EXCLUSIVE: Chinese-made nicotine and electronic cigarette products illegally flooded U.S. markets under former President Joe Biden, endangering both adults and children and posing an «urgent threat to U.S. sovereignty, public health, and law enforcement capacity,» according to nicotine awareness activist and former GOP senator Richard Burr.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Burr, who is chair of the Coalition for Smarter Regulation of Nicotine, said that even as the Biden administration cracked down on «reputable» companies like Juul, it took no action to control the flow of off-brand competitor products, most of which were manufactured and exported to the U.S. by Chinese companies through the open borders.

«There was not a policy in the Biden administration to enforce the law at the border. And that’s where the growth really came from,» he explained, adding, «They not only didn’t speak out against them, but they didn’t make any attempt, any attempt, at enforcement.»

According to Burr, Biden’s director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), Brian King, bears special blame for overseeing an agency so crippled by inaction that, Burr said, «most of the products that are on the marketplace today not only are illegal, they have never even attempted to go through an application process at the FDA.»

However, a spokesperson for King vehemently denied Burr’s assertions, telling Fox News Digital that «the claim that there was no attempt at enforcement is not consistent with the facts.»

KAMALA HARRIS BACK IN NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT AS JAMES COMER FLOATS SUBPOENA IN BIDEN ‘COVER-UP’ PROBE

Burr said that currently approximately 85% of vapor and e-cigarette products sold in the U.S. are either illicit or unauthorized due to the Biden FDA’s failure to enforce the law.

Now, Burr is urging the Trump administration to be proactive in fixing the Chinese nicotine problem unleashed on Americans under Biden.

Burr sent a letter to Trump’s FDA commissioner, Martin Makary, as well as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging them to take urgent action to «restore order» to the marketplace by reforming the government’s review process of nicotine and e-cigarette products and then fully enforcing against the entities responsible for growing the illicit market.

In his letter, Burr describes the U.S. as being «in the midst of a crisis created by the free flow of illegal nicotine products into the U.S. marketplace, the majority of which are supplied by Chinese companies that are knowingly breaking U.S. laws.»

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A Border Patrol vehicle sits near border walls separating Tijuana, Mexico, from the United States, Tuesday, June 4, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

«During the Biden Administration, illicit Chinese vaping products, without any regulatory oversight or consumer protections, began flooding our market,» Burr wrote. «Produced overseas without meeting FDA safety standards or common tobacco product manufacturing practices, these illicit vapor products are deliberately avoiding compliance with the law, and many are intentionally marketed to underage users with youth-appealing features, for example, Gummy Bear flavors and gaming device screens.»

Burr further said that manufacturers of illicit vaping products often use fraudulent shipping declarations and misclassified tariff codes to evade U.S. customs and trade laws.

«President Trump has rightfully warned that counterfeit pharmaceutical products, often linked to the People’s Republic of China, threaten the security and safety of Americans,» he wrote. «The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the opportunity to address a similar crisis in the nicotine market by advancing a modern and common-sense approach to regulating nicotine products and effectively enforcing the Tobacco Control Act (TCA) to restore order to the marketplace.»

To this end, Burr urged the FDA to «advance a comprehensive, effective regulatory framework,» which he said consists of streamlining the FDA’s approval process for less harmful smoke-free nicotine products, providing clear regulations to the industry and enforcing the law against companies selling illicit products, providing adult smokers with accurate information on the benefits of switching from cigarettes to FDA-authorized, smoke-free products and using regulation and oversight to drive down underage use.

INSIDE THE BIDEN COVER-UP PROBE: 8 AIDES QUESTIONED, MORE ON THE WAY

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news conference on the Autism report by the CDC at the Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in Washington, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Speaking with Fox News Digital, Burr said that both Kennedy and President Donald Trump «have embraced a healthier America that our kids should be eating healthier, should be actively involved, and we should make sure that anything that’s detrimental to their ability to grow and to grow up healthy should be constricted significantly.»

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«This is at the heart of that,» he said.

In response, a spokesperson speaking on behalf of King told Fox News Digital that «the claim that there was no attempt at enforcement is not consistent with the facts.»

They listed 30 different enforcement actions the agency took under King’s tenure in 2023 and 2024, ranging from sending warning letters to potential violators to denying marketing requests to manufacturers not in compliance. 

«Within the past few years, the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products took many first-time compliance and enforcement actions, including setting up a joint interagency task force and conducting multiple targeted enforcement operations against illegally imported e-cigarettes in coordination with US Customs and Border Protection. This was in addition to other first of their kind actions across the supply chain focused on unauthorized products from non-US manufacturers, including monthly retailer blitzes against Elf Bar and other unauthorized disposable e-cigarette brands used by youth,» they said. 

«The FDA and other agencies should build on these efforts and take comprehensive enforcement action against illegal e-cigarettes, particularly those popular among youth,» said the spokesperson. 

Tras casi cuatro décadas desde su desprendimiento en la Antártida, el A-23A, el iceberg más grande del planeta, entra en su fase final frente a Georgia del Sur, en el Atlántico Sur. Este coloso de hielo vive un proceso de fragmentación acelerada sin precedentes, documentado por misiones satelitales internacionales.

Su desintegración plantea riesgos para la navegación y activa alertas científicas sobre el frágil equilibrio ecológico de uno de los santuarios marinos más valiosos del hemisferio sur. El destino del A-23A se convierte así en un símbolo de alarma sobre la criosfera y el impacto tangible del cambio climático en los polos.

El A-23A experimenta una desintegración sin precedentes en aguas próximas a Georgia del Sur. Observaciones de la NASA, el U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) y la European Space Agency (ESA) reportan que, entre marzo y mayo de 2025, perdió más de 360 kilómetros cuadrados de superficie, una extensión equivalente a la isla de Mallorca.

La reducción responde al desprendimiento sucesivo de fragmentos, como los bloques A-23D y A-23E, de 160 y 72 kilómetros cuadrados cada uno. Alrededor del núcleo del iceberg flotan millares de fragmentos de más de un kilómetro de longitud, lo que implica un riesgo real para embarcaciones y fauna marina en la región.

La combinación de tecnologías de punta ha sido fundamental para monitorear el destino del A-23A. Jan Lieser, del Bureau de Meteorología de Australia, destacó la eficacia de los satélites de radar para captar imágenes en condiciones extremas, incluso durante la noche polar o bajo capas densas de nubes.

Britney Fajardo, del USNIC, confirmó la aparición de nuevos bloques utilizando imágenes del satélite Sentinel-1 de la ESA. Apoyan el seguimiento organismos como el British Antarctic Survey y el Instituto Alfred Wegener (AWI), que advierten sobre riesgos crecientes para la biodiversidad y la navegación.

El recorrido del A-23A comenzó en 1986, cuando se desprendió de la plataforma Filchner en la Antártida. Durante casi treinta años, permaneció encallado en el mar de Weddell, anclado al lecho marino.

En 2023 logró liberarse, iniciando un lento desplazamiento hacia el norte que lo llevó a cruzar el Pasaje de Drake, conocido como el “cementerio de icebergs”. Hacia finales de 2024, el A-23A llegó a Georgia del Sur y quedó varado al chocar con un banco submarino, lo que precipitó su desintegración acelerada.

La descomposición del A-23A genera preocupación entre especialistas y científicos. Georgia del Sur alberga algunas de las mayores colonias de pingüinos rey, elefantes marinos, focas y albatros del planeta. El desplazamiento y deshielo del iceberg alteran los patrones de alimentación de estas especies, obligándolas a recorrer distancias mayores en busca de alimento.

Al mismo tiempo, la liberación masiva de agua dulce y nutrientes modifica la salinidad y temperatura del océano, facilitando la proliferación de fitoplancton, base de la cadena alimentaria antártica. El British Antarctic Survey advierte que “alteraciones bruscas en estas condiciones físicas pueden comprometer ciclos biológicos esenciales y poner en riesgo la estabilidad del ecosistema local”. El Instituto Alfred Wegener señala que los cinturones de escombros helados tras la fragmentación pueden aportar nutrientes, aunque sus efectos a largo plazo resultan inciertos.

La situación del A-23A no es un caso aislado. En 2020, el iceberg A-68 se acercó a Georgia del Sur y encendió alarmas sobre un posible colapso ecológico; su desintegración prematura redujo el impacto. El A-23A, en cambio, ha demostrado una resistencia inusual, lo que podría acarrear efectos más duraderos y difíciles de prever.

Centros como el National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) resaltan que la frecuencia y el desplazamiento de grandes icebergs aumentan con el ascenso de las temperaturas globales. La NASA advierte que estos gigantes, al llegar a latitudes septentrionales, enfrentan aguas más cálidas y oleaje intenso, condiciones que aceleran su deterioro.

La fractura del A-23A, visible desde el espacio, representa una señal de alerta sobre la fragilidad de los sistemas polares. Su desaparición no solo transforma el paisaje, sino que reconfigura corrientes y altera ecosistemas, recordando la íntima relación entre el hielo antártico, la vida marina y el clima mundial. El destino de este gigante helado resume las tensiones de una época marcada por el cambio climático y evidencia que las transformaciones en el extremo sur repercuten mucho más allá del círculo polar.

Texas House Democrats departed the state Sunday in an attempt to halt a redistricting Monday vote, claiming that the legislation is «using an intentionally racist map» to undermine the voices of Black and Latino voters in the state of Texas. 

Democrats’ absence means that Republicans are unable to go ahead with a scheduled vote under House rules, blocking the potential passage of redistricting legislation that would establish a new congressional map that could lead to five new GOP U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterm elections. 

«This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,» state Rep. Gene Wu, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement Sunday.

TEXAS DEMOCRATS FLEE STATE TO BLOCK TRUMP-BACKED REDISTRICTING VOTE IN DRAMATIC LEGISLATIVE MOVE

Most of the House Democrats fled to Chicago, while others headed to New York and Boston.

The Texas House stipulates that at least 100 members of the 150-member chamber must be present to conduct business, and roughly 50 Democrats are absent — meaning the vote is stalled until they return. It’s unclear how Democrats plan to proceed, and Wu told reporters that precise plans were still up in the air.

The redistricting legislation would shift Democrat voters from toss-up districts into ones that are more solidly Republican, and also move other Republican voters into districts that lean more toward Democrats — ultimately paving the way for more GOP seats.

This isn’t the first time Democrats have fled the state in protest of legislation.  

In July 2021, more than 50 Democrats also left the state of Texas and headed to Washington, D.C., to tie up Texas legislation that would implement new voting restrictions in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s loss of the 2020 election, which some Republicans claimed was «stolen.» 

Specifically, the measure Democrats opposed included new voter ID restrictions for those voting by mail and prohibited drive-by voting and extended voting hours. Likewise, the measure included new limitations for those who work at the polls, and barred local election officials from distributing a mail-in ballot to anyone who hadn’t officially requested one. 

Democrats ultimately returned to Texas weeks later, after multiple members caught COVID-19 while in D.C., and House Republicans finally passed the measure in August 2021 before Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed it into law in September 2021. 

TRUMP, REPUBLICANS RACE TO REDRAW TEXAS CONGRESSIONAL MAP AS DEMOCRATS THREATEN LEGAL WAR

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to arrest the Democrats who departed the state Sunday, should they not be back by 3 p.m. Monday when the Texas House reconvenes.  (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Abbott threatened to arrest the Democrats who departed the state Sunday, should they not be back by 3 p.m. Monday when the Texas House reconvenes. Even so, there is no indication of when the Democrats plan to return to Texas. 

«Rather than doing their job and voting on urgent legislation affecting the lives of all Texans, they have fled Texas to deprive the House of the quorum necessary to meet and conduct business,» Abbot said in a statement late Sunday. 

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The Texas Democrats have attracted support from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who labeled the Democrats’ decision to flee Texas a «righteous act of courage,» and accused Republicans of attempting to silence «millions of voices, especially Black and Latino voters.»

«Texas Democrats were left with no choice but to leave their home state, block a vote from taking place and protect their constituents,» Pritzker said in a news conference Sunday. 

The Texas Democrats have attracted support from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who labeled the Democrats’ decision to flee Texas a «righteous act of courage.»  (Mark Black/The Associated Press)

Fox News’ Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.