Donald Trump Poll News

The House of Representatives is readying to vote on a bill that would mandate photo identification for voters across the United States in the coming 2026 midterm elections.

The House Rules Committee, the final gatekeeper before most bills see a chamber-wide vote, advanced the SAVE America Act on Tuesday as conservatives continue to pressure the Senate to take up the bill after its likely House passage.

It’s a sweeping piece of legislation aimed at keeping non-citizens from participating in U.S. elections.

Democrats have attacked the bill as tantamount to voter suppression, while Republicans argue that it’s necessary after the influx of millions of illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. during the four years of the Biden administration.

TRUMP UNDERCUTS GOP PUSH TO ATTACH SAVE ACT TO SHUTDOWN BILL AS CONSERVATIVES THREATEN MUTINY

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters it would get a vote on Wednesday.

The legislation is led by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, in the House, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, in the Senate.

It is an updated version of Roy’s Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which passed the House in April 2025 but was never taken up in the Senate.

Whereas the SAVE Act would create a new federal proof of citizenship mandate in the voter registration process and impose requirements for states to keep their rolls clear of ineligible voters, the updated bill would also require photo ID to vote in any federal elections.

It would also require information-sharing between state election officials and federal authorities in verifying citizenship on current voter rolls and enable the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pursue immigration cases if non-citizens were found to be listed as eligible to vote.

The legislation is highly likely to pass the House, where the vast majority — if not virtually all — Republicans have supported similar pushes in the past.

THIS SENATE DEMOCRAT WANTS VOTER ID FOR HIS CAMPAIGN EVENTS — BUT NOT FEDERAL ELECTIONS

But in the Senate, where current rules say 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster and hold a final vote on a bill, at least seven Democrats would be needed even if all Republicans stuck together.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

It’s why House conservatives are pushing Senate GOP leaders to change rules in a way that would effectively do away with the 60-vote threshold, even if alternative paths mean paralyzing the upper chamber with hours of nonstop debate.

“[Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.] will take it up. The only question is, will he take it up in an environment where it can pass?” Roy posed to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. 

“My view is that the majority leader can and should. I’m not afraid of amendment votes…we should table all their amendments, force them to run through all their speaking, make them take the floor and filibuster.”

Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., lamented during a hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday that allegations about foreign funding and coordination among anti-ICE agitators are “delegitimizing” people’s justified “anger” and “fear” caused by federal immigration officers.

Kim also called the questioning “dangerous” during the Tuesday hearing, which was about fraud and touched on concerns that foreign adversaries were financing anti-ICE efforts in the U.S. to create a strategic smokescreen meant to deter accountability away from their massive criminal fraud enterprises.      

“People all over this country are frustrated and concerned and upset. They’re scared and they’re worried about things because they just saw two American citizens get killed in the street by federal agents,” Kim said Tuesday. 

FOREIGN BILLIONAIRES FUNNEL $2.6B TO US ADVOCACY GROUPS TO INFLUENCE POLICY, WATCHDOG REPORT CLAIMS

“The idea that people would be saying that this type of anger and this type of of outrage – whether in New Jersey or in Minnesota – is being predominantly coordinated in this type of way,” he continued. “I just have to say it is delegitimizing the anger and the fear that people are facing right now … The way in which it’s been described … I just think is very dangerous right now. And I hope that we can still say and recognize that there are a lot of people, a lot of people that are furious right now and worried.”

The Senator’s arguments, such as that the violence from anti-ICE agitators stems from justified anger and that the questioning of how this violence is being organized “delegitimizes” protesting, have been frequently touted by Democrats in the past, and not just as it pertains to the ongoing anti-ICE sentiment.  

During a separate congressional hearing in December, Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Texas, described attacks against ICE agents – which are up 12,000%, according to the Trump administration – as the result of people “channeling [their] frustration.”

“You’re seeing an overwhelming frustration of the American people in this country that the lack of respect and regard for the rule of law from this administration, and in particular by this Secretary, is at a level we have never seen and violates all of the constitutional norms and all of the principles of legal fairness in this country,” Johnson said. “And you’re seeing that manifest itself in threats to law enforcement, in bubbling over, because people are frustrated, and they are channeling that frustration because the administration is not listening.”

HAWLEY TARGETS MINNESOTA FRAUD, CCP-LINKED MONEY AT SENATE HEARING: ‘TAXPAYERS ROBBED BLIND’

Meanwhile, in 2024, amid ongoing protests regarding the situation in Gaza and other civil unrest, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) described former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s calls for the FBI to investigate Gaza ceasefire protests for connections to Russia as “incredibly dangerous.”

“From Martin Luther King Jr. to Black Lives Matter protesters, the FBI has long used ‘foreign influence’ as an excuse to conduct illegal surveillance on Americans exercising free speech rights,” the ACLU said in a post on X in 2024.     

Despite claims that foreign funding accusations act as a smokescreen to “legitimize” lawful First Amendment activity, Republican-aligned witnesses during the Tuesday hearing argued billionaires, including some with ties to foreign adversaries, such as Neville Roy Singham and Hansjorg Wyss, pumped $60 million into the agitation efforts aimed at disrupting federal immigration efforts.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“It comes in the form of a check, a six-figure check,” said Government Accountability Institute VP Seamus Bruner. “We’ve built a database that contains hundreds of thousands of rows from grants from networks like the Soros Network, the Arabella funding network – as mentioned – the Neville Roy Singham funding network, many others, Tides, the Ford Foundation network, the Rockefeller Funding network, these massive NGOs that have billions of dollars to spend on all kinds of coordinated protest, or in this case, riot activity.”

Republican Sen. Susan Collins is well aware of the tough path ahead as she officially kicks off her 2026 re-election campaign in blue-leaning Maine.

Collins is the top target for Senate Democrats as they try to win back the chamber’s majority in November’s midterm elections.

“Chuck Schumer has made me once again — this is the third time he’s done this — his number one target,” Collins said in an interview with Fox News Digital soon after she announced her re-election bid, as she pointed to the longtime top Democrat in the Senate.

Collins took to social media a couple of hours earlier to declare, “GOOD NEWS! I am ALL-IN for 2026.”

LONGTIME REPUBLICAN SENATOR MAKES A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT

Democrats have long targeted the 73-year-old Collins, who was first elected to the Senate three decades ago, but keep coming up short.

“I will be outspent as I was in 2020, but fortunately, Maine people are famously independent. They look at the individual candidates, and they don’t just necessarily vote a party line,” the senator said.

Collins was one of the Senate Republicans who voted to convict after the House impeached President Donald Trump in 2021, following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of the president aiming to upend congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election results.

IS THE REPUBLICAN SENATE MAJORITY AT RISK IN MIDTERM ELECTIONS?

And Collins has earned Trump’s ire with Senate votes that go against the administration’s wishes.

Trump has so far not made an endorsement in the pivotal contest, and has taken shots at Collins throughout the year for breaking ranks with him and Republicans, particularly when she voted in favor of bipartisan legislation that would have reined in his war authorities in Venezuela.

Trump declared that Collins and the handful of other Republicans that voted with Democrats to curb his war powers “should never be elected to office again.”

“Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America,” Trump said in a Truth Social post at the time.

When asked if Trump should weigh in, or stay neutral in the contest, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said, “I would defer to Susan Collins on that.”

“I think she knows how to run in Maine. She’s been incredibly successful there. She is a veteran campaigner who knows her state well and knows what works,” Thune said.

“So I would, I guess, defer to her on any decisions that are made related to her campaign and what she would like to see happen or not see happen in terms of endorsements, but we will be all in trying to make sure that she gets re-elected,” he continued.

Her willingness to criticize Trump and to break with his policies may be beneficial to Collins, who needs support from independents and some Democrats to earn re-election.

“What I think the President’s criticism demonstrates is that I’m independent in the way I approach issues. I look at what the impact is on the state of Maine and what the impact is on the country and Mainers appreciate that,” she told Fox News Digital.

Collins emphasized, “I support President Trump when I think he’s right, I don’t when I think he’s wrong, and that’s the approach I’ve always taken with all of the presidents with whom I’ve worked. I’ve never agreed 100% with any of them. So, this President is more outspoken when you disagree with him than previous presidents, but I think that I can fully justify how I have voted.”

TRUMP BLASTS GOP WAR POWERS DEFECTORS, SAYS THEY ‘SHOULD NEVER BE ELECTED TO OFFICE AGAIN’

But the Maine Democratic Party charged in a statement that “Susan Collins has spent the last 30 years betraying Maine, from stripping Mainers’ affordable health care, to casting the decisive vote to confirm Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, to voting with Donald Trump 94% of the time.”

“She now faces some of the lowest approval ratings of her career because Mainers see through her political games and fake shows of concern. In November, we will reject her at the ballot box,” added state party executive director Devon Murphy-Anderson.

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Sen. Tim Scott called Collins “a battle-tested leader whose fierce independence has led to historic wins for Maine.”

But in a closed-door NRSC briefing last week to Senate Republicans, Scott pointed to the latest Fox News national poll which showed the GOP facing a ballot box deficit, and said it could impact specific Senate races this year.

GOP sources confirmed to Fox News Digital that Scott said the toughest challenge may be in Maine.

Collins is likely to face either two-term Democratic Gov. Jane Mills, who has the tacit support of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the DSCC, or political newcomer, veteran, and oyster farmer Graham Platner, who is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, in November. The Democratic primary, which is expected to be competitive, is scheduled for June.

Collins charged that Democrats are working “to distort my record,” with Democratic-aligned outside groups running ads “that are provably false and that’s very disappointing. The people of Maine deserve better.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Asked whom she’d rather face in the general election, Collins said, “I leave that up to the Democrats to decide. I know that a ton of outside money is going to be poured into this race, regardless of who the Democratic candidate is.”

Progressive Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., exploded on U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, calling federal immigration officers “thugs” and telling the commissioner he “better hope” for a presidential pardon during a particularly heated House hearing on Tuesday.

Thanedar, who is originally from India and immigrated to the U.S. in the 1980’s, drilled into Scott, saying, “You better hope you get pardoned because you will be held accountable for the absolute disregard of the law your agencies have shown over the past year.”

The exchange occurred during a House Homeland Security hearing on “Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security: ICE, CBP, and USCIS.” During the hearing, Thanedar grilled Scott and Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons on the recent shooting of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minnesota.

After Lyons and Scott repeatedly backed their officers through Thanedar’s questioning, the congressman said, “I have heard and seen enough. I’m just sick and tired of your agents running around in our cities, in our streets, causing illegal activities, ICE thugs attacking our communities, using our children as bait, referring to people as bodies and numbers, targeting people for their accents and the color of their skin, and killing American citizens, all while showing zero remorse for their actions.”

DEMOCRATS DEMAND KRISTI NOEM BE FIRED OR WARN IMPEACHMENT WILL FOLLOW

Going further, Thanedar asked, “Director Lyons and Commissioner Scott, do you think President Trump will pardon you and your boss, Kristi Noem, before he leaves office, just like he has for insurrectionists and his political allies? Do you believe President Trump will pardon you?”

Scott answered, “I’m not going to speak on behalf of President Trump, but I’ll tell you, I signed up for this job to protect America, and I’m very proud of the service that I provide, and I don’t need a pardon from anybody.”

“Well, you’d better hope so. You better hope you get pardoned,” Thanedar shot back. “Because you will be held accountable for the absolute disregard of the law your agencies have shown over the past year.”

ICE ARRESTS MURDERERS, PEDOPHILES DURING SUPER BOWL WEEKEND AS AGENTS SAY HALFTIME SHOW ‘DEMONIZED’ THEM

Thanedar continued, “Your agencies have lost the trust of the American people, with millions taking to the streets to protect the illegal actions of your agencies. And that’s why I introduced a bill in the United States Congress to abolish ICE. ICE must be abolished.”

The congressman added that he “also co-sponsored a bill to impeach” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, saying, “I believe Kristi Noem must be impeached, and this Congress must do everything in its power to carry out oversight actions against these rogue departments.”

ICE ACTING DIRECTOR SAYS MINNESOTA BODYCAM FOOTAGE WILL BE RELEASED AMID TRANSPARENCY PUSH

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Before Thanedar finished, Homeland Security Committee Chair Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., cut in, saying, “The gentleman’s time is expired” and calling the hearing into recess.

EXCLUSIVE: Three members of Congress representing heavily-Cuban-American districts are demanding the Trump administration shut off the remaining commercial “valves” of support for the Communist Castro/Díaz-Canel regime in Havana, after effectively blockading key oil imports in recent days.

The demand from Reps. Carlos Giménez, Mario Díaz-Balart and María Elvira Salazar, all R-Fla., comes as Cuban despot Miguel Díaz-Canel warned his country is “close to failing” — according to German outlet Deutsche Welle — and that oil supplies, amid the threat of U.S. tariffs on exporters to Cuba, may run out within 15 days.

While Díaz-Canel called the U.S.-imposed oil blockade “genocidal” and “fascist,” Giménez, Díaz-Balart and Salazar saw it as a positive development and said they will demand Tuesday that the Commerce Department shut off the other remaining lifelines to the dictatorship that Washington can control.

Those valves come in the form of export licenses for more than $100 million worth of supplies they say largely go not to the Cuban people but directly to enrich the regime.

CUBAN-BORN REP RECOUNTS EMOTIONAL RETURN 64 YEARS LATER AS PART OF GITMO CODEL

Luxury cars, Jacuzzi tubs and other luxury items remain open to export through licenses given to several Miami-area firms, according to Giménez’s office — which provided Fox News Digital with a 50-page document detailing manifests of goods cleared by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security to be shipped to addresses listed on the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana, as well as Marianao and elsewhere.

Giménez, Díaz-Balart and Salazar wrote to Commerce Undersecretary Jeffrey Kessler and Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control Director Bradley Smith, demanding they take action on these licenses.

“[We are] beyond concerned by U.S. businesses currently engaged in disturbing commercial activity with entities controlled by the regime in Cuba, a listed State Sponsor of Terrorism,” the lawmakers wrote.

POST-MADURO, PRESSURE BUILDS ON MEXICO OVER CUBA’S NEW OIL LIFELINE

“Such activity risks undermining the central objectives of U.S. sanctions policy and contradicts the intent of Congress as reflected in U.S. law, including the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996.”

The act represents one of the most stringent sanctions laws imposed on the Castro regime.

The lawmakers told Commerce that the first section of the LIBERTAD Act clearly states that U.S. sanctions are meant to deny economic support to Havana until “concrete progress is made toward democratic governance, the rule of law, and respect for fundamental freedoms.”

CUBA’S PRESIDENT DEFIANT, SAYS NO NEGOTIATIONS SCHEDULED AS TRUMP MOVES TO CHOKE OFF OIL LIFELINE

“Despite these mandates, a number of licenses issued by both OFAC and BIS continue to authorize transactions that ultimately benefit the Cuban regime and its military-controlled conglomerates,” they wrote.

Such licenses also disregard Congress’ explicit will that sanctions are to be “maintain[ed] until a transition government in Cuba is in place.”

Asked about the publicly available manifest document, Latin America policy analyst Andrés Martínez-Fernández said that while cutting off licensed food and medicine exports is sensitive, much of what is typically cleared for export from Miami often ends up in the hands of the regime rather than the people.

SANCTIONED RUSSIAN JET TOUCHES DOWN IN CUBA, ECHOING SECRET FLIGHTS BEFORE MADURO’S OUSTER

That includes, he said, goods that seem like they would be destined for civilians.

“A lot of these categories of you know like you say expensive cars and even talking about like cement — we’re exporting building products — and everything’s crumbling in Cuba except for the houses of the government officials and their regime collaborators,” he noted.

Martinez-Fernandez added that he does not view the current export situation as any “purposeful oversight” or that the administration is ignoring any potential lever of pressure.

AS TRUMP URGES DEAL, CUBAN PRESIDENT WARNS THAT THE COUNTRY WILL DEFEND ITSELF ‘TO THE LAST DROP OF BLOOD’

“The reality is that we’re doing a lot at the moment with when it comes to sanctions and some of these tools in particular,” he said. “It’s not a press-a-button-and-cut-everything-off; you have to go through everything.”

In their demand, the lawmakers say Commerce must conduct a comprehensive review of all active licenses authorizing commercial or financial dealings with Cuban state entities.

“Revoke any licenses that directly or indirectly provide economic benefit to regime-controlled entities, consistent with the restrictions mandated by the LIBERTAD Act [and] enhance scrutiny of future requests for licensing related to Cuba to ensure full alignment with both the letter and the intent of U.S. law,” they wrote.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

While critical of that particular dynamic, the lawmakers underlined that they are fully supportive of President Donald Trump’s and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s “decisive action” thus far against the Cuban regime.

“[We] look forward to your agencies strongly enforcing U.S. sanctions against the Cuban dictatorship and upholding the Administration’s common-sense policy against the brutal regime on the island,” they wrote.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Commerce Department for comment on the manifest of exportable goods.

Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver, who is currently facing charges related to interfering with ICE officers at a detention facility, is facing strong pushback online over her line of questioning to ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons in a heated hearing Tuesday.

“How do you think Judgment Day will work for you with so much blood on your hands?” McIver asked Lyons during a hearing in which Democrats lashed out on multiple occasions against ICE and President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda in general while highlighting the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both killed by federal immigration agents during altercations in Minneapolis in recent weeks. 

Lyons responded, “I’m not going to entertain that question.”

“Of course not,” McIver said back. “Do you think you’re going to hell?”

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS TRUMP MASS DETENTION POLICY FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino interjected and reminded members of the “standards of decorum,” prompting McIver to respond by saying, “Mr. Chairman, I’m just asking a question. You guys are always talking about religion and the Bible.”

Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin posted on X that audible groans could be heard in the room over McIver’s questions. 

The exchange quickly went viral on social media, where conservatives took issue with McIver’s comments. 

House Republicans, in a post on X, called the situation a “total meltdown” from McIver.

ICE ACTING DIRECTOR SAYS MINNESOTA BODYCAM FOOTAGE WILL BE RELEASED AMID TRANSPARENCY PUSH

“Why the HELL hasn’t she been kicked off her committees??!” conservative commentator Nick Sortor posted on X.

The Trump War Room account called McIver “deranged” in a post on X, adding, “What a freak!”

“This exchange is a low point in Congressional history,” America First New Jersey Chairman Mike Crispi posted on X.

“This woman is completely bonkers, even for a Democrat,” conservative commentator Dave Rubin posted on X.

“Isn’t this the lady who’s charged with assaulting federal agents?” Red State writer Bonchie posted on X.

“These people are vile,” Townhall writer Amy Curtis posted on X.

“ICE Derangement Syndrome is a real thing in today’s Democratic Party,” GOP Sen. Jim Banks posted on X.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News Digital reached out to McIver’s office for comment. 

McIver, who represents New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District, is facing a three-count federal indictment stemming from a May 9, 2025, incident at the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in Newark.

The Department of Justice moved Monday to toss out Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress conviction, a rare request that served to undo yet another element of the Biden-era investigations and prosecutions related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro made the request to dismiss Bannon’s case in the district court in Washington, D.C. The dismissal would scrap Bannon’s conviction, despite the former Trump adviser and War Room podcast host already completing his prison sentence.

Bannon was convicted by a jury in 2022 of two counts of contempt of Congress and served four months in prison for refusing to comply with a subpoena issued to him by the Jan. 6 select committee, a Democrat-led House panel tasked with investigating the events leading up to the 2021 Capitol attack.

STEVE BANNON PLEADS GUILTY TO SCHEME TO DEFRAUD IN BORDER WALL FUNDRAISER

Bannon had fought the subpoena, arguing to the committee that it violated executive privilege because it sought details about his interactions with President Donald Trump ahead of the Jan. 6 rally and breach. In court, Bannon also argued that the committee, which was led by seven Democrats and two Republicans, was improperly impaneled.

Pirro gave little explanation for the DOJ’s move, which would erase Bannon’s conviction despite the sentence already being served.

“The government has determined in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice,” Pirro wrote in the brief request.

DOJ OUTLINES 10 ‘WINS’ UNDER TRUMP, SAYS AGENCY RESTORED AFTER BIDEN ERA

Bannon, for his part, has continued to challenge the conviction and has a petition pending before the Supreme Court. Parallel to Pirro’s dismissal request, Solicitor General John Sauer asked the high court on Tuesday to grant Bannon’s petition.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement that Bannon’s conviction arose from the “J6 ‘Unselect’ Committee’s improper subpoena” and attributed the dismissal to the DOJ’s efforts to course correct what it perceived to be an abuse of power during the Biden administration.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Under the leadership of Attorney General Bondi, this Department will continue to undo the prior administration’s weaponization of the justice system,” Blanche said.

The DOJ did not make a similar request for Peter Navarro, a trade adviser to Trump, who also faced Jan.6-related contempt charges and served four months in prison. Navarro shared a statement on social media saying he wanted to continue fighting his conviction in court and “settle good law” on the matter.

Democrats are split on whether to spare the Coast Guard, the Secret Service and other agencies from the possibility of a government shutdown as lawmakers remain gridlocked over Democrats’ demands for funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“The lawless, reckless people who are marauding bands wild on our street — to hell with that,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital, referring to the agents carrying out President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

“But let’s take care of those agencies that are doing the right thing.”

Other Democrats, however, believe now is the time to play hardball over the changes they want to see and aren’t inclined to cut deals that don’t directly address their demands.

DEMS’ DHS SHUTDOWN THREAT WOULD HIT FEMA, TSA WHILE IMMIGRATION FUNDING REMAINS INTACT

“I don’t think there should be any deals so long as Kristi Noem heads that department,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla. 

“Fire her — then (they) can have my vote.”

In the wake of two deadly confrontations between border enforcement and civilians in Minnesota earlier in 2026, Democrats are demanding stronger warrant requirements, a ban on masks, a ban against racial profiling, an end to paramilitary police and more before funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which operates under DHS.

Republicans have balked at those demands, arguing they would handcuff the agency’s operations.

But even amid those tensions, DeLauro believes Democrats — and Republicans — can find common ground to shield unrelated agencies from suffering the fallout if lawmakers can’t come to an agreement by Friday.

Until then, DHS is running off a two-week spending extension lawmakers agreed to when this same issue threatened a larger, $1.2 trillion spending package earlier this in February. 

When the impasse over ICE looked poised to tank the bill, lawmakers split off non-DHS funding to shrink the scope of the disagreement. DeLauro believes Congress should do that again now.

“We are strongly supportive of TSA, of the Coast Guard, of FEMA, of cybersecurity, of the Secret Service, and we applaud what they do,” DeLauro said, listing more services that could be affected.

“We are not for what ICE and CBP are doing. We are going to be supportive of the other agencies.”

Other Democrats, especially moderates, agreed with DeLauro.

“Sounds reasonable,” Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., said of her idea. “I don’t think anybody likes shutdowns — certainly not the Coast Guard, certainly not TSA.”

THUNE BLASTS JEFFRIES, SCHUMER AS ‘AFRAID OF THEIR SHADOWS’ AS DHS FUNDING FIGHT HEATS UP

“I agree with that,” Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, said of DeLauro’s proposal.

“Even if we do a shutdown, ICE has $75 billion dollars from the big ugly bill. So even if you shut down, the other ones get affected except the one you’re trying to target.”

As Cuellar pointed out, Republicans allocated large sums to ICE through Trump’s signature tax reform and border security package, which passed in July 2025. The package came with enough funding to keep ICE afloat for years. ICE’s budget in 2025 was just shy of $30 billion, meaning that ICE could remain operational for at least two years even without additional funding for 2026.

Still, other Democrats remained undecided about what approach the caucus should take.

“I think there are a lot of things that have to go into the mix,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. “The most important thing right now is the proposal that we put on the table. ICE must be reined in from the practices that they have been engaging in.”

FETTERMAN EXPECTS DHS SHUTDOWN AMID PARTISAN FUNDING FEUD, BREAKS WITH DEMOCRATS ON VOTER ID

Rep. Wesley Bell, D-Mo., echoed Wasserman Schultz’s hesitation.

“I have a lot of respect for my colleague — a lot of respect for her. I’ll probably talk to her about that. But as it stands with this administration, I don’t see any way I could do anything but vote no,” Bell said.

“We’re supposed to be here to protect Americans. How the administration is deploying ICE is deplorable,” Bell added.

On Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., didn’t speak to whether he would support DeLauro’s proposal.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“We don’t look at the moment that we’re in as exercising leverage over the other side. We want to fund the government in a manner that actually promotes the health, the safety and the economic well-being of the American people,” Jeffries said at a press conference.

“The ball is in the Republicans’ court right now. We sent over a proposal,” Jeffries said, referring to the 10 demands Democrats had made. “We’ve given them legislative language as it relates to the types of dramatic reforms of DHS that the American people are demanding, and we’ve heard nothing but crickets from the other side.”

New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado announced Tuesday he is ending his campaign for governor of New York, saying he “concluded that there simply is no viable path forward.” 

The withdrawal comes just days after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed Delgado’s boss, Gov. Kathy Hochul, as she runs for re-election. Delgado would have challenged Hochul in the Democratic primary this year. 

“I’ve decided to end my campaign for Governor of New York. After much consideration, I’ve concluded that there simply is no viable path forward,” Delgado said in a statement on Tuesday. 

“And though my campaign has come to an end, I fully intend to do all I can in our effort to build a more humane, affordable, and equitable state that serves all New Yorkers. I will also support Democrats in our effort to hold the line against Trump and take back our democracy,” he added. 

MAMDANI BACKS HOCHUL IN MOVE THAT COULD RESHAPE NEW YORK GOVERNOR RACE

“I do not make this decision lightly, particularly given that so many have poured their belief into our campaign and are desperate to be given a voice,” Delgado also said, adding, “Ultimately, this decision for me comes down to my belief that to walk with purpose, is to walk with love.” 

Following Delgado’s announcement, Hochul campaign communications director Sarafina Chitika told Fox News Digital, “Governor Hochul has spent all year uniting her big-tent party around a vision for affordability and safety for every New York family.”

“Thanks to her leadership, our campaign and our party are strong and ready to defeat Donald Trump and his enablers up and down the ballot, take back the House, and hand Bruce Blakeman yet another loss this November,” Chitika added. “Donald Trump and Bruce Blakeman are united in their efforts to raise costs on working families, send masked ICE agents into our streets to terrorize innocent communities, and wage war on New York kids. Our party is now just as united to stop them.”

HOCHUL RUNNING MATE VOTED TO ALLOW NONCITIZEN VOTING IN NYC ELECTIONS

Last week, Delgado named former Buffalo mayoral candidate India Walton, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, as his running mate in an effort to beef up his support among progressives.  

Delgado launched his bid for governor in June, a rare instance of a lieutenant governor taking on a sitting governor.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Hochul had backed Mamdani last September as the Democratic Party’s mayoral nominee battled former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa in the general election mayoral showdown. 

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit from the Trump administration seeking to acquire Michigan’s voter registration rolls.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Hala Jarbou, a Trump appointee, is the latest in a string of legal losses over the acquisition of sensitive voter information. 

The Trump administration has sued multiple states over voter information in an effort to force them to clean up their voter lists. 

DOJ TARGETS NONCITIZENS ON VOTER ROLLS AS PART OF TRUMP ELECTION INTEGRITY PUSH

Attorney General Pam Bondi argued that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 gave her the power to compel states to turn over their lists. In a 23-page brief, Jarbou disagreed, saying the law applied to voter applications.

“If the distinction between voter registration applications and voter registration lists is overly pedantic, it is a pedantic distinction made by Congress, and it is Congress’s prerogative to make distinctions that may seem unnecessary to a person reading the statute over six decades after its passage, the judge wrote. “

“Needless to say, the existence of a statewide computerized voter list was not foreseeable to the Congress of 1960, and it is possible that legislators would have included such a list in the CRA’s disclosure provisions had they imagined the possibility,” Jarbou added. 

TRUMP APPOINTEE VOWS TO FOCUS DOJ’S LARGEST DIVISION ON DEI, DENATURALIZATION

The judge noted that the court is not a “telepathic time-traveler,” and thus it “cannot rewrite Congressional legislation to cover a situation that Congress may not have foreseen.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and Michigan officials for comment.

Since May 2025, the Trump administration has demanded nearly every state and Washington, D.C., hand over election-related records and data, such as full copies of statewide voter registration lists and ballots from previous elections, as well as access to voting equipment, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The federal government maintains that it needs the records to make sure that states ensure accurate voter records and the removal of eligible voters to prevent fraud. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he plans to discuss Iran and Gaza with U.S. President Donald Trump during their upcoming visit.

The foreign figure, who is traveling to the U.S. to meet with Trump, indicated that the two nations share a close bond, and that he and Trump are close as well.

“I am now leaving for the United States for my seventh trip to meet with President Trump since he was elected for a second term. This, of course, does not include his unforgettable visit to Israel and his speech in the Knesset,” Netanyahu noted, according to the Israeli government.

IRAN’S TOP DIPLOMAT SAYS NATION’S POWER LIES IN DEFYING PRESSURE: ‘NO TO THE GREAT POWERS’

“I think these reflect the unique closeness of the extraordinary relationship that we have with the United States, that I personally have with the President, that the State of Israel has with the United States — unprecedented in our history,” he said.

“On this trip we will discuss a range of issues: Gaza, the region, but of course, first and foremost, the negotiations with Iran. I will present to the President our outlook regarding the principles of these negotiations — the essential principles which, in my opinion, are important not only to Israel, but to everyone around the world who wants peace and security in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said.

IRAN’S PRESIDENT ACCUSES TRUMP, NETANYAHU, EUROPE OF PROVOKING UNREST: ‘THEY BROUGHT THEM INTO THE STREETS’

In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly declared, “President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu have a great relationship and Israel has had no better friend in its history than President Trump. We continue to work closely with our ally Israel to implement President Trump’s historic Gaza peace agreement and to strengthen regional security in the Middle East.” 

Trump issued a Truth Social post last month warning that the U.S. will attack Iran if the Islamic Republic does not negotiate a nuclear deal.

“Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS – one that is good for all parties,” Trump noted in the post. 

IRAN DRAWS MISSILE RED LINE AS ANALYSTS WARN TEHRAN IS STALLING US TALKS

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

‘As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t, and there was ’Operation Midnight Hammer,’ a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again,” he warned.

FIRST ON FOX: Conservative lawfare group America First Legal (AFL) has been filing records requests after 15 Democrat-led states and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, D, sued to block President Trump’s executive order banning sex changes for minors, in an attempt to find out whether the harm being alleged in their lawsuit is actually happening. 

Fox News Digital reported last month on how AFL’s more than a dozen records requests to state departments of health were either ignored, or did not include any responsive records documenting the harms the Democratic states’ lawsuit warns stem from the president’s executive order.

One of the states that AFL said ignored its records requests, Connecticut, did subsequently return to them with responsive records. However, according to AFL, the documents provided by Connecticut’s health department continue to lend evidence that the harm being cited in Democrats’ multi-state lawsuit is nonexistent.

“I don’t see any impact to HSS funding or federal grants related to this executive order,” said an email that was among what appeared to be three records that the Connecticut Department of Public Health provided to AFL, plus an additional final page that was entirely redacted.

CALIFORNIA AG SUES HOSPITAL THAT ENDED GENDER TRANSITION TREATMENT FOR MINORS TO COMPLY WITH TRUMP POLICIES

The email came from Elizabeth Frugale, a Section Chief for Health Statistics and Surveillance at the Connecticut public health department, in response to a question from a grants management and budget supervisor, Aaron Knight, inquiring whether President Trump’s executive order on transgender surgeries “adversely impacts any of your Federal grants.” 

Frugale’s response stands in contrast to claims in the lawsuit against the president’s executive order on sex changes, which argued the directive had “immediately” jeopardized federal funding and disrupted public health systems. 

“If Connecticut was not financially impacted by the Executive Order, it should have declined to join a lawsuit,” said Dan Epstein, Vice President of America First Legal. “To challenge, without cause, Executive Order 14187’s assurance that taxpayer dollars are not used for chemical and surgical mutilation of children, forces the courts to adjudicate political grievances, not actual disputes. AFL will continue to expose unfounded attempts to clog the federal courts as part of state lawfare against the Administration.”

MAJOR CONNECTICUT HOSPITALS BEGIN ‘WINDING DOWN’ YOUTH GENDER PROGRAMS CITING ‘EVOLVING LANDSCAPE’

The third record given in response to AFL’s records request was just an employee notice asking folks to review a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) halting Trump’s executive directive on trans surgeries for minors. 

A nationwide preliminary injunction halting Trump’s executive order on transgender surgeries was issued just a few months after it came down.

When asked how plaintiff’s could show proof of harm for a policy measure that has been halted by the courts, Epstein said the plaintiffs in the case still must show “standing” for a court to provide a remedy. He noted that just because the plaintiffs filed their suit early does not mean this responsibility disappears. 

“Because standing is necessary for any federal court to provide a remedy, plaintiffs must plead concrete evidence of harm in their complaint,” Epstein asserted. “Here, plaintiffs’ complaint failed to show an actual, traceable loss tied to the federal action, beyond merely speculative claims of harm or generalized concerns. Filing suit early does not eliminate this requirement to establish standing.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP 

AFL’s records requests to all the health departments belonging to states listed in the lawsuit, which was filed on Aug. 1, sought an array of records. Among them were documents showing the states had actually experienced the harms they claimed in their lawsuit, such as evidence of prosecutions or penalties for providers, clinic closures, reduced services and increased medical or mental-health crises for transgender adolescents. 

The group also asked for records showing higher costs for services like counseling, crisis intervention or hospitalizations, worsened mental and physical health outcomes or the states’ inability to meet legal obligations to provide medical care for minors in state custody. AFL asked for any internal communications specifically referencing the executive order and its alleged effects as well.

Only four states — Massachusetts, Illinois, Nevada and Connecticut — have provided any sort of response thus far. Furthermore, the responses that did arrive indicated there were no responsive records relating to AFL’s requests, even though they asked for documents pertaining to precisely what the multi-state lawsuit against Trump’s executive order alleges.  

Trump’s Executive Order 14187 is also being challenged for alleged discrimination in a lawsuit against the Health and Human Services Department led by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Fox News Digital reached out with questions to the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office and the state’s public health department in response to AFL’s allegations, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Phone records of sitting members of Congress were secretly obtained in a way that blocked lawmakers from invoking constitutional protections, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, alleged Tuesday during a hearing.

Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who is leading the hearing, signaled that their panel planned to grill hearing witnesses, who included executives from Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, about the disclosure of the phone data.

Grassley noted in his opening remarks that the three companies received a total of 10 subpoenas for 20 current or former Republican Congress members related to Arctic Frost, the FBI probe that led to Smith bringing charges against President Donald Trump over the 2020 election.

JACK SMITH DENIES POLITICS PLAYED ANY ROLE IN TRUMP PROSECUTIONS AT HOUSE HEARING

Blackburn, in her opening remarks, called the disclosures an “invasion of privacy and violation of our constitutional rights.” Blackburn pointed to the speech or debate clause, which gives Congress members an added layer of protection from prosecution.

“It’s critical that each of these carriers go on the record about the decisions they made and why — or why not — they enabled with Jack Smith’s weaponization of government,” Blackburn said.

The hearing will offer the first public opportunity for Republican committee members, several of whom had a narrow set of their phone data turned over to Smith’s team, to seek answers from each of the phone carriers on how they handled the subpoenas upon receiving them.

Grassley noted that a federal statute said phone carriers cannot be barred from giving notice to a Senate office about a subpoena unless the member is the target of an investigation. He also said Verizon, in particular, was under a contract that required it to notify the Senate Sergeant at Arms about subpoenas related to senators.

The subpoenas were accompanied by court-authorized gag orders, which ordered the phone companies not to alert the senators to the records request. Blackburn, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, are among those on the committee who had their records subpoenaed as part of Arctic Frost.

JACK SMITH TO TESTIFY NEXT WEEK AT A PUBLIC HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE HEARING

While the phone companies come under scrutiny, Grassley also blamed Smith. Smith received the greenlight from DOJ’s Public Integrity Section to seek the senators’ records as part of his investigation, according to emails, but an official from the section also floated that the subpoenas could expose the DOJ to constitutional challenges.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Smith and his team irresponsibly steam0rolled ahead while intentionally hiding their activity from Members of Congress. … Smith’s deceitful conduct was a substantial intrusion into the core constitutional activity of constitutional officers,” Grassley said.

Smith, meanwhile, has repeatedly defended the subpoenas, pointing out that they aligned with DOJ policies at the time.

President Donald Trump vowed to impose “very severe consequences” on Russia in 2025 if it didn’t commit to a deal to end its war on Ukraine.

As the war nears its four-year anniversary in late February, national security experts tell Fox News Digital that Russia is facing tangible consequences for the war. Those are through its network of proxy countries that have directly endured the might of the U.S. military and subsequently left Russia with fewer streams of revenue and resources, they say. 

“The president’s moves as it pertains to Russia are really strategic,” Morgan Murphy, who previously served as the senior public diplomacy advisor to the president’s special envoy to Ukraine in 2025, told Fox News Digital. “So if you look at what he’s done with Iran and with Venezuela, these are two Russian proxies, right? Iran is a close ally of Russia.”

“They sell a lot of drones to Russia,” Murphy, who is running as a GOP Senate candidate to represent Alabama, continued. “Venezuela was again a proxy of Russia here in our hemisphere, and Trump is in the process of taking Iran off the table. He’s certainly taken Venezuela off the chessboard, and that that has to change Putin’s calculus, because he sees in President Trump a president who follows what he says he’s going to do.” 

ZELENSKYY ANNOUNCES NEXT ROUND OF TALKS WITH US, RUSSIA AS UKRAINE AIMS FOR ‘REAL AND DIGNIFIED END TO THE WAR

Russia’s war on Ukraine has persisted since Feb. 24, 2022, about a year after Trump’s first administration ended and during President Joe Biden’s presidency. Trump campaigned on ending the war upon his second inauguration in 2025, but ending the war has proven more difficult than anticipated as the U.S. continues negotiations. 

A White House official who spoke to Fox Digital said Trump is driven by humanitarian concerns and wants the conflict ended to stop the needless loss of life. The official added that in recent months his team has made major headway toward a settlement, pointing to Trump’s own remarks that “very good things” are developing between Ukraine and Russia.

According to the official, recent negotiations in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, were substantive and constructive, with U.S., Ukrainian and Russian delegations agreeing to a 314-person prisoner exchange — the first in five months. While more work is ahead, the official argued that breakthroughs like this show sustained diplomacy is producing real, measurable progress toward ending the war.

Trump launched a series of strikes on Iran in June 2025 that hobbled the country’s covert nuclear program. Massive protests swept Iran in December 2025 as citizens spoke out against the government and its cratering economy. 

Iran violently cracked down on the nationwide protests, with thousands of citizens reportedly killed and the Trump administration warning Iran that it would face U.S. military action if the executions and killings continued. 

The U.S. and Iran held discussions in Oman Friday as Tehran, Iran, continues to obscure its nuclear ambitions, with military intervention on the table as the U.S. seeks to prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons capabilities. 

Iran and Russia have grown into a tighter wartime partnership in recent years, with U.S. and allied officials citing Iran’s supply of armed drones and other defense cooperation that has helped power Russia’s attacks in Ukraine — drawing the two heavily sanctioned regimes closer economically and militarily.

Ret. Air Force Gen. Bruce Carlson pointed to the Trump administration’s actions on Iran and Venezuela as evidence of how Trump is strategically pressuring Russia via its proxies to end the war in Ukraine. 

“In any campaign, you don’t just target command centers — you cut supply lines and logistics,” Carlson said. “Pressuring Russian proxies does exactly that. Venezuela, Iran, and the shadow fleet are key arteries feeding Russia’s war in Ukraine. Additionally, by pressing Europe to increase NATO spending and move off Russian oil and gas, we are directly altering Moscow’s decision-making.”

WITKOFF SAYS TALKS WITH RUSSIAN ENVOY WERE ‘PRODUCTIVE AND CONSTRUCTIVE’ AMID TRUMP ADMIN’S PEACE PUSH

Carlson argued that, strategically, the trend lines are moving against Moscow as the U.S. ramps up pressure on Russia’s partners — leaving Putin with fewer backers, tighter resources and less flexibility, and undermining any assumption that dragging out the war comes without a cost. 

The retired Air Force general added that Putin and his proxies operate as a single ecosystem: Russia’s campaign relies on outside suppliers and sanctions-busting networks, so hitting any link in that chain can weaken Russia’s revenue and its ability to sustain attacks on Ukrainian civilians.

“But ensuring a lasting and fair peace is not solely about pressuring Russia. As the cold winter continues in Ukraine, there are increasing concerns on Ukraine’s energy needs and air defense systems. U.S. and European support remain vital,” he added. 

UKRAINE RACES TO BOLSTER AIR DEFENSES AS PUTIN’S STRIKE PAUSE NEARS END

As tensions with Iran heighten, the Trump administration successfully captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on sweeping narco-trafficking charges in January. 

Venezuela is another Russian ally, publicly backing Moscow and maintaining high-level diplomatic ties, while giving Russia a Western Hemisphere foothold through military-technical cooperation and deep dependence on Russian arms — a relationship that has triggered U.S. sanctions actions tied to Venezuela’s oil sector and Russian-linked firms.

“The removal of Maduro stripped Moscow of a key client in our hemisphere, and the increased pressure on Iran threatens the weapons and drone supply chain that Russia uses against Ukrainian civilians,” Carrie Filipetti, executive director of foreign policy group the Vandenberg Coalition, told Fox News Digital. “This is how we have to change Putin’s long-term calculus.”

TRUMP SAYS PUTIN AGREED TO HALT KYIV STRIKES FOR ONE WEEK AMID BRUTAL COLD

“For the first time, the United States has used the power of American diplomacy to bring Ukraine and Russia into trilateral diplomatic talks,” Filipetti added. “Combined with the threat of additional sanctions reliance and increased pressure on the countries that buy Russian energy, these steps are critical to shaking Russia’s assumption that time is on its side.” 

Ret. Air Force Lt. Gen. Richard Newton told Fox News Digital that when Trump warned Russia of severe consequences in 2025 if Moscow did not end the war, the threat was followed by tangible consequences that reverberated through the Kremlin. 

“Deterrence and leverage requires our adversaries (to) believe we will act,” Newton said. “President Trump is doing just that by disrupting the systems that fund and sustain Putin’s war. The capture of Maduro and the just announced trade deal with India’s Prime Minister Modi — that forces India off of Russian oil — is a major blow to Russia’s war machine.”

The White House said in February that it struck with India to increase U.S. energy imports and stop buying Russian oil. The U.S. tops the world in daily oil production, with Saudi Arabia and Russia following behind. 

Filipetti argued that peace in Ukraine is only obtained by forcing Russia to face “real consequences.”

“Vladimir Putin is responsible for a war of aggression marked by atrocities against Ukrainian civilians, and any lasting peace must impose real consequences on Russia itself. And weakening Russia’s proxies and isolating Putin is one of the most effective ways to reduce his ability to wage war,” Filipetti said.

“When it comes to China, North Korea, and Iran — without question these authoritarians are facing a very different calculus than just a few months ago,” she said. 

RUSSIA, UKRAINE TO DISCUSS TERRITORY AS TRUMP SAYS BOTH SIDES ‘WANT TO MAKE A DEAL’

While Newton pointed to a shadow-fleet sanctions package and another sanctions package that are moving through Congress, along with higher NATO spending and a tougher allied military posture, as key pressure points he says could help drive a peace deal.

Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is promoting a sweeping Russia sanctions bill that would tighten the screws on Moscow by punishing countries and companies that keep buying Russian energy with secondary sanctions and tariffs, while a separate bipartisan “shadow fleet” package would target the tankers, insurers and shell networks Russia uses to move oil and evade sanctions.

Murphy argued that Trump already has sketched what he sees as a realistic off-ramp for Moscow — one he says even some Democrats would recognize as the best deal Putin is likely to get — including restoring Russia’s seat at the top diplomatic table, reopening some Western commercial access, and acknowledging Russia’s current occupation of Ukrainian territory without formally recognizing sovereignty. 

ZELENSKYY HOLDING UP RUSSIA-UKRAINE PEACE PROCESS, TRUMP SAYS

Murphy likened that offer to a “golden bridge” for Putin to exit the war, but said the Kremlin has so far declined it, making the next move ultimately Russia’s choice — and raising the question of how many more casualties Moscow is willing to absorb with no clear endpoint in sight.

The war underscores a Russian worldview U.S. negotiators often misread through a Western lens, Murphy said, explaining Russia is shaped by catastrophic losses in World War I and World War II and a deep-seated suspicion that invasion is a recurring threat. He said that unpredictability is why the U.S. military has long used the “Crazy Ivan” moniker for Russian behavior. 

Trump is meanwhile putting himself in the Russians’ shoes, Murphy argued, and meeting the moment with a clearer-eyed read of Moscow’s mindset and history. 

“It is a decision that the Russians are going to have to make. How many more lives do they want to feed into this meat grinder? How many more deaths are they willing to endure?” Murphy said. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters in February that the U.S. set a June deadline for Moscow and Kyiv to strike an agreement to end the war, teeing up heightened tensions ahead of the U.S. midterms in November. 

President Donald Trump‘s administration is poised to walk back an Obama-era greenhouse gas finding that serves as a lynchpin for justifying climate regulations across the country on Wednesday.

The 2009 “endangerment finding” identifies six greenhouse gases that the Obama administration said pose “a threat to public health and welfare.” That harm finding was then used to justify sweeping climate regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), such as raising fuel economy standards and limiting power plant emissions, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin hailed the move as cutting through government red tape in an interview with the Journal.

“This amounts to the largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States,” Zeldin said.

DEMS ACCUSE EPA OF TRYING TO KILL GREENHOUSE GAS REPORTING PROGRAM THAT AIDS CAP-AND-TRADE

The Journal reports that the final rule will be made public later this week and is set to eliminate requirements to measure, report, certify and comply with federal greenhouse-gas emission standards for motor vehicles. The rollback does not yet affect power plants or oil and gas facilities.

“More energy drives human flourishing,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told the outlet. “Energy abundance is the thing that we have to focus on, not regulating certain forms of energy out.”

Trump is reportedly expected to hold an event at the White House on Wednesday with Zeldin and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. There they will announce a new initiative for the Department of War to purchase electricity from coal-powered plants.

SNOWSTORM COULD’VE SPARKED GRID CATASTROPHE IF BIDEN CLIMATE POLICIES WEREN’T REVERSED: ENERGY DEPT

The Washington Coal Club is also set to name Trump the “Undisputed Champion of Coal” during the event, according to the Journal.

Trump has been consistently critical of global warming claims and climate regulation throughout both of his terms in office, famously withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement when he first took office in 2017.

Trump more recently used the wall of winter storms across the U.S. as a talking point against “climate insurrectionists.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“Record Cold Wave expected to hit 40 States. Rarely seen anything like it before,” Trump wrote on social media last month. “Could the Environmental Insurrectionists please explain — WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country would not negotiate on its ballistic missile program, rejecting a core U.S. demand and further dimming prospects for a breakthrough deal.

He again warned in an interview with Al Jazeera that Tehran, Iran, would target U.S. bases in the Middle East if provoked, calling Iran’s missile program “never negotiable.”

The warnings came as U.S. and Iranian negotiators met in early February in Oman, even as Washington continued to build up military forces across the region — a posture U.S. officials say is meant to deter further escalation but which analysts argue also underscores how far apart the two sides remain.

Despite the imbalance in military power, analysts say Iran believes it can withstand U.S. pressure by signaling greater resolve — and by betting that Washington’s appetite for war is limited.

TRUMP SAYS IRAN ALREADY HAS US TERMS AS MILITARY STRIKE CLOCK TICKS

While the U.S. possesses overwhelming military capabilities, Defense Priorities analyst Rosemary Kelanic said Iran is relying on the logic of asymmetric conflict.

“One country is much stronger, but the weaker country cares more,” Kelanic said. “And historically, the country that cares more often wins by outlasting the stronger one.”

“Iran is trying to signal resolve as strongly as it can, but it likely doubts U.S. resolve — because from Tehran’s perspective, the stakes for Iran are existential, while the stakes for the United States are not,” she added.

IRAN’S PRESIDENT STRIKES SOFTER TONE ON NUCLEAR TALKS AFTER TRUMP’S WARNING THAT ‘BAD THINGS WOULD HAPPEN’

Behnam Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Tehran’s primary leverage is its ability to threaten wider regional instability, even if it cannot win a prolonged conflict.

“The Islamic Republic’s leverage is the threat of a region-wide war,” Taleblu said, noting that while U.S. and Israeli defenses could intercept most attacks, “something will get hit.”

Iran buying time

Analysts across the spectrum agree that Iran is using negotiations less as a path to compromise than as a way to delay decisive action.

Oren Kessler, analyst at global consulting firm Wikistrat, said Iran is using talks to stabilize its position internally while avoiding concessions on core security issues.

“Both sides want a deal, but their red lines are very hard for the other side to overcome,” Kesler said. “The talks are going well in the sense that they’re happening, but they’re not really going anywhere.”

Taleblu echoed that assessment, arguing that Tehran is treating diplomacy as a shield rather than a solution.

“The regime is treating negotiations as a lifeline rather than a way to resolve the core problem,” he said.

Taleblu added that Iran’s leadership sees talks as a way to deter a strike in the short term, weaken domestic opposition in the medium term, and eventually secure sanctions relief to stabilize its economy.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has insisted that limits on Iran’s ballistic missiles must be part of any agreement to avoid military action.

“At the end of the day, the United States is prepared to engage, and has always been prepared to engage with Iran,” Rubio said in early February. “In order for talks to actually lead to something meaningful, they will have to include certain things, and that includes the range of their ballistic missiles. That includes their sponsorship of terrorist organizations across the region. That includes the nuclear program. And that includes the treatment of their own people.”

Anti-government protests beginning at the start of 2026 led to a brutal crackdown in Iran. The regime has admitted to 3,117 deaths linked to the demonstrations, though human rights groups and Iranian resistance organizations peg the death toll as much higher. 

The U.S. also has demanded that Iran give up all enriched uranium stockpiles, which can be used for civilian energy at low levels but for nuclear weapons at higher concentrations.

Araghchi told Al Jazeera that Iran is willing to negotiate on nuclear issues but insisted enrichment is an “inalienable right” that “must continue.”

“We are ready to reach a reassuring agreement on enrichment,” he said. “The Iranian nuclear case will only be resolved through negotiations.”

Iran’s atomic chief said Monday that Tehran would consider diluting its 60% enriched uranium — a level close to weapons-grade — but only in exchange for the lifting of all sanctions.

As negotiations unfolded, the U.S. continued to expand its military footprint in the Middle East.

In late January, the U.S. dispatched a carrier strike group centered on the USS Abraham Lincoln to the North Arabian Sea, accompanied by multiple destroyers and other naval assets. Additional F-15E strike aircraft and air defense systems have also been repositioned at bases across the region, alongside thousands of U.S. troops.

Taleblu said the administration may be using diplomacy to buy time of its own.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“The charitable interpretation is that the president is buying time — moving assets, strengthening missile defense, and preparing military options,” he said. “The less charitable interpretation is that the United States is taking Iran’s threats as highly credible and still chasing the optics of a deal.”

In 2025, five rounds of talks similarly stalled over U.S. demands that Iran abandon enrichment entirely — talks that ultimately collapsed into Operation Midnight Hammer, a U.S.-led bombing campaign against Iranian nuclear facilities.

The Senate is scrambling to avoid a third government shutdown under President Donald Trump, and after negotiations seemingly appeared to hit a brick wall, lawmakers are cautiously optimistic that a deal could be made. 

Senate Republicans received Senate Democrats’ “partisan wishlist” of demands over the weekend, sources familiar with negotiations told Fox News Digital. The White House sent over its own counter-proposal, but several lawmakers weren’t clear what was in package as of Monday night. 

Some, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wouldn’t say, but noted that congressional Democrats and the White House were “trading papers,” and signaled that the back and forth activity was a good sign of negotiations moving forward. 

But lawmakers aren’t out of the woods yet, a reality that Thune warned of since Senate Democrats demanded a two-week funding extension for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Congress has until Friday to avert a shutdown and little time to actually move a short-term patch from one side of the building to the other. 

REPUBLICANS WARN DEMOCRATS’ ICE REFORM PUSH IS COVER TO DEFUND BORDER ENFORCEMENT

Republicans are mulling another short-term extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to avert a partial shutdown. Thune said whether Democrats would sign off depended on how well background negotiations were going, but hinted that so far, things were moving toward a solution. 

“I think, based on what I’m familiar with about the discussion so far, I think there is, but we’ll know more when the proposal comes back,” Thune said. “Let’s have a chance to evaluate it.” 

Thune later said that he planned to tee up another CR on Tuesday, but noted that the length would “have to be negotiated. But let’s see what the next day brings and we’ll go from there.”

Democrats’ prime objective is reining in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good. 

The proposal they submitted included items that are a bridge too far for Republicans, including requiring ICE agents to get judicial warrants, de-mask and have identification ready — some in the GOP warn doing so would lead to more agents being doxxed, or when a person’s private information is made public, like their address. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned that the “clock is ticking” for Republicans to respond. 

SHUTDOWN AVERTED FOR NOW, BUT SENATE WARNS DHS FIGHT COULD TRIGGER ANOTHER IN DAYS

“We have sent you our proposals, and they are exceedingly reasonable,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “I hope our colleagues on the other side, many of whom, at least here in the Senate, recognize that things need to change, show they’re ready to act in a meaningful way.”

Prior to Democrats finally handing over the legislative version of their demands on Saturday, Republicans publicly questioned if they actually wanted to have serious negotiations. That changed over the weekend. 

A White House official told Fox News that “President Trump has been consistent, he wants the government open and the Administration has been working with both parties to ensure the American people don’t have to endure another drawn-out, senseless, and hurtful shutdown.”

Meanwhile, the scope and scale of a possible third closure would be limited to just the DHS, but would really only have an effect on FEMA, TSA, the Coast Guard and other priorities under the agency’s umbrella. That’s because ICE and immigration operations are flush with billions from Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” 

“To say that the security of Americans is not paramount, I think, would be a huge mistake for the Democrats, and I certainly hope that they’ll continue to operate in good faith,” Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and the chair of the Homeland Security spending panel, said.

“Because you do realize, ICE and [Customs and Border Patrol] would continue to be funded,” she continued. 

SCHUMER, JEFFRIES MEND RIFT, PRESENT UNITED FRONT ON DHS REFORMS AS DEADLINE NEARS

Things are also about to get complicated quickly in the upper chamber. Lawmakers are set to leave Washington, D.C., for a weeklong recess this Thursday, and many are headed overseas to the Munich Security Conference. 

That starts on the day of the deadline and lasts through the weekend. Thune warned that it was possible he would cancel the upcoming recess, especially if there was little progress toward avoiding a DHS shutdown. 

Still, Senate Democrats believe that the ball is in the GOP’s court and are waiting for their counterparts to act. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“I mean, I think they’re pretty reasonable,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations panel, said.

“I mean, we did not ask for the moon,” he continued. “We asked for targeted but impactful changes in the way that ICE is terrorizing American cities. So obviously we’re willing to negotiate.”

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Labor’s top lawyer ordered staff on Monday to stop engaging with the American Bar Association in their official capacities, saying the organization partakes in liberal activism and that any federal participation would only boost its influence.

Trump-appointed Solicitor Jonathan Berry wrote in an email that the hundreds of attorneys at the Department of Labor are not to use taxpayer funds to participate in any ABA events or use their government job titles at them, according to a copy of the email reviewed by Fox News Digital.

“The ABA is strategically equivocal about its ideological stance,” Berry wrote. “Equivocal in that the ABA holds itself out as non-ideological at certain times, but takes decidedly radical ideological positions at others.”

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TELLS AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION IT WILL NO LONGER COMPLY WITH RATINGS FOR JUDICIAL NOMINEES

His email marks the latest step in the Trump administration’s effort to weaken the ABA, the nation’s largest association of lawyers and other legal personnel. 

The Department of Justice implemented a similar policy last year and terminated more than $3 million in federal grants to ABA programs before a judge found that ending the funds was unconstitutional. The Federal Trade Commission likewise severed its ties with the ABA’s antitrust arm, saying it “promotes the business interests of Big Tech.”

Republicans have long argued the ABA promotes Democrat-aligned viewpoints and that its institutional presence in the legal world is a disadvantage to conservatives. The ABA’s website touts that it is the “national voice of the legal profession” and showcases work that includes support for “LGBTQ+” initiatives, abortion access, stricter gun control measures, and diversity, equity and inclusion.

The ABA has also taken a stance against President Donald Trump, condemning what its president described as the administration’s “wide-scale affronts to the rule of law.”

The ABA wields enormous power, weighing in on nominations of federal judges, engaging in litigation and involving itself in the hiring processes across the legal industry. One arm of the ABA also handles law school accreditation.

In a reversal of a decades-long practice, Attorney General Pam Bondi told the ABA last year that the DOJ would not give the association a heads up on judicial nominees before they are announced, stripping the ABA of the ability to rate the nominees in advance.

DOJ OUTLINES 10 ‘WINS’ UNDER TRUMP, SAYS AGENCY RESTORED AFTER BIDEN ERA

Berry wrote in his email to staff that the Labor Department lawyers’ participation in the ABA would only serve to endorse what he viewed as an institutional problem.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“There is genuine benefit to our attorneys engaging with the employer bar in ABA programs, but the benefit genuinely feeds the problem too: Our participation in ‘neutral’ ABA events contributes to institutional stature the ABA leverages to advance radical goals as if they were ‘neutral,’” Berry wrote. “No more.”

The ABA declined to comment.

English is now the only language in which people can take driver’s license tests in the Sunshine State.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles announced last month that the change to English as the only language for the tests would start Feb. 6.

“Previously, knowledge exams for most non-commercial driver license classifications were offered in multiple languages, while Commercial Learner’s Permit (CLP) and Commercial Driver License (CDL) knowledge exams were only available in English and Spanish,” the department explained in a Jan. 30 press release. “Under the updated policy, all driver license knowledge and skills testing will be conducted in English.”

OVER 5,000 COLD-STUNNED IGUANAS REMOVED IN TWO DAYS DURING STATE’S RECORD FREEZE

“To implement this change, FLHSMV has updated its driver license testing system statewide. Language translation services will no longer be permitted for knowledge or skills examinations, and any printed exams in languages other than English will be removed for use,” the department explained.

Gov. Ron DeSantis hailed the move.

DESANTIS CELEBRATES END OF ‘WITCH HUNT’ AFTER TRUMP DOJ REPORTEDLY DROPS HOPE FLORIDA FOUNDATION COMPLAINT

“Good reform by @FLHSMV to require driver exams be conducted only in English. Need to be able to read the road signs!” the governor declared in a Jan. 31 post on X.

Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, a Republican who launched a gubernatorial bid last month, also expressed support for the move.

CONSERVATIVE FIREBRAND VOWS TO PURGE ‘RINOS’ IN BATTLE TO REPLACE RETIRING VERN BUCHANAN IN OPEN FLORIDA SEAT

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Thank you to FLHSMV for taking a commonsense step to strengthen highway safety. Ensuring drivers can understand road signs, instructions, and safety commands in English helps keep everyone on our roads safer,” Collins wrote in a Jan. 30 post on X.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Amy Klobuchar introduced a bipartisan measure to crack down on money laundering by increasing penalties and ensuring laws apply to systems used by drug traffickers and terrorists.

Grassley, R-Iowa, and Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced the “Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Finance and Counterfeiting Act” Friday to enhance criminal money laundering statutes.

ALLEGED SINALOA CARTEL FENTANYL PRODUCER CHARGED IN NEWLY UNSEALED US FEDERAL INDICTMENT

The bill would update counterfeiting laws to prohibit state-of-the-art counterfeiting methods and increase penalties for bulk cash smuggling.

The bill would also ensure money laundering laws apply to informal value transfer systems that are often used by drug traffickers and terrorists.

The introduction of the bill comes as Trump administration officials warn that hostile actors, like cartels and terrorists, are funding operations through complex financial channels across the U.S. border. 

Grassley and Klobuchar also said the bill would prohibit the cross-border shipment of blank checks for the purpose of evading reporting requirements.

“Criminal enterprises and terrorist organizations depend on ill-begotten cash to carry out their dark deeds. As money laundering methods have evolved over time, so must the government’s efforts to exact justice,” Grassley said, adding that their bill would ensure law enforcement “has the tools they need to track down dirty money, hold criminals accountable and prevent further crimes.”

Klobuchar added that as criminals and terrorist organizations “develop new methods to launder money, we must provide our law enforcement with the tools they need to keep American communities safe.”

FBI BUSTS ALLEGED MADURO-LINKED MONEY LAUNDERING NETWORK SPANNING MULTIPLE NATIONS

“This bipartisan legislation makes necessary updates to anti-money laundering statutes and counterfeiting laws, ensuring the law enforcement community can stay one step ahead of those working to undermine our nation’s safety and security,” she said.

The bill also would establish a new money laundering violation that would prohibit the transfer of funds into or out of the United States — funds specifically being transferred with the intent to violate U.S. income tax laws.

The bill would also prohibit conspiracies to create illegal money services businesses; grant wiretapping authority to investigate currency reporting, bulk cash smuggling, illegal money services businesses and counterfeiting offenses; and grant the U.S. Secret Service the explicit authority to investigate ransomware crimes and other uses of unlicensed money transmitting; and would ensure compliance with financial institutions. 

The measure has wide support in the law enforcement community and has been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys, the National Association of Police Organizations and the National District Attorneys Association.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“By clarifying the law in response to recent court decisions, strengthening penalties and expanding investigative authorities, this legislation will restore critical law enforcement tools and help disrupt transnational criminal organizations,” Patrick Yoes, president of the Fraternal Order of Police said, adding that the organization “strongly supports this bill, which would prevent criminals and terrorists from profiting from their crimes and protect public safety and national security.”

The National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys also endorsed the bill saying the “targeted reforms will strengthen investigations, improve prosecutorial clarity and better reflect how modern money-laundering schemes actually operate.”