NationalWatch

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., continued calling for President Donald Trump’s ouster on Tuesday even after the president announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran.

“This statement changes nothing,” she asserted in a post on X, referring to the president’s Tuesday evening ceasefire announcement. “Whether by his Cabinet or Congress, the President must be removed from office.”

Prior to the ceasefire announcement, Trump, who had been threatening to unleash a devastating attack against Iranian power plants and bridges, sent the following warning in a Tuesday morning Truth Social post: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?”

Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the progressive cadre of lawmakers known as “The Squad,” responded by declaring in a post on X, “This is a threat of genocide and merits removal from office. The President’s mental faculties are collapsing and cannot be trusted. To every individual in the President’s chain of command: You have a duty to refuse illegal orders. That includes carrying out this threat.”

But then on Tuesday night, Trump announced a two-week ceasefire.

TRUMP AGREES TO 2-WEEK CEASEFIRE IF IRAN OPENS STRAIT OF HORMUZ

“Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE!” the president wrote in part of a Truth Social post. “Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated.”

Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in part of a statement, “If attacks against Iran are halted, our Powerful Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations. For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations.”

But even in light of Trump’s ceasefire announcement, Ocasio-Cortez asserted that the president’s “statement changes nothing.”

“The President has threatened a genocide against the Iranian people, and is continuing to leverage that threat. He has launched a massive war of enormous risk and of catastrophic consequence without reason, rationale, nor Congressional authorization – which is as clear a violation of the Constitution as any. Each day this goes on, the risk and criminality of these actions escalate for our nation and the world,” she wrote in the post on X.

EX-TRUMP ALLY MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE JOINS LEFT-WING CALLS FOR THE 25TH AMENDMENT AS IRAN DEADLINE NEARS

“Moreover, this administration’s self enrichment, insider trading, and pure corruption off this chaos – from crypto currencies to predictive trading markets to bribe ‘settlements’ – has placed the Trump administration’s pursuit of personal wealth squarely against the wellbeing of our nation and its people. All of these incidents, and plenty more, have clearly driven our country past the threshold for impeachment or invocation of the 25th amendment,” she continued.

“We cannot risk the world nor the wellbeing of our nation any longer. None of these considerations should be partisan, but shared in good faith by Americans of all backgrounds who care for the safety and stability of the United States. Whether by his Cabinet or Congress, the President must be removed from office. We are playing with the brink,” she wrote.

AOC TELLS TROOPS TO REFUSE ‘ILLEGAL’ ORDERS AHEAD OF TRUMP’S LOOMING IRAN DEADLINE

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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment early on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump’s support for his war with Iran began to publicly fray within his own party, as some in the GOP bucked the president’s threat Tuesday morning.

Trump has for several days suggested he would order the military to destroy much of Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including energy sites and bridges, if the country does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump planted that flag again Tuesday morning, declaring that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran does not act before his 8 p.m. Eastern deadline. While the threat was reversed shortly before the deadline in a Truth Social post revealing a two-week ceasefire after talks with Pakistani leaders, Trump’s strategy is unpredictable.

“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated,” Trump wrote. “On behalf of the United States of America, as President, and also representing the Countries of the Middle East, it is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution.”

EX-TRUMP ALLY MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE JOINS LEFT-WING CALLS FOR THE 25TH AMENDMENT AS IRAN DEADLINE NEARS

He added the administration received a 10-point proposal from Iran, and officials “believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”

While Republicans have largely kept quiet about the war, many are refusing to use the term despite Trump referring to it as such on several occasions. But his latest threat has rattled some in the GOP, who view it as a betrayal of how America operates in wartime.

Still, they aren’t calling for Congress to reassert itself as Operation Epic Fury continues in the Middle East. 

“So, let me be clear: I do not support the destruction of a ‘whole civilization,’” Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas, wrote on social media Tuesday afternoon. “That is not who we are, and it is not consistent with the principles that have long guided America.”

“I have and will continue to support a strong national defense—one that is focused, disciplined, and firmly rooted in protecting the safety and security of the American people,” the Texas Republican added. “But, how we protect the lives of the innocent is just as important as how we engage the enemy.”

And Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who has bucked Trump on Venezuela but largely toed the party-line on Iran, called for the saber-rattling to end. 

She charged that his threat “cannot be excused away as an attempt to gain leverage in negotiations with Iran.”

“This type of rhetoric is an affront to the ideals our nation has sought to uphold and promote around the world for nearly 250 years,” Murkowski said on X. “It undermines our long-standing role as a global beacon of freedom and directly endangers Americans both abroad and at home.”

DEMOCRATS THREATEN TO GRIND SENATE TO A HALT TO FORCE PUBLIC IRAN HEARINGS

Others, like Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a close ally of the president’s, hoped that Trump’s threat was “bluster.” 

“I do not want to see that we are not at war with the Iranian people. We are trying to liberate them,” Johnson said. 

Though they are publicly breaking with the latest threat, none have called for legislative action. Both Murkowski and Johnson have repeatedly voted against war powers resolutions pushed by Senate Democrats seeking to block Trump’s authority in Iran.

Still, Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, has vowed to oppose more funding for the president’s Iran campaign until Congress votes to authorize the war, and former Republican-turned independent Rep. Kevin Kiley, I-Calif., wants Congress to conduct oversight of the president’s Iran campaign. 

Neither chamber has conducted an oversight hearing so far. 

“The United States does not destroy civilizations. Nor do we threaten to do so as some sort of negotiating tactic,” Rep. Kevin Kiley, I-Calif., who recently left the Republican Party ahead of a potentially bruising reelection bid, wrote on social media.

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Congressional Democrats erupted against Trump’s threat Tuesday with many lawmakers calling for the president’s impeachment or removal via the 25th Amendment. Some Democrats, including Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., have said those proposals are “unrealistic” in the face of widespread GOP opposition.

The House and Senate are not scheduled to return to Washington until the week of April 13.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., urged U.S. service members to “refuse illegal orders” Tuesday after President Donald Trump threatened to wipe out Iran’s “civilization.”

“The President’s mental faculties are collapsing and cannot be trusted,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in response to Trump’s Truth Social post. “To every individual in the President’s chain of command: You have a duty to refuse illegal orders. That includes carrying out this threat.”

Trump appeared to issue a warning about bombing some of Iran’s civilian infrastructure in an effort to persuade the country to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, among other demands. The president set a deadline of 8 p.m. Eastern time.

Ocasio-Cortez’s denunciation comes as a growing number of Democratic lawmakers on the party’s leftward flank have called for Trump to be impeached, though that effort will likely face an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled House. Some Democrats have also urged the cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment in an attempt to remove Trump from power — a highly unrealistic outcome.

WHY TRUMP FACES AN AGONIZING DECISION ON OBLITERATING IRAN’S OIL SUPPLY IF HE CAN’T GET A DEAL

Ocasio-Cortez, a leading progressive lawmaker, joined Democrats Tuesday in supporting Trump’s removal from power.

House Democratic leadership notably stopped short of calling for Trump’s ouster in a statement issued Tuesday. 

The Democratic leaders instead urged House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to immediately reconvene the House and vote on a war powers resolution to block Trump from further military action. The chamber is currently in a district work period until the week of April 13.

TRUMP’S APOCALYPTIC IRAN WARNING RAISES STAKES FOR SWEEPING US STRIKE THREAT

“It’s time for House Republicans to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and join Democrats in stopping this madness,” the group, led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote. 

The White House fired back at Democrats’ messaging in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“This is pathetic. Democrats have been talking about impeaching President Trump since before he was even sworn into office,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said. “The Democrats in Congress are deranged, weak, and ineffective, which is why their approval ratings are at historic lows.”

Ocasio-Cortez’s plea to U.S. service members comes after the Department of Justice opened an investigation in 2025 into six Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a video urging troops and members of the intelligence community to reject “illegal” orders from the government. The lawmakers included Sens. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., as well as Reps. Jason Crow, D-Colo., Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., Chrissy Houlahan and Chris DeLuzio, D-Pa.

TRUMP SAYS ‘LOSERS’ SCHUMER, DEMS WOULD HAVE CRITICIZED ANY DECISION HE MADE ON IRAN

A grand jury in Washington, D.C., declined to indict those lawmakers in February in a notable setback for U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.

Kelly warned Trump earlier this week against moving forward with targeting non-military infrastructure in Iran.

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“Illegal orders to make civilians suffer would be a black mark on our military and our country,” the Arizona Democrat wrote on social media.

Fox News Digital reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s office for comment.

A new national poll is the latest to indicate that Democrats are facing major problems with their party’s image as they try to win back congressional majorities from the Republicans in this year’s midterm elections.

Just 28% of Americans questioned in a CNN poll view the Democratic Party positively, with 56% seeing Democrats in an unfavorable light.

The poll, the most recent over the past year to indicate the Democratic Party brand hitting historic lows, comes with just over six months to go until the midterms, when they hope to escape the political wilderness.

The GOP, which is working to defend its fragile House and slim Senate majorities in the 2026 ballot box showdowns amid President Donald Trump‘s underwater approval ratings and a rough political climate that doesn’t favor the party in power, doesn’t fare much better in the poll, which was conducted March 26-30.

WHAT OUR LATEST FOX NEWS NATIONAL POLL SAYS 

Thirty-two percent of Americans said they viewed the Republican Party positively, with 55% seeing the GOP in a negative light.

An average of the most recent national polls that asked how respondents viewed the two major political parties show the Republicans’ favorability 15 points in negative territory but the Democrats 20 points underwater.

Helping to sink the Democratic Party’s underwater ratings are Democrats themselves.

A healthy percentage of Democrats feel that their leaders in Congress aren’t fighting back more vocally against Trump and his unprecedented second-term agenda. That’s fueling a less favorable view of the Democratic Party among Democrats compared to a noticeably more favorable view of the GOP among Republicans.

That’s a departure from 2006 and 2018, the most recent midterms, when the Democrats rode blue waves to win back the House when Republicans controlled the White House. In those years, Democrats led by double digits in net favorability.

Democrats were ecstatic two weeks ago after flipping a Republican-controlled legislative seat in a right-leaning, Palm Beach, Florida-anchored district that includes Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s home turf. The same day, Democrats also flipped a state Senate seat in Florida in a separate special election. The Democrats’ Sunshine State victories were their latest wins or overperformances in a slew of special elections from coast to coast since Trump returned to power in the White House 14 months ago.

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Democrats also scored larger than expected victories in last November’s gubernatorial elections in blue-leaning Virginia and New Jersey.

Partially fueling the Democrats’ ballot box performances is their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation. And the victories are further energizing Democrats as they work to win back control of Congress in the midterms.

“From now until November, Democrats are all gas and no brakes as we compete across every corner of Florida and the nation,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said after the Florida special elections.

But along with their brand issues, also troubling for Democrats ahead of the midterms is their standing in the generic ballot, the closely watched polling indicator that asks respondents whether they’d back the Democrat or Republican in their congressional district without offering specific candidate names.

Democrats are up over the Republicans by five points in the CNN poll, and an average of all the most recent national surveys to ask the generic ballot question gives the Democrats an edge over the GOP of just under six points. That margin for the Democrats is smaller than at the same point in the 2018 and 2006 cycles, when they won back the House.

National polls also indicate that when it comes to how both parties are handling the key issues that matter to voters, Democrats don’t enjoy any overwhelming advantage.

The most recent Fox News national poll, which was conducted March 20–23, indicated Democrats with a slight three-point margin over Republicans on which party has a clear plan to bring down prices and make things more affordable. The vast majority of voters questioned in the Fox News poll gave a big thumbs down to both parties.

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Veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance, the president of New England College, told Fox News Digital that Democrats “have no room to coast.”

“Voters remain unimpressed with their brand and for far too many voters the party continues to be defined by Biden and Harris. Democrats are expected to win big in November. But, there is a great deal of work to rehabilitate their brand with voters for 2026 and 2028,” Lesperance said.

A top Senate Republican is eyeing a way to put a “down payment” on Trump-backed voter ID legislation through a party-line bill later in the year.

The Senate has been debating the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act for almost a month. But without Democratic votes to break the filibuster, the legislation has no chance of passing.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wants to put portions of the voter ID and citizenship verification legislation into a budget reconciliation package, which requires only Republican votes to pass.

GOP SENATOR’S GAMBIT EXPOSES FALSE DEM CLAIMS ABOUT SUPPORTING VOTER ID

“Reconciliation has limits, but we’re going to make a down payment on the SAVE Act in reconciliation in the fall,” Graham said Monday on a South Carolina radio show, “Straight Talk with Bill Frady.” 

Graham, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, is in charge of designing the framework for the reconciliation process in the upper chamber. He plans to meet with the White House Friday to “get this thing moving.”

Reconciliation does not allow for straight policy, meaning any provisions included in the package must have a budgetary or spending impact to survive Senate rules. If they don’t, they are stripped out.

Graham says he has a solution.

THUNE ACCUSES CRITICS OF ‘CREATING FALSE EXPECTATIONS’ AMID BACKLASH OVER STALLED SAVE AMERICA ACT

“Voter integrity laws — I’m going to create grant programs, but they’ll have conditions on them,” Graham said. “To get a grant, you’ve got to make sure you purge your rolls of illegal immigrants. There are a lot of blue states out there that don’t do that, and we’ll try to get as much of a voter ID system as I can.”

President Donald Trump and conservatives have demanded that the Senate launch a talking filibuster — or eliminate the filibuster entirely — to pass the SAVE America Act. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and other Republicans have made clear the option does not have enough support.

The current floor debate, which is paused while lawmakers are away from Washington, D.C., for the Easter break, is designed to force Senate Democrats to argue against voter ID — a policy that polls show is popular with voters across party lines.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., argued late last month that Democrats’ objection to the SAVE America Act is “not to a photo ID when you show up to vote,” despite blocking a standalone voter ID provision pushed by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio.

“Our objection is it’s a voter suppression bill, 20 million, maybe more people, when they show up to vote will be told you’re off the rolls,” Schumer said. “That’s the problem with the bill.“

While Graham’s provision could pass muster under Senate rules, it would likely come in a second reconciliation package in the fall, as midterm elections take center stage. Whether it would take effect by November is unclear. He’s eying provisions that would tackle fraud in the package, too.

Before that, Graham and Republicans are eyeing front-loading funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in a reconciliation bill that Trump wants on his desk no later than June 1.

Senate Republicans are largely aligned behind the idea, arguing that Democrats have refused to fund immigration enforcement without stringent reforms — reforms Republicans say they have offered and Democrats have rejected.

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Still, House Republicans are not entirely on board, and their resistance could further prolong the longest government shutdown in history.

They are frustrated with the current Senate Department of Homeland SecuritySenate Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill, which carves out ICE and portions of CBP funding. They are demanding the upper chamber make real progress on a reconciliation bill before voting for the compromise plan.

“What I’m going to do is draft a reconciliation bill and load up ICE and Border Patrol funding without a single Democratic vote — give them all they need for three to 10 years, whatever I can fit in,” Graham said. “We’re going to fund the Border Patrol, and we’re going to fund ICE with Republican votes only.”

Tennessee Republicans are moving to criminalize immigration violations at the state level with a bill that would make it a crime for migrants to remain in the Volunteer State after a final deportation order.

The measure, which passed the Republican-controlled Senate on a 26-6 vote, would require illegal immigrants with a removal order to leave Tennessee within 90 days or face a Class A misdemeanor. The House previously passed the measure 73-22.

Violators would face up to 11 months and 29 days in jail, a fine of up to $2,500, or both. The bill also creates a separate Class A misdemeanor offense for migrants who re-enter or attempt to enter the state after being deported.

THREE STATES SIGN NEW AGREEMENTS WITH ICE FOR EXPANDED IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS

Tennessee House Majority Leader William Lamberth, the bill’s sponsor, framed the proposal as a direct challenge to long-standing limits on state immigration enforcement.

“When someone has exhausted all their options and they’ve been told to leave the country, it is illegal for them to stay, both under federal law, and if this bill passes, it would be a misdemeanor for them to enter in, or remain in, the state of Tennessee,” Lamberth said during a state House Judiciary Committee hearing, according to Newsweek.

The measure is part of a broader push by Tennessee Republicans to take a stricter approach to illegal immigration, including restricting public benefits and expanding state involvement in enforcement.

FATHER OF SLAIN 20-YEAR-OLD KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ISSUES STARK WARNING AFTER SHERIDAN GORMAN KILLING

Supporters, including Republican lawmakers backing the bill, argued it would strengthen enforcement and deter violations.

Critics, including immigration advocates and some legal experts, warned it could conflict with federal law, which generally governs immigration enforcement, and could burden state courts, according to the Tennessee Lookout.

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The proposal raises questions about whether states can impose additional penalties tied to federal deportation orders.

It is unclear whether Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, will sign the measure if it reaches his desk.

The bill could set up a Supreme Court challenge over federal authority and position Tennessee as a test case for a broader GOP effort to expand state-level immigration enforcement nationwide.

President Donald Trump’s escalating threats against Iran sparked fierce bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill, with some lawmakers calling for his removal from office.

Trump warned Tuesday that a “whole civilization will die tonight” unless Iran reopens the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway responsible for one-fifth of the world’s oil supply. 

“I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?”

Some Democratic lawmakers in both chambers immediately called for the president’s impeachment, though it is likely to be a futile effort in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

WHY TRUMP’S WAR SPEECH FAILED: DECLARING VICTORY BUT STILL BOMBING IRAN BACK TO THE ‘STONE AGES’

“Trump’s unhinged threats of violence and genocide are inexcusable,” Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., wrote on social media. “My Republican colleagues can’t keep turning a blind eye. He must be stopped and impeached.”

“Sickeningly evil. Donald Trump must be impeached,” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said in response to Trump’s message.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., also called on the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, characterizing Trump as a “maniac” who must be removed from office.

Under the U.S. Constitution, the vice president and a majority of the cabinet can use the mechanism to remove a president, though the cohort must submit a written letter to Congress stating their rationale. Lawmakers in both chambers would then need to approve the president’s removal with a two-thirds majority — a much higher bar than impeachment and conviction.

Republicans similarly demanded that former President Joe Biden be removed toward the end of his administration.

The White House slammed Democrats’ renewed impeachment push in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“This is pathetic. Democrats have been talking about impeaching President Trump since before he was even sworn into office,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said. “The Democrats in Congress are deranged, weak, and ineffective, which is why their approval ratings are at historic lows.”

Other Democratic lawmakers stopped short of calling for Trump’s ouster but have advocated for an immediate end to the war and canceling recess to hold a vote to check the president’s war powers in Iran.

TRUMP FIGHTING FIERCE BATTLES, AT HOME AND ABROAD: WHY HE CASUALLY DISMISSES THE CONSEQUENCES

“Each Republican who refuses to join us in voting against this wanton war of choice owns every consequence of whatever the hell this is,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday. 

Democrats in both chambers are expected to force votes requiring Trump to seek congressional authorization before launching military force against Iran in the coming weeks. However, the House and Senate are not expected to resume session until the week of April 13.

Trump’s latest fiery statement comes after his Easter edict, in which the president reaffirmed his Tuesday deadline in an expletive-filled post and threatened that Iran will be “living in Hell.”

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a close ally of Trump’s in the Senate, said he hoped the president was bluffing.

“I am hoping and praying that President Trump is — this really is bluster,” Johnson told John Solomon Reports. “I do not want to see us start blowing up civilian infrastructure. I do not want to see that we are not at war with the Iranian people. We are trying to liberate them.”

Republicans have so far given little pushback to Trump’s war in Iran, with many declining to use the term. And in the Senate, they have blocked several attempts from Democrats to rein in Trump’s war authorities in the region and call back America’s military forces from the conflict.

Some Republicans aren’t completely sold on providing more funding for the conflict, including Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, until there has been a formal declaration of war approved by Congress.

That moment has not yet come, however, but it may be fast approaching, given that the conflict has now stretched over 39 days. At 60 days, Congress would be able to weigh in.

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Not all Republicans shared the same sentiment as Johnson. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, when asked about the post, said “He’s not wrong.” 

“Let’s put it like that,” Ernst said. “I know the president is really frustrated, and we do want to see the strait opened. It’s not just good for the United States, but it’s good for Europe and so many other countries.”

Hours before President Donald Trump announced a two-week delay in attacking Iran, Pope Leo issued a rare and pointed condemnation, denouncing Trump’s Tuesday morning threat against the country as “truly unacceptable.”

Speaking to journalists outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics spoke out against the escalating war and called for an immediate end to the conflict.

“Today, as we all know, there has also been this threat against the entire people of Iran, and this is truly unacceptable,” the pope said. “There are certainly issues of international law here, but even more so a moral issue for the good of the whole entire population.”

The comments were seemingly in reference to one of Trump’s earlier Truth Social posts, where he wrote, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will… God Bless the Great People of Iran!”

TRUMP VOWS US WILL STRIKE IRAN’S POWER PLANTS, BRIDGES IF STRAIT OF HORMUZ IS NOT REOPENED

Trump later said that, based on conversations with Pakistani leaders, he would delay the “bombing and attack of Iran” for two weeks.

The postponement is subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to “the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz,” the president wrote in a Truth Social post.

He added the administration received a 10-point proposal from Iran, and officials “believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”

Pope Leo had warned that attacks on civilian infrastructure are “against international law” and serve as a “sign of the hatred, the division [and] the destruction the human being is capable of.”

The pontiff went on to describe the conflict as a war many are calling “unjust” that is “not resolving anything.”

“In fact, we have a worldwide economic crisis, energy crisis situation in the Middle East of great instability, which is only provoking more hatred throughout the world,” he said. “So come back to the table. Let’s talk let’s look for solutions in a peaceful way.”

The pope also took the unusual step of calling on everyday citizens to “contact the authorities — political leaders, congressmen — to ask them to work for peace and to reject war always.”

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A clash between the sovereign of the Vatican City State and world leaders is highly unusual, though the pope made his first direct appeal to Trump last week, urging him to find an “off-ramp” to end the war with Iran, according to a report from Reuters.

Pope Leo on Tuesday pleaded for the protection of the innocent, urging the world to remember “the children, the elderly, the sick,” who he said “have already become, or will become, victims of this continued warfare.”

A federal judge allowed the abortion pill mifepristone to continue being distributed by mail nationwide for now, but warned the Biden-era policy could soon face major legal changes as a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety review of the drug unfolds.

The legal challenge to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s January 2023 Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) seeks to end the “certified pharmacies” regulation that allows for the drug to be mailed across state lines while the federal agency continues its review.

U.S. District Court Judge David C. Joseph, appointed by President Donald Trump, ruled against Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill on Tuesday, citing what he referred to as a “government by lawsuit.”

“…It is the completion of FDA’s promised good faith, evidence-based, and expeditious review of the mifepristone REMS, not “government by lawsuit,” that this Court finds to be in the public interest,” Joseph wrote in his ruling.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD ATTACKS HAWLEY EFFORT TO STRIP FDA APPROVAL OF MIFEPRISTONE

Joseph also cited a letter from both Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary asking their respective agencies to “conduct a comprehensive safety review” of the 2023 mifepristone REMS.

Murrill told Fox News Digital she plans on taking Joseph’s ruling to the Fifth Circuit despite the ongoing mifepristone REMS review from both agencies.

“Judge Joseph concluded that Louisiana has standing to sue and is likely to succeed in showing that the 2023 REMS is unlawful,” Murrill said to Fox News Digital in a statement.

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“He also concluded that Louisiana suffers irreparable harm every day that the 2023 REMS remains in effect,” she added. “Accordingly, under binding Fifth Circuit precedent, the only thing left to do is vacate the 2023 REMS pending the outcome of this litigation. We will ask the Fifth Circuit to do so.”

The ruling sets up a high-stakes legal fight over abortion pills, with a federal appeals court showdown looming and the FDA under pressure to justify rules that dramatically expanded access in recent years.

In the past year, many red states nationwide have taken the 2023 REMS mail-order regulation to the courts. 

In one notable incident last year, a Texas man who fathered an unborn child sued a California doctor who prescribed his ex-girlfriend mifepristone through the organization “Aid Access.” His case, Rodriguez v. Coeytaux, is still ongoing.

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In the State of Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Murrill seeks a full rollback of the REMS policy regardless of the findings of the review.

Joseph denied injunction without prejudice in the suit that Louisiana brought to the court, but also granted stay of the case. His ruling orders the FDA to complete their safety review, which had been postponed through the November midterm elections, and to report back in six months.

“Should the agency fail to complete its review and make any necessary revisions to the REMS within a reasonable timeframe, the Court’s analysis – and the weight accorded to these factors – will inevitably change,” Joseph wrote in his ruling.

Joseph did point to Louisiana’s standing in the suit, claiming the state is suffering “ongoing harm” after the Dobbs decision in 2022 allowed the state to ban abortion.

“Thus, in that post-Dobbs regulatory environment, there is evidence that the 2023 REMS was approved without adequate consideration, at least in part, as part of an effort to circumvent anti-abortion states’ ability to regulate abortion,” Joseph wrote. “Likewise, there is evidence that the consequences of this action were predictable – out-of-state providers and related entities would expand access to mifepristone in ways designed to reach into jurisdictions like Louisiana.”

PRO-LIFE ORGANIZATION CALLS ON HHS AND FDA TO SUSPEND ABORTION PILL APPROVAL, TIGHTEN SAFETY RULES

However, Joseph pointed to the FDA as the ultimate decision maker on the issue, as a matter of “public health judgment.”

Mifepristone was first approved by the FDA in 2000 under strict guidelines, requiring a pregnancy at seven weeks’ gestation or fewer, and only administered in-person after being seen by a prescribing physician. 

The guidelines were first relaxed in 2016, where the gestational age of the proposed pregnancy was lengthened to 10 weeks, and required fewer in-person visits to obtain a prescription.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, where mifepristone was prescribed and sent via mail under unprecedented circumstances, the same rules were legalized under the FDA’s REMS in 2023.

Reuters reported that mifepristone is the single-most popular method of abortion in the U.S., representing about 60% of all abortions.

HAWLEY LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO ABORTION DRUG MANUFACTURERS OVER ‘GRAVE RISKS’ TO WOMEN

Joseph’s ruling orders the FDA to finish their review, which may revise rules under the 2023 REMS guidelines. It also allows the court to act if the agency continues to delay its safety review more than six months.

“Should the agency fail… the Court’s analysis… will inevitably change,” Joseph concluded.

Joseph maintained mifepristone access in Louisiana for now, but signaled the legal and scientific basis for those rules may not hold.

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“This is one of the many reasons why the investigation into the FDA must be sped up so that states can begin to regulate abortions if the feds don’t,” 40 Days for Life President Shawn Carney told Fox News Digital. “This was one of the great promises by RFK that they initiated last year, because we now know how dangerous these abortion drugs are.”

“The investigation into the FDA must be sped up because every abortion pill sent through the mail is a huge, unregulated danger that has been a disaster since Biden deregulated it,” Carney added.

The FDA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Liberals expanded their majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in an election Tuesday, strengthening control in a key battleground state, in a ballot box showdown that drew limited nation attention but had plenty riding on the results.

Wisconsin Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor, a former democratic state representative, defeated Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar, a conservative, the Associated Press reports.

Taylor will succeed a retiring conservative justice and with the victory, liberals will expand their majority on the state Supreme Court to 5-2.

While officially a non-partisan contest, state Supreme Court elections in Wisconsin have become extremely partisan in recent election cycles.

PRIMARY PAUSE, POLITICAL FIRESTORM: HIGH-STAKES ELECTIONS THIS MONTH TAKE CENTER STAGE

With the court’s majority on the line in last year’s contest, outside money poured in and out-of-state door knockers blanketed Wisconsin. One of the biggest spenders was Trump ally Elon Musk, who headlined a rally days before the election and donned a cheesehead hat worn by fans of the Green Bay Packers. Musk also personally handed out $1 million checks to voters.

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The liberal candidate won that election by a larger-than-expected margin to capture a 4-3 majority on the state Supreme Court.

Since the majority wasn’t at stake in this year’s showdown, the campaign battle wasn’t showered with national resources, money, or attention.

Liberals took control of the state Supreme Court in 2023, ending a decade and a half of conservative control. Since taking the majority, the liberals have reversed several election-related rulings by the prior conservative majority, including one that banned absentee ballot drop boxes.

This year’s campaign focused on abortion rights, congressional redistricting, and union rights cases that will likely come in front of the state Supreme Court.

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The judicial ballot box showdown also came six months ahead of November’s elections, when Democrats in Wisconsin aim to keep control of the governor’s office and potentially flip the state legislature, which Republicans have controlled for 15 years.

RINGGOLD, GA — Republican congressional candidate Clay Fuller just gave House Speaker Mike Johnson a little bit of breathing room as the GOP clings to a razor-thin majority in Congress.

Fuller, who was backed by President Donald Trump, on Tuesday defeated Democrat Shawn Harris in a special election to fill the empty U.S. House seat in Georgia’s solidly red 14th Congressional District, the Associated Press reports.

The seat was left vacant when MAGA firebrand Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stepped down at the beginning of January. Greene quit Congress with a year left in her term, after a bitter falling out with Trump.

The special election came as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218–214 majority in the House. The GOP was under the gun to make sure the Democrats didn’t pull off an upset in the special election, in a district in northwest Georgia that Trump carried by a whopping 37 points in his 2024 presidential victory.

PRIMARY PAUSE, POLITICAL FIRESTORM: HIGH-STAKES ELECTIONS THIS MONTH TAKE CENTER STAGE

“It’s extremely crucial, and we need the reinforcements,” Fuller told Fox News Digital on the eve of the runoff election.

Fuller, a local district attorney and a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard who’s served in the Air Force since 2009, added, “I think the voters in Georgia 14 understand that, and they’re looking forward to sending a MAGA America first fighter up on Capitol Hill to support that agenda.”

TRUMP HITS CAMPAIGN TRAIL IN KEY BATTLEGROUND AS RACE TO REPLACE MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE HEATS UP

Asked if he was concerned that MAGA supporters would sit out what was expected to be a low turnout election since the president is not on the ballot, Fuller said Trump voters “would crawl through glass to make sure they have a representative up there that fight for them and fight for President Trump.”

Harris, a cattle farmer who spent four decades in the military and retired as an Army brigadier general, needed the support of crossover Republicans in order to pull off an upset.

“I am a Democrat, but I’m not tied to the party,” Harris highlighted as he spoke with Fox News Digital on Monday. And Harris argued, “My opponent, Clay, cannot say that. He actually sold his soul to President Trump.”

Harris narrowly edged Fuller amid a field of 17 candidates, including 12 Republicans, in the first round of voting in early March. Since no candidate topped 50%, Harris and Fuller advanced to Tuesday’s runoff.

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The congressional seat — which stretches from Atlanta’s outer suburbs to the state’s northwest borders with Alabama and Tennessee — was left vacant when Greene quit Congress with a year left in her term, after a very public falling out with Trump mostly over her push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.

While Greene remains popular among Republicans in the district, Fuller said the voters he talked with on the campaign trail were “focused on the fights of the future, not anything that had happened in the past.”

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Asked if he spoke with Greene, Fuller said he “reached out to Rep. Greene, had conversations with her and got advice on the district, and I’ll keep those conversations confidential.”

Harris, who as a first-time candidate lost to Greene by nearly 29 points in her 2024 re-election, emphasized that he wasn’t “running against Marjorie Taylor Greene anymore,” and that his name “carries more weight than any other name in this district.”

President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that, based on conversations with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, he will delay the “bombing and attack of Iran” for two weeks.

Trump said the decision came after the leaders requested the U.S. “hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran,” which the president previously threatened would start at 8 p.m. eastern time if a deal was not reached.

The president said the postponement is subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to “the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.”

“This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East.”

He added the administration received a 10-point proposal from Iran, and officials “believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”

“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated,” Trump wrote. “On behalf of the United States of America, as President, and also representing the Countries of the Middle East, it is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Iran-backed Houthi forces are raising the prospect of a second global shipping choke point in the Red Sea, threatening to deepen pressure on energy markets and global trade as the conflict with Iran intensifies.

The Houthis entered the conflict in early April with missile and drone strikes on Israel and have since warned they could target shipping in the Bab al-Mandeb — a narrow corridor linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden — raising concerns the war could expand beyond the Strait of Hormuz and further disrupt global trade.

Analysts warn that if Houthi forces begin targeting vessels again, it could open a second maritime front in a conflict that has already choked off traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, adding pressure to global energy markets and supply chains.

The Bab al-Mandeb is one of the world’s most critical shipping choke points, handling roughly 12% of global seaborne oil trade and serving as a key gateway for cargo moving between Europe and Asia through the Suez Canal.

TRUMP SEEKS WARSHIPS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES TO HELP SECURE STRAIT OF HORMUZ

The Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, are an Iran-backed armed group that controls much of northern Yemen and has been fighting a yearslong civil war against the country’s internationally recognized government.

Houthi leaders, in coordination with Iran, have framed the potential escalation as part of their response to U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran and its allies, warning they could target shipping or restrict access to the Red Sea if the conflict intensifies.

Iranian official Aliakbar Velayati posted on X on Sunday: “Today, the unified command of the Resistance front views Bab al-Mandeb as it does Hormuz. If the White House dares to repeat its foolish mistakes, it will soon realize that the flow of global energy and trade can be disrupted with a single move.”

The Red Sea has taken on added importance as the conflict disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing more cargo and energy flows toward alternative routes. That shift has increased reliance on the Bab al-Mandeb — a choke point that handles roughly $1 trillion in goods annually — raising the stakes of any renewed disruption.

Traffic through the Bab al-Mandeb is already running well below normal levels after earlier Houthi attacks pushed major shipping lines to reroute vessels around Africa. Ship-tracking data shows daily transits have fallen to roughly half of typical levels, underscoring that the route is already under strain even before any renewed escalation.

“It’s less about what they can actually do and more about the threat,” former Fifth Fleet commander Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan told Fox News Digital. “Once that risk is there, shipping companies decide not to take it.”

Even limited attacks or threats can drive up insurance costs and push major carriers to reroute vessels around Africa, effectively reducing traffic through the strait without a formal blockade.

The U.S. launched a major air and naval campaign in 2025 — known as Operation Rough Rider — to counter Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, after the group began targeting commercial vessels in opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza.

U.S. and allied forces carried out hundreds of strikes on missile launchers, drones, radar systems and other Houthi infrastructure across Yemen in an effort to restore freedom of navigation through the Red Sea.

RUSSIA, CHINA VETO UN RESOLUTION AIMED AT REOPENING STRAIT OF HORMUZ, HOURS BEFORE TRUMP DEADLINE

The campaign degraded parts of the group’s capabilities but failed to fully eliminate the threat, as shipping companies continued to avoid the route due to ongoing security risks.

Both U.S. and regional experts say the Houthis lack the capability to fully shut down the Bab al-Mandeb, but retain the ability to harass vessels with missiles, drones and small boats — tactics that have previously disrupted shipping across the Red Sea.

The Houthis field a growing arsenal of ballistic and cruise missiles, anti-ship weapons and drones, much of it derived from Iranian designs. While Iran has long supplied key components through smuggling networks, the group has also developed the ability to assemble and produce weapons inside Yemen — though analysts say those supply lines may now be constrained by the broader conflict.

“They do have the ability to pester international maritime traffic,” Middle East analyst Gregg Roman said, warning that broader attacks could trigger “a severe international response” from the U.S., Israel and Gulf allies.

So far, the Houthis have limited their involvement to strikes on Israel, avoiding the kind of sustained maritime attacks that disrupted global shipping in previous years — a sign analysts say reflects both strategic restraint and pressure from regional actors.

Officials and analysts say Iran could still encourage the group to escalate attacks on Red Sea shipping if the conflict deepens, positioning the Houthis as a secondary pressure point in the broader war.

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That dynamic has raised concerns the conflict could evolve into a multi-chokepoint crisis, testing the ability of the U.S. and its allies to keep critical global trade routes open.

Beyond the immediate threat to shipping, Donegan warned that efforts by Iran or its proxies to influence who can safely transit key waterways could challenge long-standing norms of free passage — raising concerns about how similar tactics could play out in other global choke points.

RICHMOND, VA — Virginia’s Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger on Tuesday ignored questions on whether she would entertain calls from the Department of Homeland Security to end sanctuary policies in the state.

“Governor Spanberger must end her sanctuary policies that allow these illegal aliens onto our streets and work with DHS to protect the citizens of the commonwealth,” the agency said in a post to social media.

Virginia — and in particular Fairfax County — has made headlines in recent weeks for a string of deadly attacks carried out by illegal aliens.

DHS BLASTS SPANBERGER ON POTENTIAL RELEASE OF ILLEGAL MIGRANT WITH 30+ ARRESTS CURRENTLY CHARGED WITH MURDER

Earlier this month, authorities charged 28-year-old Guatemala native Misael Lopez Gomez with the murder of his 3-month-old daughter. His arrest comes on the heels of an attack by Anibal Armando Chavarria Muy, 38, another Guatemalan charged with fatally stabbing a man in his home. The county was also where repeat offender and Sierra Leone national Abdul Jalloh, 32, stabbed a victim to death at a bus stop in February.

DHS noted that three of the four suspects charged with murders in Fairfax County so far in 2026 are illegal aliens.

Spanberger did not comment on the figure.

MIGRANT ACCUSED OF GROPING MULTIPLE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS FACES CHARGES AS DHS WARNS SPANBERGER AGAINST RELEASE 

At the beginning of her term, Spanberger joined a handful of Democratic governors like California Governor Gavin Newsom and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker who have made it harder for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

On Jan. 17, Spanberger rescinded local-federal coordination requirements, arguing that Virginia’s resources would be better spent enforcing its own laws.

“Virginians have been deprived of critical public safety and local law enforcement to divert their limited resources for use in enforcing federal civil immigration laws,” Spanberger said in a press release.

“Federal authorities should enforce federal civil immigration laws — law enforcement in the Commonwealth should prioritize the safety and security of all residents in Virginia, the enforcement of local and state laws and coordination with federal entities on criminal matters,” she added.

Another illegal alien who has gotten attention in Virginia is Israel Flores Ortiz, 19, who is facing nine counts of assault and battery for groping girls at a Fairfax County high school he was attending. Victims and parents have alleged that Ortiz approached about 12 girls from behind in crowded hallways, grabbed them between the legs and groped their private areas, according to 7News.

DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said last month that the agency is “calling on Fairfax County sanctuary politicians to NOT release this predator from jail back into our communities to assault more teenage women.”

She went on to slam Spanberger for ending former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s policy of cooperation with ICE, saying it is “siding with criminal illegal aliens over American citizens.”

NEW POLL REVEALS SPANBGERGER’S POPULARITY IS PLUMMETING AMID BACKLASH OVER GERRYMANDERING

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DHS explained in a statement to Fox News Digital that it depends on partnerships to coordinate detention and removal of illegal aliens like Gomez, Muy and Jalloh.

“ICE can only detain illegals for the purpose of removal,” a DHS spokesperson said when asked how the agency coordinates handovers of suspects.

Fox News’ Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche showered President Donald Trump with praise during a Justice Department anti-fraud press conference and said any decision on permanently replacing Pam Bondi was up to the president.

“As to whether or not I want this job, I did not ask for this job. I love working for President Trump,” Blanche said in his first public remarks since Bondi’s firing. “It’s the greatest honor of a lifetime, and if President Trump chooses to keep me as acting, that’s an honor. If he chooses to nominate me, that’s an honor.”

Blanche added: “If he chooses to nominate somebody else and asks me to go do something else, I will say, ‘Thank you very much. I love you sir.'”

PAM BONDI IS OUT AS AG — HERE ARE THE CONTENDERS WHO COULD REPLACE HER 

Blanche’s remarks came after Trump announced last week that Bondi would be leaving her role and that Blanche, his formal personal attorney and the DOJ’s deputy attorney general, would fill in indefinitely as acting attorney general.

Officials can serve in an acting capacity for up to 210 days. Trump has not signaled a nominee to take the role permanently, but he could nominate Blanche. Fox News Digital previously reported that the president has also had discussions with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin about taking the job.

Blanche noted that Bondi’s transition out of the department remained ongoing. Bondi announced last week that she would take the next 30 days to shift responsibilities to Blanche.

When asked why she was pushed out of her job, Blanche said “nobody has any idea … except for the president.” Trump had fired Bondi after she failed to secure successful indictments against some of Trump’s top political rivals and amid long-simmering frustrations with her handling of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking case files.

“As far as Pam Bondi’s last day on the job, I am the acting attorney general,” Blanche said, adding, “We’ve been regularly communicating over the past several days for an appropriate transition. She is very much a big supporter of this department.”

Most of Blanche’s remarks focused on the DOJ’s crackdown on fraud, as he pointed to several recent cases totaling more than half a billion dollars in healthcare and COVID-19-related schemes.

Blanche cited a string of examples, including prosecutors securing a guilty plea in a $160 million healthcare enrollment fraud operation and a sentencing in a $100 million COVID-19 fraud case. He contended that such cases represented a fraction of the fraud occurring nationwide and formally rolled out the DOJ’s new National Fraud Enforcement Division, led by newly confirmed Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald, who stood by Blanche during his remarks.

The division, Blanche said, would involve specialized prosecutors and expanded staffing in U.S. Attorney’s offices across the country, and it would use more advanced technology to more effectively investigate fraud.

JD VANCE ANNOUNCES MULTI-STATE FRAUD TASK FORCE IN WAKE OF MINNESOTA SCANDAL

“We have a storied history of combating fraud and bringing criminal actors to justice, but the department has never adopted a comprehensive and coordinated approach to investigating and prosecuting fraud against taxpayer dollars and taxpayer-funded programs,” Blanche said.

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Former U.S. Attorney John Fishwick of Virginia told Fox News Digital he thought Blanche appeared to be vying for the attorney general role.

“Todd Blanche seems to be trying out for the top job today in his opening press conference and surely trying to catch Trump’s attention with his criticism of many of the questions by the press,” Fishwick said in a statement, observing how Blanche derided some reporters for their questions.

Dozens of congressional Democrats are demanding that Republicans remove President Donald Trump for his latest threat against Iran, but one lawmaker says the idea isn’t “realistic.”

Several congressional Democrats want to invoke the 25th Amendment, a decades-old addition to the Constitution that empowers a president’s Cabinet to remove him from office if he is unable to do the job.

Some Democrats are arguing that Trump’s latest threat against Iran on Truth Social — where he declared that a “whole civilization will die tonight” unless his demands to reopen the Strait of Hormuz are met — is proof that he has lost the ability to carry out his role as commander in chief.

But Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., doesn’t believe now is the moment to pull the trigger on the 25th Amendment.

GRAHAM EYES ‘DOWN PAYMENT’ ON TRUMP-BACKED SAVE ACT WITHOUT DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT

“I’m getting a lot of traffic about the 25th Amendment after Trump’s mad rants,” Whitehouse said on X. “The president is facing serious mental decline; I’m with you on that.”

“But unfortunately, invoking the 25th is not realistic right now, given his oddball Cabinet of sycophants and eccentrics, and Republican ‘spines of foam,’” he continued. “We’re going to have to buckle down and win this the old-fashioned way.”

BIPARTISAN SENATORS PROBE KREMLIN-LINKED DELEGATION’S MEETINGS WITH US OFFICIALS

Doing so would require Vice President JD Vance and a majority of Trump’s Cabinet to agree to remove him. They would then send a declaration to Congress, which Trump would likely dispute, requiring a two-thirds vote in both chambers to officially remove him from office.

It’s a much higher bar than impeachment and conviction — and a move that has never been used to remove a sitting president.

While the measure has been used a handful of times since its ratification in the 1960s — either for brief transfers of power during medical procedures requiring anesthesia or to fill vacancies in the vice presidency — it has never been used to involuntarily remove a president.

HAWLEY, WARREN TEAM UP TO BACK TRUMP, CRACK DOWN ON DEFENSE CONTRACTOR PAYOUTS

Congressional Republicans similarly called for invoking the 25th Amendment against former President Joe Biden toward the end of his presidency, particularly after his debate performance against Trump in the summer of 2024.

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Still, Democrats are seeking recourse over Trump’s Easter comments and his latest post Tuesday.

“If I were in Trump’s Cabinet, I would spend Easter calling constitutional lawyers about the 25th Amendment,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said on X. “This is completely, utterly unhinged. He’s already killed thousands. He’s going to kill thousands more.”

Others are accusing Trump of being on the cusp of committing war crimes by targeting civilian infrastructure. 

When asked if she believed that the administration would be carrying out a war crime by targeting power supply and bridges, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said, “No.”

“It’s an ongoing operation, and if he needs leverage, he’s using that leverage,” Ernst said.

Many Republicans have remained silent on Trump’s post. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment and has not yet received a reply. 

President Donald Trump warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight” as a deadline looms for Iran to agree to U.S. demands, escalating his rhetoric even as last-minute negotiations continue through intermediaries to avert sweeping military strikes.

Trump has set a Tuesday night deadline for Iran to accept terms that include reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil artery, as U.S. officials — including Vice President JD Vance — continue back-channel talks through intermediaries such as Pakistan. 

But significant gaps remain, and the president’s latest comments raise the risk the U.S. may move forward with strikes targeting Iranian infrastructure, including power and transportation systems and beyond. 

TRUMP REVEALS IRAN MADE ‘SIGNIFICANT PROPOSAL’ AFTER ULTIMATUM, BUT ‘NOT GOOD ENOUGH’

Trump’s latest remarks mark a sharp escalation from earlier warnings focused on infrastructure. He also suggested Iran had undergone “complete and total regime change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail.”

Mojtaba Khamenei was named Iran’s supreme leader after U.S. strikes killed his father, Ali Khamenei, though his current status and control remain unclear amid conflicting reports. 

Iran has threatened to take action if Trump follows through on his threats. 

“Iran will not stand idle in the face of such egregious war crimes,” said Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations. “It will exercise without hesitation its inherent right of self-defense, and will take immediate and proportionate reciprocal measures.”

Diplomatic efforts to avert a wider conflict are ongoing but increasingly strained, with mediators including Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey working to broker a ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz before broader talks can begin.

“We are absolutely in touch with” Iran, a senior U.S. official told Fox News. “Absolutely. (The talks) have been positive. If we get lucky, we will have something by the end of the day.”

Iran repeatedly has rejected a temporary truce in favor of a permanent end to the war, while U.S. officials have dismissed Tehran’s proposals as insufficient, leaving key differences unresolved as the deadline approaches.

Trump underscored the threat in a profanity-laced Truth Social post Sunday, declaring that “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day” in Iran and warning that the country’s infrastructure would be destroyed if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He told Iran to “open the F—in’ Strait … or you’ll be living in Hell.”

As the deadline nears, the conflict is already intensifying on the ground. Airstrikes hit parts of Iran’s capital city of Tehran Tuesday, while Iranian officials urged civilians to form human chains around power plants in an effort to deter potential U.S. attacks on critical infrastructure, Iranian state media reported. 

Overnight, the U.S. struck dozens of military sites on Kharg Island — including bunkers, radar stations and ammunition storage facilities — a senior U.S. official told Fox News. The island is Iran’s primary oil export hub, making it one of the regime’s most critical economic assets. 

By targeting military sites while avoiding energy infrastructure, the strikes suggest the U.S. is applying pressure while holding Iran’s oil lifeline at risk as a potential next step if the deadline passes without a deal.

Israel also has signaled a potential expansion of the target set to include Iran’s rail network, warning civilians to avoid trains ahead of possible strikes. Rail lines play a critical role in moving military forces and equipment, particularly in and out of Tehran, and disrupting them could significantly limit Iran’s ability to reposition assets and sustain operations.

While Trump has centered his deadline on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the negotiations have expanded into a broader dispute over ending the war, including Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, sanctions relief and security guarantees — issues that remain unresolved as both sides clash over what concessions must come first.

Trump’s “civilization” remarks have raised new questions about whether the potential U.S. target set could extend beyond bridges and power plants to include additional infrastructure or systems tied to the Iranian regime’s ability to maintain power.

IRAN’S TALLEST BRIDGE COLLAPSES AFTER REPORTED US AIRSTRIKES, IRAN THREATENS AMERICAN ALLIES IN RETALIATION

Trump has warned that “every bridge in Iran will be decimated” and that power plants could be left “burning, exploding and never to be used again” if Tehran fails to meet his demands, underscoring the scale of potential infrastructure strikes.

Trump also has repeatedly extended similar deadlines in recent weeks, delaying threatened strikes as negotiations continued before issuing new ultimatums. The pattern has raised questions about whether the latest deadline will hold — or serve as another pressure tactic in the final hours of talks.

Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes in peacetime — already has sent shockwaves through global markets, raising pressure on the administration to reach a resolution while increasing the stakes of any potential military escalation.

Military options now on the table

Trump’s rhetoric has fueled questions about how far a potential U.S. strike campaign could extend beyond the infrastructure targets he has publicly identified. 

Military analysts say options range from continued infrastructure strikes aimed at crippling Iran’s ability to function to a broader campaign targeting the regime’s core power centers.

The White House rapid response team shot down a post on X which quoted Vance and suggested it implied “Trump might use nuclear weapons.” 

“Literally nothing @VP said here “implies” this, you absolute buffoons.”

“The Iranian regime has until 8PM Eastern Time to meet the moment and make a deal with the United States. Only the President knows where things stand and what he will do,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. 

A U.S. operation could focus on disabling Iran’s electrical grid, transportation networks and energy facilities — a strategy designed to create nationwide disruption and pressure leadership. Such strikes could trigger cascading effects across communications, water systems and industrial production and would impact the civilian population.

Other options could involve further targeting of leadership, facilities tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including command-and-control nodes, weapons production sites and economic assets that fund the regime’s operations. 

Gregg Roman, executive director of the Middle East Forum, said the president’s language suggests a focus on dismantling the regime’s underlying power structures rather than targeting Iran as a nation.

“I really think that what he’s talking about are the fundamental roots and the anchors of the Islamic Republic, not of the country of Iran,” Roman said.

“Everything that the United States would target in a hypothetical attack on power plants, bridges, other key points of infrastructure would really have to focus on those that are connected to the ability of the generals who are currently in charge of this regime and their ability to maintain power,” he added.

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Roman said Trump’s reference to “civilization” likely reflects the 47-year rule of the Islamic Republic rather than Iranian society as a whole.

“I don’t think he’s speaking about Persian civilization. I think he speaking about the 47 years that the Islamic Republic has ruled as a polity.”

Iranian officials have called on civilians to help protect key infrastructure. Earlier, Iranian official Alireza Rahimi issued a video message calling on “all young people, athletes, artists, students and university students and their professors” to form human chains around power plants.

Iranian Preisdent Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that Iranians are willing to give their lives in defense of Iran. 

“More than 14 million brave Iranians have so far declared their readiness to sacrifice their lives to defend Iran. I have also sacrificed my life for Iran, I am, and I will continue to do so,” he wrote on X.

Fox News’ Bill Hemmer, Jennifer Griffin and Louis Casiano contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump, hours away from the deadline he put on Iran to reach a deal, took a few moments on Tuesday to hail Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in an impromptu call-in to a campaign rally address by Vice President JD Vance.

“Mr. President, you are on with about 5,000 Hungarian patriots, and I think they love you even more than they love Viktor Orban,” Vance told the president in a call that blared over the speakers at the event in Hungary.

Speaking by phone to what attendees described as roughly 5,000 supporters before Sunday’s election, Trump praised Orban as “a fantastic man” who has “done a fantastic job” leading his country.

“I love Hungary and I love that Viktor, I’ll tell you,” Trump said. “He’s a fantastic man. We’ve had a tremendous relationship, and he does a job. Remember this? He didn’t allow people to storm your country and invade your country like other people have and ruin their countries.”

TRUMP SAYS HUNGARY’S BORDER STANCE KEEPS CRIME DOWN, SAYS EUROPE ‘FLOODING’ WITH MIGRANTS

“Frankly, he’s kept your country good. He’s kept Hungarian people in your country. And he’s done a fantastic job,” Trump added.

Trump credited Orban’s hard-line immigration stance with keeping Hungary “strong” and said Hungarians were “my kind of people.”

HUNGARIAN OFFICIAL TOUTS ‘GOLDEN AGE’ OF US RELATIONSHIP, CREDITS TRUMP WITH BOOSTING NATO AND INVESTMENT

Trump said he and the U.S. are with Orban “all the way.”

After Trump’s remarks, Vance told the crowd they had to get Orban reelected as Hungary’s prime minister.

Vance’s visit to Budapest, just days before a vote that independent polls suggest Orban might lose, underscores how crucial Trump’s “MAGA” movement deems the veteran Hungarian nationalist’s reelection.

TRUMP ALLY ORBAN ISSUES SCATHING LETTER DEMANDING ZELENSKYY CHANGE UKRAINE’S ‘ANTI-HUNGARIAN POLICY’

“It’s a real honor to talk to you: You’re really incredible people with great enthusiasm and brilliance,” Trump told the crowd to conclude brief remarks.

“Brilliant people, and I really love it. You have a man that kept your country strong and he kept your country good, and you don’t have problems with all of the problems that so many other countries have because they let their countries be invaded,” Trump added. “And you don’t have that problem because of Viktor Orban. That’s the only reason you don’t have that problem. There was a lot of pressure on him to do it, and those other countries made big mistakes. So I wish you a lot of luck and I love you all.”

Earlier, Vance lashed out at what he called “disgraceful” interference from the European Union in the Hungarian election.

RUBIO SEALS CIVIL NUCLEAR COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH HUNGARY

“What has happened in this country, what has happened in the midst of this election campaign, is one of the worst examples of foreign election interference that I’ve ever seen or ever even read about,” Vance told a news conference. “The bureaucrats in Brussels have tried to destroy the economy of Hungary. They have tried to make Hungary less energy-independent. They have tried to drive up costs for Hungarian consumers, and they’ve done it all because they hate this guy [Orban].”

TRUMP HAILS VANCE AND RUBIO AS ‘EXTRAORDINARY’ DUO: HAMMER AND VELVET GLOVE

The visit broke with the norms of prior U.S. presidential administrations of not openly campaigning in foreign elections, especially for a government that has maintained close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Orban has maintained cordial ties with Moscow despite the Ukraine war, and says Russian energy is essential for Hungary.

Trump has already personally endorsed Orban, 62, as “a truly strong and powerful leader” and Vance lavished praise on the Hungarian prime minister’s policies on everything from energy to the war in Ukraine.

“I’m here because of the moral cooperation between our two countries, because what the United States and Hungary together represent under Viktor’s leadership and under President Trump’s leadership is the defense of Western civilization,” Vance said.

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Orban, fighting the toughest reelection bid of his career after 16 years in power, hailed what he called “a golden age” in relations between Hungary and the U.S. under Trump’s leadership.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called for President Donald Trump to be removed from office via the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

“25TH AMENDMENT!!! Not a single bomb has dropped on America. We cannot kill an entire civilization. This is evil and madness,” Greene wrote on X.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

Greene’s post featured a screenshot of Trump’s Tuesday Truth Social post in which he ominously warned that Iran’s “civilization will die tonight.”

FORMER REP MTG VENTS THAT SHE’S ‘SO BEYOND DONE,’ CHARACTERIZING TRUMP’S ADDRESS AS ‘WAR WAR WAR’

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump declared in the Truth Social post.

“However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!” he added.

Greene, a once-fierce Trump ally, had a bitter falling out with the president last year and has become a vociferous critic of the commander in chief.

Some sitting Democratic lawmakers have also called for the president to be booted from office.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a member of the progressive cadre of lawmakers known as “The Squad,” is one of those calling for Trump’s ouster.

“Sickeningly evil. Donald Trump must be impeached. When will it be enough for my Republican colleagues to grow spines and remove him from office?” she wrote in a Tuesday post on X.

ILHAN OMAR CALLS TRUMP AN ‘UNHINGED LUNATIC,’ URGES BOOTING HIM OUT OF OFFICE

Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., declared in a Tuesday post on X, “25th Amendment RIGHT NOW! Trump is too unhinged, dangerous, and deranged to have the nuclear codes!”

Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., who last year introduced impeachment articles against Trump, declared in a Tuesday post on X, “Trump just threatened to slaughter 100 million people. It’s clear he’s unfit to be president, the 25th amendment must be invoked. If Vance, Rubio & the others continue to be spineless cowards, Congress must do everything possible to stop Trump & this war.”

In a Truth Social post issued on Easter Sunday, the president warned, “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F[—]kin’ Strait, you crazy b——, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”

Omar responded to the president’s comments, declaring in a Monday post on X, “This is not ok. Invoke the 25th amendment. Impeach. Remove. This unhinged lunatic must be removed from office.”

TRUMP WARNS ‘WHOLE CIVILIZATION WILL DIE TONIGHT,’ AS IRANIAN OFFICIAL URGES HUMAN CHAINS AROUND POWER PLANTS

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Greene declared in a Sunday post on X that the president had “gone insane.”

“Everyone in his administration that claims to be a Christian needs to fall on their knees and beg forgiveness from God and stop worshipping the President and intervene in Trump’s madness. I know all of you and him and he has gone insane, and all of you are complicit,” she asserted in part of the lengthy post. “This is not making America great again, this is evil.”

Vice President JD Vance said that Iran has “two pathways” it can take regarding the conclusion of the war as President Donald Trump’s 12-hour deadline is looming Tuesday for the regime to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its power plants and bridges. 

Vance, speaking in Hungary, also said he is praying that the United States is on “God’s side” in its pursuit to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. 

“There are two pathways that this thing is ultimately going to end. First of all, the United States has largely accomplished its military objectives,” Vance said. “There are still some things that we’d like to do, for example, on Iranian ability to manufacture weapons, that we’d like to do a little bit more work on militarily. But fundamentally, the military objectives of the United States have been completed.” 

“I think there really are two pathways, and I’m oversimplifying this a little bit, but I think pathway one is where the Iranians decide they’re going to be a normal country. They’re not going to fund terrorism anymore. They’re going to be part of the world system of commerce and exchange,” Vance continued. “And that’s going to mean much better things for them economically. It’s going to mean better things for the peace and safety of the world. It’s going to mean a lot of good things for a lot of people all over the planet. That’s option A.” 

LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP DEADLINE FOR IRAN TICKS CLOSER AS ISLAMIC REPUBLIC REJECTS TEMPORARY CEASEFIRE

“Option B is that the Iranians don’t come to the table and they stay committed to terrorism, to terrorizing their neighbors, not just Israel but of course their Arab neighbors too. Then the economic situation in Iran is going to continue to be very, very bad. And frankly, it will probably get worse,” the vice president said. 

“The president also has been very clear that while the Iranians are trying to exact as much economic cost through the Strait of Hormuz, the United States has the ability to extract much greater economic costs on Iran than Iran has an ability to extract costs on us or on our friends in the world,” Vance also said. “So I hope that they’re smart. The president has set a deadline for about 12 hours from now, and the United States, we’re going to find out. But there’s going to be a lot of negotiation between now and then, and I’m hopeful that it gets to a good resolution.” 

HEGSETH TIES IRAN RESCUE TO EASTER STORY AND JESUS CHRIST: ‘A PILOT REBORN’

Vance told reporters Tuesday that his attitude toward military conflict has been to pray that “we are on God’s side.”

“We’re doing this because we don’t want a regime that has committed acts of terrorism to have the world’s most dangerous weapon. Because that would mean a lot of innocent people dead,” Vance said about the war. “I certainly hope that God agrees with the decision that Iran shouldn’t have a nuclear weapon, but I’ll keep praying about it.” 

Vance also accused Iran of unleashing “acts of economic terrorism” that are obstructing the free flow of gas and oil around the world. 

“So they’ve got to know, we’ve got tools in our toolkit that we so far haven’t decided to use. The president of the United States can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don’t change their course of conduct,” he warned. 

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Vance also confirmed Tuesday that “we were going to strike some military targets on Kharg Island” and “I believe we have done so.”