NationalWatch

President Donald Trump quipped during his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, “I don’t sleep on planes. I don’t like sleeping on planes. You know. I like looking out the window, watching for missiles and enemies, actually,” Trump said on Thursday, drawing laughter from the crowd. 

Trump joined the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday morning, which pulls together bipartisan lawmakers, business leaders and foreign dignitaries to reflect on faith and prayer for the nation. It was the sixth time Trump has attended the event since his first administration in 2017. 

The president has long been known to avoid sleeping while flying on Air Force One. His quip about looking for missiles came as he recounted first meeting Daniel “Raizin” Caine, who now serves as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about defeating ISIS during his first term.

TRUMP RETURNS TO NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST AS FAITH TAKES CENTER STAGE IN SECOND TERM

Caine told Trump that an area had been prepared for him to nap during the 20-hour journey, which Trump refused so the pair could discuss strategies to wipe out ISIS.

“I said, ‘What’s your first name?’ ‘Raizin, sir. They call me Raizin.’ And I say, ‘what the hell kind of a name is that? Right?’” Trump joked.  

HEGSETH SAYS DEPARTMENT OF WAR ‘WILL BE PREPARED TO DELIVER’ WHATEVER TRUMP WANTS FOLLOWING IRAN WARNING

“He’s brutal. Just ask Venezuela. Ask Iran. They’re negotiating now. They don’t want to. They don’t want us to hit them. You know, we have a big fleet going over to Iran. But so Razin was there at the bottom of the plane,” he said. 

Trump continued his speech by taking a victory lap for the strength of the U.S. military under his second term, including capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and striking Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“Two years ago, you couldn’t get anybody to go into the military. They laughed at you and they said they didn’t respect our country. They didn’t respect our president. They thought he was a joke. They thought our country was a joke,” Trump said. 

“Other countries laughed at us and took advantage of us with tariffs. And we weren’t allowed to charge, and they were allowed to charge. But we are allowed to charge, and I hope we get that Supreme Court decision, because we have taken in hundreds of billions of dollars of money.”

AIR FORCE ONE GLITCH REVIVES REPLACEMENT PUSH AS WHITE HOUSE SAYS IT ‘PROVES TRUMP WAS RIGHT AGAIN’

Trump also reflected on his faith and administration’s mission to protect religious liberty. 

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“They declared that all of us are made free and equal by the hand of our Creator,” Trump said of the Founding Fathers in 1776. “A lot of presidents refuse to say that. They refuse to say that. . . . Some refuse. Some major politicians refuse to say the word ‘God.’ They don’t want to say it. I say it, that we are endowed with our sacred rights to life, liberty, and not by government, but by God Almighty himself.” 

Maryland’s Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, who is widely believed to have presidential ambitions, is facing a treacherous political decision as legislation is soon heading his way that will effectively ban local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE in the state. 

Both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly approved legislation this week that would end 287(g) agreements, contracts that currently allow eight Maryland jurisdictions to work with federal immigration authorities in detention facilities and turn individuals over to ICE, Fox 45 Baltimore reported.

Moore, considered by many to be a moderate, has spoken openly about rejecting “partisan” politics and supporting law enforcement, putting him in a potentially difficult spot between the calls from the base of his party to reject ICE and the position of moderates in his party and independents who may support ICE’s core mission of deporting criminal illegal immigrants.

Moore has spoken out against ICE actions in recent weeks as the Trump administration faces mounting criticism for its immigration efforts following the deaths of two Minnesota residents after altercations with federal immigration authorities. 

MARYLAND GOV WES MOORE BRUSHES OFF TOP STATE DEMOCRAT’S WARNING ON REDISTRICTING POSSIBLY BACKFIRING

Moore spokesperson Rhyan Lake told Fox News Digital that the governor is “gravely concerned about ICE’s actions in Maryland and across the country under the Trump-Vance administration.”

Lake added, “Instead of focusing on violent offenders or public safety, the federal administration has created chaos and made communities less safe. The governor has made crystal clear: Maryland has no place for agents who are untrained, unqualified and unaccountable. As with any bill, he will review legislation as it comes to his desk.”

In September, Moore said he is “not running for president” in 2028 and is “excited” about serving a full term if he wins re-election in November, although many still believe he has presidential ambitions at some point in the future.

DHS FIRES BACK AFTER DEM BILLIONAIRE DAVID TRONE CLAIMS ICE IS ‘EXECUTING PEOPLE’

Julian Epstein, longtime Democratic operative, attorney and former chief counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, told Fox News Digital that the Democratic Party could be making a mistake catering to the anti-ICE crowd when it comes to general elections. 

“These sanctuary laws are effectively part of a secessionist ideology and an open borders ideology,” Epstein said. “They pander to the progressive socialist left, but they are really bad politics for the party in a general election.”

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Epstein, who recently penned an opinion piece in the California Post titled, “How Democrats’ impossible ICE demands will grind enforcement to a halt,” warned that Democrats in general perhaps “don’t realize” that “open borders is class warfare against the working class, and that the violent protests in the streets of Minnesota are not just illegal, but they are secessionist in nature.”

“It’s time the Democrats woke up and smelled the coffee on this.”

Democratic leaders in Congress shared a list of 10 demands for reforms to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday, insisting they be added to the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., put forward the following demands in a letter to Republican leadership, arguing ICE has “has terrorized communities across the country.”

Targeted enforcement

Democrats say DHS officers must not “enter private property without a judicial warrant.”

SENATE DEMOCRATS THREATEN SHUTDOWN BY BLOCKING DHS FUNDING AFTER MINNESOTA ICE SHOOTING

“End indiscriminate arrests and improve warrant procedures and standards. Require verification that a person is not a U.S. citizen before holding them in immigration detention,” Jeffries and Schumer wrote.

No masks

“Prohibit ICE and immigration enforcement agents from wearing face coverings,” the pair demanded.

REP JEFFRIES ESCALATES RHETORIC AGAINST NOEM, SAYS DHS LEADER SHOULD BE ‘PUT ON ICE PERMANENTLY’

Require ID

Schumer and Jeffries say ICE agents should constantly display their agency, unique ID number and their last name during immigration operations. They should also “verbalize” their ID number and name if asked during an operation, the pair argue.

SEN RUBEN GALLEGO: I WON’T FUND A ROGUE ICE THAT SHOOTS FIRST AND CALLS IT LAW ENFORCEMENT

Protect sensitive locations

Jeffries and Schumer argue that federal funding should not be used to conduct immigration operations near “sensitive locations,” which they define as “medical facilities, schools, child-care facilities, churches, polling places, courts” and others.

Stop racial profiling

Top Democrats argue that DHS officers have been “conducting stops, questioning and searches based on an individual’s presence at certain locations, their job, their spoken language and accent or their race and ethnicity.”

They say that must stop, and that decisions should be based on prior evidence.

DHS SECRETARY NOEM STANDS BY BODY CAMERA REQUIREMENT FOR FEDERAL AGENTS FOLLOWING TRUMP COMMENTS

Uphold use of force standards

Democrats say ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection must operate under a more robust use of force policy, involving expanded training and certification for federal agents.

“In the case of an incident, the officer must be removed from the field until an investigation is conducted,” the pair argued.

Ensure state and local coordination and oversight

“Preserve the ability of State and local jurisdictions to investigate and prosecute potential crimes and use of excessive force incidents,” the pair wrote. “Require that evidence is preserved and shared with jurisdictions. Require the consent of States and localities to conduct large-scale operations outside of targeted immigration enforcement.”

DEMOCRATS DEMAND KRISTI NOEM BE FIRED OR WARN IMPEACHMENT WILL FOLLOW

Build safeguards into the system

Schumer and Jeffries demanded that federal detention facilities “must abide by the same basic detention standards that require immediate access to a person’s attorney to prevent citizen arrests or detention.”

“Allow states to sue DHS for violations of all requirements. Prohibit limitations on Member visits to ICE facilities regardless of how those facilities are funded,” they wrote.

Body cameras for accountability, not tracking

The Democrats argue that federal agents must wear body cameras when interacting with the public.

They also say federal police should “prohibit tracking, creating or maintaining databases of individuals participating in First Amendment activities.”

No paramilitary police

“Regulate and standardize the type of uniforms and equipment DHS officers carry during enforcement operations to bring them in line with civil enforcement,” Schumer and Jeffries wrote.

ILHAN OMAR DEMANDS IMPEACHMENT OF NOEM AMID DHS FUNDING BATTLE: ‘WE MUST ABOLISH ICE’

“Furthermore, there are steps that the Trump administration has the power to take right now to show good faith, including fully ramping down the surge in Minnesota and removing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem from her position,” the pair wrote.

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“These are common sense solutions that protect constitutional rights and ensure responsible law enforcement,” they said.

White House border czar Tom Homan already announced a drawdown of 700 federal agents from the Twin Cities on Wednesday. Noem also ordered federal agents in Minnesota to start wearing body cameras.

FIRST ON FOX: A pro-life group is releasing a new report claiming abortions have continued to rise nationwide since 2020 because of a Biden administration FDA policy that allows abortion pills to be prescribed via telehealth and shipped by mail — a move the group says the Trump administration could reverse.

In a report obtained by Fox News Digital, the Restoration of America Foundation (ROAF) argues that a COVID-era FDA policy under former President Joe Biden is driving an estimated more than 500 mail-order chemical abortions per day, citing data from Guttmacher and WeCount.

The data also shows that chemical abortions now account for the majority of abortions, making up about 63% in 2023, a jump from 39% in 2017.

The report also estimates that there were roughly 170,000 additional abortions in 2024 than would have happened if the abortion rate had remained at 2019 levels.

“Since hitting a low in 2017, the national abortion rate has seen a persistent and troubling climb,” the report states. “In 2019, the last full year that abortion by mail was clearly illegal, there were an estimated 916,460 abortions. Using our estimate for 2024, the overall growth in abortion from 2019 to 2024 was 22 percent. Over the same window, the U.S. population grew by just 2.9 percent. Had the abortion rate remained steady from 2019, there would have been 171,103 fewer abortions in 2024.”

PRO-LIFE GROUP URGES SENATE TO PRESS RFK JR ON ABORTION PILL SAFETY, DEMAND SAFEGUARDS RETURN

The findings show abortion-by-mail made up roughly one in four abortions in the U.S. in the first half of 2025.

WeCount data cited in the report also shows an estimated 244,590 do-it-yourself abortions were facilitated by telehealth in 2024, including more than 120,000 pills sent into states where abortion was restricted or banned after the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade in 2022, giving the power to make abortion laws back to the states.

The Biden administration policy removed safety standards that required women to see a doctor to be prescribed mifepristone, allowing it to be prescribed through telehealth and sent by mail. The report argues that the FDA under Biden justified the change using limited studies and adverse-event data, despite most mandatory reporting requirements for mifepristone complications being removed in 2016 under the Obama administration. A research paper in 2021 additionally compared adverse-event data with Planned Parenthood data and concluded that the system is “inadequate” to evaluate the safety of mifepristone abortions.

“People are calling up and saying whatever they need to say to get the drug in the mail,” ROAF CEO Doug Truax said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “The point that we’re making is that abortions are on the rise dramatically; 874,000 in 2023, up to 1.1 million in 2024. Then on this trajectory, by the time President Trump leaves office, it’d be about 1.4 million a year. And so it’s largely driven by the drugs going out in the mail.”

PLANNED PARENTHOOD DROPS LAWSUIT CHALLENGING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S MEDICAID CUTS

“There’s about 150 women a day that are being seriously harmed by this drug,” Truax continued. “So we need to get them to go see the doctor. The doctor needs to verify where they’re at with the pregnancy. Obviously, if it’s an ectopic pregnancy, it means they could take this drug, and they could die from it, which has happened. But there are all kinds of sepsis and rupturing and hemorrhaging and everything going on with this drug.”

“So there are two angles to this. We’re very pro-life over here. We want to go to zero abortions in the country. But the other angle is that this is a women’s health issue. So we need to decrease the number of abortions, and we need to basically save women from being harmed by this,” he added.

Truax also noted that states with higher populations are receiving the most abortion pills through the mail and that Democrat-led states have enacted shield laws preventing GOP-led states from taking legal action against providers.

DOJ WALKS BACK BIDEN-ERA ABORTION POLICY, BARS VA FROM FUNDING PROCEDURES

“For instance, Texas, they don’t have abortion anymore, but they sure do,” he said. “People think it’s down to zero. It’s not at all. It’s about where it was. So you have all these abortionists in, to name a few, Massachusetts and California. There’s dispensing organizations now around the country and around the globe that will mail these things out. They’re very active getting these abortion drugs into states that said, ‘We don’t want abortion here.'”

The FDA continues to keep the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone suspended — a safety rule that had been in place for roughly 20 years before Biden’s FDA permanently removed it following a COVID-era suspension.

The policy was met with legal challenges under the previous administration, but the Supreme Court allowed it to remain in effect after ruling that the plaintiffs lacked standing. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled the FDA’s action under Biden was likely “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedure Act.

Truax said the Trump administration has the authority to nix the policy, and urged the federal government to do so.

“I think that from a political standpoint, they’d rather not talk about it. But our point is, from a political standpoint, it’s going to start hurting. Pro-life Americans are really grateful to the president for the Supreme Court that we have, they got Roe thrown out, as it should have been a long time ago. But there’s more work to be done. We’re grateful for defunding Planned Parenthood. That’s great for a year. But the bottom line is, if the number of abortions is actually going up and there’s a step you could take to stop it, we got to do that,” he said.

HAWLEY BLASTS FDA APPROVAL OF NEW ABORTION DRUG, CITES SAFETY AND TRUST CONCERNS

“There’s a massive number of pro-life Americans that are base supporters of the president who may say, ‘Wait a minute, we’ve been in power for this entire time and the number of abortions keeps going up, and we could have stopped it,'” he added.

Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill and state officials have been calling on the Trump administration to take action.

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Last summer, more than 20 attorneys general urged Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary to complete a safety review of mifepristone and consider reinstating safeguards or removing the drug from the market. Kennedy and Makary vowed to conduct a new review, but they have not released a timeline for the results.

“President Trump, Secretary Kennedy, and Commissioner Makary already have the tools at their disposal to reverse the legally and scientifically dubious decisions of the Biden Administration’s FDA and to reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement. The Trump Administration must act swiftly to restore commonsense medical safeguards to the chemical abortion pill,” the ROAF report says.

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., is urging key agencies in the Trump administration to recoup what he believes could amount to billions in Medicaid, SNAP and education expenses paid out to immigrants on the American taxpayer’s dime.

Banks, a first-term senator and conservative firebrand, argues that by law the sponsors of legal immigrants to the U.S. are required to reimburse the government for any welfare benefits used by their sponsee. Though written in law, the Immigration and Nationality Act, Banks said this has by and large not been carried out.

Under the Trump administration, however, he believes that can finally change.   

In a letter sent on Wednesday to the secretaries of the Department of Homeland Security, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development and the commissioners of the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration, Banks asked the agencies to hold immigrant sponsors accountable and refund American taxpayers.

GOP SENATOR PUSHES TO CREATE ANTI-FRAUD SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL AFTER MINNESOTA FRAUD REVELATIONS

Banks cites a study by the Center for Immigration Studies that posit that illegal aliens alone cost American taxpayers an estimated $68 billion a year in public education costs, $42 billion in welfare, and $7 billion in medical treatment, which he said is “eclipsing the amount this group pays in taxes.”

Aside from the benefits paid out contrary to the law to illegal aliens, Banks said the government “may also be owed repayment for a large portion of lawful use.”

“It is the policy of the United States that aliens should not depend on public resources,” Banks wrote in the letter.

Despite this, Banks wrote that “most alien households receive means-tested [income-based] benefits,” such as Medicaid, SNAP and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

“The immigration laws do not tolerate this rate of government dependence,” he wrote, pointing to a portion of the Immigration and Nationality Act that he said ensures self-sufficiency “by mandating repayment for benefits received by certain non-citizens.”

SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH TO DEPORT, DENATURALIZE FRAUDSTERS AMID MINNESOTA SCANDAL

“Sponsoring relatives agree to reimburse the federal government for any means-tested benefit used by the alien before that alien becomes a citizen. This pledge is executed in a contract,” he wrote, adding that “pursuant to that contract, agencies that administer means-tested programs may seek repayment for benefits received while the alien was a non-citizen.”

For the largest source of legal immigration into the U.S., the family visa program, Banks said the contract can be enforced in court for ten years. There have been an estimated 3.5 million immigrants who have entered the country through the program since 2016.

Banks said that “no records can be found of federal agencies requesting reimbursement” for benefits to immigrants entering the program, indicating that “American taxpayers may well be owed a large amount of money.”

He asked the Trump administration to provide answers by March 1 on the total amount in means-tested benefits paid out to immigrants under these contracts and the amount the government has sought to have reimbursed. He also asked the administration to share its plans to enforce the contracts and lay out what steps agencies will be taking “to ensure that aliens do not become dependent on government support after entering the country.”

HOMAN ANNOUNCES DRAWDOWN OF FEDERAL PRESENCE IN MINNESOTA, HAILS ‘UNPRECEDENTED COOPERATION’ FROM LOCAL POLICE

In response to the letter, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development told Fox News Digital that HUD “is exploring all options to hold alien sponsors accountable and protect the American taxpayer.”

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A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture told Fox News Digital that “non-citizens who have been granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) are not eligible to receive SNAP benefits unless they also have another immigration status that qualifies.”

The USDA spokesperson said “the rules governing eligibility for our programs, including SNAP, can be complex and often depend on multiple factors such as immigration status and other requirements.”

“For example, Haitian nationals granted TPS are not eligible for SNAP just because they have TPS. However, they may qualify if they also meet the definition of a Cuban and Haitian entrant (CHE) under Section 501(e) of the Refugee Education and Assistance Act of 1980,” they said, adding, “Individuals who are eligible based on their immigration status, such as being classified as a Cuban or Haitian entrant, must also satisfy other SNAP eligibility requirements such as income and resource limits.”

Meanwhile, Banks told Fox News Digital “this is about enforcing the law that’s already on the books.”

“Sponsors agreed to repay taxpayers if immigrants went on welfare, and the government needs to hold them to that promise,” he concluded.

President Donald Trump will attend the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday for his sixth appearance at the bipartisan gathering focused on faith and prayer for the nation.

“Today, President Trump will unite our country through the power of prayer at the 74th National Prayer Breakfast,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital. “President Trump has made unprecedented strides to protect our God-given rights and has delivered on his promise to reverse Joe Biden’s divisive policies that weaponized the federal government against men and women of faith. President Trump has secured major victories for religious freedom – from defending innocent life to restoring biological truth and protecting parents’ fundamental rights.”

Trump is expected to speak at 8:30 a.m. at the Washington Hilton at the event that typically draws hundreds of lawmakers, business leaders, state officials and foreign dignitaries.

This year, Fox News Digital learned notable attendees include Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Mrs. Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Mr. John Wakefield, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Mrs. Burgum, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins and Mrs. Collins, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer and Mrs. Greer, and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

FAITH RETURNS TO THE PUBLIC SQUARE DURING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM, CHRISTIAN LEADER SAYS

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, Democratic Republic of the Congo President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, and Mrs. Denise Nyakero Tshisekedi are among foreign leaders who will attend the breakfast.

Musicians Michael W. Smith and Jelly Roll will also attend, Fox News Digital learned. 

Trump first attended as president in 2017 and returned last year, using his remarks to pledge action against what he called anti-Christian bias tied to the Biden administration.

“While I’m in the White House, we will protect Christians in our schools, in our military, in our government, in our workplaces, hospitals and in our public squares, and we will bring our country back together as one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all,” Trump said during last year’s event. 

Nearly a year ago to the day, Trump launched the White House Faith Office via Executive Order, tasking it with leading the executive branch’s outreach to faith-based groups, community organizations, and houses of worship. In honor of its one-year anniversary and the prayer breakfast, Fox News Digital learned the office launched a campaign showing “150 reasons why President Trump is the most pro-faith, pro-life, and pro-religious liberty president in American history.”

“He protected religious liberty and affirmed faith in America. He has fought anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and other forms of anti-religious bias while ending the weaponization of government against all people of faith. He has expanded school choice, protected parental rights, restored biological truth, uplifted families, ended illegal and divisive DEI policies, stopped taxpayer funding for abortion, restored free speech, and stood side-by-side with Israel,” the Faith Office said of Trump. 

The National Prayer Breakfast was established in 1953 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower accepted an invitation to join members of Congress for what was then an early version of the event. The morning event is built around speeches and prayer, and historically features remarks from the president and other invited speakers. 

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IS AMERICA’S CORE RIGHT. WE MUST DEFEND IT FOR KIDS AND PARENTS

Trump’s presence at the annual event comes as he increasingly discusses his faith and relationship with God following the assassination attempt against him in July 2024 that left him with an injury to the head when a gunman opened fire on a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. 

“There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet, in a certain way I felt very safe, because I had God on my side,” Trump said from the stage of the Republican National Convention just days after the attempt on his life. “The amazing thing is that prior to the shot, if I had not moved my head at the very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark, and I would not be with you tonight.”

TRUMP GETS IT: PRAYER ISN’T THE PROBLEM. SILENCING IT IS

President Donald Trump has elevated faith as a governing theme in his second term, including signing executive orders to create a White House Faith Office and issuing a proclamation urging Americans to renew their commitment to the country’s “Nation under God” identity.

“From the establishment of the Jamestown Colony to the Pilgrims’ arrival at Plymouth Rock, through periods of war and peace and through every challenge and every triumph, religious faith has indelibly shaped our character, informed our laws, and strengthened our national spirit,” a proclamation establishing “Religious Freedom Day 2026” on Jan. 16 reads. 

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“I pledge that I will never stop fighting to restore America as a Nation of prayer, a country of faith, and a radiant beacon of liberty and justice for all,” Trump’s recent proclamation continued. 

Eleven candidates are running in Thursday’s Democratic Party primary in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.

The seat was left vacant after now New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped down after winning November’s gubernatorial election in the Garden State.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face off with Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, the only Republican to file for the special election, which will be held on April 16.

The special election in a district that tilts towards the Democrats comes as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218-214 majority in the House of Representatives.

HOUSE GOP MAJORITY SHRINKS TO JUST ONE VOTE AS JOHNSON SWEARS IN NEW HOUSE DEMOCRAT

But the GOP may land a reinforcement before the general election for the open seat in New Jersey is held.

That’s because a special election is scheduled on March 10 in Georgia’s solidly right 14th Congressional District, in the race to succeed former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The MAGA firebrand and one-time top Trump House ally a month ago stepped down from Congress a year before her term ended.

A whopping 22 candidates, including 17 Republicans, are running in the Georgia showdown.

JOHNSON WARNS HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO ‘STAY HEALTHY’ AS GOP MAJORITY SHRINKS TO THE EDGE

According to Georgia state law, all the candidates will run on the same ballot. If no contender tops 50% of the vote, a runoff election between the top two finishers will take place on April 7.

Greene won re-election in 2024 to the seat by nearly 30 points and Trump carried the district, which is located in northwest Georgia, by 37 points.

While there’s a very crowded field in Thursday’s Democratic congressional primary in New Jersey, only a handful of the candidates have a possible shot at winning the nomination.

Among the frontrunners are former Rep. Tom Malinowski, an assistant Secretary of State in former President Barack Obama’s administration who represented the neighboring 7th Congressional District from 2018 to 2022 before being defeated by now-GOP Rep. Thomas Kean Jr., and Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill.

Also in contention are former Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, John Bartlett, a Passaic County commissioner, and Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer who is running as an outsider and is backed by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Sanders headlined a virtual rally for Mejia on the eve of the primary.

HOUSE GOP’S ALREADY FRAGILE MAJORITY TO FURTHER SHRINK AFTER DEMOCRATS’ BALLOT BOX VICTORY

The suburban district in northern New Jersey leans to the left, with Sherrill winning re-election in 2024 by 15 points, the same margin by which she carried the district in November’s gubernatorial showdown.

But then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by just eight points in the 2024 presidential election, giving the GOP some hopes of possibly flipping the seat.

There’s one more vacant seat in Congress, in California’s 1st Congressional District, following the recent unexpected death of Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa.

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A primary in the race to fill LaMalfa’s seat will be held on June 2, which is primary day in California. And the special general election will be held on Aug. 4.

The district, in northeastern California, is solidly Republican.

In passing the $1.2 trillion megabill to end the government shutdown Tuesday, lawmakers sent $4 million in funding to two children’s hospitals under investigation by President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for their track record of providing transgender healthcare to minors.

The allocations to Seattle Children’s Hospital in Washington state and the Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago can be found in the $1.2 trillion package that funds several agencies, including HHS, that Trump signed into law Tuesday, ending the latest partial government shutdown.

The hospitals are among several the administration has put under a spotlight with HHS probes in Trump’s bid to halt “chemical and surgical mutilation” against minors.

CHILDREN’S NATIONAL HOSPITAL IN DC TO END GENDER TRANSITION MEDICAL INTERVENTIONS

The $4 million in congressionally directed spending, Capitol Hill jargon for earmarks, was requested by Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured $3 million for Seattle Children’s Hospital, which did not respond to a request for comment on how the funding might be used.

Murray told Fox News Digital the funding was meant “to provide a safe and comfortable space for kids in crisis, kids who may seriously harm themselves or take their own life.”

“It has nothing to do with President Trump’s hateful crusade against transgender children,” Murray said. “It’s disgusting to see a witch hunt against funding for a project that enjoys broad support from across the community — all Americans, regardless of political affiliation, understand that we need more investments to tackle the mental health crisis in this country.”

The remaining $1 million is slated for Lurie Children’s Hospital, which paused its transgender care for minors amid the Trump administration’s ongoing investigation.

Durbin’s office told Fox News Digital, “Senator Durbin is proud to have secured $1 million for the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago to support the expansion of the new hospital-based violence recovery program, serving pediatric victims of violence with trauma-informed mental health and recovery services.

“We are fortunate to have the expertise of the professionals at Lurie Children’s applied to the complex challenges that too many children in Chicago are exposed to from community violence, child abuse, and mental health needs.”

When asked for Trump’s reaction to the $4 million in earmarks to the hospitals, White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital, “The American people gave President Trump a resounding mandate to restore common sense in America, and the Trump administration is exploring other tools to crack down on child mutilation procedures.”

Earmark spending — pork barrel spending as it’s often known — has long been a heated debate on Capitol Hill. The practice was banned for roughly a decade but reinstated a handful of years ago, with limits.

The earmarks for the hospitals are among several that fiscal hawks like Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, blasted from the Senate floor last week.

“They do a lot, including spending on woke, wasteful and unjustified spending: puberty blockers for kids,” Lee said as he listed his opposition to a number of earmarks in the bill.

“We don’t need this; we don’t want this. It’s unacceptable. It must end.”

Some Senate Republicans have for years railed against earmarks, going so far as to permanently ban them within their own conference in 2019. Still, that ban does not encompass the entire Senate, and, ultimately, is more of an honor system among individual members.

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, who oversees the process of putting together spending bills before they hit the floor, argued that earmarks, known as congressionally directed spending (CDS), are mostly requests made by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle tailor-made for a lawmakers’ state.

“Members of Congress understand the needs of our constituents far better than any well-intentioned federal employee located here in Washington,” Collins said on the Senate floor. “The CDS projects provide funding for states, communities and nonprofit organizations. The process is completely open and transparent.”

Seattle Children’s Hospital and Lurie Children’s Hospital have both drawn scrutiny from health officials as the Trump administration has taken a more critical stance against sex-change procedures and their effects on children.

After announcing that HHS would bar hospitals from performing sex-reassignment procedures on children, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. targeted Seattle Children’s Hospital’s access to Medicare and Medicaid programs.

201 HOUSE DEMOCRATS VOTE AGAINST BLOCKING MEDICAID DOLLARS FOR KIDS’ TRANSGENDER SURGERIES

“Under my leadership, and answering President Trump’s call to action, the federal government will do everything in its power to stop unsafe, irreversible practices that put our children at risk,” Kennedy said in a press release in December.

A number of states, including Washington, have sued the Trump administration for its decision, arguing that HHS lacked the power to “substantively alter the standards of care and effectively ban, by fiat, an entire category of healthcare.”

Despite the ongoing litigation, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) opened a probe into Seattle Children’s activities in December.

The Lurie Children’s Hospital scaled back its transgender services in response to pressure from HHS earlier this year but has still come under recent scrutiny from the department.

HHS General Counsel Mike Stuart announced in a post on X last month that he had referred Lurie Children’s Hospital to OIG alongside four other hospitals for failing to protect “children from sex-rejecting procedures.”

In response, Lurie Children’s Hospital said it had paused its transgender care services for those under 18, according to statements made to local news outlets.

As listed on the earmarks, the $3 million in funding for Seattle Children’s Hospital would go toward “facilities and equipment to construct a behavioral health stabilization unit.”

The $1 million in funding for Lurie Children’s would go toward “health and trauma services for pediatric patients.”

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Neither hospital responded to a request for comment for more information on how that funding might be used or about their relationships with HHS.

Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem blasted Democrats’ border policies during a visit Wednesday to Nogales, Arizona, accusing the left of redefining “compassion” while leaving American communities to deal with crime, chaos and lawlessness.

Standing in front of the southern border wall, Noem discussed Biden-era immigration policies and their impact on the country’s overall safety and security.

“The Democrats on the left say that compassion was that invasion, was that humanitarian crisis,” Noem said. “But President [Donald] Trump says that compassion is taking care of people. Was it compassionate to make Americans share their communities with criminals? Was it compassionate to encourage men and women and children to break the law and to put their lives at risk, knowing that they could be victimized along the way?”

BEHIND THE SCENES: TRUMP AND WHITE HOUSE RALLY BEHIND NOEM AS ‘RADICALS’ DEMAND OUSTER

Noem’s remarks come weeks after anti-immigration enforcement riots broke out following the fatal shootings of Minneapolis residents Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have continued to accuse the administration of trampling citizens’ constitutional rights by targeting minorities and weaponizing the Department of Justice (DOJ), demanding ICE leave the blue state.

Noem also addressed recent violence against federal immigration enforcement agents, questioning Democrats’ interpretation of compassion.

“Was it compassionate to demonize those federal law enforcement officers that took an oath to uphold the law and to keep Americans safe?” she asked. “Democrats dare to harass, threaten and dox our officers, assault the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security… and they try to say that enforcing our immigration laws and arresting and deporting illegal criminals and violent criminals is inhumane. Well, what about the victims of th[ose] illegal crimes?”

Noem added that Americans elected Trump for a second term to restore law and order.

“The beauty of our republic is that our people have the freedom to choose,” she said. “When they elected President Trump, they chose differently. They chose someone who recognized that a country with no border is no country at all. A country that doesn’t enforce its laws is a lawless country. We had never experienced the kind of chaos before in recent history that we saw during the Biden administration, and the American people rejected it.

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“They rejected it and its lawlessness and chose to return to law and order.… We’ve got a promise of a bright future and a promise of an amazing country for years to come. You have stood up, and stood on the line, to make sure that we have freedom and liberty for our children and our grandchildren for years to come.”

Alleged fraud schemes plaguing Minnesota’s social services systems have elevated scrutiny surrounding childcare centers. 

But fraud can be challenging to identify for states – especially when agencies are using outdated systems that make it difficult to spot trends and red flags that could point to potential fraud, according to Chris Bennett, the CEO and founder of Wonderschool, a platform that provides technology support to child care providers and states. 

“When you have all this data living in different place, it’s really difficult for a state to identify where there is risk and where there is fraud,” Bennett recently told Fox News Digital during an interview. “Additionally, a lot of states are using pen and paper still to collect information. So it makes it really difficult for an administrator and the administrator’s team to go through all of that and make sure that they’re keeping up with things on a regular basis.”

Streamlining systems is key to identifying any atypical trends in billing behavior and attendance data that could point to fraud, Bennett said.

TREASURY SECRETARY ANNOUNCES CASH REWARDS FOR MINNESOTA FRAUD WHISTLEBLOWERS

“The best practice is moving to a modern system, moving to a system where all of the data is in one place and it’s all connected,” Bennett said. “So you can use that to identify risk, flag unusual patterns early, and then have humans go and investigate. Oversight should support child care providers, not punish them.” 

To help do this, Bennett spearheaded Wonderschool Oversight in January – building upon Wonderschool’s existing partnerships with states including Florida, Michigan and West Virginia– that aims to centralize state agencies’ program data to evaluate enrollment, attendance, billing and licensing information in the same place. 

Having this information in one spot allows for Wonderschool Oversight to flag unusual patterns that could require human review, Bennett said.

GOP SENATORS LAUNCH TASK FORCE TO CRACK DOWN ON FRAUD TIED TO MINNESOTA SCANDAL

“For example, we can analyze daily attendance data to flag cases where billed attendance exceeds recorded attendance,” Bennett said. “We review billing behavior for anomalies — such as sudden spikes in billing corrections — which can indicate potential issues. Or, in another example, we compare reported attendance against licensed capacity, age-band limits, and required staffing ratios to surface possible regulatory or safety violations.” 

Childcare fraud has come under a microscope after right-wing influencer Nick Shirley shared a video in December detailing alleged fraud involving Minnesota childcare and learning centers. 

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced in January that it would put a hold on access to some federal childcare and family assistance funding for five states – including Minnesota – due to “serious concerns about widespread fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars in state-administered programs.” 

Days later, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from halting the funding freeze for at least two weeks. Fox News Digital reached out to HHS for comment. 

That’s not the only alleged fraud scheme the state is facing. Lawmakers have spearheaded investigations into Minnesota’s alleged “Feeding Our Future” $250 million fraud scheme that allegedly targeted a children’s nutrition program the Department of Agriculture funded and that Minnesota oversaw during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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At least 77 people have been charged in that scheme, which took advantage of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to waive certain Federal Child Nutrition Program requirements.

Likewise, another alleged fraud scheme in the state stems from the Housing Stability Services Program, which allegedly offered Medicaid coverage for housing stabilization services in an attempt to help those with disabilities, mental illnesses and substance-use disorders receive housing.

Congressional Republicans, President Donald Trump and their shared base of support want to see voter ID legislation become law, but the last barrier is the Senate, where political reality has turned the notion into a pipe dream. 

The GOP’s legislative push to codify more requirements and restrictions surrounding voter registration nearly derailed Congress’ attempt to end the latest partial government shutdown on Tuesday. 

In an unlikely turn of events, like Senate Democrats’ push to save expiring Obamacare subsidies’ during the last funding battle and House Republicans’ desire to attach election integrity legislation, dubbed the SAVE America Act, to the Trump-backed package this week brought the issue back into focus. 

SCHUMER NUKES GOP PUSH FOR ‘JIM CROW-ERA’ VOTER ID LAWS IN TRUMP-BACKED SHUTDOWN PACKAGE

Trump, who encouraged House Republicans to stand down from their do-or-die demands, renewed his call to pass voter ID legislation while signing the funding package into law Tuesday.

“We should have voter ID, by the way,” Trump said. “We should have a lot of the things that I think everybody wants to see. Who would not want voter ID? Only somebody that wants to cheat.” 

While several Senate Republicans support what the bill could accomplish, they acknowledge the legislation would die on the floor without a handful of Senate Democrats, who nearly unanimously despise the move.  

“Democrats want to make it easy to cheat,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital. “They don’t want to do anything to secure elections.”

The issue at hand, as has often been the case during Trump’s second term, is the 60-vote filibuster. The president has called on Senate Republicans to eviscerate it several times throughout the last year as the precarious threshold has time and again impeded his agenda. 

THUNE REJECTS TRUMP’S CALL TO NATIONALIZE ELECTIONS, WARNS DEMS TRIED THE SAME

Some Senate Republicans, including Johnson, are mulling turning to the precursor to the modern filibuster — the talking, or standing, filibuster.

The modern filibuster is less strenuous, literally, than the standing filibuster. While today’s standard requires that senators hit at least 60 votes, the standing filibuster demanded that lawmakers debate on the floor, consuming one of the Senate’s most valuable commodities — time.

“The only way that’s going to get passed is if we do a talking filibuster or we end the filibuster,” Johnson said.

There’s little appetite among Senate Republicans to nuke the filibuster given that it could play right into the desires of Senate Democrats, who tried and failed to modify the procedure when they controlled the upper chamber under former President Joe Biden. 

And many acknowledge that the votes simply aren’t there to do so. 

One Senate Republican told Fox News Digital that the “filibuster is not on the table” as pressure mounts to move on the SAVE America Act, but that the legislation would likely get a shot in the upper chamber and earn 51 Republican votes. But, the lawmaker contended, the question was what happened next in the likely event the bill fails.

The notion of turning to the standing filibuster, the physical and original version of the filibuster, was also swiftly sidelined by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who said while there was interest among Republicans to discuss the option, “there weren’t any commitments made.”

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES THREATEN EXTENDED SHUTDOWN OVER ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURE

Forcing the standing filibuster would come with its own ramifications in the Senate, given that the most valuable commodity in the upper chamber is floor time.

That’s because of rules that guarantee any senator gets up to two speeches on a bill. That, coupled with the clock being reset by amendments to the bill, means that the Senate could effectively be paralyzed for months as Republicans chip away at Democratic opposition.

“There’s always an opportunity cost,” Thune said.

“At any time there’s an amendment offered, and that amendment is tabled, it resets the clock,” he continued. “The two-speech rule kicks in again. So let’s say, you know, every Democrat senator talks for two hours. That’s 940 hours on the floor.”

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Still, some Republicans hope that the bill gets its moment in the Senate.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., who was an original co-sponsor of the bill, told Fox News Digital he hoped it got a chance on the floor and contended that it was a “very important thing to do.”

“I don’t know,” Schmitt said. “I mean, we’ll never know unless it happens.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday that federal law enforcement officials have arrested more than 4,000 illegal immigrants in Minnesota since launching Operation Metro Surge in late 2025.

“President Trump’s commonsense immigration enforcement policies are delivering the public safety results the American people demanded, with more than 4,000 dangerous criminal illegal aliens already arrested in Minnesota since Operation Metro began,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital on Wednesday in response to DHS’ announcement. 

“Democrats opened our borders and allowed vicious criminals, including murderers, rapists, gang members, and terrorists, to invade our communities. President Trump is reversing that horrific damage and removing these threats from our country,” she continued.  

Operation Metro Surge is an ongoing immigration crackdown operation that focused on the Twin Cities, as well as Minnesota at large, as part of the administration’s ongoing mission to deport illegal immigrants, most notably violent offenders. 

GUN-WIELDING ICE AGENTS BRUSH BACK MINNEAPOLIS AGITATORS

DHS shared a handful of arrests made on Tuesday alone, including: a criminal illegal alien from Ecuador with a criminal history of sexual conduct with a minor and domestic assault; a criminal illegal alien from Honduras convicted of domestic abuse, disorderly conduct and driving while intoxicated; a criminal illegal alien from Mexico arrested for assault/domestic battery, larceny, driving under the influence and possession of drugs; and a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador convicted of trespassing.

“Despite coordinated attacks of violence against our law enforcement, our officers have made more than 4,000 arrests of illegal aliens including murderers, pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and terrorists in Minnesota since Operation Metro Surge began,”  DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. 

“We need sanctuary politicians to cooperate with us by notifying us before releasing public safety threats back onto the streets to commit more crimes and create more victims. We will not back down from our mission to remove criminal illegal aliens from American neighborhoods.”  

Federal law enforcement converged on Minnesota in late 2025 and early 2026 as massive welfare and social services fraud schemes came to light. The schemes have led to dozens of arrests, most of whom are from the state’s large Somali population. 

CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ALLEGEDLY RAMS ICE VEHICLE IN MINNESOTA AS ATTACKS ON AGENTS SURGE

The immigration crackdown in the state sparked agitators and protesters to take to the streets, which included chaotic confrontations, including agitators storming into a church in the Twin Cities and disturbing Sunday services. Two Americans have been fatally shot amid protests by federal law enforcement in two separate cases in the Twin Cities, heightening criticisms against the Trump administration that the federal government allegedly had blood on its hands. 

President Donald Trump deployed border czar Tom Homan to the Twin Cities in January, following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents, to continue the operation.

The border czar announced Wednesday that 700 law enforcement officers would depart the city as he works for a “complete drawdown” of federal presence while local officials increasingly work with the administration. Most notably, local jails are communicating with federal officials regarding illegal immigrants currently in custody, allowing for speedy arrests at the jail as opposed to within communities. 

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: CONVICTED MURDERERS, CHILD SEX ABUSERS AMONG ILLEGAL ALIENS NABBED BY ICE ACROSS US

“We currently have an unprecedented number of counties communicating with us now and allowing ICE to take custody of illegal aliens before they hit the streets. Unprecedented cooperation,” Homan said Wednesday. “I’ll say it again: This is efficient, and it requires only one or two officers to assume custody of a criminal alien target, rather than eight or 10 officers going into the community and arresting that public safety threat.”

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Leavitt told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that Homan’s drawdown plan follows the operation’s success in arresting the more than 4,000 illegal aliens from Minnesota. 

“At President Trump’s direction, Tom Homan’s commitment to draw down forces in Minneapolis today follows these achievements and the new, unprecedented cooperation from state and local officials in Minnesota. Commitments like these from elected officials to work with the president and federal law enforcement produce tremendous outcomes that help keep Americans safe,” Leavitt said. 

Brandon Scott, the Democratic mayor of Baltimore, is facing questions about the taxpayer funds he uses for his transportation as well as social media pushback over a press conference where he suggested racism was a factor.

Scott, a progressive who has served as mayor since 2020, is facing pressure over a Fox Baltimore report showing his primary vehicle, a 2025 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, is the most expensive government-issued vehicle operated by any mayor, governor, county executive or county commissioner in the state, costing taxpayers $163,495. 

Scott has responded to the report, which claims his SUV costs nearly twice as much as the next most expensive taxpayer vehicle in the state, by pointing to the cost of President Donald Trump’s “Beast” vehicle, arguing that inflation is not being factored in and suggesting politics are at play. 

Scott, after being pressed by a reporter in a back-and-forth exchange, called the question “idiotic” and part of a “right-wing” effort to discredit him. 

BALTIMORE MAYOR DOUBLING DOWN ON DEI WITH ‘DEFINITELY EARNED IT’ CAMPAIGN

“Just because you didn’t get the answer that you wanted in your racist slant, that’s one thing,” the mayor said.

Scott has championed himself as a fighter against the “status quo” as the city faces an $85 million budget deficit and has also been an advocate against climate change despite choosing a Jeep Wagoneer, a vehicle with modest gas efficiency at 14 MPG, to get around.

Scott’s exchange with the reporter made waves on social media from the mayor’s conservative critics.

GOP SENATOR’S ‘FEDERAL FUMBLES’ REPORT HIGHLIGHTS $240M SPENT ON TRANSGENDER RAT TESTING

“Mayor Scott could not defend using tax dollars to buy his luxury vehicle, so he called the reporter a racist,” Maryland Republican state Delegate Kathy Szeliga posted on X. “Classic deflection. His gas guzzling $165K Jeep Grand Wagoneer must be a sweet ride!”

“When a reporter simply asks about the outrageous cost? Scott immediately screams ‘racism’ and accuses the station of a ‘severe right-wing effort,’” social media commentator Officer Lew posted on X. “Classic deflection. Waste money, play the race card, dodge accountability. This is what happens when identity politics runs City Hall.”

“Cry racism to dodge the grift,” conservative commentator Brandon Tatum posted on X. “Unqualified virtue-signaler supreme.”

“Can’t make this up,” conservative influencer account LibsofTikTok posted on X.

Scott has repeatedly criticized the “old way” of Baltimore politics, which he associated with prioritizing image over substance.

“For too long, corrupt and inept leaders of this city have prioritized flashy, yet unsuccessful transportation options that have done nothing to substantially improve the safety and quality of our transportation network,” Scott wrote as a mayoral candidate in 2020. 

A spokesperson for the mayor’s office told Fox News Digital the 2020 quote has “no relevance whatsoever” to the city’s government vehicle fleet and is “clearly a response to a question about utilizing state and federal resources for Baltimore’s public transportation system.”

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The spokesperson also pushed back on the Fox Baltimore report, saying the vehicle was procured in February 2025 at a normal MSRP through the normal procurement procedure, and “the supplier contract was approved without incident by the Board of Estimates on September 18, 2024.”

“First, I want to clarify that the vehicle did not cost $163,495. That figure is the total project cost, which includes the cost of the vehicle and the cost of necessary safety modifications. As with any executive vehicle, which is utilized by the Baltimore Police Department’s Executive Protection Unit (EPU), the vehicle is required to be compatible with police operations. This means that the vehicle needed to be fitted with appropriate safety, security, and communications features (emergency vehicle lights, sirens, a microphone, etc.).

“According to best practices for reliability and safety, the City budgets to purchase a new mayoral vehicle every four years. This vehicle replaced a previous executive vehicle originally purchased in 2016. These vehicles are scheduled to be replaced every four years because they are used far more often through their official duties than an average personal vehicle; as such, they accumulate miles quicker and require more regular maintenance and replacement. Once the vehicles are replaced, the old vehicles are either repurposed for other official duties or sold at auction to ensure cost effectiveness.”

The spokesperson also pushed back on the reporting that the mayor’s vehicle is the most expensive taxpayer vehicle in the state for an executive, saying the reporting “does not actually provide the evidence to fully support that assertion.”

“The story admits that they did not receive documentation from all jurisdictions in the state and utilizes comparisons to vehicles that are substantially older or from jurisdictions that work on a different vehicle replacement cycle or have different executive protection protocols. It also did not include context that the 2016 vehicle served beyond the standard replacement cycle,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson’s statement did not address Scott’s comment about a “racist slant.”

Democrats believe Bill and Hillary Clinton’s decision to appear before the House Oversight Committee will put to bed accusations of noncompliance with congressional investigations on Jeffrey Epstein while strengthening precedents related to subpoena power that Democrats could use down the line.

At the same time, lawmakers cast doubt that their testimony would provide answers that Republicans are looking for.

“I think House Republicans want this to be performative and a public show,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., the No. 3 Democrat in the chamber, said.

“I think it satisfies the [subpoena] requirements … as long as they are indicating that they are willing to answer questions,” he added, referring to the congressional request compelling their testimony.

HILLARY CLINTON EXPECTED TO DEFY EPSTEIN PROBE SUBPOENA, RISKING CRIMINAL CHARGES

Republicans hope to learn more about the relationships Bill and Hillary Clinton may have had with Epstein, the disgraced financier who killed himself while incarcerated on charges of sex trafficking minors in 2019.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will appear before the House Oversight Committee for a deposition Feb. 26, while former President Bill Clinton will appear Feb. 27.

The Clintons’ decision to testify follows Republican efforts to hold them in contempt of Congress.

The Oversight Committee teed up contempt resolutions along bipartisan lines last month after the pair failed to appear for scheduled depositions in January. If put to the House and passed, the resolution would have referred the Clintons to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution, and, if convicted, they could have faced a $100,000 fine and up to a year behind bars.

Notably, even a handful of progressive members of the “Squad” joined to support teeing up consideration of the contempt resolution, revealing bipartisan frustrations about their absence.

Aguilar said he believes the Clintons have now nixed that possibility.

BILL, HILLARY CLINTON RISK CRIMINAL CONTEMPT CHARGES AFTER DEFYING HOUSE SUBPOENAS IN EPSTEIN PROBE

“If people receive a lawful subpoena, they should comply, and they should share [testimony],” Aguilar said. “There’s absolutely no way that contempt can move forward if they’re cooperating.”

He noted that the mere use of contempt resolutions to compel testimony might play into Democrats’ hands in the future.

“It sets an interesting precedent on who is subject to come into Oversight, and we will see what the next year holds for Trump Inc. and the Trump family,” Aguilar said, alluding to the requests Democrats might make if they hold a majority in 2027.

Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., was one of the nine Democrats who voted to advance contempt considerations out of committee. He said that while he probably would have opposed the measure had it reached the floor, he had voted for it in committee, hoping to reinforce the congressional subpoena power.

“I think no matter who you are, if Congress wants you to testify, you should testify,” Frost said Wednesday.

Like Aguilar, he believes a new bar has been set by Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., on whom the committee can request an appearance from.

“It sets new standards. It’s a new precedent that will follow for anyone — former presidents, their family, their spouse, whoever — depending on investigations that we do in the future,” Frost said.

CLINTONS AGREE TO TESTIFY AFTER HOUSE THREATENS CONTEMPT IN JEFFREY EPSTEIN PROBE

Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., a top Democrat in the House of Representatives, echoed his colleagues’ thinking on the Clintons’ compliance with the subpoenas.

“I think it’s a positive development. You know, they had a chance to look it over, and they made the choice that ‘I’ll come testify,’ and I applaud them for doing it,” Thompson said.

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“No,” Thompson said simply when asked if he expected their testimony to reveal new information about the pair’s relationship with Epstein. “I don’t think they have anything to be worried about. I look forward to hearing what they have to say.”

New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, who is mounting a longshot Democratic primary challenge against his boss, Gov. Kathy Hochul, as she runs for re-election, is choosing a far-left politician with a history of legal and financial troubles as his running mate.

Delgado on Wednesday 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 as he runs from the left against Hochul, a moderate Democrat.

“India Walton represents exactly the kind of transformational and morally courageous leadership New Yorkers are hungry for,” Delgado said in a statement. “She has never been afraid to challenge the status quo, stand up to powerful interests, and put working families first.”

Walton grabbed national headlines in 2021 by pulling off an upset victory over then-Buffalo Mayor Bryon Brown in the Democratic primary. Her primary victory was seen as a sign at the time of the rise of the progressive movement. But she ended up losing in a landslide in the general election to Brown, who ran as a write-in candidate.

WHERE THE NEW YORK GUBERNATOIRAL SHOWDOWN STANDS IN THE POLLS

It was during that heated campaign battle that her past troubles, including a 2014 arrest, where she was charged with 2nd degree harassment, grabbed attention. Walton said at the time that the charge was due to a disagreement with a fellow student at a children’s hospital.

“When I politely told them I’d like to speak with them personally and handle the situation like adults, one claimed that they were threatened by me and feared for their life, despite the fact that I am 4’11’’ and was going on disability for surgery,” Walton told WIVB-TV.

The case was later dismissed in court.

A year later, Walton was ticketed for aggravated unlicensed operation following a traffic stop.

And Walton had two earlier legal controversies: the Erie County Department of Social Services brought a fraud case against her over food stamp assistance in 2003, and a year later, Walton and her then-husband appeared on a tax warrant issued by state officials, over unpaid back taxes. Documents show it took them five years to pay off the penalties and interest owed.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Delgado campaign for comment, but did not receive a response at the time this story posted.

TRUMP TAKES SIDES IN NEW YORK’S RACE FOR GOVERNOR

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

His move to name Walton as his running mate will likely be overshadowed later this week if New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, endorses Hochul.

The governor backed Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, last September as he battled former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa in the mayoral race in the nation’s most populous city.

Politico reports that Mamdani will return the favor and endorse Hochul later this week.

The latest public opinion poll in the Democratic primary race, from Siena University, indicated Hochul with a massive 53-point lead over Delgado.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Hochul has not yet announced who she’ll name as her running mate. The governor confirmed this week that she’s made a decision and will announce it by the end of Friday’s Democratic state convention in Syracuse, New York.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is the all-but-certain GOP gubernatorial nominee.

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President Donald Trump endorsed Blakeman in December, after Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik dropped her bid for governor.

EXCLUSIVE: After U.S. officials detected a sharp rise in Russian and Chinese military incursions near Alaska — including a growing number of joint operations — Sen. Dan Sullivan is warning that the Arctic has become an active security front. And he’s pushing Congress to accelerate icebreaker construction, reopen Cold War–era bases and bolster U.S. defenses in the region.

Sullivan’s warning comes as new data show foreign military traffic near Alaska climbing sharply, a trend he says has gone largely unnoticed outside the region even as Moscow and Beijing coordinate more closely. He argues the activity has exposed how thin U.S. Arctic capabilities have become and why Washington is now scrambling to catch up.

“Let’s just say the world’s largest fleet of oceanographic survey ships wasn’t off the coast of Alaska to ‘save the whales,’” Sullivan told Fox News Digital in an interview.

President Donald Trump’s ongoing friction with Denmark over Greenland reflects the growing importance of the Arctic for the administration, Sullivan said. As melting ice opens new shipping lanes, energy access and military routes, Alaska is becoming a front line in the contest for economic and strategic dominance.

TRUMP SAYS GREENLAND’S DEFENSE IS ‘TWO DOG SLEDS’ AS HE PUSHES FOR US ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY

Plans to reboot far-flung military operations off Russia’s back door — recently revisited in Tom Cruise’s latest “Mission: Impossible” installment — along with crucial new port infrastructure and a major cash infusion to the U.S. Coast Guard are all efforts to demonstrate the only thing America’s adversaries respect, Sullivan said: “Power.”

Sullivan, R-Alaska, recently chaired a Senate Commerce Subcommittee hearing examining the U.S. Coast Guard’s Arctic presence and discussed a new U.S.-Finnish deal to secure crucial new icebreaker craft and funding from the recent tax-cut law funding for at least three USCG Arctic security cutters amid a record $25 billion total investment in Coast Guard prowess.

The U.S. currently has two, one of which is out of service, while the Russians have 54 icebreaker craft, “nuclear-powered and weaponized,” he said.

Sullivan shared data with Fox News Digital showing a sharp rise in Russian, Chinese and joint Sino-Russian military aircraft and maritime incursions into the U.S. Air Defense Identification Zone, or ADIZ, a security buffer stretching beyond 12-nautical-mile sovereign U.S. airspace where foreign craft are required to identify themselves.

Since 2019, there have been more than 100 Russian aircraft, four Chinese vessels and, most alarmingly, more than a dozen joint operations that have entered the ADIZ, Sullivan said.

Trump’s recent focus on Greenland underscored the urgency of Arctic national security, Sullivan said, echoing warnings from NATO commander USAF Gen. Alexus Grynkewich that China’s expanding “research” presence in the region is becoming increasingly aggressive.

NATO CHIEF PRAISES TRUMP AT DAVOS, SAYS HE FORCED EUROPE TO ‘STEP UP’ ON DEFENSE

While the Russians identify with the Arctic, China’s self-moniker of a “near-Arctic power” is confounding and concerning, he added, pointing to its actual location on the globe.

Sullivan said the situation is reminiscent of Vladimir Lenin’s mantra that when you probe an enemy with a bayonet, “if you find mush, you push. If you find steel, you withdraw.”

The U.S., he said, must steel itself against these threats, and Congress must be on the front lines, ensuring the resources and defenses are ready and in service.

WHY TRUMP ZEROED IN ON GREENLAND AND WHY IT MATTERS IN 3 MAPS

“The only thing authoritarian regimes that are our adversaries understand is power. That’s U.S. energy security, Coast Guard, military assets and infrastructure.”

As the chairman of the Senate Commerce Coast Guard subcommittee, Sullivan said he is working hard to ensure that is what Moscow and Beijing will see, noting the new Storis icebreaker vessel received funding to home port in Juneau, along with 16 more icebreakers and $4.5 billion in shorefront infrastructure.

In addition, a World War II-era base on far-flung Adak in the Aleutian Chain is on track to be reopened, Sullivan revealed.

AMERICA DOESN’T NEED TO OWN GREENLAND — THERE’S A BETTER, MORE PEACEFUL WAY

The base, somewhat dramatized in “Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning,” which featured a counter-Soviet listening post on nearby St. Matthew Island, was key to Allied defenses as Japan bombed present-day crabbing port Dutch Harbor and invaded Attu and Kiska islands, events less remembered than the Axis’ other Pacific attack at Pearl Harbor.

Adak’s Base largely closed down in 1994 after the end of the Cold War.

Sullivan revealed he secured $115 million to begin rebuilding Adak, paired with $500 million to establish a deepwater port in Nome, one of the closest cities to both Russia and the Arctic Ocean.

NATO CHIEF WARNS EUROPE CAN’T DEFEND ITSELF WITHOUT US AS TENSIONS RISE OVER GREENLAND

The state of Alaska matched that Nome investment and put $30 million of its own funds toward the new Adak project, Sullivan said. Gov. Mike Dunleavy separately told Fox News Digital that enhancing Alaska’s icebreaking capabilities and expanding the Coast Guard’s presence to safeguard the state’s coastline are key.

“[Further,] supporting life-saving missions and countering foreign influence in the Arctic are vital not only to our state but to the nation as a whole. Alaska stands ready to receive these icebreakers and leverage our geostrategic position to advance Trump’s America First agenda,” Dunleavy said.

Brent Sadler, a naval warfare expert and veteran at the Heritage Foundation, said the Arctic — and Antarctic — are also critical for space-based sensors detecting long-range missile attacks.

US COMMANDER SAYS RUSSIA AND CHINA’S ARCTIC PATROLS ARE ‘NOT FOR PEACEFUL PURPOSES’

“China and Russia have impacted our fishermen’s livelihoods with military exercises in our EEZ (exclusive economic zone) … (and) should be viewed as a threat. It needs to be deterred and pushed back on appropriately with an increased Coast Guard presence,” Sadler said.

Many of Russia’s incursions lately have originated in Anadyr, directly across the Bering Strait from Nome, and Adak sits just a few hundred miles east of Kamchatka, Russia.

Paired with Trump’s Golden Dome security initiative, Sullivan said now is the time to “plus-up” Arctic defenses as malign activity continues in his backyard.

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The “peace through strength” mantra is best served this way, he said, as each area targeted in the latest appropriation brings U.S. might right to Russia and China’s face, versus more populated but less strategic areas to build up like Kodiak and Anchorage.

“We’ve got to keep pedal-to-the-metal, and I give President Trump and his team a lot of credit. He was talking about Arctic issues and icebreakers and missile defense during his first term, and now we’re doing it,” Sullivan said.

“It’s important because the Chinese and Russians understand one thing: power — big flashy speeches without backing it up with military force don’t really mean anything.”

“We’ll have the votes,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., as the House approached a vote to end a three-day, partial government shutdown Tuesday morning. “That was never in doubt.”

Oh really?

Well, Johnson was right. Republicans finally conjured up the votes to pass a retooled spending package to end the brief shutdown. Certainly better than the record 43-day shutdown in the fall.

But it wasn’t necessarily easy.

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

Passing bills in the House is a challenge for Republicans with their narrow majority. What’s increasingly becoming even more problematic is a procedural vote known as the “rule.” Adopting the rule to set the terms of debate is essential before bringing a bill to the floor. And conservatives who are upset with the GOP leadership are regularly converting what was a routine preliminary vote into a regular adventure.

“That’s where you’re going to see some friction,” predicted Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., on Fox.

She was right. While there was drama passing the bill, the rule was a roller coaster.

GROUNDHOG DAY AND FRIDAY THE 13TH

Democrats said they would not help Republicans adopt the rule. They argued that the rule is the responsibility of the majority. It’s historically been that way in the House for decades.

“On rare occasion, have we stepped in to deal with Republican dysfunction,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

When the vote started, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was quick to vote no for the GOP.

It’s about the math. With the House at 218-214, Republicans could only adopt the rule with one defection if all Members voted. Two defections would produce a 216-216 tie. By rule, ties lose in the House.

Colleague Kelly Phares tracked the procedural vote from the House gallery. After a few moments, Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., became the second GOP nay. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., swooped in to converse with Rose. On X, Rose declared he wanted the GOP to attach the SAVE Act to the revised spending bill. Note that Rose is running against Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., for Tennessee governor. The SAVE Act requires proof of citizenship to vote. Latching such a provision to the bill would only prolong the shutdown. That’s because the House and Senate would remain out of alignment, having approved different bills. Moreover, there was no pathway to break a filibuster on the issue in the Senate.

So the rule was failing with two GOP nays and four Republicans who hadn’t voted yet: Reps. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., Byron Donalds, R-Fla., Troy Nehls, R-Texas and Victoria Spartz, R-Ind. The Republican brass would need all four nonvoters to switch to yes. Plus, they’d need Massie or Rose to change. The vote froze at 216 nays to 212 yeas.

If this blew up, the partial government shutdown would continue.

HOUSE SENDS BILL ENDING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN TO TRUMP’S DESK AFTER 21 DEMS BREAK WITH JEFFRIES

Donalds and Spartz then went up on the board as yeas. That made the tally 214 yeas to 216 noes. Nehls voted yea a few moments later. So 215 yeas to 216 noes. Massie and Rose remained the only Republican nays. And Ogles remained on the sidelines.

But then Rose changed his vote to yes. Ogles finally voted and was a yea. Rep. G.T. Thompson, R-Penn., presided over the vote. He rapped the gavel, closing the vote at 217-215. The House approved the rule, paving the way for the House to debate the spending plan and end the shutdown. Massie was the only GOP no.

Things were also tight on passage of the bill. The yeas ran behind the nays for most of the allotted time before barely passing at 217-214. 21 Republicans voted nay. But 21 Democrats voted yea, making up the difference. Had one more Member voted no, the tally would have been 216-215. The bill would have failed had an additional two Members voted no.

But with that, the second government shutdown since autumn ended.

“We have fully 96% of the federal government funded. So that’s a that’s a good win,” bragged Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., more than four months after Congress was supposed to have funded everything.

But that remaining four percent is the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats demand changes at ICE before funding expires – on Valentine’s Day.

How do I love thee? Let me count the appropriations bills. 11 of the 12 are done. And unless lawmakers can craft an agreement, another shutdown looms, albeit just for DHS.

“A shutdown of Homeland Security. I’m okay with that,” declared Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Penn.

A DHS-centric shutdown means no pay for TSA. And more volatility at ICE – even though its operations are funded through the Big, Beautiful Bill.

Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, had a message for DHS employees.

“You will be paid because this continues your pay. But the uncertainty – until we get this resolved – you must live with,” warned Case.

PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ENDS AS DHS FUNDING FIGHT CONTINUES

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee. He’s one of 193 Democrats who opposed the bill.

“This is an opportunity to demonstrate your opposition,” said Thompson.

But former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was one of those 21 Democrats who voted to re-open the government. He represents thousands of sidelined federal workers in his district not far from the nation’s capital.

“Today is a time to fund the majority of government for the American people,” said Hoyer.

But negotiating an agreement on such a nettlesome issue in a week-and-a-half is nearly impossible in Congress. House and Senate Democrats will release their concrete demands Thursday. Republicans have their requests, too.

“I’m not willing to just give them every reform they ask for. Or even some without getting some reforms ourselves,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.

Some Republicans want an end to sanctuary cities. Others want to include the SAVE Act.

Republicans are suspect of the Democrats’ motives.

“If they have any intention of trying to keep these other agencies of government closed, it will be a fool’s errand,” said Johnson. “It’s a very dangerous game that they’re playing.”

Jeffries declared he was a “hard no on a year-long CR (an interim spending plan),” for DHS. Jeffries reiterated that “the deadline is February 13th.”

But is there realistically enough time to fix this?

“You can get to where you want to go if you have the will to get there,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the leading Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.

She added that there would be “a vote” of some sort related to DHS funding “on the 13th.

But time to get an agreement is dripping off the clock as Democrats still haven’t made specific, legislative requests.

“That’s an indication to me they’re trying to figure out what they need to do here,” said Thune. “Trying to do this with a two-week deadline makes no sense here.”

Thune added that he believes Democrats wanted to have a “political issue” for the midterms.

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So Valentine’s Day is the deadline for DHS funding. There’s nothing more romantic than a partial government shutdown. But don’t expect lawmakers to give each other Dove chocolate bars or boxes of Russell Stover.

Rather than trading legislative proposals, perhaps lawmakers can exchange candy hearts with specific requests emblazoned on the top of each one. Rather than “Be mine” or “Hug me,” the hearts can say “No roving patrols” or “Voter ID.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday said another “prolific leaker” who disclosed information that put federal law enforcement officers at risk has been caught. 

Noem announced the revelation in a post on X.

“I plan to refer this individual to @TheJusticeDept for criminal prosecution,” Noem wrote. “We are agnostic about your standing, tenure, political appointment, or status as a career civil servant—we will track down leakers and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”

NOEM SAYS SHE GRIEVES FOR FAMILY AFTER CBP-RELATED SHOOTING IN MINNEAPOLIS, VOWS THOROUGH INVESTIGATION

Noem has made the prosecutions of leakers within her agency a top priority as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on illegal immigration. 

Weeks after President Trump took office last year, she announced that two people in the Department of Homeland Security have been accused of disclosing DHS operations.

DHS SLAMS DEMS FOR COMPLAINING ABOUT IMMIGRATION LAW: ‘IT IS QUITE LITERALLY THEIR JOB TO CHANGE IT’

“We have identified two leakers of information here at the Department of Homeland Security who have been telling individuals about our operations and putting law enforcement lives in jeopardy,” Noem said in a video at the time. “We plan to prosecute these two individuals and hold them accountable for what they’ve done.”

“We’re going to continue to do all that we can to keep America safe,” she added. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to DHS. 

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Noem has said the leaks endanger DHS law enforcement officers, who face an 8,000% increase in death threats against them.

The House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday aimed at stopping the Washington, D.C., local government from blocking parts of President Donald Trump’s new tax law.

D.C.’s progressive city council passed a local measure to stop certain parts of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act from going into effect due to their expected effect of cutting city revenues. 

Policies that would have been blocked include Trump’s elimination of taxes on tipped and overtime wages, as well as certain tax cuts aimed at businesses.

The legislation was led by Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, who told Fox News Digital he did not expect any Democrats to support his bill. It passed the House entirely along party lines in a 215 – 210 vote.

GOP UNVEILS PLAN TO CUT DEFICIT BY $1 TRILLION WITH SECOND ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

“Republicans want more money to be in the hands and in the pockets of working-class families, and Democrats want that money to be in the hands of government,” Gill said.

The D.C. government generally conforms with large swaths of the federal tax code, as a federal territory itself.

But according to local officials, including non-voting Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., enacting the full Trump tax bill would amount to a $600 million revenue loss for the city.

TRUMP SIGNS ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL’ BILL IN SWEEPING VICTORY FOR SECOND TERM AGENDA, OVERCOMING DEMS AND GOP REBELS

“This resolution is nothing short of unprecedented and deliberate administrative and fiscal sabotage of D.C.,” Norton said in a statement.

But Republicans, including Gill, argue that the capital’s progressive officials are blocking Trump’s signature legislation for political reasons at the cost of working-class residents.

“Whenever we passed that tax law, we expected Washington, D.C., to conform to those tax provisions. And unfortunately, they decided that they were going to try to separate from them,” Gill said.

“So to give you a few examples, you have no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime pay, a variety of pro-growth, pro-business tax provisions that they decided they wanted to decouple from. So what we’re saying is, we think that that’s bad policy on D.C.’s part, and we’re gonna stop them.”

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Congress has the ability to overturn most local laws set by D.C. thanks to the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973.

If passed by both the House and Senate, however, Republicans’ bill could complicate the tax season for D.C. residents who have already begun filing for their annual returns.

A historic nuclear arms reduction treaty is set to expire Thursday, which will thrust the world into a nuclear situation it has not faced in more than five decades, one in which there are no longer any binding limits on the size of Russia’s or America’s nuclear arsenals and no inspection regime to verify what Moscow does next.

Matt Korda, associate director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, said the expiration of the New START treaty forces both countries to rethink assumptions that have guided nuclear planning for more than a decade. 

“Up until now, both countries have planned their respective nuclear modernization programs based on the assumption that the other country is not going to exceed those central limits,” Korda said. “Without those central limits … both countries are going to be reassessing their programs to accommodate a more uncertain nuclear future.”

TRUMP WARNS RUSSIA: US HAS WORLD’S GREATEST NUCLEAR SUBMARINE ‘RIGHT OFF THEIR SHORES’

Russia had already suspended its participation in New START in 2023, freezing inspections and data exchanges, but the treaty’s expiration eliminates the last legal framework governing the size of the two countries’ nuclear arsenals.

With no follow-up agreement in place, the administration has insisted it cannot agree to arms control without the cooperation of China. 

“The president has been clear in the past that in order to have true arms control in the 21st century, it’s impossible to do something that doesn’t include China because of their vast and rapidly growing stockpile,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday.

Experts are skeptical that China would ever agree to limit its nuclear stockpile until it’s reached parity with the U.S., and Russia has said it would not pressure China to come to the table. 

China aims to have 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, but even that figure pales in comparison to the aging giants of the Cold War. As of early 2026, the global nuclear hierarchy remains top-heavy, with the U.S. and Russia holding roughly 86% of the world’s total inventory. Both the U.S. and Russia hold around 4,000 total warheads, with close to 1,700 deployed by each. Global nuclear stockpiles declined to about 12,000 in 2025, down from more than 70,000 in 1986.

In February 2023, Russia announced it was suspending its participation in the New START treaty, halting inspections and data-sharing under the pact while saying it would continue to respect the numerical limits. But, more recently, it floated the idea of extending the treaty by another year.

TRUMP STUNS WITH CALL TO RESUME NUCLEAR TESTS — WHY NOW, AND WHAT IT COULD MEAN

Korda said that proposal reflected shared constraints rather than a sudden change in Russian intentions. 

“It’s not in Russia’s interest to dramatically accelerate an arms race while its current modernization programs are going so poorly and while its industrial capacity is tied up in Ukraine,” he said.

Korda said that without inspections and data exchanges, countries are forced to rely on their own intelligence, increasing uncertainty and encouraging worst-case planning. 

“Without those onsite inspections, without data exchanges, without anything like that, all countries are really left with national technical means of being able to monitor each other’s nuclear forces,” Korda said.

With New START’s limits gone, experts said the immediate concern is not the construction of new nuclear weapons but how quickly existing warheads could be deployed. Ankit Panda, a Stanton senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Russia could move faster than the United States in the near term by “uploading” additional warheads onto missiles already in service. 

“Uploading would be a process of adding additional warheads to our ICBMs and submarine-launched missiles,” Panda said. “The Russians could be much faster than the United States.”

PUTIN PRAISES TRUMP’S ‘SINCERE’ PEACE EFFORTS, SIGNALS POSSIBLE US-RUSSIA NUCLEAR DEAL

Korda said a large-scale upload would not happen overnight but could still alter force levels within a relatively short window. 

“We’re looking at maybe a timeline of about two years and pretty significant sums of money for each country to execute a complete upload across the entire force,” he said, adding that, in a worst-case scenario, it could “roughly result in doubling the sizes of their deployed nuclear arsenals.”

That advantage, however, is constrained by longer-term industrial realities. Panda noted that the U.S. nuclear weapons complex lacks the production capacity it once had, limiting how quickly Washington could sustain a larger arsenal over time. 

“The United States is currently unable to produce what is going to be a target for 30 plutonium pits,” a fraction of Cold War output, he said.

Nicole Grajewski, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Russia’s ability to produce nuclear weapons may be faster than the U.S. in some, but not all, parts of the development chain. 

“Russia is very good at warhead production,” she told Fox News Digital. “What Russia is really fundamentally constrained on is the delivery vehicle side of it.”

Grajewski added that this is particularly true as the war in Ukraine continues. Russia’s production of missiles and other delivery systems relies on facilities that also support conventional weapons used in the war, limiting how quickly Moscow could expand the intercontinental missiles, submarine-launched weapons and bombers that made up the core of New START.

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As a result, Grajewski said she is less concerned about a rapid buildup of those treaty-covered forces than about Moscow’s continued investment in nuclear systems that fall outside traditional arms control frameworks. 

“What is more concerning is Russia’s advances in asymmetric domains,” she said, pointing to systems such as the Poseidon nuclear-powered torpedo and nuclear-powered cruise missiles, which are not covered by existing treaties.

President Donald Trump has previously said he wants to pursue arms control with both Russia and China before suggesting the U.S. should resume nuclear testing.

“If there’s ever a time when we need nuclear weapons like the kind of weapons that we’re building and that Russia has — and that China has, to a lesser extent, but will have — that’s going to be a very sad day,” Trump said in February 2025. “That’s going to be probably oblivion.”

But, in October, he declared, “Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.”