paranoid style of American politics in the 1960s. His student, Christopher Lasch, called out the narcissism of American society in the 1970s and

My little blog post, like my run for Congress, is not going to change a damned thing. If I learned one thing from that experience it is that, try as I might, I cant fix big economic, social or political problems. But if you are reading this post, I must allow myself some degree of influence, and so here it is: Republicans voters in particular, and all voters in general, demand more of your representatives on matters of national securityrecognizing that cybersecurity is key to that landscape. As frustrated as many of us get, steer away from demonization of the other party. Remember that we are all people. My historians diagnosis, as critical as it is of Republicans, is nonetheless an attempt at giving our differences a human face. That which is human can be addressed: Manichean notions of pure good and real evil cannot. Moreover, in a democracy, the electorate has the responsibility to demand that our representatives keep us safe. That is the first order of government. Republicans as a group are not doing their job with antics such as Tuberville

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The Republican Party Has a Histrionic Personality Disorder - Inside Higher Ed

William Barr, probably the most notable defector, went from leading an egregiously politicized Justice Department acting essentially as Mr. Trumps personal attorney to denouncing his former bosss criminal and unethical behavior in a string of interviews. Chris Christie, now in a quest for the White House himself, is reprimanding as unfit for office the man he once obsequiously praised as he sought a cabinet appointment.

Clearly, more Republicans who, reluctantly or not, embraced or tolerated Mr. Trumps misdeeds need to finally break their silence with the same fervor they exhibited to support him.

Any effort by members of his own party, however belated, that discredits the former president and short-circuits his hopes of re-election would be an indispensable contribution to the best interests of the majority of Americans.

Roger Hirschberg South Burlington, Vt.

To the Editor:

Finally, someone with stature addresses the elephant in the room. Liz Cheney sacrificed her congressional seat for principle. Why dont the seasoned Republicans who likely will never seek office or an appointed political post again, and have nothing to lose, show some courage?

I think of: Olympia Snowe, Dan Quayle, George W. Bush, George Pataki, John Danforth, Pete Wilson, Elizabeth Dole, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Phil Scott, Christine Todd Whitman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Hagel, Nancy Kassebaum, John Ashcroft, Dan Coats, William Cohen, Alfonse DAmato, Jeff Flake, Bill Frist, Alan Simpson, Ted Olson, William Weld and a host of others.

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Opinion | Can the Republican Party Reverse Course? - The New York Times

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LETTER: Republican candidates should look to help us - The Daily Sun

Its a delicate dance for both sides. While the committees bills have no chance of becoming law under President Joe Biden, the messaging and industrys response to it will feed into a broader political conflict that could set the table for the next time Republicans control Washington.

House GOP leaders are under pressure to score points in the rights escalating war on what many Republicans call woke capitalism even though a number of senior GOP lawmakers would rather tell government regulators, instead of executives, what to do. While framed around holding Wall Street to account, Financial Services Committee Republicans appear to be picking spots where theyll minimize friction with the industrys biggest players.

Lobbyists for their part want to avoid further inflaming tensions. Their companies are poised to be huge targets for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican White House contenders who argue that corporations are exercising ideological agendas. Big money managers and banks already face a barrage of legislative attacks from state Republican officials over their policies on energy and guns. BlackRocks Fink, the financial industrys most prominent leader in the sustainable investing trend, said last month he will no longer use the term ESG because its been misused by the far left and the far right.

House Democrats, in a twist, are rallying behind the ability of Wall Street and investors to choose how they want to tackle societal issues such as climate change.

Well continue to be the voice thats defending the fact that the market should have choice, Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) said in an interview.

While the rights culture war has ensnared a range of major brands, such as Disney and Bud Light, the Financial Services Committee will take a more targeted approach. Its aiming at firms that play big roles in ESG investing, a strategy for managing businesses and retirement funds that elevates concerns about climate change and diversity.

Finance industry proponents argue that addressing issues like climate risk is critical for long-term investing and that theres consumer demand for it as well.

Fink, who has urged business leaders to focus on the environment, said at the New York Times DealBook Summit in November: Stakeholder capitalism is not woke its not political, its capitalism.

Bryan McGannon, managing director of US SIF, a sustainable investing advocacy group that includes investment management firms, mutual fund companies and banks, calls it free-market solutions.

Investors are demanding it, McGannon said. But also the financial industry is realizing, `Wait a second, here is a whole other set of data giving us information about how companies are run.

Republican critics who on this point have backing from other sectors such as oil and gas warn that its an outgrowth of left-leaning political pressure that threatens investor returns and the growth of the U.S. energy industry.

Adam Brandon, president of the conservative FreedomWorks, said ESG is another avenue for state control of the economy and of society. He said the Republican House majority was elected by the people to reverse this course of action.

While a number of Republicans clearly believe its a winning attack line, the House Financial Services Committee a panel where Wall Streets priorities often win the day appears to be carefully choosing which fights to take on with industry.

ESG is maybe a symptom of the larger concern of woke capitalism, Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), who leads committee Republicans ESG working group, said in an interview. This is part of the reason why [House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry] asked me to take this on. Lets narrow the scope. Because if we go fight this multifront war were going to lose.

A report that Huizengas working group released to set the stage for this months committee work prioritizes concerns about so-called proxy advisory firms that provide recommendations to big investors on how they should vote on shareholder matters that dictate the direction of public companies.

Two proxy advisory firms Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services dominate the space and have long been targeted by business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which argue that they should be subject to greater regulatory scrutiny because of their influence over the operations of companies. Investors who rely on proxy advisory firms say they provide helpful guidance on issues like executive pay, board nominees and climate proposals pushed by shareholders.

In contrast, asset managers like BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street recurring targets for Republicans given their behemoth status and stances on ESG get less scrutiny than expected in the GOP report. Theyre called out as the Big Three but are identified by name only in a footnote. They arent expected to be the headliners of dedicated hearings at House Financial Services, unlike the two proxy advisory firms and regulators.

Republicans on a separate committee, House Judiciary, took a more aggressive tack toward the Wall Street giants Thursday, with letters that pressed BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street for information about their work as part of an international industry coalition committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Vanguard left the group last year.

State Street spokesperson Ed Patterson said Friday that the fund manager assesses and votes on shareholder proposals based on what we believe is in the best long-term interests of our clients and their investments.

Our actions and decision-making are guided by research, expert analysis and our fiduciary duty to clients, he said.

Amid the mounting pressure, the big asset managers have responded by rolling out ways for their customers to vote more directly in shareholder matters.

As an investor-owned asset manager, Vanguards interests are squarely aligned with empowering everyday investors to reach their long-term financial goals, Vanguard spokesperson Netanel Spero said. We remain singularly focused on maximizing our clients returns and giving them the best chance for investment success.

For now, bank lobbyists are also relieved that lenders appear to be getting a pass in the Financial Services Committees ESG month, despite a desire by some Republicans to pressure banks to serve fossil fuel companies and gun manufacturers.

Weve got some members who are like, Hey, you didnt name so and so and its like, OK, preliminary report, Huizenga said. The system is moving forward. Were not done with this. And when its appropriate to name names, well name names. When it is appropriate to go after a wider swath of issues, well do that. But lets chalk up a couple of wins here. This is chess. You dont declare checkmate on the first move.

He added that the ESG working group plans to release a more robust, longer report.

If the committees report and tentative hearing schedule are any indication, business groups like the Chamber of Commerce may feel little need to speak out on the endeavor. They may even see Republicans advance some of their lobbying priorities.

The American Petroleum Institute, for example, backs a bill by Barr that would require investment advisers and retirement plan sponsors to prioritize financial returns over ESG factors.

The Chamber, though it has been on the outs with Republicans in recent years, has a shared desire to rein in the proxy advisory firms and regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Chamber sued the SEC last year after it reversed Trump-era restrictions on the proxy advisory firms, whose recommendations sometimes clash with corporate management over how companies should be run.

Tom Quaadman, executive vice president of the Chambers Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness, said the group appreciates the efforts of the House Financial Services Committee to better understand the nature of ESG and its impacts across the U.S. marketplace and globally.

American markets should preserve the ability of individual investors to invest their own money based on whatever criteria they think appropriate, including their values and priorities, Quaadman said. Businesses also need the same freedom to, in conjunction with their shareholders, make decisions that they deem best for their own operations. The marketplace, not government, should be the one determining if investors and businesses have made good or bad decisions.

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House Republicans move to silence Wall Street in climate fight - POLITICO