NationalWatch

Ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic Party primary for mayor in heavily blue New York City, frontrunner Andrew Cuomo landed another high-profile endorsement.

Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 during his third term as New York State governor amid multiple scandals, was endorsed by former President Bill Clinton. Cuomo served as Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary during the Clinton administration.

“As President, I chose Andrew to be my Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and he never let me down—but more importantly, he didn’t let the nation down. He built public housing all across the country,” Clinton said in a statement on Sunday.

IS CUOMO’S LEAD IN THE NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL PRIMARY SHRINKING?

Cuomo, who is aiming for a campaign comeback and political redemption, has seen his once-large lead over the rest of the Democrats in the 11-candidate field shrink.

Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist state assemblyman from Queens, has narrowed the gap with Cuomo the past couple of months in the Democratic mayoral primary, which is conducted using a ranked-choice voting system in which voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots.

AOC BACKS RISING PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATE IN NYC DEM PRIMARY IN PUSH TO DEFEAT FRONTRUNNER CUOMO 

Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York City’s most prominent leader on the left, endorsed Mamdani earlier this month. Last week, longtime progressive champion and two-time Democratic presidential nominee runner-up Sen. Bernie Sanders backed Mamdani, who is originally from Uganda.

With multiple candidates on the left running in the primary, the endorsements by Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders aimed to consolidate the support of progressive voters behind Mamdani.

In a distant third place in the most recent polls is New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.

Lander made headlines last week after his arrest by Department of Homeland Security agents in Manhattan after allegedly assaulting a federal officer as Lander tried to escort a defendant out of an immigration court.

Cuomo, his campaign and allied groups in recent weeks have been questioning Mamdani’s experience in leading a city of more than 8 million people.

“Zohran Mamdani’s a 33-year-old dangerously inexperienced legislator who’s passed just three bills with a staff you can fit inside a New York elevator,” the narrator in a Cuomo campaign ad blitz said. “We need someone ready to roll. Andrew Cuomo managed a state and managed crises, from COVID to Trump.”

CUOMO TARGETS TRUMP AS HE QUESTIONS MAMDANI’S EXPERIENCE IN NYC PRIMARY BATTLE 

Additionally, Clinton spotlighted Cuomo’s experience in his endorsement statement.

“New York City is facing major challenges. There is a desperate need for affordable housing, homelessness is at a crisis level, and public safety must be restored. It is imperative that New York chooses a mayor who has the ability, talent, and experience to do the job,” the former president said.

Clinton told New York City voters to “not underestimate the complexity of meaningful challenges and the necessity that the next mayor has the qualifications to do the job. New Yorkers should choose competence for a change. I am confident Andrew can turn New York around.”

Cuomo was also recently endorsed by former three-term New York City mayor, billionaire entrepreneur and media magnate Michael Bloomberg.

The 67-year-old Cuomo has spent the past four years fighting to clear his name after 11 sexual harassment accusations – which he has repeatedly denied – forced his resignation. He was also under investigation at the time for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic amid allegations his administration vastly understated COVID-related deaths at state nursing homes. 

Last month, the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into Cuomo after Republicans accused him of lying to Congress about the decisions he made as governor during the coronavirus pandemic.

THIS BILLIONAIRE FORMER NYC MAYOR ENDORSES CUOMO AHEAD OF PRIMARY

While the primary is not until Tuesday, more than 384,000 Democrats cast ballots in early voting, which ended on Sunday.

The winner of the Democratic Party primary is traditionally seen as the overwhelming frontrunner in the November general election in the Democrat-dominated city.

However, this year, the general election campaign may be a bit more unpredictable.

Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, a moderate Democrat elected in 2021, is running for re-election as an Independent. Adams earlier this year dropped his Democratic primary bid as his approval ratings sank to historic lows.

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Adams’ poll numbers were sinking even before he was indicted last year on five counts, which accused the mayor of bribery and fraud as part of an alleged “long-running” scheme to personally profit from contacts with foreign officials.

The mayor made repeated overtures to President Donald Trump, and the Justice Department earlier this year dismissed the corruption charges, so Adams could seemingly work with the Trump administration on its illegal immigration crackdown.

EXCLUSIVE: The White House Office of Science and Technology on Monday directed federal agencies to implement “gold standard science” principles to depoliticize science and restore public trust, Fox News Digital has learned.

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios sent guidance to federal research agencies Monday morning, incorporating President Donald Trump‘s executive order on “Restoring Gold Standard Science.”

FOX NEWS POLITICS NEWSLETTER: TRUMP SETS THE ‘GOLD STANDARD’ FOR SCIENCE

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained the guidance sent to federal agencies.

President Trump, in May, signed an executive order to restore “Gold Standard Science” as the cornerstone of federal scientific research.

“Gold Standard Science” is “reproducible, transparent and falsifiable,” according to the order. 

It is also “subject to unbiased peer review; clear about errors and uncertainties; skeptical of assumptions; collaborative and interdisciplinary; accepting of negative results as positive outcomes; and free from conflicts of interest.” 

The executive order reinstated “the scientific integrity policies” of the first Trump administration and “ensures that science is no longer manipulated or misused to justify political ends.” 

“President Trump’s Gold Standard Science EO will transform the conduct and management of federal science, from research design to public communication, in order to strengthen scientific inquiry, rebuild public trust, and ensure the U.S. continues to be the global leader in rigorous, evidence-based science,” Kratsios told Fox News Digital. “But federal agencies are only one part of our nation’s research ecosystem.”

Kratsios added, “American universities, scientific journals, industry and philanthropic leaders all have a crucial role in improving the overall quality of research, and we encourage this executive action to serve as a model for the entire scientific enterprise.”

Kratsios sent the memo to federal agencies Monday morning to provide guidance to federal departments and agencies on implementing gold standard science “in the conduct and management of all aspects of their scientific activities, from research design to public communication.”

“By adopting these standards, agencies will strengthen scientific inquiry, rebuild public trust, and ensure the United States continues as the global leader in rigorous, evidence-based science,” the memo states.

Kratsios said that “Gold Standard Science” represents a “commitment to the highest standards of scientific integrity, defined by nine core tenets: reproducible; transparent; communicative of error and uncertainty; collaborative and interdisciplinary; skeptical of its findings and assumptions; structured for falsifiability of hypotheses; subject to unbiased peer review; accepting of negative results as positive outcomes; and without conflicts of interest.”

“These tenets ensure that federally-supported research and research used in federal decision-making is transparent, rigorous, and impactful, enabling federal decisions to be informed by the most credible, reliable, and impartial scientific evidence available,” Kratsios wrote in the guidance.

But “Gold Standard Science” is not limited to science, Kratsios said, saying that it is critical for tackling complex challenges in energy innovation and national security as well.

“In an age of rapid technological progress and heightened public scrutiny, federally-funded and federally-performed science, and its use in Federal decision-making, must be beyond reproach,” he wrote.

As for conducting science “without conflicts of interest,” Kratsios said it is imperative to ensure that “research is designed, executed, reviewed, and reported free from financial, personal, or institutional influences that could bias outcomes or undermine objectivity.”

“This approach is important for generating trustworthy and credible new knowledge, as it upholds scientific integrity, fosters public confidence, and ensures that results reflect evidence rather than external agendas,” the memo states. “Maintaining freedom from conflicts of interest requires researchers, reviewers, and managers to disclose all relevant affiliations, funding sources, and relationships relevant to the science conducted, adhering to stringent ethical standards supported by strong institutional oversight, transparent reporting systems, and independent expert review mechanisms.”

CHINA’S AI INNOVATION IS ‘ACCELERATING’ BUT US REMAINS DOMINANT, WHITE HOUSE SAYS

Kratsios said agencies must “prioritize conducting and managing scientific research free from conflicts of interest to advance unbiased science,” and must “require disclosure of all relevant conflicts of interest by researchers, reviewers, and agency officials involved in the funding or performance of Federal research.”

“These efforts include requiring comprehensive, standardized disclosure of all financial, personal, or institutional interests in research proposals, publications, peer and merit reviews, and data repositories, with clear and standardized protocols to identify, mitigate, and manage potential biases,” the memo states. “Agencies should mandate the use of independent oversight approaches and enforce strict conflict-of-interest policies.”

Agencies have 60 days to outline “Gold Standard Science” implementation plans, including plans for training and resources to ensure agency personnel understand the new policy, and the use of artificial intelligence-driven tools when practical.

After Trump signed the May executive order to restore gold standard science, a senior White House official said there had been a decline in “disruptive research” and investments in biomedical research, along with “serious cases” of fraud and misconduct and the inability to reproduce scientific methods for the purpose of restoring public trust.

The official also blamed policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and “woke DEI initiatives” for endangering the public’s trust in government scientists.

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Now-retired National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci was repeatedly denounced for flip-flopping and obfuscating during his time engineering the federal response to COVID-19, leading many, particularly on the right, to disregard and dismiss the legitimacy of federal health authorities outright.

That order cites the fact the Biden administration included political edits from teachers’ unions in school-reopening guidance, instead of leading with any scientific evidence.

Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital in April, Kratsios echoed Trump, saying the U.S. is in the “golden age” and that this special moment in time is “underpinned by unbelievable science and technology.”

In the wake of anti-ICE protesters and rioters trapping drivers in Los Angeles and other cities in recent days, Republican lawmakers want to make blocking streets a federal crime.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., will seek this week to make it a federal crime to obstruct or create intentional traffic. The “Safe and Open Streets Act” is a direct response to the “radical tactics of anti-ICE protesters who have intentionally blocked roads and highways across the country,” Tillis said.

Lawbreakers could face fines or up to five years in prison.

I CALL IT REBELLION: MAXINE WATERS’ HISTORY OF ENFLAMING CROWDS FROM RODNEY KING TO TODAY

Video from Los Angeles showed rioters blocking expressways and city streets alike, at times violently attacking or confronting local and federal officers. Under California law, it is a misdemeanor to “willfully and maliciously obstruct the free movement of any person on any street, sidewalk, or other public place” – an ordinance rarely enforced during recent protests.

Tillis’ own state has not been immune to such blockages, as protesters shut down a busy portion of NC-147; Durham, North Carolina’s freeway, during rush hour in November 2023. Those protesters were seeking to “Free Palestine” and objecting to the Western response to the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas of Israeli and American citizens.

Immigration-related protests also cropped up recently on a main thoroughfare in Greensboro.

“The emerging tactic of radical protesters blocking roads and stopping commerce is not only obnoxious to innocent commuters, but it’s also dangerous and will eventually get people killed. It needs to be a crime throughout the country,” Tillis told Fox News Digital.

Tillis added that the “radical” anti-immigration enforcement protesters must face the “full weight of the law” if they endanger public safety.

Sen. Ted Budd, Tillis’ Tarheel State counterpart, will be joining the effort, saying in a statement that emergency personnel being held up by such blockages put the public in further danger.

MAXINE WATERS TORCHED BY FEDS FOR ‘TAUNTING’ GUARDSMEN AND ‘SPEWING LIES’ ABOUT RIOTS, TRYING TO ENTER JAIL

“The First Amendment protects the right to assemble and protest peacefully, but it does not permit such behavior,” Budd said.

In another recent incident, pro-Palestinian protesters blocked the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike in Virginia – where Interstates 64 and 95 converge and carve through the city.

In that incident, protesters threw ladders and laid chicken wire across the Rocky Mount-bound lanes of the highway to grind rush hour to a halt at the city’s downtown “Boulevard” exit.

LA RIOTS ‘PREVENTABLE’ IF SACRAMENTO DEMS HAD ACTED, CA GOP SAYS

“Blocking major roads to stop traffic flows is nothing short of lawlessness that should not be tolerated,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn of neighboring Tennessee.

“These activists are not only intentionally creating a dangerous situation for themselves, but perhaps for a citizen who is awaiting an ambulance or a hard worker who will lose their job for being late,” she said in announcing her co-sponsorship of Tillis’ legislation; calling out “Hamas sympathizers” such as those in Richmond and Durham.

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Focusing again on Los Angeles, co-sponsor Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said that he watched the riots for “nearly a week” as California officials “did nothing” until President Donald Trump stepped in.

“[D]omestic terrorists assaulted ICE and law enforcement officers, set fire to cop cars and blocked the streets, all while Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass sat on their tails and did nothing,” the former Auburn coach said.

“This is a prime example of what happens when lawlessness goes unpunished.”

In New Orleans, where protests such as the anti-Trump “No Kings Day” event last week have been massive but more orderly, Sen. Bill Cassidy added that he supports Tillis’ bill because people have the right to have their voices heard but not to “undermine people’s livelihoods.”

President Donald Trump will be engaging in numerous foreign policy discussions this upcoming week at a NATO summit, where more than just Ukraine will be the focus of conversations between foreign leaders. 

A senior Trump official told the Wall Street Journal Sunday that the president still intends to attend the summit that will be held in The Hague, starting Wednesday. He will depart for the Netherlands on Tuesday and arrive late in the evening the same day. 

It is a slight schedule change from his originally planned departure date of Monday, per previous reports.

TRUMP ADDRESSES NATION ON ‘SPECTACULAR MILITARY SUCCESS’ OF US STRIKES ON IRANIAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES

Trump was expected to attend a state dinner between foreign leaders on Tuesday evening, but it is unclear whether he will still attend due to the late-Tuesday arrival time. The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for additional information about the president’s schedule.

The schedule change comes after the president recently abruptly left the G7 economic summit in Canada to attend to the ongoing situation in the Middle East that tamped up Saturday.

NEW REPORT WARNS NATO’S DATA VULNERABILITIES COULD COST LIVES WITHOUT US FIX

The summit between foreign leaders will likely include conversations about Trump’s recent decision to involve the United States in Israel’s campaign in the Middle East. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to be in attendance as well, with leaders expected to discuss ongoing assistance to Ukraine amid its ongoing war with Russia. However, Ukraine’s crisis is not expected to be the central issue of concern, with global tensions in Iran likely to take a major chunk of the summit’s attention. 

Leaders are also expected to discuss NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s proposal that each member country contribute at least 5% of their gross domestic product to defense spending. The idea, framed as a Trump win, has been rejected by Spain, while others have taken issue with the speed at which the move to increase NATO-member defense spending has taken.

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The summit will end Wednesday and Trump will depart back to Washington thereafter. There will be heavy security and protesters have already taken to the streets in protest of the upcoming summit.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans support increased engagement in international affairs, according to a newly released annual summer survey from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute. 

The survey, conducted by polling firms Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research, marks the third year the Ronald Reagan Institute has conducted a summer survey asking Americans about their attitudes towards foreign policy. It found 64% of Americans overall favor the United States taking a leadership role in international affairs, which is up more than 20% since 2023.

The trend of Americans leaning towards international engagement, as opposed to isolationism, has seen growing support across both parties – even the America-first MAGA wing of the Republican Party, which leads the way with 73% support for greater international involvement, according to the new survey. Meanwhile, 69% of Republicans support the idea, as well as 65% of Democrats, the survey found.

The survey was released less than a day after the Trump administration ordered a massive surprise strike on Iranian nuclear sites in a move designed to cripple Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure. Approximately 73% of registered voters questioned in a recent Fox News national survey said they think Iran poses a real security threat to the U.S.

KURILLA WARFARE: MEET THE GENERAL LEADING US MILITARY FORCES IN THE MIDDLE EAST AMID IRAN CONFLICT 

“Americans are not retreating from the world,” the survey’s introduction stated. “They are rallying around a foreign policy grounded in peace through strength, strong alliances, and morality in foreign policy.”

According to the summer survey, which was conducted before the recent Israeli airstrikes on Iran, 45% of those questioned said they would support Israel conducting targeted airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities if diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and Iran faltered. Meanwhile, 37% said they opposed Israeli airstrikes, while 18% said they were unsure. 

Partisan affiliation, while less of a factor when survey respondents were asked generally whether the United States should lead on the international stage, appeared to play a larger role in opinions about engagement pertaining to Iran. Sixty percent of Republicans said they support Israeli airstrikes, but that support dropped to 35% among Independents and 32% for Democrats.

‘THE FIVE’ CONSIDERS ‘ALL OPTIONS’ ON TRUMP’S TABLE FOR ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT

In addition to attitudes about U.S. leadership in global affairs across the world, the annual summer survey from the Ronald Reagan Institute also covers other foreign policy-related questions pertaining to human rights, trade, defense spending and more.

One question sought to gauge an appetite for “territorial expansion.” President Donald Trump has repeatedly signaled interest in acquiring strategic assets like Greenland and the Panama Canal, while he even floated potentially garnering control of the Gaza Strip amid the area’s ongoing issues with terrorism.

ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT: LIVE UPDATE

The survey found that 55% of Americans supported pursuing acquisition of the Panama Canal, while 47% supported the move to acquire Greenland. 

However, there is also a severe distinction between Republicans and Democrats on this issue, with most Democrats opposed and a majority of Republicans in favor of territorial expansion. When it comes to the Gaza Strip, only 33% of the survey respondents overall indicated they were in favor of such a move, including 24% of Democrats and 47% of Republicans. 

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This year’s summer survey from the Reagan Institute sampled 1,257 adults across the United States between May 27 and June 2. You can see the full survey here.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine held a press conference from the Pentagon early Sunday morning to relay details on the U.S. military’s successful strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

“Last night, on President Trump’s orders, U.S. Central Command conducted a precision strike in the middle of the night against three nuclear facilities in Iran Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan in order to destroy or severely degrade Iran’s nuclear program,” Hegseth said Sunday morning from the Pentagon. 

“It was an incredible and overwhelming success,” Hegseth continued. “The order we received from our commander in chief was focused. It was powerful, and it was clear we devastated the Iranian nuclear program. But it’s worth noting the operation did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people for the entirety of his time in office.” 

The press conference was held following President Donald Trump addressing the nation at 10 p.m. Saturday evening, just hours after he announced the successful strikes on a trio of Iranian nuclear facilities. 

ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT: LIVE UPDATES

“The mission demonstrated to the world the level of joint and allied integration that speak to the strength of our alliance and our joint forces,” Hegseth continued. “As President Trump has stated, the United States does not seek war, but let me be clear: We will act swiftly and decisively when our people, our partners or our interests are threatened. Iran should listen to the United States and know that he means it.” 

Caine addressed the media and explained the strikes, dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer,” included the use of submarines, dozens of Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles, and the “longest B-2 spirit bomber mission since 2001.” 

“At approximately 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time last night and just prior to the strike package entering Iran, a U.S. submarine in the Central Command area of responsibility launched more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets as often as the Operation Midnight Hammer strike package entered Iranian airspace,” Caine said. “The U.S. employed several deception tactics.” 

“This was a highly classified mission with very few people in Washington knowing the timing or nature of this plan,” he continued. “I’ll refer you to the graphic on the side as I walk you through some of the operational details. At midnight Friday into Saturday morning, a large B-2 strike package comprised of bombers launched from the continental United States as part of the plan to maintain tactical surprise. Part of the package proceeded to the west and into the Pacific as a decoy. A deception effort, known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders here in Washington and in Tampa.” 

TRUMP ADDRESSES NATION ON ‘SPECTACULAR MILITARY SUCCESS’ OF US STRIKES ON IRANIAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES

Trump announced the U.S. had struck a trio of nuclear facilities in Iran via a Saturday evening Truth Social post, which was not preceded by any media leaks of prior indication such strikes were imminent. 

The president ordered U.S. B-2 stealth bombers to carry out the strikes against Iran’s Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities.

Five to six bunker-buster bombs struck the Fordow nuclear site, Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity shortly after announcing the Saturday night strikes. 

Trump later addressed the nation from the White House while flanked by Vice President JD Vance, Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, where he announced Iran’s nuclear facilities had been “obliterated” and that the country has been backed into a corner and “must now make peace.”

TRUMP DECLARES ‘VERY SUCCESSFUL ATTACK’ ON IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM AS US FORCES STRIKE 3 KEY SITES

“Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” Trump said. “And Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.” 

Trump had repeatedly urged Iran to make a deal on its nuclear program before striking its nuclear facilities, but the country pulled out of ongoing talks with the U.S. scheduled for June 15 in Oman and refused to return to the table in the days following. Israel pre-emptively ordered strikes on Iran June 12 as Israeli intelligence indicated Iran’s nuclear program was rapidly progressing. 

“A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan,” Trump said during his address. “Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success.” 

TRUMP PROMISES TO RESPOND WITH ‘FULL STRENGTH AND MIGHT’ OF US MILITARY IF IRAN ATTACKS AMERICA

“For 40 years, Iran has been saying, ‘Death to America. Death to Israel.’ They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside bombs,” Trump continued. “That was their specialty. We lost over a thousand people, and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate in particular.”

The president said that the U.S. worked like a team with Israel in the lead-up to the strikes. 

“I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu,” he said. “We worked as a team, like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we’ve gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel. I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they’ve done. And most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades.” 

Caine told the media that the strikes Saturday evening were U.S.-led, while lauding Israel for its initial operations “degrading Iranian capabilities.” 

“Israel had an incredible military success, especially at the beginning and ongoing in degrading Iranian capabilities, degrading Iranian launchers,” reusable ballistic missiles, Caine said. “It’s been incredible to watch what our ally Israel has been able to do.” 

“But as it pertains to this strike, this was U.S.-operated and U.S.-led,” he added. “We took advantage of some of the preparatory work that’s been done over the past week and a half.” 

Hegseth underscored that Trump is focused on securing peace in the Middle East following the strikes. 

“As the president put put out last night, he wants peace,” Hegseth said. “There needs to be a negotiated settlement here. We ultimately demonstrated that Iran cannot have a nuclear capability. That is a very clear mission set on this operation.” 

Israel launched pre-emptive strikes on Iran on June 12 after months of attempted and stalled nuclear negotiations and subsequent heightened concern that Iran was advancing its nuclear program. Netanyahu declared soon afterward that the strikes were necessary to “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.”

The strikes were unexpected on Saturday evening, as Trump on Thursday said he would make a decision on Iran within the next two weeks, suggesting that such a strike would not unfold over the weekend. While six B-2 bombers that were spotted heading west from Missouri toward Guam on Saturday afternoon were decoys and part of the “misleading tidbits put out there to suggest that maybe President Trump had put off the decision,” Fox News Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin said during an appearance Saturday evening as news broke of the strikes. 

“Those six B-2 bombers that were heading west toward Guam, they would not have made it to Iran in time to take part in this strike,” she said while speaking with Fox News’ Bret Baier Saturday evening. “So, that suggests to me that there was an additional B-1 package that perhaps flew eastward from Whiteman Air Force Base. Again, this was all part of the deception. There was a great deal of sort of misleading tidbits put out there to suggest that maybe President Trump had put off the decision and that this would happen two weeks from now.”

Trump earned bipartisan praise from Congressional lawmakers for taking action to prevent Iran, the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, from achieving nuclear capabilities. 

Other members of Congress, however, simultaneously criticized Trump for not asking for Congressional approval ahead of the military strikes and raised concerns of the risk of war.

ISRAEL’S ACTIONS AGAINST IRAN CREATE STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITY FOR US IN NUCLEAR TALKS, EXPERTS SAY

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has yet to comment on the strikes. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, however, said that diplomacy is an unlikely option in the wake of the U.S. strikes. 

“Last week, we were in negotiations with the US when Israel decided to blow up that diplomacy. This week, we held talks with the E3/EU when the US decided to blow up that diplomacy,” Araghchi wrote on X. “What conclusion would you draw?”

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Araghchi said he’ll travel to Moscow later Sunday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Iran enjoys “a strategic partnership.”

Hegseth said on Sunday during the press conference that correspondence with Iran is being conducted both publicly and privately to pursue a deal for peace. 

“I can only confirm that there are both public and private messages being directly delivered to the Iranians in multiple channels, giving them every opportunity to come to the table. They understand precisely what the American position is. Precisely, what steps they can take to allow for peace,” the secretary of defense said. “And we hope they do so.”

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was inside the Situation Room Saturday when the U.S. military launched successful strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, a White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital Sunday morning. 

A White House official confirmed Gabbard was in the room Saturday and that she is a “key player” on President Donald Trump’s national security team. 

Speculation had mounted there was a rift between Gabbard and Trump after the president told the media Gabbard was “wrong” about intelligence on Iran back in March when she testified before the Senate that the nation was not actively building a nuclear weapon. 

Photos of the Situation Room released Saturday evening did not show Gabbard present alongside Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other administration officials. The photos, however, did not include wide shots showing the entire room or each individual present, with the White House confirming the intelligence chief was present. 

Trump and Gabbard appeared at odds earlier in June, when the president was asked about Gabbard’s testimony before the Senate in March, when she reported intelligence showed Iran was not actively building a nuclear weapon. Trump told the media June 16 he did not “care” what Gabbard had to say in previous testimony, arguing he believed Iran was close to building a nuke. 

‘SHE’S WRONG’: TRUMP SAYS TULSI GABBARD INCORRECT ABOUT IRAN NOT HAVING NUCLEAR WEAPON CAPABILITIES

“You’ve always said that you don’t believe Iran should be able to have a nuclear weapon,” a reporter asked Trump while aboard Air Force One on June 16. “But how close do you personally think that they were to getting one?” 

“Very close,” Trump responded.

Then again Friday, Trump said Gabbard was “wrong” after she reported that Iran was not actively building a nuclear weapon. 

“My intelligence community is wrong,” Trump said when asked about the intelligence community previously reporting that Iran was not actively building a nuclear weapon. 

FLARING IRAN NUCLEAR CRISIS PROVIDES FIRST MAJOR TEST FOR PIVOTAL TRUMP TRIO

When Gabbard appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee in March, she delivered a statement on behalf of the intelligence community that included testimony that Iran was not actively building a nuclear weapon. 

“Iran’s cyber operations and capabilities also present a serious threat to U.S. networks and data,” Gabbard told the committee March 26. 

ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT: LIVE UPDATES

The intelligence community “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003,” she said. She did add that “Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons.”

“Iran will likely continue efforts to counter Israel and press for U.S. military withdrawal from the region by aiding, arming and helping to reconstitute its loose consortium of like-minded terrorist actors, which it refers to as its axis of resistance,” she warned. 

VANCE DEFENDS GABBARD AS ‘CRITICAL PART’ OF TRUMP TEAM AFTER PRESIDENT DISMISSED IRAN NUKE THREAT COMMENTS

However, as critics picked apart Gabbard’s past comments, the White House stressed to Fox Digital that Gabbard and Trump were closely aligned on Iran. 

A White House official told Fox News Digital on Tuesday afternoon that Trump and Gabbard are closely aligned and that the distinction being raised between Gabbard’s March testimony and Trump’s remarks that Iran is “very close” to getting a nuclear weapon is one without a difference. 

TRUMP BLOWS OFF GABBARD DOWNPLAYING IRAN NUKE THREAT, BUT WH STILL SAYS PRESIDENT AND INTEL CHIEF ARE IN SYNC

The official noted that Gabbard had underscored in her March testimony that Iran had the resources to potentially build a nuclear weapon. Her March testimony reflected intelligence she had received that Iran was not building a weapon at the time but that the country could do so based on the resources it amassed for such an endeavor. 

Gabbard took to social media and blasted the media for “intentionally” taking her March testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee “out of context.” 

“The dishonest media is intentionally taking my testimony out of context and spreading fake news as a way to manufacture division,” Gabbard said in a Friday post on X, accompanied by a video clip of her March testimony to Congress. 

“America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly,” she wrote. “President Trump has been clear that can’t happen, and I agree.”

TRUMP ADDRESSES NATION ON ‘SPECTACULAR MILITARY SUCCESS’ OF US STRIKES ON IRANIAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES

Trump announced in a Saturday evening Truth Social post that the U.S. military had carried out strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran, obliterating them. Trump held an address to the nation later Saturday night, describing the strikes as wildly successful and backing Iran into a corner to make a peace deal. 

“A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan,” Trump said from the White House on Saturday evening. “Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number-one state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success.” 

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“For 40 years, Iran has been saying, ‘Death to America. Death to Israel.’ They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside bombs,” Trump continued. “That was their specialty. We lost over a thousand people, and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate in particular.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for any additional comment on the Sunday strikes, but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report. 

The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee said the future of the ongoing conflict involving Iran, Israel and now the United States is “really up to Iran to decide.”

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., appeared on ABC’s “This Week” to discuss American strikes against Iran that he said had “severely damaged Iran’s critical nuclear infrastructure.”

“The supreme leader and the ayatollahs in Iran need to understand that President Trump means business,” Cotton said. 

“They have a chance to sue for peace here, to dismantle whatever remnants of their nuclear program remain, and to continue to actually survive, because we haven’t targeted the supreme leader, we haven’t targeted their energy infrastructure, we haven’t targeted other critical infrastructure,” he continued.

IN IRAN’S ‘FOREVER WAR’ AGAINST THE US, REGIME HAS TARGETED AND KILLED AMERICANS WORLDWIDE

“That’s an implicit message that Iran still has things that they hold dear, that neither the United States nor Israel has struck. Iran needs to heed President Trump’s warning.”

When asked by ABC’s Jonathan Karl whether the U.S. would target Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Cotton said he would not “rule any single target in or out,” but made clear that President Donald Trump “does not bluff.”

ISRAEL-IRAN WAR DIVIDES DEMOCRATS, BUT TRUMP’S DIPLOMACY ALSO SPLITTING REPUBLICANS

“And there are still numerous targets that Iran holds very dear,” Cotton warned. “My message to the supreme leader is: Look at the lessons of history. Do not — do not tempt fate. Do not target Americans. Heed Donald Trump’s warning,” Cotton said. 

The United States inserted itself into Israel’s war against Iran by dropping multiple “bunker-buster” bombs and firing dozens of missiles at Iranian nuclear facilities Sunday morning local time.

TOM COTTON PRESSED ON ‘LANGUAGE’ USED IN ‘SEND IN THE TROOPS’ OP-ED, NATIONAL GUARD PRESENCE

Iran lashed out at the U.S. for crossing “a very big red line” with its strikes.

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“The warmongering and lawless administration in Washington is solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far-reaching implications of its act of aggression,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, according to the Associated Press, adding that he would immediately fly to Moscow to coordinate positions with close ally Russia.

Fox News’ Laura Garrison and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Members of the congressional “Squad” unleashed sharp criticism of President Donald Trump after he ordered a barrage of missile and bomb strikes on Iranian nuclear sites late Saturday.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., was the most vocal of all, tweeting several times about the offensive.

Responding to cryptocurrency exchange CEO Arjun Sethi’s comment about U.S. “elites” being most united by war “especially against Muslims in the Middle East,” Tlaib remarked, “Yep and it’s so f—ing sick.”

“President Trump sending US troops to bomb Iran without the consent of Congress is a blatant violation of the Constitution. The American people do not want another forever war,” Tlaib added in a separate message.

US MILITARY TROOPS IN MIDDLE EAST COULD FACE INCREASED THREATS AMID IRAN CONFLICT

“Instead of listening to the American people, Trump is listening to War Criminal Netanyahu who lied about Iraq and is lying once again about Iran. Congress must act immediately to exert its war powers and stop this unconstitutional war.”

She also retweeted right-wing Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who had commented “this (strike) is not constitutional.”

Squad Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., echoed Tlaib’s concerns about “endless war,” and called Trump and Netanyahu “warmongers.”

“It is the people who suffer the illegal & irresponsible actions of authoritarian leaders,” she said. “Only Congress has the power to declare war. We must act to protect our safety and shared humanity.”

Rep. Gregorio Casar, D-Texas, a newer member of the far-left congressional group, claimed it is “illegal” for Trump to act as he did.

“Congress should immediately pass a War Powers Resolution to block Trump from carrying out an unconstitutional war,” the Austin lawmaker said.

“My entire adult life, politicians have promised that new wars in the Middle East would be quick and easy. Then they sent other people’s children to fight and die endlessly. Enough.”

The most recognizable Squad member, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., called Trump’s decision “disastrous” and said striking Iran without congressional authorization “a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers.”

LAWMAKERS, MEDIA DINGED FOR BLAMING TRUMP OR RIPPING ISRAEL ON IRAN: ‘YOU THINK KAMALA COULD’VE STOPPED THEM?’

“He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations,” Ocasio-Cortez went on, adding that Trump has established clear “grounds for impeachment.”

Though not a member of the Squad, Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., also made an impeachment call Saturday.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., reiterated other Squad members’ criticisms, adding Trump “reckless(ly) escalate(ed)” the conflict between Israel and Iran.

“Congress must vote immediately on Rep. Thomas Massie and Sen. Tim Kaine’s War Powers resolutions when we return to session.”

Omar also shared a quote from Bill Clinton, saying prior to the strike that Trump should “diffuse” the situation and that Netanyahu has “long wanted to fight Iran.”

‘WAR CRIMINAL NETANYAHU’: ‘SQUAD’ MEMBERS ERUPT OVER ISRAEL’S ‘RECKLESS’ STRIKE ON IRAN

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, the Boston lawmaker who also identifies with the Squad, said Trump violated the Constitution and risking innocent lives.

In Pittsburgh, Rep. Summer Lee said Trump is “acting fully outside of his authority and is once again trampling on the Constitution.”

“This is an illegal and terrifying escalation. Dropping bombs on Iran brings us closer to war, not peace, and he is putting millions of lives at stake. Congress must immediately pass our War Powers Resolution to rein him in.”

Lee mocked Trump as “your hypocritical ‘anti-war’ president who just illegally struck Iran and is putting countless lives at risk.”

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Later Saturday, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said the Squad and others crying out about the War Powers Act, saying that courts have ruled it refers to deploying troops, not what Trump has done.

“If we are attacked, the commander-in-chief has the authority and ability to protect Americans at home and abroad if we feel threatened or attacked,” Mullin said.

“He’s keeping America safe,” he told “Hannity.”

Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that America “is not at war with Iran,” but rather is at war with the Iranian nuclear program, which was “substantially” set back by U.S. strikes.

In an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Vance praised President Donald Trump’s “decisive action to destroy the program” and expressed an “incredible amount of gratitude” to the U.S. troops, who, he says, flew thousands of miles on a 30-hour non-stop flight, “never touched down on the ground” and dropped a 30,000-pound bomb “on a target about the size of a washing machine.” 

“No military in the world has the training, the skills, and the equipment to do what these guys did last night,” Vance said. “I know the president and I are both very proud of them, and I think what they did was accomplish a very core American national objective. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapons program. The president’s been very clear about this, and thanks to the bravery and competence and skill of our great pilots and everybody who supported this mission, we took a major step forward for that national objective last night.” 

Vance was hesitant to disclose too much sensitive information about the mission, which reportedly involved 125 aircraft. 

THE MISSING MULLAH: IRAN’S ‘SUPREME LEADER’ A NO-SHOW FOR NEGOTIATIONS, THEN HID AS US POUNDED NUKE SITES

ABC’s Jonathan Karl asked the vice president, “Can you say definitively that Iran’s nuclear program has now been destroyed?” 

“I don’t want to get into sensitive intelligence here, but we know that we set the Iranian nuclear program back substantially last night. Whether it’s years or beyond that, we know it’s going to be a very long time before Iran can even build a nuclear weapon if they want to,” Vance said. 

Pressed on the extent of the damage, the vice president again declined to disclose sensitive intelligence but added, “I feel extremely confident, and I can say to the American people with great confidence that they are much further away from a nuclear program today than they were 24 hours ago.”

“That was the objective of the mission –  to destroy that Fordow nuclear site –  and, of course, do some damage to the other sites as well,” he said. “But we feel very confident that the Fordow nuclear site was substantially set back and that was our goal.” 

Vance separately told NBC’s “Meet The Press” that the U.S. had engaged in a diplomatic process with the Iranians to no avail until around mid-May when Trump then “decided to issue some private ultimatums to the Iranians.” 

ISRAEL RECOVERS REMAINS OF THREE MORE BODIES

“My message to the Iranians is it would be the stupidest thing in the world,” Vance said about potential retaliation after the U.S. strikes. “If you look at what happened last night, we had an incredibly targeted, precise surgical strike on the nuclear facilities that are the target of the American operation. Our national interest is for Iran to not get a nuclear weapon. Our strikes last night facilitated that national objective. If the Iranians want to enlarge this by attacking American troops, I think that would be a catastrophic mistake.”

Vance reiterated how Trump mentioned in his late Saturday night address from the White House that the United States wants Iran to give up their nuclear program peacefully – but allowing Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon remains off the table. 

“There is no way that the United States is going to let Iran have a nuclear weapon. And so they really have to choose a pathway,” Vance told ABC. “Are they going to go down the path of continued war, of funding terrorism, of seeking a nuclear weapons? Or are they going work with us to give up nuclear weapons permanently? If they’re willing to choose the smart path, they’re certainly going to find a willing partner in the United States to dismantle that nuclear weapons program.” 

He also issued a warning.

“But if they decide they’re going to attack our troops, if they decide they’re going to continue to try to build a nuclear weapon. Then we are going to respond to that with overwhelming force. So really, what happens next is up to the Iranians.”

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Trump warned Saturday that “any retaliation by Iran against the United States of America will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed tonight.” The U.S. military carried out “massive precision strikes” on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan,” which Trump said for years carried on a “horribly destructive enterprise” and have now been “completely and totally obliterated.” 

President Donald Trump on Sunday said there may be a regime change if Iranian leadership cannot “MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN,” following strategic U.S. strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday.

In a post to Truth Social, the president questioned why there would not be a leadership shift following the devastating blow to the country’s nuclear program.

“It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???” he wrote. “MIGA!!!”

Earlier in the day, Trump announced the B-2 stealth bombers credited with strategic attacks landed safely at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, applauding their efforts.

PENTAGON FLEXES US MILITARY’S DECOYS AND STRATEGIC DECEPTION THAT TOOK IRAN AND WORLD BY SURPRISE

“The GREAT B-2 pilots have just landed, safely, in Missouri,” he wrote. “Thank you for a job well done!!! DONA[L]D J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!”

The president added that the damage to the sites was “monumental,” pushing back on skepticism from critics about the success of the operation.

SATELLITE IMAGE SHOWS FORDOW NUCLEAR FACILITY AFTER MASSIVE BOMB STRIKE

“The damage to the Nuclear sites in Iran is said to be ‘monumental,'” he wrote in a separate post. “The hits were hard and accurate. Great skill was shown by our military. Thank you!”

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More than 125 aircraft were involved in the strikes in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, including seven B-2 stealth bombers, multiple fourth and fifth-generation fighters, dozens of air refueling tankers, a guided missile submarine and “a full array” of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.

Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

Over 1,500 Iranian nationals who illegally entered the U.S. at the southern border were arrested during the Biden administration, and nearly 50% of them were released back into the country, according to a senior U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) source.

More specifically, Border Patrol agents arrested 1,504 Iranian nationals from fiscal year 2021 through fiscal year 2024. Of the 1,504 individuals who were arrested, 729 were released into the U.S.

The number of Iranian nationals arrested at the southern border increased year-to-year, with 48 being arrested in FY21; 197 in FY22; 462 in FY23 and 797 in FY24.

Likewise, the number of Iranian nationals released also increased, with 12 in FY21; 40 in FY22; 229 in FY23; and 448 in FY24.

BORDER PATROL ANNOUNCES ‘PHENOMENAL’ TURNAROUND AS NUMBER OF MONTHLY MIGRANT RELEASES DROPS TO ZERO

It is unclear how many of the Iranians released into the U.S. were on the terrorism watchlist, as the Biden administration repeatedly denied Fox News’ Freedom of Information Act requests and appeals for the data. The Biden administration cited “privacy concerns” of the people on the list, as well as “minimal public interest” for denying the requests.

Still, there were over 2 million known gotaways at the border during the Biden administration, and because they were never caught, there is no way of knowing where the individuals were from.

All Iranians are considered “special interest aliens” because of national security concerns. Therefore, they are supposed to receive enhanced vetting from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN REVEALS UNPRECEDENTED SUCCESS IN TRUMP’S BORDER STRATEGY

The news comes as U.S. officials sound the alarm regarding the threat of terror-backed sleeper cells in the country just hours after President Donald Trump ordered the successful strikes on key nuclear facilities within Iran.

Hours after Trump addressed the nation about the military strikes, the DHS issued a memo sounding the alarm to a “heightened threat environment” in the U.S.

While the bulletin did not cite any specific threats, it came as Iranian officials vowed retaliation against the U.S.

SOUTHERN BORDER APPREHENSIONS PLUNGE MORE THAN 90% FROM YEAR AGO IN APRIL, CBP SAYS

The bulletin points to law enforcement within the U.S. disrupting “multiple potentially lethal Iranian-backed plots” since 2020, while noting the Iranian government’s unsuccessful attempts to target critics of its regime. 

The advisory comes after Trump ordered military strikes on Iran’s key nuclear facilities in what officials are calling “Operation Midnight Hammer,” prompting law enforcement to be on high alert regarding the threat of foreign adversary operatives conducting an attack on U.S. soil, with thousands of Iranian nationals previously crossing over the border. 

“Because of the open borders, we are at a serious catch-up phase,” Former FBI assistant director Chris Swecker told Fox News Digital. “We don’t know where those thousand Iranians are and who knows how many others got across the border. We missed an opportunity when they caught and released those thousand. We missed the opportunity to gather intel by interviewing them and thoroughly vetting them. We just simply let them go, which is gross negligence on the part of the Biden administration.”

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The possibility of foreign cells carrying out a domestic terror plot was pushed into the national spotlight last year after federal prosecutors announced a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and two U.S.-nationals were arrested for allegedly plotting to murder then-President-elect Trump and a U.S. citizen critical of the Iranian regime. 

Fox News Digital’s Julia Bonavita, Danielle Wallace and Ashley Papa contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump slammed Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on social media, calling him a “LOSER” after the legislator posted a string of social media posts criticizing the president for bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities on Saturday night.

Massie said on X that Trump’s actions were “not constitutional.”

“When two countries are bombing each other daily in a hot war, and a third country joins the bombing, that’s an act of war,” Massie said in another post. “I’m amazed at the mental gymnastics being undertaken by neocons in D.C. (and their social media bots) to say we aren’t at war … so they can make war.”

FAR LEFT, ANTI-ISRAEL VOICES DECRY TRUMP IRAN STRIKE, DISMISS IDEA HE’S ‘ANTIWAR PRESIDENT’

In another post, Massie responded to Speaker Mike Johnson’s post in which he defended Trump’s actions and said leaders in Congress were aware of the urgency of the situation — though “imminent danger outweighed the time it would take for Congress to act.”

“Why didn’t you call us back from vacation to vote on military action if there was a serious threat to our country?” Massie said in response to Johnson’s post.

Massie’s words caught Trump’s attention. On Sunday, the president aimed some words back toward the representative.

“Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky is not MAGA, even though he likes to say he is. Actually, MAGA doesn’t want him, doesn’t know him, and doesn’t respect him,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

TRUMP EARNS BIPARTISAN PRAISE FOR DECISIVE ACTION AGAINST IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM

“He is a negative force who almost always votes ‘NO,’ no matter how good something may be. He’s a simple-minded ‘grandstander’ who thinks it’s good politics for Iran to have the highest level Nuclear weapon, while at the same time yelling ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ at every chance they get.”

The president restated his case for bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying Iran has “killed and maimed” thousands of Americans — and under the Jimmy Carter administration, even took over the American Embassy in Tehran.

“We had a spectacular military success yesterday, taking the ‘bomb’ right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!) but, as usual, and despite all of the praise and accolades received, this ‘lightweight’ Congressman is against what was so brilliantly achieved last night in Iran,” Trump wrote. 

‘NOT CONSTITUTIONAL’: CONGRESS EVOKES NEW WAR POWERS RESOLUTION TO REJECT TRUMP’S STRIKES ON IRAN

“Massie is weak, ineffective, and votes ‘NO’ on virtually everything put before him (Rand Paul Jr.), no matter how good something may be,” the president added. 

Trump also accused Massie of being “disrespectful” to the military and suggested he “drop his fake act” and put America first.

“MAGA should drop this pathetic LOSER, Tom Massie, like the plague!” Trump said. “The good news is that we will have a wonderful American Patriot running against him in the Republican Primary, and I’ll be out in Kentucky campaigning really hard. 

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“MAGA is not about lazy, grandstanding, nonproductive politicians, of which Thomas Massie is definitely one,” Trump continued. “Thank you to our incredible military for the AMAZING job they did last night. It was really SPECIAL!!! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Massie’s office for comment on the matter.

EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Thomas Massie is accusing President Donald Trump of falling short of his campaign pledges with his Saturday night strikes on Iran.

“I feel a bit misled,” Massie told Fox News Digital in a Sunday afternoon interview. “I didn’t think he would let neocons determine his foreign policy and drag us into another war.” 

“Other people feel the same way, who supported Trump — I think the political danger to him is he induces a degree of apathy in the Republican base, and they fail to show up to keep us in the majority in the midterms.”

Massie, a conservative libertarian who has long been wary of foreign intervention by the U.S., has been one of the most vocal critics of the Trump administration’s recent operation.

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U.S. stealth bombers struck three major nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran Saturday night. 

Trump and other GOP leaders hailed the operation as a victory, while even pro-Israel Democrats also offered rare praise.

“Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” Trump said Saturday night. “And Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not. future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.” 

But progressives and the growing isolationist wing of the GOP blasted it as a needless escalation of tensions in the Middle East, at a time when Israel has been engaged in a weeklong conflict with Iran as well.

Top officials up to Trump himself have said the U.S. is not seeking war with Iran. 

Vice President JD Vance told NBC News’ “Meet The Press” Sunday, “We’re not at war with Iran. We’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program.”

Massie told Fox News Digital those assurances were “ludicrous.”

DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS CRITICIZE ISRAEL’S DEFENSIVE STRIKES AGAINST IRAN’S NUCLEAR SITES

“He’s engaged in war. We are now a co-belligerent in a hot war between two countries,” the Kentucky Republican said, arguing that conflict separates this action from Trump’s strikes that killed deceased Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

“You can’t say this isn’t an act of war, that it’s a strike outside of a war,” he said. “This is inside, geographically and temporally, of a war.”

The Kentucky Republican notably has broken from Trump on several other occasions, and has been one of the few GOP officials to openly clash with the president — particularly on government spending and foreign intervention.

He’s co-leading a resolution to prevent the “United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran” alongside Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., which they introduced days before the strikes. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is leading a Senate counterpart.

Massie noted his team was looking at ways to get the resolution on the House floor — while conceding likely opposition from pro-Israel groups and congressional leaders.

“We’re going to try to use the privileges of the House to get this to the floor,” he said. 

“People were saying, ‘Why did you introduce this resolution? The president’s not going to strike Iran.’ He has struck Iran. And now the the naysayers said, ‘Oh, well, you don’t need this resolution.”

ISRAEL-IRAN WAR DIVIDES DEMOCRATS, BUT TRUMP’S DIPLOMACY ALSO SPLITTING REPUBLICANS

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a Sunday morning press conference that the administration properly notified Congress about the strikes within existing statute — even as progressives and some conservatives accuse him of bypassing a co-equal branch of government.

“They were notified after the planes were safely out,” Hegseth said. “We complied with the notification requirements of the War Powers Act.” 

But Massie noted that the same War Powers Act also requires Congress to vote on U.S. military intervention in foreign countries within 60 days, if the conflict continues.

“Even if they’re able to circumvent a vote on the resolution that Ro Khanna and I have introduced, we’re going to have to vote at some point if this becomes a protracted engagement,” he said.

War powers resolutions can be called up for a House vote after 15 days of inaction by the relevant committee, after the legislation is referred to that committee.

When reached for comment, the White House pointed Fox News Digital to Trump’s most recent Truth Social post calling Massie a “grandstander” and threatening to recruit a primary challenger against him.

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“Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky is not MAGA, even though he likes to say he is,” Trump wrote. “Actually, MAGA doesn’t want him, doesn’t know him, and doesn’t respect him. He is a negative force who almost always Votes ‘NO,’ no matter how good something may be.” 

“MAGA should drop this pathetic LOSER, Tom Massie, like the plague! The good news is that we will have a wonderful American Patriot running against him in the Republican Primary, and I’ll be out in Kentucky campaigning really hard. MAGA is not about lazy, grandstanding, nonproductive politicians, of which Thomas Massie is definitely one. Thank you to our incredible military for the AMAZING job they did last night. It was really SPECIAL!!!”

Fox News Digital also reached out to Speaker Mike Johnson’s office for comment.

The U.S. military and Trump administration leveraged strategic deception and decoys to carry out the surprise and successful strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities Saturday evening that took the world by surprise after President Donald Trump indicated such an operation could unfold in the coming weeks, not necessarily days. 

Trump announced the Saturday evening strikes on Iran in a Truth Social post that was not preceded by media leaks or speculation that strikes were imminent. The unexpected social media post was followed just hours later by a brief Trump address to the nation while flanked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance. 

The strikes, which the administration has described as an overwhelming success that obliterated Iranian nuclear facilities and backed the nation into a corner to make a peace deal, were celebrated by Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine as ones that were cloaked in secrecy and intentionally deceptive to confuse the enemy. 

“At midnight Friday into Saturday morning, a large B-2 strike package comprised of bombers launched from the continental United States,” Caine said during a Sunday morning press conference from the Pentagon. “As part of the plan to maintain tactical surprise, part of the package proceeded to the west and into the Pacific as a decoy. A deception effort, known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders here in Washington and in Tampa.” 

HEGSETH, PENTAGON BRASS PRAISE TRUMP’S ‘SPECTACULAR’ MILITARY SUCCESS IN IRAN NUCLEAR STRIKES

Ahead of the Saturday evening strikes, six B-2 stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri were en route to a U.S. Air Force base in Guam, U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News. 

“The main strike package, comprised of seven B-2 spirit bombers, each with two crew members, proceeded quietly to the east with minimal communications,” Caine said. “Throughout the 18-hour flight into the target area, the aircraft completed multiple in-flight refuelings. Once overland, the B-2s linked up with escort and support aircraft in a complex, tightly timed maneuver, requiring exact synchronization across multiple platforms in a narrow piece of airspace, all done with minimal communications.” 

RETIRED GENERAL TELLS CNN HE’S ‘IMPRESSED’ BY TRUMP STRIKING IRAN, SAYS AMERICAN LIVES POTENTIALLY SAVED

Fox News Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin said during a Saturday evening appearance as news broke of the strikes that reports of the bombers were likely part of the “misleading tidbits put out there to suggest that maybe President Trump had had put off the decision.”

“Those six B-2 bombers that were heading west toward Guam, they would not have made it to Iran in time to take part in this strike,” she said, while speaking with Fox News’ Bret Baier Saturday evening. “So, that suggests to me that there was an additional B-1 package that perhaps flew eastward from Whiteman Air Force Base. Again, this was all part of the deception. There was a great deal of sort of misleading tidbits put out there to suggest that maybe President Trump had put off the decision and that this would happen two weeks from now.” 

TRUMP LAUNCHES PRECISION STRIKES AGAINST IRAN. TRIUMPH OR TRAP?

Hegseth said in his remarks before the media Sunday morning that the U.S. military had leveraged “misdirection” and total secrecy, aside from top national security officials, to carry out the strikes “without the world knowing at all.”

“It involved misdirection and the highest of operational security. Our B-2s went in and out of … these nuclear sites, in and out and back, without the world knowing at all,” Hegseth said. “In that way, it was historic.”

It was the longest B-2 spirit bomber mission since 2001, the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown and the largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history, Hegseth and Caine said during the Sunday press conference. 

The surprise strikes following Trump saying, via comment delivered by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Thursday during a press briefing, that he would make a decision on Iran within the next two weeks, which initially signaled that such strikes could unfold in the coming weeks and not imminently.  

“I have a message directly from the president, and I quote, ‘Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,'” Leavitt said at a White House press briefing Thursday, quoting Trump.

TRUMP ADDRESSES NATION ON ‘SPECTACULAR MILITARY SUCCESS’ OF US STRIKES ON IRANIAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES

Trump said in his address to the nation late Saturday that “Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated” and that Iran now faces the choice of making peace or facing future attacks. 

“And Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.” 

MISDIRECTION AND ‘DECEPTION’ LIKELY KEY IN TRUMP ADMIN’S SURPRISE IRAN STRIKE

Trump described the strikes as a “spectacular military success.” 

“A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan,” he said. “Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number-one state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success.” 

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“For 40 years, Iran has been saying, ‘Death to America. Death to Israel.’ They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs with roadside bombs,” Trump continued. “That was their specialty. We lost over a thousand people, and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate in particular.”

Russia’s former president said that multiple countries are poised to provide Iran with nuclear warheads after the U.S. launched strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities.

“The enrichment of nuclear material — and, now we can say it outright, the future production of nuclear weapons — will continue,” Dmitry Medvedev, now the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, said in a Sunday X post. 

“A number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads,” Medvedev said. 

Medvedev did not list specific countries that might pitch in and support Iran. However, Russia historically has backed Iran’s nuclear program. Russian President Vladimir Putin also offered to mediate peace talks between Iran and Israel on Wednesday. 

Moscow also has offered to intervene and help negotiate a nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran. 

Moscow was involved in the 2015 Iran deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The agreement lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on Iran’s nuclear program, but Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018. 

IRAN ATTACKS ISRAEL DESPITE US STRIKES ON NUCLEAR SITES, TRUMP CALLS FOR ‘PEACE’

Medvedev’s comments came after the U.S. launched strikes late Saturday targeting key Iranian nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. The mission involved more than 125 U.S. aircraft, including B-2 stealth bombers, according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. 

President Donald Trump had said for days that he was deliberating whether he would conduct strikes against those sites. 

The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital regarding Medvedev’s statements. 

Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Ministry claimed the strikes violated international law and called for an “end to aggression.” 

TRUMP ATTACKS IRAN NUCLEAR SITES: ARE OUR TROOPS IN DANGER FROM RETALIATORY STRIKES?

“The irresponsible decision to subject the territory of a sovereign state to missile and bomb attacks, whatever the arguments it may be presented with, flagrantly violates international law, the Charter of the United Nations and the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday. 

Prior to the strikes, Iran cautioned that the U.S. will suffer if it chooses to become involved in the conflict, and previously issued retaliatory strikes against bases where U.S. troops were housed after the U.S. killed a top Iranian general in 2020. 

IRAN THREATENS TO HIT US BASES IN THE MIDDLE EAST: WHAT IS THE THREAT LEVEL?

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters Sunday that the U.S. would work with allies in the region to aid in force protection in the aftermath of the strikes. 

“We certainly understand the challenges of allies in the region,” Hegseth said. “And, we have been respectful and in working in collaboration with them as it pertains to basing and sensitivities there.” 

“Ultimately, they’ve got a lot of assets and people in those locations also where American troops are co-located. So, that’s a consideration of ours.” 

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa, backed President Donald Trump’s decision to have the United States attack three of Iran’s most fortified underground nuclear sites amid rapidly escalating tensions in the Middle East and intensifying Israeli and U.S. military operations against Iranian targets. 

Fetterman called the move “correct” in a post on X just minutes after Trump shared the news on Truth Social. 

“As I’ve long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS,” Fetterman said. “Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. I’m grateful for and salute the finest military in the world.” 

TRUMP ADDRESSES NATION ON ‘SPECTACULAR MILITARY SUCCESS’ OF US STRIKES ON IRANIAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES

TRUMP DECLARES ‘VERY SUCCESSFUL ATTACK’ ON IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM AS US FORCES STRIKE 3 KEY SITES

Trump declared the operation a “very successful attack” targeting Iran’s key nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, incluidng Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump wrote in the announcement. “All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this.”

ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT: LIVE UPDATES

FAR LEFT, ANTI-ISRAEL VOICES DECRY TRUMP IRAN STRIKE, DISMISS IDEA HE’S ‘ANTIWAR PRESIDENT’

He concluded his statement with a call for de-escalation: “NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

The overnight strike against Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility involved six bunker buster bombs, Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity Saturday night. Additionally, 30 Tomahawk missiles were launched from U.S. submarines in the attacks on Natanz and Isfahan facilities. 

The strike, marking a major escalation in an already volatile landscape, comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel to eradicate Iran’s offensive missile capabilities. 

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The extent of the damage caused to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure so far remains unclear. 

Fox News’ Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.

Progressive champion Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a handful of other Democrats quickly floated the prospect of impeaching President Donald Trump for launching a military strike on Iran without Congressional authorization.

“The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers,” the four-term congresswoman from New York wrote on social media Saturday night, soon after the president announced the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Ocasio-Cortez charged that Trump “has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”

CLICK HERE FOR FOX NEWS LIVE UPDATES ON THE U.S. MILITARY STRIKE ON IRAN

Democrat Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois also argued that the president’s order to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites without seeking Congressional approval could be considered an “unambiguous impeachable offense.”

Casten, a four-term representative whose district covers southwestern Chicago and surrounding suburbs, wrote Saturday night on social media that “this is not about the merits of Iran’s nuclear program….to be clear, I do not dispute that Iran is a nuclear threat.” 

WATCH PRESIDENT TRUMP’S FULL ADDRESS TO THE NATION ON THE IRAN STRIKE

But he highlighted that “no president has the authority to bomb another country that does not pose an imminent threat to the US without the approval of Congress. This is an unambiguous impeachable offense.”

“I’m not saying we have the votes to impeach,” Casten added. “I’m saying that you DO NOT do this without Congressional approval.”

The calls for impeachment are the most visible, and furthest reaching, representation of the party’s anger with Trump for taking unilateral action against Iran.

PENTAGON GIVES DETAILS ON HOW THE U.S. MILITARY CARRIED OUT THE STRIKE ON IRAN

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the top Democrat in the chamber, wrote that the president had “failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East.”

“Donald Trump shoulders complete and total responsibility for any adverse consequences that flow from his unilateral military action,” Jeffries added in a statement.

While the executive branch technically doesn’t have the legal authority to order a foreign military attack without the approval of Congress, previous presidents, including Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Trump during his first term, launched comparable military actions in Libya, Sudan, Afghanistan and Iran.

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Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, in an interview Sunday morning on “Fox and Friends,” criticized impeachment calls by Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats.

“For my colleagues that are now demanding impeachment, it is absolutely absurd,” Lawler argued. “Barack Obama attacked Libya, Syria, Pakistan, Yemen during his tenure and never once did they call for impeachment. So, these folks are truly reaching new levels of Trump derangement in the aftermath of yesterday’s decision.”

Congress has not actually declared war since 1941, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II, and legal scholars have long been divided on whether the president has the authority to unilaterally launch a military strike.

A top expert on the Iran nuclear program believes the regime’s atomic program has been obliterated by Saturday night’s strikes by the United States.

“The nuclear program is no longer,” Jonathan Schanzer, Executive Director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a “national security and foreign policy” think tank, told Fox News Digital.

“Sources in Israel report with high confidence that this chapter is over. Responsible parties must still remove nuclear materials from the facility in Isfahan. But that appears to be the final page to turn,” he continued. 

President Donald Trump said during his address on Saturday night that “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.” 

TRUMP DECLARES ‘VERY SUCCESSFUL ATTACK’ ON IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM AS US FORCES STRIKE 3 KEY SITES

Fox News reported earlier on that Isfahan was “the hardest target,” according to a senior U.S. official.

“Everyone was talking about and focused on Fordow, but Isfahan was actually the hardest target,” the official said on background. The U.S. used B-2 bombers to carry out the mission.

A senior U.S. official also told Fox News that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu communicated after the strikes and that Israel had been informed ahead of time.

ISRAEL’S ACTIONS AGAINST IRAN CREATE STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITY FOR US IN NUCLEAR TALKS, EXPERTS SAY

Lisa Daftari, Iran expert and Editor-in-Chief of The Foreign Desk, told Fox News Digital, “Both Israeli and U.S. officials understand that anything less than total destruction of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure will only result in a temporary pause, not a permanent end. But to truly end Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the U.S. and its allies must commit to a campaign—beyond these targeted strikes—backed by sustained pressure, intelligence, and the credible threat of further action if Iran attempts to rebuild.

“To ensure the eradication of the regime’s nuclear weapons capability, the U.S. must maintain persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance to detect any attempts by Iran’s regime to disperse, hide or rebuild its nuclear infrastructure. This would be coupled with continued diplomatic isolation and strict multilateral sanctions blocking the regime’s access to nuclear technology, materials and financing,” she said.

Trump announced that the U.S. had struck nuclear sites in Iran – a major development amid rising tensions in the region, as Israel and Iran continued to launch airstrikes against each other.

ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT: LIVE UPDATES

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Saturday night.

“All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he continued.

Fox News’ Sean Hannity said on Saturday night that President Donald Trump had given him details on the U.S. strikes in Iran. According to the “Hannity” host, the U.S. used six bunker-buster bombs — each of which weighs 15 tons — in its strikes on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility. The bombs were dropped from American B-2 stealth bombers.

During a press conference on Sunday morning, the number of bunker busters used was updated to 14 by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Caine.

ISRAEL SAYS IT KILLED IRANIAN COMMANDER WHO HELPED FUND, ARM HAMAS

“President Trump took decisive leadership and action to eliminate the last vestiges of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, after Israel’s sustained strikes, which seriously damaged the atomic weapons supply chain from uranium conversion to enrichment, and all the way to weaponization,” Andrea Stricker, FDD’s Director of Nonproliferation and Biological Weapons told Fox News Digital. 

“While Tehran’s program is likely set back by years, the United States and Israel need to ensure the regime’s highly enriched uranium stockpiles and all secret advanced centrifuges are fully recovered and destroyed — which means more work ahead,” she added.

Fordow had two entrances and one ventilation shaft, which likely served as the entrance points for the Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs).

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Additionally, 30 Tomahawk missiles launched from U.S. submarines were used in the attacks on the Nanatz and Isfahan facilities. There is speculation that the missiles were shot from an Ohio Class Submarine, but there has been no confirmation.

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Senate Majority Leader John Thune is weathering headwinds in his own conference over outstanding concerns in President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” that threaten to derail the legislation, but he’s taking it in stride and standing firm that the megabill will make it to the president’s desk by July 4.

“We have to hit it, and you know whether that means it’s the end of next week, or whether we roll into that Fourth of July week,” the South Dakota Republican told Fox News Digital during an interview from his leadership suite.

“But if we have to go into that week, we will,” he continued. “I think it’s that important. And you know what I’ve seen around here, at least in the past, my experience, if there’s no deadline, things tend to drag on endlessly.”

TOP TRUMP ALLY PREDICTS SENATE WILL BLOW PAST ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ DEADLINE

Senate Republicans have been working on their version of Trump’s mammoth bill, which includes priorities to make his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, sweeping changes to healthcare, Biden-era energy credits and deep spending cuts, among others, since the beginning of June.

Now that each portion of the bill has been released, Thune is eyeing having the bill on the floor by the middle of next week. But, he still has to wrangle disparate factions within the Senate GOP to get on board with the bill.

“It is a work in progress,” Thune said. “It’s, you know, sometimes it’s kind of incremental baby steps.”

A cohort of fiscal hawks, led by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., are unhappy with the level of spending cuts in the bill. Some Senate Republicans want to achieve at least $2 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade, but Johnson has remained firm in his belief that the bill should go deeper and return to pre-COVID-19 pandemic spending levels.

Others, including Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, are upset with tweaks to Medicaid, and the impact those changes could have on rural hospitals and working people on the healthcare program’s benefit rolls.

‘IT JUST BAFFLES ME’: SENATE REPUBLICANS SOUND ALARM OVER MEDICAID CHANGES, SPENDING IN TRUMP MEGABILL

Thune has to strike a precarious balancing act to sate the concerns of his conference, given that he can only afford to lose three votes. It’s a reality he acknowledged and described as trying to find “the sweet spot” where he can advance the bill back to the House.

He’s been meeting with the factions individually, communicating with the White House and working to “make sure everybody’s rolling in the same direction.”

“Everybody has different views about how to do that, but in the end, it’s cobbling together the necessary 51 votes, so we’re working with anybody who is offering feedback,” he said.

Collins and others are working on the side to create a provider relief fund that could offer a salve to the lingering issues about the crackdown on the Medicaid provider rate tax in the bill.

The Senate Finance Committee went further than the House’s freeze of the provider tax rate, or the amount that state Medicaid programs pay to healthcare providers on behalf of Medicaid beneficiaries, for non-Affordable Care Act expansion states, and included a provision that lowers the rate in expansion states annually until it hits 3.5%.

“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that, for example, rural hospitals have some additional assistance to sort of smooth that transition,” Thune said.

BLUE STATE REPUBLICANS THREATEN REVOLT AGAINST TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ IF SENATE CHANGES KEY TAX RULE

Thune, who is a member of the Finance panel, noted that “we all agree that the provider tax has been gamed” and “abused” by blue states like New York and California, and argued that the changes were done to help “right the ship” in the program.

“I think that’s why the sort of off-ramp, soft-landing approach [from] the Finance committee makes sense, but these are substantial changes,” he said. “But on the other hand, if we don’t start doing some things to reform and strengthen these programs, these programs aren’t going to be around forever, because we’re not going to be able to afford them.”

The Senate’s product won’t be the end of the reconciliation process, however. The changes in the bill will have to be green-lit by the House, and one change in particular to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap already has a cohort of blue state House Republicans furious and threatening to kill the bill.

The Senate’s bill, for now, left the cap unchanged at $10,000 from the policy ushered in by Trump’s first-term tax cuts, a figure that Senate Republicans view as a placeholder while negotiations continue.

Indeed, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., is working with members of the SALT caucus in the House to find a compromise on the cap. But the appetite to keep the House-passed $40,000 cap isn’t strong in the Senate.  

“The passion in the Senate is as strong as it is in the House against changing the current policy and law in a way that… favors high-tax states to the detriment and disadvantage of low tax states,” he said. “And so it’s the emotion that you see in the House side on that particular issue is matched in the Senate in a different direction.”

Meanwhile, as negotiations continue behind the scenes on ways to address issues among Senate Republicans, the Senate Parliamentarian is currently chunking through each section of the greater “big, beautiful bill.” 

The parliamentarian’s role is to determine whether policies within each section of the bill comport with the Byrd Rule, which is the arcane set of parameters that govern the budget reconciliation process.

Thune has made clear that he would not overrule that parliamentarian on Trump’s megabill, and re-upped that position once more. The reconciliation process gives either party in power the opportunity to pass legislation on party lines and skirt the Senate filibuster, but it has to adhere to the Byrd Rule’s requirements that policy deals with spending and revenue.

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However, he countered that Senate Republicans planned to take a page from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., when Democrats rammed former President Joe Biden’s agenda through Congress.

“The Democrats with the [Inflation Reduction Act] and [American Rescue Plan Act], for that matter, they dramatically expanded the scope of reconciliation and what’s eligible for consideration,” he said.

“So, we’ve used that template, and we’re pushing as hard as we can to make sure that it allows us to accomplish our agenda, or at least as much of our agenda as possible, and fit within the parameters of what’s allowed,” he continued.